Barbarian Lover(42)

It beeps for a moment, and then a tinny voice pipes into a speaker over the sink. “The device was destroyed upon request. It was disassembled and then crushed in the trash compactors. Do you wish retrieval?”

“No, that’s okay,” I tell it, relieved. “I’m good.” One problem down, at least.

I clean up with water from the sink, do my business, and then dress in my leathers. Maybe it’s because I did a lot of sleeping yesterday post translator removal, but I’m pretty awake. I enter back into the bedroom, but Aehako is still sacked out. I contemplate getting back into bed with him, but I worry about Harlow. It’s no secret that she and Haeden aren’t exactly rubbing along, and this is an alien spaceship…and I’ve probably been unconscious for about a day. I should check on her.

I exit the room and head down a hall, until I realize I have no idea which way is back to the front. “Computer, can you lead me to Harlow?”

“Please follow,” it indicates, and the lights edging the floor go in the opposite direction I’m heading. Oh. I turn around and follow its twisting path through debris-strewn halls. Several corridors later, I hear the sound of what seems like a power drill, and when I enter, I see Harlow with a pair of oversized protective goggles on, drilling something together and peering at a computer screen.

“Hi?” I call out.

She looks up at me and the goggles slide down her face. “Oh! Hey!” She pushes at the goggles. “These stupid things do not fit human heads very well.”

I stifle my laughter and approach, gazing at the bits and pieces she has strewn on a metal table. “What is all this?”

“Well,” she says, setting the drill down and putting her hands on her hips. “This is a bunch of junk at the moment. But I’m having the computer read me a manual about how to create a rock cutter.”

“A rock cutter?”

“Yeah, so, did you ever notice that the bachelorette cave has one wall that’s rougher than all the others?” Harlow peers at me and pushes back her wild red hair. Her freckles crinkle around her eyes as she swipes a hand over her forehead and leaves a greasy mark there.

“Um, you know, I don’t think I ever did.” Now I feel a little silly. “It’s unfinished?”

“Yeah, and I always wondered about that. But you know most of the cave is super smooth. So I figured that when they left here, they probably cannibalized a lot of the computer parts to make rock cutters, and the computer told me I was right. I guess they just ran out of juice when they got to our cave.” She shrugs. “So I thought I’d see if we could put together some new cutters in order to hollow out a few more home caverns for people, since we’re so crowded.”

That’s so thoughtful of her. And here I was just having sex and thinking about myself. “You’re wonderful, Harlow. You know that?”

A surprised smile crosses the redhead’s face. “Thanks,” she says shyly. “I was just trying to think of ways I could help out, you know? My dad was a mechanic and so I know my way around a few things, but I have to admit that all of this is baffling to me.” She spreads her hands out and gestures at the metal junk on the table. “Luckily there’s lots of pictures on the computer, so I’m mostly going off of that.”

“Smart,” I say, examining the table. All of the pieces look like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Even the drill Harlow is using isn’t exactly normal looking.

“How’s your ear?” she asks, picking up a piece of metal and holding it up to get a better look at it.

“Better. Translator’s all gone.” I hesitate, then ask, “You get what you came for?”

Harlow gives me a guarded look. “More or less.”

I can take a hint. She’s clearly still not talking about whatever it is she tagged along to find out. I understand that sort of thing, what with my infertility and all. Some things just aren’t open for sharing with strangers, and I don’t know Harlow as well as I know some of the others. There’s always just been so many people around that we’ve never really gotten to bond.

I feel guilty about that.

“You need help?” I volunteer. “I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, but maybe another pair of hands can’t hurt?”

“You sure?” she asks. “This isn’t a fun job and I don’t even know if it’s going to work at the end of the day.”

I shrug. “Aehako’s still asleep and will be for a while, I imagine.”

“Mmmhmm. Yeah, I heard you guys down the hall. So you and him are a thing?”