Close Remembrance (31 page)

Mia’s stomach twisted with remembered fear. She still had occasional nightmares from the Arena fight – horrifying dreams in which Korum didn’t emerge as the victor. Saret had come far too close to killing her lover, and she could never forget the agony of those moments when she’d thought she lost Korum.

As though reading her mind, Korum said, “There’s nothing to worry about, my sweet. He’ll be locked up the entire trip.”

“Which will only be a couple of weeks, right?” Mia asked.

“Yes,” Korum confirmed. “Getting sufficiently far away from Earth is what’s going to take the longest. This is a very crowded solar system and we have to make sure nothing interferes with our ship’s warp capabilities.”

Mia laughed, forgetting all about Saret for the moment. “Warp capabilities? Like the warp drive in our science fiction – the thing that lets you go faster than the speed of light?”

“Yes,” Korum said. “Very similar to that. It bends space-time, allowing us to travel from one point in the universe to another almost instantaneously.”

“How does it do that?” Mia asked in fascination. Physics had never been her strongest subject, but even she knew that weird things happened near the speed of light – and that faster-than-light travel had been considered impossible until the Ks arrived.

Korum smiled, apparently pleased by her interest. “I can’t explain fully without going into some complicated math, but I can give you a rough idea,” he said. “Essentially, our ships create a huge energy bubble that causes a contraction in the space-time in front of it and an expansion in the space-time behind it. That’s what propels us from one place to another – the push-and-pull of space-time itself. We don’t need to reach the speed of light at any point; we bypass it altogether.”

“Wouldn’t something like that require a lot of energy? What do you use for fuel?”

“Well, the energy bubble around the ship uses a combination of positive and negative energy,” Korum said. “Negative energy is something that your scientists are just now beginning to explore. And yes, you’re absolutely right: warping space-time requires a tremendous amount of energy. Fortunately, we have it in abundance. We also use antimatter as a fuel source; that’s what powers our ship when we’re not in warp mode.”

Mia’s eyes widened. “Antimatter?”

“It’s the most powerful energy source there is,” Korum explained.

Mia fell silent, thinking about the magnitude of what she was about to do. Tomorrow, she would leave Earth for an as-yet-undetermined length of time, with a lover who wasn’t even human. She was entrusting the fate of her entire family into his hands.

It should’ve been a scary thought, but somehow it wasn’t. Instead she was almost giddy with excitement. How many people got a chance like that? To see a different planet, to go to Krina – the origin of all life? And meeting the Krinar Elders . . . She still couldn’t wrap her mind around that one. She, a regular human girl, would see the actual creators of mankind.

It was enough to make anybody’s head spin.

* * *

The next morning they went to Florida to pick up Mia’s family, flying in a larger transport pod Korum had created specifically for that purpose. Everyone was already gathered at Mia’s parents’ house, with their bags packed and ready. Even though Korum had explained that they didn’t need most of their things, the humans insisted on bringing their own clothing and other items they saw as necessities.

This time, Korum landed the pod on the street in front of the Stalis house. Mia had explained that her parents already told all their neighbors about the upcoming trip (though not the reason for it), and nobody would be too shocked to see an alien aircraft landing in their quiet neighborhood.

Emerging from the pod, Korum and Mia walked to the door and rang the doorbell. All around them, people were slowly coming out of their houses, driven by curiosity about their neighbors’ extraterrestrial connection. Korum could hear their whispers, giggles, and gasps of excitement and fear. An older couple a few houses away were on the phone with their children, complaining that the ‘K evil’ had come to Ormond Beach. They likely thought he couldn’t hear them, not realizing how acute Krinar senses were.

None of this bothered Korum. In the past, he’d tried to be considerate, to make sure that his presence in the small town didn’t draw too much attention to his charl’s family. Now, however, it didn’t matter. If the Elders agreed to their request, Mia’s relatives would never be able to return to their regular lives.

Marisa opened the door to let them in. “Hi guys,” she exclaimed brightly. “Come on in! We’re almost ready.”

“Awesome!” Mia had a huge grin on her face as they entered the house. “Are you excited? I know I am –”

“Oh my God, am I excited? Are you kidding me? I haven’t slept for two nights . . .”

Korum smiled and followed the two sisters as they continued chattering all the way to the kitchen. Mia’s parents and Connor were already gathered there, eating their breakfast.

“Korum!” Ella exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. “Will you join us? I made some potato pancakes with fresh berry jam.”

“Sure,” Korum said, sitting down at the table. “I’d love some pancakes.” Mia and he ate about an hour ago, but he was curious to try the dish Mia had said was her mother’s specialty.

In that moment, Mia came up behind his chair and kissed his cheek, her hair tickling the back of his neck. “Already hungry?” she teased, her hands gently kneading his shoulders. Her easy display of affection made him want to hug her. He hadn’t known how much he needed that from her until she started touching him like that in the past few weeks. Before, he had almost always been the one to initiate physical contact, both of the sexual and more casual variety.

Of course, whenever she was this close to him, he got hard, but the discomfort was a small price to pay. Korum shifted in his seat, raising his knee slightly in case any of his human companions happened to glance under the table.

“Mia, honey, how about you?” her mother asked. “Do you want some pancakes too?”

“I’d love some, mom, thanks.” Mia let go of Korum’s shoulders and sat down in the chair next to him. Korum reached over and took her hand, craving more of her touch.

“Ooh, so lovey-dovey,” Connor said, chewing on a pancake. “Look at those two, Marisa.”

“Shut up, Connor,” his wife said, walking over to put the water to boil. “It’s not like they’re an old married couple like us.” But there was a big smile on her face as she said it, and Korum knew she was joking. From what he had seen, Marisa and her husband were very affectionate with each other.

Korum didn’t mind Connor’s teasing; he loved Mia and had no intention of hiding his feelings from her family. Let them see how much he cared for her. After all, they were trusting him enough to leave their entire lives behind.

He hoped the Elders wouldn’t deny them the nanocytes. He hated the thought of disappointing Mia’s family – and Mia herself. Somehow, almost imperceptibly, Korum had grown to care about these people. In the past two weeks, he’d had a lot of interactions with each of Mia’s relatives, answering their questions about Krina and what to expect during the trip – and he’d found that he genuinely liked them. He saw shades of Mia in both her parents and her sister, and frequently found Connor’s company amusing. If someone had told Korum a few months ago that he would feel this way about a bunch of humans, he would’ve laughed in their face. But ever since he met Mia, his predictable life had gone down the drain.

Ella Stalis brought out the pancakes and served everyone. Tasting his portion, Korum immediately complimented her cooking, loving the combination of sweet jam with the savory potato. She glowed, obviously pleased. In that moment, Korum could see the beauty she must’ve been in her youth – and would likely be again after the procedure.

Finally, all the food had been eaten and dishes put away. Korum helped clean up, loading everything into the dishwasher. Human appliances had always interested him for some reason; they were so primitive and graceless, yet they managed to do their job for the most part.

At that moment, the tiny dog ran out of one of the rooms, barking and jumping at Korum again. Before he had a chance to do anything, Marisa grabbed it off the floor. “Mocha!” she chastised the animal. Turning to Korum, she gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. We kept her in the bedroom so she’s not in the way while we’re packing, but she got out somehow –”

“That’s okay; I don’t mind,” Korum assured her. Then a sudden thought occurred to him. “What are you going to do with the dog when you leave?”

Marisa stared at him. “She’s coming with us, of course.”

Korum blinked slowly. “I see.”

“That’s not a problem, is it?” Marisa asked anxiously. “I know my parents would die without her –”

“No, it’s not a problem,” Korum said. Unexpected, but not a problem. He should’ve known they would want to bring the furry creature; humans often had unnatural attachments to their pets. He would have to make some last-minute adjustments to the ship’s layout to accommodate the dog’s presence, but it wouldn’t be anything major.

Twenty minutes later, everybody was ready to go. Korum brought five large suitcases outside and loaded them onto the aircraft, ignoring the curious stares from the neighbors.

“Be careful, they’re heavy,” Dan Stalis admonished him, and Korum suppressed a smile. Mia’s father clearly didn’t understand the full extent of the differences between Krinar and human bodies. The suitcases were no heavier to him than Ella’s little purse was to her. Still, his concern was rather touching.

When they were all inside the aircraft, Mia made sure they were comfortably seated on floats. Her mother held the dog on her lap, clutching it with a desperation that betrayed her nervousness.

“Goodbye, Ormond Beach. Goodbye, Earth,” Mia’s sister whispered as the aircraft took off, carrying them upward, beyond Earth’s atmosphere, where the big ship awaited them for their interplanetary journey.

Chapter 23

As their ship ascended, Mia watched the shrinking buildings and landmarks below. The pod’s transparent walls and floor allowed for an amazing 360-degree view. Within seconds, their aircraft was above the clouds and blinding sunlight streamed in, causing Mia to squint until Korum did something that minimized the glare.

“Wow,” Marisa breathed, echoing Mia’s own feelings. “This is so not like traveling by airplane . . .”

“We’re moving much faster than your planes,” Korum explained. “In another few minutes, we’ll be reaching our destination right outside of Earth’s atmosphere.”

Mia reached over and squeezed his hand. Her heart was pounding with excitement and trepidation, and she could only imagine how the others must be feeling. Her dad was looking a little pale, and her mom was holding Mocha so tightly that the little dog was squirming. Even Connor was uncharacteristically quiet, a look of awe on his face.

“It’ll be all right, my sweet,” Korum said, leaning over to kiss her temple. “Everything will be fine.”

“I know,” Mia said quietly. “It’s just incredible, that’s all.”

He smiled, showing that sexy dimple in his left cheek. It made him look even more gorgeous than usual, and Mia desperately wished they were alone right now, instead of surrounded by her family.

As though reading her mind, Korum whispered to her, “Later,” and Mia felt her cheeks heating up. His smile changed, became more suggestive, and she pinched his arm in response.

He lifted his eyebrows questioningly, and Mia gave him a frown. “Not in front of my parents,” she mouthed, and his smile turned into a full-blown grin.

Determined not to let him make her blush, Mia looked down, watching with barely controlled excitement as they got further and further away from Earth. When she was little, she had dreamed of being an astronaut, of going to the stars and exploring distant galaxies. Like most kids, she had grown out of that, eventually choosing a more suitable profession. Now, however, she was being given a chance to live that long-ago childhood dream, and it was beyond amazing.

Soon, they were so far away that she could see Earth in its entirety – a beautiful blue planet that looked far too small to be home to billions of people. Looking at it, Mia couldn’t help but realize just how vulnerable the entire human race was, tied as they were to this one place that looked so defenseless in the vastness of space.

“What are you thinking about?” Korum asked, reaching over to stroke her knee.

“I was thinking I understand now why the Krinar want to diversify,” Mia said, “why you don’t want to bet your survival on any one planet. It looks so fragile like this . . .”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?” Korum’s hand tightened on her knee. When she looked up at him, he was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. Before she could ask him about it, though, she heard her mom gasp.

“Oh wow, Korum!” Ella Stalis exclaimed. “Is that your ship?”

Mia looked up. They were approaching something that looked like a large bullet. Dark-colored, it was surprisingly plain-looking, completely unlike any starship she had ever seen in science fiction movies.

“That’s it?” she asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Krinar transport pods looked more advanced and futuristic than this ship that could supposedly go faster than the speed of light.