CHAPTER 22

Chloe was a ball of nerves by the time she and Trixie made it to the medical bay. How would the conversation with Nitiel go? Would she have the guts to put Trixie's mischievous plan to action, when Chloe had never done such a thing before? Her personal plan was to do it only as a last resort, in case Nitiel didn't leave her a choice, but even then could she pull it off?

There was one way to find out.

Trixie stopped in front of the door to the medical bay and gave Chloe a pat on the dress-clad thigh. "Don't worry, girl, I'll leave once I have handed you over to your stud muffin. I won't stay and watch, though I want to." She winked. "The look on his face when he sees what you've got for him would be priceless."

"Let's go." Chloe could take no more suspense. Everything happened for a reason and all that, but she felt as if fate was toying with her. Enough of that.

She stepped into the medical bay the second the door whooshed open… and crashed into a solid chest. A dazed look up revealed the orange face of a scowling Dr. Multi-horn.

"My lady, what are you doing here?" he asked politely, in contrast with his resting bitch face and intimidating crown of horns. "Is there an emergency?"

"Ummm, no. I'm here to check on Subcommander Nitiel."

The young doctor's scowl deepened. "He is not here. I cleared him for home recovery an hour ago."

An hour ago? Chloe might as well have been hit with a wet mop in the face. Nitiel had barely waited for her to leave to move out of the medical bay, when he had told her he would be sleeping! Had he broken his code and lied just so he could get rid of her?

But no, that made no sense. There would be no getting rid of her in his cabin, since they were still sharing it. He must have wanted to be back in his space instead of the sterile environment of the medical bay. She was reading too much into the situation.

"Then the Subcommander's cabin is where we're going next," Trixie announced. As soon as the door to the medical bay closed, separating them from the doctor, she added, "That's even better for the plan, Chloe. More privacy, a bigger bed – perfect."

Chloe rolled her eyes. She did not care about that right now; she just wanted to talk to Nitiel. To tell him she wanted a relationship with him, the ASI's matchmaking be damned. And she would walk all around the station in search of him, if necessary.

It turned out she might have to, because when she and Trixie entered the cabin, Nitiel was nowhere to be found.

Chloe stood in the middle of the empty bedroom, stupefied. "Where is he? He has a hole in his chest, for goodness' sake! He is supposed to be resting!"

"Don't worry, honey, we'll find him." Trixie had a determined look on her face as she activated the communicator attached to her dress' puff sleeve. "Boo bear, come in. We have a problem."

"My bean?" Vrixiel's worried voice came through the small metal disk. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but Chloe here isn't. Your friend is missing."

"Nitiel? How so?"

Chloe felt like biting her nails while Trixie was acquainting her mate with the situation. Where could Nitiel have gone? He couldn't be running errands in his state! What if the Commander had ordered him to leave for Earth because an urgent need of his representative had arisen?

Chloe was about to check the hidden wardrobe for his clothes when Vrixiel said, "I'm here with Commander Siriniel, and he has not ordered Subcommander Nitiel out of bed. Wherever the Subcommander has gone is by his own decision."

"Check his location, please. We must know he is alright."

"Of course. I'll call in a moment, bean."

Panic clawed at Chloe's throat. "Trixie, you think something has happened to him?"

"I think he might have done something stupid."

"Like?"

Before Trixie could reply, her communicator chimed. "What do you have for us, boo bear?"

"The Subcommander is on his fighter ship. His communicator is switched off. I can't reach him."

"On his ship?" Chloe parroted. What the heck was going on?

"It is as I suspected," Trixie grumbled. "The idiot is running away."

"What? Why? You think he's running… from me?"

"Not you. His feelings." Trixie shook her head, lips pressed tightly together in clear disapproval. "Boo bear, I'll handle it from here."

"Bean, what–"

Trixie switched off her communicator and grabbed Chloe's hand. "Hurry, or he's going to get away."

Chloe was still confused by the news Nitiel was about to leave, without having been allowed to do so by his boss, so she let Trixie pull her along to the bed. It was when her friend pressed a small indentation at the foot of the bed and the clamshell closed shut that Chloe thought to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Getting you to your stud muffin, duh. Hurry, he might take off any second." Trixie led her to the wall behind the bed, which now had a round hole in it. It must have been there all along, just hidden by the open clamshell.

"Uh…"

Trixie patted her butt. "Come on, in you go. The chute is active, so he hasn"t left yet. Don't get cold feet now, Chloe."

"Uhhh." What. The. Heck.

"Girl, we don't have time for this! The chute will take you directly into the Subcommander's ship. It's used in case of emergency, which you're having now. Or do you wish to see him fly off to Earth without you?"

"No, I–"

"Then get in there! I'll help with the dress."

When had Chloe"s life become an action movie? One minute she was looking for Nitiel to have a serious conversation and the next, she was climbing into a hole in the wall to slide who knew how many levels and rings down a space station and stop a fighter ship from taking off. Good thing she liked slides.

"Go get your man, honey!" Trixie gave her a strong push.

Chloe screamed. She took that back: she did not like this slide. It was steep and swirly, the chute was pitch black so she had no idea what to expect, and her stupid long dress rode high up her legs, leaving her butt in direct contact with the metal. When she reached the end of the slide – if she ever did, this thing seemed endless – she might have the worst case of a chute burn.

Suddenly, there was bright light ahead. Chloe barely had time to brace before the chute shot her out and onto a jelly surface. Face-first, because of course.

Dazed, she heard the roar of a powerful engine.

The engine of a ship taking off.