Nexus Movie on Pfaffen Skylands (Nexus Space History Mysteries Book 4) by Ginger Booth

Author:Ginger Booth [Booth, Ginger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

CROC PHOBIA

Two days later, Nexus’s stylus hovered over the screenwriters’ latest attempt at a croc scene, to incorporate their race into the movie. He’d been incarcerated in an airlock for decompression, then later in Prosper Thrive’s autodoc for extra repairs. Ben must have brainstormed this scene with them.

In autistic shutdown from the overwhelming compression terror, and maybe a little from his first Hierophant lesson content, Nexus hadn’t been talking. Except to insist, emphatically, that he was OK and just needed to ‘go home!’ ‘Home’ presently being his reclining chair in the familiar gondola pod – ‘familiar’ being the key.

Today he intended to get back to work. His stylus hung poised in midair, as it had for the last half hour. The scene was a compromise. For a brief minute of holo experience, a croc in a shadowy room observed Ben and Texan on Pfaffen, like an evil witch scrying through an enchanted mirror.

The croc narrowed his eyes, rewound, and zoomed in on the testudo, likewise spying on the human Pfaffen explorers. Ben hadn’t noticed he had company, but the croc did. He froze the screen and split it, to speak with a larger testudo.

In terms of technical accuracy, there were problems with this scene. Any croc observing Ben and Texan on that long-ago day, saw through Ben’s eyes. Therefore Ben couldn’t appear in the scene.

But maybe Ben wanted it that way? This holo drama was hardly the place to admit that crocs spied on humanity by threading humans of interest, to watch through their eyes. That would upset people, and wasn’t the purpose of the scene. Which was merely a brief silent conversation between croc and testudo. To the testudo’s consternation, crocs would join them on Pfaffen.

Cut to scene of Ben’s ship departing Pfaffen orbit, to vanish into the star-spangling BECT gateway. And moments later, the first immense croc ship arrived, to descend and claim a skyland for their own.

“Nexus?” Catalina said gently. “Scoff and Prometheus are here to see you.”

Jarred into decisiveness, Nexus finally scribbled, “Great!” and sent his official technical-consultant feedback winging to Kassidy Yang and the screenwriters. On second thought, he forwarded the script to Noor as well.

“He isn’t talking much yet,” she apologized to his visitors. “Nexus?”

He clapped his hands together to shut his holo, and swiveled his seat to face the cramped room, instead of the wall. Caio and Jun-hee waved from chairs at the opposite end of the pod. He tried a smile. “Hi.” The word wasn’t audible. And he didn’t look at them.

“Thanks so much for coming!” Catalina claimed his hand, and beamed her soft encouraging smile at him.

He managed to micro-nod, more of a so-so than agreement, but it was all he could manage.

“Feel better?” Scoff asked. “Body fixed?”

Valentin translated, of course, on a comm channel direct to Nexus’s ear. He managed a full nod this time, with a hard frown. His girlfriend squeezed his hand again, and he attempted silent words via the comm. “Yes. Healthy.”

“You’ve been glaring at the screenplay for an hour,” Catalina noted.

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