Noumenon Infinity by Marina J. Lostetter

Author:Marina J. Lostetter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

It was a short trip to the med bay, but it felt like centuries. He tapped his foot anxiously in the lift, allowing his nervous energy to finally escape. Böhm side-eyed him, but said nothing. Which was good. Tan needed this brief release, because once he saw Ming-Na he would have to rein himself in again. She needed him to be strong. What she was going through right now took so much strength, so much work, and she did not need the distraction of his frayed nerves.

When the chime dinged and the doors split open, he practically poured himself into the hall beyond, hurrying just short of running.

“I’m here,” he declared breathlessly in the medical wing. “I’m here, where is she?”

The medic wore a calm, cool expression, despite what was going on outside. That was good, that meant the doctors were focusing on his wife and not the objects closed around them like a giant bear trap.

“She’s in here, Captain, follow me.”

The medic took him into a private room that was a somewhat off-putting robin’s-egg blue. Inside, Ming-Na was seated in a birthing chair, her pelvis pointed downward so that the baby could drop down into the waiting arms of a supine medic below.

She reached for him as he entered.

“Look at you,” he said proudly, taking one of her hands in his and wiping across her brow with the other. Sweat had gathered near her temples and on her upper lip.

“I feel like a car,” she said.

He forced a laugh, trying to block out everything except her shining eyes. “What?”

“You know.” She gestured to the wheeled cart the medic would lie on to slide beneath her. “It’s like the doctor’s a mechanic working on my chassis.”

He kissed her forehead, at a loss for words. Normally he might play into her joke, but right now he had no headspace for clever quips.

Böhm quietly crept in behind Tan and seated himself in the corner.

“How are you?” Tan asked her. “How do you feel?”

“Hurts,” she said honestly. “But I’m fine. Will be, once it’s over. What was all that diving about? Those lights turn this room eggplant, and I have to tell you it’s not the most comforting color.”

No one had told her?

Irritation bubbled in his esophagus. He wanted to bark at the nearest medic, scold him for keeping his wife in the dark.

But even as his lips parted to tell her the truth, his tongue stumbled.

“I . . . You shouldn’t have to worry about it right now.” The words caught in his throat, and he had to gulp dryly after spitting them out.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I’m nervous for you, that’s all.”

“Orlando,” she said warningly. “What’s happening?”

“There are . . . are ships,” he said softly, frankly. He knew he sounded patronizing, but he wasn’t sure how else to say it. It wouldn’t come out any other way. “They’re very close. We’re trying to hail them. First contact is imminent, I think.”

“Ships?” she said, excitement setting her eyes aglow. “Did Earth receive

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