Arrival by Michelle Robbins

Author:Michelle Robbins [Robbins, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781611247268
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

The sun had long set and the waning moon nestled against the mountains when Mike finally found time to visit the infirmary. He pushed through the doors and came face-to-face with a member of the medical corps, seated in the reception booth.

“Perfect timing, as usual,” teased the technician.

The scowl was a good one, crunching the young cabal member’s forehead into uneven folds of skin. If it wasn’t the twinkle in his eyes and the slight upward tilt of his mouth’s edges, Mike might have paused for a moment and wondered.

“Are our guests resting comfortably?” he asked instead.

At the table, he stopped and placed his palm on the ident-a-cube. The machine lit up with a bluish-white glow. A low buzzing filled the air as it took and recorded his cellular information.

Amusement flowed between the two men.

“At this moment,” said the corpsman. “The vomiting and diarrhea stopped about three marks ago.”

Mike nodded, and suspected his expression was a smirk.

“You’re right. Perfect timing.”

His fellow cabal member’s booming laugh drowned out every sound in the area except the loud click as the security lock disengaged. With a wave, Mike moved through the door, which made a sharp snick as it closed and locked behind him. He headed deeper into the medical facility.

He wasn’t gonna lie; he was here to see Liam, but he made time to check in on all the other volunteers as well. They all lay still and quiet in their bunks, on their sides to aid in the noxious task of cleaning up the vomit and…the other thing.

Each volunteer had been stripped and put into the bunks naked.

Fuck if he knew why, other than it was the medical team’s peculiar preference. Probably so they could more easily slip a guy an injection. Can’t trust them anywhere within arm’s reach.

He was glad to see a cabal-member inside the room of each volunteer, ones who didn’t wear the uniform icon that indicated assignment to medical. The energy around the visiting Urilqii blazed with agitation and concern.

The visitations were proof of intimate connections on the horizon. It purported fantastic things for the goal to embed human troops and for the necessary full immersion and inevitable claiming.

What did surprise him, however, was one of the visitors.

Steve sat beside the bed of volunteer Jace Goodard. Startled, Mike paused at the threshold. Steve looked up, raised his eyebrows, and Mike kicked himself back into gear. He continued into the room and stopped by the foot of the bed.

Under his pod-kin’s regard, Mike’s cheeks warmed. ::I’ve been too self-involved lately. I missed the obvious. I missed your concern or I would have reached out earlier.::

::You’ve got enough on your mind these days.::

Shame slammed into him. ::You’re my pod-kin. I’ll always have time for your concerns. You know that.::

One side of Steve’s face dimpled with a half-smile. ::Of course you do. But I can handle my heart myself.:: The flood of reassurance Steve sent his way brought a sting of emotion to his eyes. ::So, I’m not such an arrogant asswipe after all?::

Steve huffed a laugh.

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