Shadowed(31)

“Gravitational pull,” he said, answering her to her surprise. “The steering system is shot, and the thrusters seem to be too.”

“Then what’s…what’s going to happen?” Nina asked.

He spared her a quick glance. “We’re going to crash, sweetheart,” he growled. “That’s what’s going to happen. Better brace for impact.”

“Oh my God,” Nina whispered. She was pinned back against her seat by the incredible G-force of the ship hurtling toward the ground, and her chest felt tight and heavy like an elephant was standing on it—she could hardly breathe. She wished she could at least close her eyes so she didn’t have to see her impending doom, but the side of the purple planet loomed larger and larger in the screen in front of her, and she found herself powerless to look away.

Mehoo, she thought as a huge violet landmass came up to meet them, Who will bring you your favorite hamburger now? Who will learn to make your healing medicine? I’m sorry, so sorry I didn’t learn more…

Suddenly, everything went blue as currents of strange blue-green gel foamed out of the console in front of her. Nina looked around wildly—it seemed to be coming from everywhere.

Oh my God! What the hell? Apparently, she wasn’t going to die in the crash after all—she was going to drown in blue gel instead. The view of the purple planet rushing up to meet them took on the look of a strange, underwater landscape. The gel had covered Nina’s mouth and was almost up to her nose. She couldn’t even swim to get away—her hands were cuffed, and she was bound to her seat.

Going to die! Going to die, going to die! screamed the voice in her head.

There was a crunching noise, and she felt her head jerk forward and knock against something that was soft at first and then hard. She took one last breath of air, lifting her chin frantically to rise above the seething gel…and then everything went dark.



When she woke up, the cabin was bathed in a sickly greenish light and her head was pounding. The view outside the windshield-like screen at the front of the ship showed only darkness and vague purple humps that might have been hills or haystacks or simply shadows.

At first, Nina couldn’t remember where she was or what she was doing there. Her last memory was of telling Mr. Witherspoon she absolutely would not give him a “happy ending” for his massage. How the hell had she ended up here, strapped to a seat with her hands cuffed and her head aching?

Then it all came rushing back—the man from her dream, the one with a shadowed face and burning silver eyes…the way he had abducted her and shot them both into space…the crazy, nausea-inducing trip through the wormhole in the wobbling ship and the crash landing on the vast purple planet.

But everything turned blue right before the crash. I thought I was going to drown. Was that my imagination?

Nina blinked and looked around. No, she hadn’t imagined it. There were still clumps of blue gel clinging to the console and puddles of it on the floor at her feet but it seemed to be melting even as she watched. Maybe it was some kind of cushioning system—the Kindred version of an airbag in case of collision. Nina could still feel the sticky remains of it on her cheeks.

She lifted her hands instinctively to wipe it off and remembered afresh that she was cuffed and helpless. Looking at the copper-colored cuffs that seemed to have molded themselves to her wrists made her think of her captor—where was he?

Looking to her left, Nina saw that the pilot’s chair was empty. Had he left her? Abandoned her in the wrecked ship while she was helpless and unconscious? The bastard! Where the hell had he gone? Nina wriggled in the tight harness, filled with righteous indignation. But then, by craning her head around the side of her seat and looking over her shoulder, she saw him at last.

He was slumped in a sitting position in the narrow walkway behind the cockpit area. His head was sunk on his broad chest, his face hidden by his shaggy dark blue hair, and his hands dangled limply between his spread legs.

The sight gave Nina a sudden chill—he looked like a marionette whose strings had been cut. She couldn’t be sure if he was breathing or not, and a strange squeezing feeling began in her chest. Part of her was glad he’d been injured and possibly killed in the crash—at least now he couldn’t hurt her or do whatever horrible thing he’d had planned for her.

But if he’s dead, you’re trapped. Marooned on an alien planet in another part of the universe miles—no—light years—from Earth. How will you ever get back?

It was a good question, and as Nina considered it, she felt panic rising in her chest, filling her throat like dry cotton until she couldn’t breathe…couldn’t think…