Contact by Susan Grant

Author:Susan Grant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781428516236
Publisher: DP
Published: 2002-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“Kào,” she squeaked, her hands clawing for something to hold. But he’d already walked away, gazing all around him, clearly fascinated.

She tipped her head back against the wall and gulped. This was worse than the time she visited the top of the Eiffel Tower, a view she’d found impossible to enjoy because it couldn’t be viewed safely from behind glass.

“Jordan!”

Kào called to her. She was too petrified to reach for her translator. Panting, she felt a cold sweat prickling her skin. She pressed herself so firmly to the wall that she was sure her molecules and those of the surface fused.

“Come, Jordan. You can’t get the full effect from there.” He faced her as he walked backward. “The view is astounding.”

The view. He’d said something about the view. She didn’t care about the view. All she wanted was to see solid ground beneath her feet. “Computer—next option,” she croaked.

The computer didn’t respond. And Kào didn’t hear her. He stopped, searching the scene around him. “Perhaps we ought to ask for wind. Level one? What do you think?”

“No wind,” she almost shrieked. A cold sweat prickled her skin. Her knees were shaking. She would have gladly slid to the floor, but she was terrified that the itty-bitty cliff wouldn’t accommodate her butt.

Finally it hit Kào that something was wrong. “What is it? You don’t look well.”

She brought the translator around to her eyes and chanced another downward glance. Big mistake. A flock of birds flew past, thousands of feet below. She crammed her eyelids closed.

“Are you afraid of heights?”

“Yes,” she gasped.

“But you’re a pilot.”

“So?”

His eyes glowed. “Airplanes go up into the atmosphere. Rather high, in fact.”

“It’s not the same thing. You’re strapped in a seat, behind glass. You can’t fall out. And don’t bring up the four laws of courage, either, because none of them applies. I know. I’ve tried them all. Let’s go to the next option. Is there a beach? I like running on the sand. Or what about that forest—that was nice. Yes. I like the forest.”

He regarded her from where he stood in the center of the sky, looking like a vengeful god from ancient mythology.

“So I’m afraid of heights,” she blurted defensively. “Nothing else bothers me. Don’t look at me like that, Kào. I’m telling the truth. I’ve landed airplanes in typhoons, pulled a dog from a burning house, killed a rattlesnake . . . with my bare hands.” Actually, she’d whacked it with a broom, but that wasn’t important now. “I ate a grasshopper, a whole grasshopper, in survival school, and that’s not all.” She stopped to catch her breath, which was proving all but impossible.

Kào read his translator for long moments before he finally returned his midnight eyes to her. His dimple had returned. “The six-legged green insect, was it alive or dead?”

“Damn you, Kào, it’s not funny! Change the scene.”

“Exactly. It’s a scene, a simulation.” He stomped on the floor to prove it. “See? It’s not real.”

“This is an irrational fear. Reality has nothing to do with it.

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