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“Trust me, it wasn’t rocket science, and if it was, I’d have gotten a job with NASA instead of spending my time patching up people at the free clinic. I just did what anyone would have done.” She tugged on his arm. “But we can’t stay here and chat. We have to go.”
Again, he didn’t budge.
Instead, his gaze fell to their hands, and she realized that somehow, they’d switched. It was no longer him holding on to her, but the other way around.
She was holding on to him.
She dropped his hand quickly, too quickly.
“Come on.” She motioned to him and hastened down the corridor.
With the smoke slowly being sucked up by the vents, she could move faster now as visibility was better, but she soon realized she was moving alone.
A glance behind her and the alien was standing in the same spot that she’d left him, seeming completely unbothered.
Now, what the hell was wrong with him?
For a moment, her heart skipped a beat, and not in the good way.
What if he wasn’t there to help her? What if he was working with the ship’s captain who’d refused to let her off the vessel in the first place?
He was Merssi like the ship’s captain. Maybe they knew each other?
Were they working together?
His nonchalance was concerning.
“It’s locked.” His voice reached her. “We couldn’t open it even if we tried. I triggered a lockdown of the lower sector.” He glanced about the walls and took a few steps in the opposite direction from her. “It seems we’ve foiled each other’s plans. Maybe…” He eyed her again. “…you didn’t need my help after all.”
“I do need help!” She gestured around them at the walls and the obvious fact that they were sitting ducks. That’s when she realized she still had one shoe waving in her hand.
Cursing underneath her breath, she put the shoe back on her foot.
Didn’t he see they were stuck?
He chuckled again, at her tone possibly, before he turned in a slow circle, his gaze moving over the walls and floor.
In one smooth movement, he got down on all fours and began tapping the floor with one four-fingered hand as he felt against the surface with the other.
What in the…
Nia watched him, her heart beating hard in her chest.
The metal clanking she’d heard earlier sounded louder now, and she kept glancing from one closed end of the hallway to the other.
She had no idea what he was doing, and she felt helpless just standing by and watching him.
What if the smoke had gotten to his head?
“Here,” he suddenly said as he tapped somewhere on the floor. At the same time, there was a creak and a large panel lifted enough for him to slide it off.
“What’s that?”
Of course, he didn’t answer.
He can’t understand you, Nia.
“Well,” he said, green gaze finding her, “we can’t go forward and we can’t go back. As we speak, Niftrills are piling up at both exits.”