I woke early the next morning. The half-light of the sun shone through the small round window. We had camped out on the meshy beds on the floor in the same place I had woken yesterday.
Lucy was on my right side, but she had snuggled into Samuel. I almost couldn’t see where she ended and he started. Observing them, in a completely non-creepy way, I really thought they fit well together. She’d confided in me a little while before that they, despite her best efforts, hadn’t had sex. Apparently, Samuel was an old-fashioned sort of man; he was waiting for the perfect moment or some crap. Lucy told me she was continuing to work on changing his mind, one skimpy pair of underwear at a time.
This wasn’t the first time they’d slept next to each other. But here they seemed more comfortable than they had in our previous prison. Samuel had an arm protectively around her, and he looked relaxed in the pose of deep sleep. It softened the anger and pain he carried around with him every day. And I could really see Lallielle in his features.
My heart panged at the thought of my parents; I’d been missing them a lot the last few days. Josian’s booming roar and hug every morning, and the gentle nudging of Lallielle as she forced me into a normal First-World life – well, even that seemed less annoying in retrospect.
Pulling myself to my feet, I moved across the room without disturbing anyone. I did notice that Brace was already gone, but everyone else was still sleeping.
Talina had left us new wraps on the chair. Before changing, I used some of the cucreamer juice to rinse out my mouth. Its absorbing ability worked the same way as teeth-brushing, removing all morning breath and cleaning my teeth. Talina had demonstrated its hundred and one amazing uses before she’d left us to go sleep in her water-pod. Yep, that’s right, a water-pod.
With a quick glance to make sure no one was awake, I managed to shrug off my old wraps and get re-wrapped in pure white mesh – it took me a good ten minutes to get all the important parts covered. Honestly, wearing no underwear should make me feel all kinds of vulnerable, but instead under the wraps you couldn’t even tell.
I stepped over the sleeping people to make my way upstairs to the top deck. Of all the things my power-enlightening had brought me, the best was the feeling inside. I felt so alive. I was stronger, required less sleep, could think and process faster and my memory was almost perfect. There were definite benefits to being a half-Walker.
Stepping out onto the deck, I was captivated by the beauty of the endless oceans. Breathing deeply of the clean air, I loved that there were no buildings, no clouds of smog, no Gangers or Burbers, or any other weird and wonderful creatures in sight. Just silence and tranquility. I was fast becoming an eighty-year-old lady.
“Morning, Red, how did you sleep?”
I glanced over my shoulder. Brace was making his way from the top of the stairs to stand with me on the edge of the pontoon. He was wrapped in white mesh also, his skin looking extra tanned against the wraps. I had to contain my sigh of pure appreciation.
“Yeah, I’m surprised at how comfortable it is to sleep on the floor,” I said as I turned back to the view, mainly to prevent any untoward touching.
My fingers were itching to run across the expanses of skin that towered next to me.
I clenched my hands together and closed my eyes, trying to move past this unnatural obsession I harbored for Brace. I couldn’t explain my fixation with him despite my best efforts.
“I’m interested in seeing this underwater city,” he said as he stood close.
I could feel his warmth. And, damn, why did he smell so good? It was like clean fresh air combined with a spicy sweetness ... like donuts. Okay, maybe not exactly donuts, but it gave me the same feelings. I attempted to focus on the conversation as I opened my eyes to the beauty of the ocean.
“I can’t even picture a building under the water. The dynamics seem impossible.” My life had taken a dramatic twist from my days on Earth. “But what will we do if they don’t let Talina leave? I mean, I always knew it was going to be difficult; imagine if aliens just popped in from another planet, and told you about a crazy mission and you needed to leave immediately. I know, if it was me, I’d have a few reservations.”
Brace’s expression didn’t change. Maybe that wouldn’t have been odd to him.
“I think that we’ll deal with that if it happens. I’m sure that Ladre is a reasonable man. We should be able to convince him,” he said.
If only Ladre was a man. Spurns were a whole other kettle of fish. I chuckled internally at my poor joke.
“I need us to book in some time to talk, Red.”
I lifted my face to meet his serious gaze.