Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
“Oh, uh, hi.” Liv backed up uneasily but the strange, two headed creature followed her on its six, awkward looking legs. She couldn’t help thinking that the knees bent the wrong way but it seemed to move well enough. “You can…uh, you can go back to your little cave.” Liv made a shooing motion at it which the creature ignored. “I just wanted a look at you, that’s all,” she protested. Turning, she went back to the living area, hoping the Take-me would get the hint. Unfortunately, instead of going back to its home beside the sink, it ambled after her.
“Oh goody, you found it,” Jillian said as soon as the Take-me came into view of her projection. “Bring it here and I’ll give it the coordinates.”
“Jillian, I really don’t know. Baird said—”
“Poo—are you seriously going to let him tell you what to do? I tell you, Livvy, these Kindred guys are great but if you let them they’ll keep you locked away day and night. Mostly in bed.” She giggled. “I mean, they’re just so overprotective it’s ridiculous so you have got to take a stand and come see me. I’d come to you but our Take-me is having a check-up right now. I think maybe I shouldn’t have fed it banana peels but how was I supposed to know they could have allergies to Earth food?”
“Well…” Liv thought of how long she’d been cooped up in the small suite. The truth was she was dying to get out. Her first week with Baird, when they’d gone on so many dates, had been much less complicated and tense and a lot more fun. Besides, he’ll be gone to that conference until tomorrow and what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. “It would be nice to see more of the ship,” she said cautiously, thinking aloud.
“Now you’re talking!” Jillian beamed at her. “Great, I am just dying for some female companionship. I mean, my guys are wonderful but when I start talking shoes their eyes just kind of glaze over, you know?”
Privately Liv thought she probably wouldn’t be much better in that area since she didn’t have much of a shoe fetish herself. But maybe I can find out some other things from Jillian. She’s been here longer than me. That thought more than anything else completely made up her mind. “All right,” she said, smiling at Jillian’s disembodied head. “How do I get to your place in time for lunch?”
Chapter Eighteen
The Take-me was surprisingly fast. Despite its wrong-way bending knees, the six shaggy legs could really move, making it a bit of a challenge to hold on to. Liv had ridden a horse before but sitting on the sloping back of the Take-me was different in the extreme. It had a natural dip in its long torso that seemed to conform to her body and make a kind of saddle, so she didn’t really worry about falling off, but its swaying gait still took some getting used to. She did wonder how Baird could ride it though. He was so much bigger than her that his feet would drag the ground—why keep what amounted to a compact car when you were built for an SUV?
But her questions were soon driven out of her head when the Take-me finished navigating the twisting metal corridors and they reached the center of the ship.
“A sun—they actually have a sun up there.” Liv squinted in amazement at the round bright green ball casting emerald light over the large garden-like area that seemed to stretch for miles in every direction. There were eateries serving all kinds of food and hundreds of tiny, quaint looking shops edging the perimeter of the park-like center of the ship. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the huge Kindred warriors walking by and the green sunlight, it might have seemed like any tourist town she’d ever been to. As it was, Liv felt like Dorothy finally reaching the Emerald City. “Amazing,” she breathed as the Take-me trundled along the clearly marked pathway right through the middle of the center vegetation.
There were people in the park-like area too, hiking, picnicking on the green and purple grass, and generally enjoying themselves. It was mostly couples, Liv saw, although there were some families there as well. The children were all little boys—the Kindred gene that caused ninety-five percent of their offspring to be male was a dominant one that almost always bred true. Watching them play, Liv couldn’t help wondering what her son would look like, if she and Baird had one. Would he have his father’s golden eyes and dark hair? Would he be as big as the Kindred males from the other genetic trades or have more Earth-normal proportions? She’d always wanted a little boy, whenever she did get around to having kids and Baird would be a strong and patient father…