“I will go for now,” Sa’Zhan said.
“Later, when you have calmed down, you will want to eat. I believe you will find the food on the ship very appetizing. Also, there is a bathroom just to the left of the alcove.”
Hannah waited until she heard the door open and close, then turned over and sat up. She wiped away the tears. She had to get hold of herself, had to think this through.
Chapter 3
Under normal circumstances, she knew, she’d be thrilled to have the attention of a specimen like Sa’Zhan. He was everything she could have dreamed of, tall, fit and handsome.
Except, of course, he wasn’t exactly a man. He was an alien. This presented all sorts of problems.
For one thing, she hardly knew anything about him. He was very nearly a complete mystery to her. For another, she had a life here on Earth. Not much of one, that was true, but she was still young, still finding her way in the world.
Despite what some of her friends and acquaintances thought, nobody had shit figured out at 24.
Hannah’s face was hot from crying. She stood and saw the outline of the bathroom door where Sa’Zhan had said it would be. She moved in front of it and the door slid open.
Inside was a fairly typical, albeit very shiny, bathroom. There was a sink with a mirror above it, a toilet and a shower stall with a sliding glass door. At least she assumed it was glass.
Who knew for sure what anything on this alien spaceship was really made out of?
The sink worked just like any old sink she’d ever used. Hannah turned on the cold water and splashed her face. She dried off and looked at herself in the mirror. Well, Hannah, she thought, what now?
Her stomach growled, giving her a clue. How long had it been since she’d eaten anything?
She didn’t even know how long she’d been on this ship. She decided to go looking for the kitchen, or the galley, or whatever it was called.
Leaving the room, Hannah turned right this time and walked along the hallway. The ship was very quiet, and the air smelled like … well, like nothing at all. It almost seemed to be a sterile environment.
What would it be like, spending all your time in a place like this? Terribly boring, Hannah thought. She wondered what Sa’Zhan did with his free time.
She passed three other crew cabins before coming to a door marked “galley,” as she had guessed. She paused before getting close enough to trigger the automatic door. What if he was in there?
Hannah wasn’t sure if that would be a good thing or not. Mustering up her courage, she moved to the doorway and went through when it opened.
Sa’Zhan was, indeed, in the galley. He turned when she entered and gave her a smile.
“Very good,” he said.
“I suspected you might be along sometime soon.”
Sure you did, Hannah thought. Telepathy and all. She wondered how much he really knew about her. More than she was comfortable with, that much was obvious.
Still, she decided to put forward a strong front. She would deal with this on her own terms.
“So,” she said, “are you the ship’s cook as well as the captain?”
“Food preparation is fully automated. I simply press a button.”
“Well, that’s convenient.”
Hannah took in the space around her. The galley was circular, like the crew cabins. Sa’Zhan stood across from the doorway at a control panel of some kind. Below the panel was a recess in the wall. Hannah assumed that was where the food came out.
On either side of the room, two tables extended from the walls, each with bench-style seating, like picnic tables. The galley was otherwise smooth and featureless. Hannah guessed that this ship had been built purely for function, as creature comforts were in short supply.
The food, on the other hand, was actually quite good. Sa’Zhan brought two plates over to one of the tables and gestured for Hannah to have a seat.
Before her was a plate of what appeared to be chicken and broccoli with rice. Giving it a tentative bite, she discovered that it was, indeed, what it appeared to be.
“So, how does this work?” she asked.
“The food, I mean. Where does it come from? How is it cooked?”
“I am afraid the explanation for that would be rather beyond your understanding.”
Hannah felt her cheeks burning with humiliation.
“I’m not an idiot,” she said.
“I never suggested you were,” Sa’Zhan said, a confused look on his face.
“For example, what do you know of the field of scientific study known on your planet as ‘quantum physics?”
“I’ve heard of it,” Hannah said, sullenly.
“Well, the most knowledgeable scientist on Earth has a child’s understanding of the field compared to the average Ventosian. It is not a question of intelligence. Our civilization was traveling among the stars when you Earthlings were still hunting mammoths.”