Awareness returned by degrees. Tazney absorbed the vibrant ripple of life. A trickle of water drizzled across her parched tongue, she savored the precious energy. More. She needed more. She stirred, reaching for the source of the blessed disturbance. Jumbled thoughts and fragmented images flooded her.
Too much! She couldn’t make sense of so many.
How long had she been trapped on this derelict spaceship? Had it been years or centuries since she last stirred? Valentine’s Day? Who was thinking about that ancient Earth festival?
It didn’t matter. She didn’t have time for speculation. She was too weak to join her people in their home dimension and too stubborn to disperse entirely. Her only hope lay with whoever had happened upon her cold and lonely cage.
Following the intensity of their energy trail, she located the visitors. They wore formfitting suits and helmets with clear faceplates. Their cutting tools and hover carts identified their purpose. Scavengers, come to strip the ship of anything worth recycling. If they required an artificial environment and generated gravitation, they were doubtlessly traveling in their own ship. How many did they number? Would they offer assistance to a stranded stranger or try to take her prisoner?
They spoke in a verbal language Tazney didn’t understand. She had only interacted with a few corporeal species and all of them had been humanoid. These men were faintly reptilian, though highly evolved. Her levels were perilously depleted. She didn’t dare squander this opportunity.
As the team fanned out through the ship, one of the men turned and excitement surged within her. Human! The faceplate distorted his features, but he was far different from the others. His long stride carried him down one corridor and into the aft cabin. He began disassembling an alloy housing, his actions dexterous and skilled.
She moved closer, opening her receptors to his emotions. Focused and calm, his being flowed into her and she was no longer alone. Joy rippled through her warm and intoxicating. She had been isolated for so long, adrift in this disintegrating ship. She sensed his stubborn strength, the brutal edge to his personality and—nothing else.
Confused and unnerved, she pushed deeper. Humans were complex beings, often concealing their true emotions. She found them fascinating, enjoyed unraveling their convoluted motivations and trying to understand how they thought.
The deeper she delved, the more guarded his spirit became. She sank past layer upon layer of artificial indifference and protective disassociation. Understanding pulsed through her, making her ache with feelings he had suppressed long ago. Only those subjected to the most devastating agonies found shelter in oblivion.
