Chapter 11

An alert flashedon the screen to my right.

I was in the middle of programming in the route back down to my mate's domicile. It was easier for my ship to go straight up and back down then to wiggle around in the atmosphere of Earth. Several of the other species currently in this system had evolved with slower modes of transport. My species had their own way of doing things.

I glanced over at the alert.

It was for my mate's chair.

The chair was reporting physical distress, rapid heartbeat, and struggling.

There was something wrong.

I put the ship in a holding pattern and released the impact webbing that held me secured in place. As I released it, I sank down through the mesh to the passenger section of my ship. As soon as I passed through the mesh, I heard a horrible sound.

My mate was screaming.

I dropped down until I was in front of her.

Liquid was streaming down her face, her eyes wide, her face puffy and red. She was shaking and sweating. She looked at me, her eyes going wide like they had the first time she had seen me. She let out another scream, struggling back and forth in her chair.

"LET ME GO!" she shrieked.

I reached forward and slid my hand under her palm, pressing down on the release. The chair solidified, pushing her up to the surface as it returned to its static state. She put her feet down on my tail and stood. She looked down.

I had changed the view setting to full so we couldn't see the floor of the passenger section. Instead we had a beautiful view of the space around us and her planet below. She stepped backwards off my tail back onto the chair, and perched on it like a primate, both of her feet going to one of the arms of the chair as she curled up in a ball, her breath coming in rapid pants.

She stared across the room at where her purse was lying on the floor, looking as if it were floating in space. I must have knocked it with my tail in my hurry to get back down.

She closed her eyes and let out another sob, shaking.

I reached out and picked up her purse and held it out to her. She didn't open her eyes, so I pushed it up against her hand. Her eyes snapped open and she clutched it to her chest, her hands shaking as she opened it, grabbed something from inside it, and popped it into her mouth, her eyes still closed.

I watched her quietly, not making any sound.

There was something wrong, but I had no knowledge of what it was. I couldn't move the ship without her secured in her chair, but her going back in the chair was not an option right now. All I could do was try to change the environment. I reached out again for the arm of the chair she wasn't perched on and depressed the controls for the visual environment. I turned off the view settings.

The stars blinked out, replaced by the normal prismatic walls of my ship, displaying a bland uniform color.

Jessica was taking deeper breaths, and she sank down from her curled up position so her bottom was on the arm of her chair. She shifted her feet down to the seat of the chair before turning to look at me.

Now felt like a good time to speak.

"There is a human expert medical professional on the Norratar flag ship," I offered. "I can change our trajectory from your house and request permission to dock there."

"My house is on Earth," she whispered.

"Yes." I waited for her to elaborate.

She didn't say anything, just stared at me.

"I will send a request to the Norratar ship," I nodded. She was my mate, and if she wasn't in a state to make decisions, I would make the best one for her.

"My house is on Earth, why are we in space?" she hissed at me.

"I'm not sure I understand your question," I replied. "We are in space because we are on our way to your house."

She stood up on the chair, crossing her arms. Even standing on it, she was still shorter than I was at my comfortable resting position. The muscles around her eyes tightened as she looked up at me.

"Outer space is NOT on the way to my house." She jabbed a finger at me. "I have to go to my house. I have to get my things!"

"Oh, I understand the confusion," I said. "It is simpler for my ship to go out of the atmosphere and then back down into it rather than moving around inside of it."

"I don't understand that at all," she replied.

"I can try to provide a more detailed explanation, but I don't think that is what is important right now. A short while ago you were exhibiting extreme signs of physical distress, including screaming, leaking water, and a heart rate that is listed as being dangerous for your species to hold for a prolonged period," I informed her. "You need to go be evaluated by a medical professional."

"It's fine." She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"I am unable to believe that due to your signs of extreme distress," I replied. "I will request permission to board the ship. Even if you are acting normally now, I must be reassured by an educated professional. Please agree to this for the sake of my comfort. I can take you to a human hospital if you prefer?"

She shook her head, avoiding eye contact as her face flushed.

"No human hospital." Her words came out quickly. "Let's go to the space elves."

"This will not work while the ship is in motion, but this is the on off trigger for your seat." I put my fingers over the release and mimicked the gripping motion needed to trigger it. "Please try it yourself and then resume your seat for transport to the ship."

I lifted back up through the mesh to the flight section.

The whole experience left me uncomfortable, and I needed a moment of distance. It wasn't her behavior itself that was the problem; it was not knowing what to do about it. This relationship was so new that I didn't know anything. I didn't know how to help her. I didn't know how to protect her from whatever that was.

It made me feel vulnerable and unprepared.

It was my duty to take care of her and I hadn't been ready the first time she needed me. How could I be a good mate if I didn't know what to do? How could I be a good mate if she wasn't willing to tell me what she was experiencing and how to help?

I sent in my request to the Norratar crown ship.

I couldn't let myself stay ignorant.

I would earn her trust.