Reading Online Novel

Nikhil(65)



"No male should be touching you," Onp growled angrily.

"Craig, let her go!" Jen's quiet but cutting order from the back of the group had him immediately dropping his hand.

"He's not touching me now, Warrior Onp, so sheath your sword." When he didn't immediately, she continued. "We are a species that touches. He wasn't attacking me. Were you, Craig?" she turned her gaze back to him and realized he didn't understand what she was saying. "Shake your head, Craig," she hissed, "unless you want a blade at your throat."

Craig vigorously began to shake his head from side to side and slowly Onp replaced his sword.

"To answer your questions Craig. I was kissing my True Mate goodbye, and no, I haven't been brainwashed. Now," she looked over the group. "We need to talk because I think I've come up with a way to figure out how long ago the Ganglians took us."

"What? How?" Craig demanded, and while he kept his voice down, his eyes shot to Onp who was still watching him closely.

"Where's Paul?" she asked.

"Here," Paul's voice came from the back of the group.

Mac was about to ask Paul her question when she saw Jen shifting her weight. "Come on, let's all sit down and I'll tell you what I'm thinking."

Jen gave Mac an irritated look. She knew what her friend was doing. She didn't need to be coddled.

"Come on, Jen," Mac put an arm around her shoulders pulling her back, her brown eyes pleading with blue. "I need to know what you think but I also need to know that you are okay."

With a heavy sigh, Jen nodded and let herself be led to a cot where she sat. "Okay, I'm sitting. Now tell me what you've learned from the Kaliszians."

"I haven't learned anything from them, at least not concerning where Earth is or how long ago we were taken."

"But you just said," Craig started angrily.

"I said that I thought of something," Mac emphasized her gaze traveling over the shaggy, dull hair and scruffy beards on the faces looking at her. They had all been a well-groomed group when she first met them, with only Eric sporting a very short well- trimmed beard. "And that I need Paul to tell me if I could be right."

"What can I possibly tell you, Mac?" Paul asked.

"How fast does hair grow?" she replied.

"What?" Paul frowned at the question.

"Hair. You're a barber. You know hair." She lifted some of hers that thanks to Luol's treatment and Nikhil cleansing it was silky and shiny. "Mine has to be at least three inches longer than it was when we were first taken."

"It... it varies from a quarter to a half an inch a month," Paul told her.

"So if mine is three inches that means six months."

"I... yes." Paul's hand reached up to touch his own hair. Why hadn't he thought of that? His wasn't three inches longer but then his hair had always grown slower. Looking at Eric's, whose hair he knew had always grown faster, he saw it was at least three and a half inches. "Dear God, I think you’re right."

"Six months?" Jen whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she saw the shock and disbelief in everyone's eyes. "We've been gone six months..."

Mac was about to say something when she saw Luol enter the room and hearing what he was saying, she was up and across the room.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Luol walked into the survivors’ area greeting Onp as his gaze traveled around the room. "Warrior Onp."

"Healer Luol, you are ready to resume treating the Nekeok?" Onp knew only four of the Nekeok had been treated so far and that the eight Tafa and all the humans were still waiting, with the exception of Nikhil's True Mate.

"I will be taking one Nekeok and one human," Luol informed him.

"But there is only one deep-repair unit," Onp said frowning.

"The second has been brought down from the Defender to speed up the process."

"But..."

"Why only one?!!" Mac demanded and both males looked at her in shock.

"I'm sorry, Mackenzie?" Luol frowned down at her. He hadn't realized she was here. "Why only one what?"

"Why only one of my people? You know they need the deep-repair unit more than the others!"

"I..."

"They need it, Luol!"

"I know they do, Mackenzie, but so do the others, and your males will require a great deal more time in the unit. So much time that I would be able to treat two or three of the others. And with the supply ship arriving in four days..."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"The others..." Luol's gaze traveled to the others in the room. "They will be leaving on the ship so they can return to their families and homes while you..."