The Oceans between Stars by Kevin Emerson

Author:Kevin Emerson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-12-12T00:00:00+00:00

9

DISTANCE TO CENTAURI B: 3.3 LIGHT-YEARS

“I can’t actually see you like this,” said Phoebe. “The star where we came from is a red dwarf, so we mainly see by infrared. Without the adapters on my eyes, all this steam is making everything a big bright blur. It’d be like if you stared up at the sun.”

Liam rocked on his heels, and the thought that flashed through his mind was: Run. Get out of here while she couldn’t see. Back to the ship, shove her parents’ pods out the door and take off, run for it and never look back. Get back to his people, his world. . . .

Except he had no idea where his people even were. And his world was long gone.

He exhaled hard, hands fidgeting at his sides. “Are you an alien?”

Phoebe risked a slight smile. “Aren’t we all?”

“I guess, but you’re not human.”

Her smile faded. “Do I look it?”

“No.” Liam turned to Barro and Tarra. Streaks had appeared on their faces too, the purple, spotted skin showing through. Back to Phoebe. His heart was racing, his nerves ringing. It seemed impossible that what he had just seen had really happened, and yet in some ways it felt as much like a relief as a surprise. But she’s part of the enemy—

“Are you still there?”

Liam took a deep breath. Her nose was still the same. Her mouth the same shape, her lips a sort of pink, and her teeth humanlike, or were they also a costume? He wanted to ask, but maybe now wasn’t the right time.

“Yeah. I’m here.”

Phoebe cleared her throat. “We even had our vocal cords surgically altered, to make learning your language easier.”

“What did your old voice sound like?”

Phoebe’s throat moved up and down. “I can’t really do it anymore. It was sort of like human sounds, but also I remember one time we watched a video in class about the rain forests on Earth, and there were these big birds? We made noises like that, too. More musical, I think.”

Liam had a million questions knocking urgently on all the doors in his head. Where to even start? And he had to ignore that voice that was still saying Run! “Where are you from?”

“A planet called Telos.” Phoebe blinked over and over. “Can we talk about this once we’ve gotten out of here? It’s weird talking to a blob, and seriously, if I stay in this steam much longer I might pass out. Our bristles are heat-sensitive too.”

“Bristles?”

Phoebe ran a finger over the black dots on her cheek. “We shave them down from time to time, but yeah. Bristles. Plenty of Earth animals have them.”

“Does that hurt? Shaving them?”

Another half smile. “It all hurts.” She held out her hand. “Help me toward the door?”

Liam looked at her hand. Over her shoulder toward the doors. This is your last chance—

But he reached out. Nothing weird about her hand, at least through her space suit, and he reminded himself that, technically, Phoebe wasn’t even the weirdest alien he’d seen in the last hour.

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