Read Alien's Bride: Lisette for Free Online Page B

world now? She buried her face in
her hands. This wasn’t enough to stifle her first hiccupping
sobs.
    Prax-Denay stood while keeping his back
to her. “It’s all…all well enough. I’ve done the responsible thing.
Now you know.”
    She snuffled and gazed up at him. He
hesitated before her doorway.
    “ Your empathy is…touching.”
He raised his nose. “Now get ready for the day.” Then he left
her.
    ***
    Lisette proceeded as ordered despite
struggling with how to find the bathroom (hidden in the molded
wall) and then how to work the shower. Once under the hot stream of
water she wanted to languish. Now was the time to think things
over, to adjust. There wasn’t enough time.
    She donned the last clean set of
clothes from her laundry bag. When she went to tell a robot about
this she was informed a new wardrobe was being made for
her.
    “ Um…I don’t…I don’t want to
dress like I did last night.”
    “ Obviously not,” Prax-Denay
said from the end of the corridor. “That would hardly be
appropriate for your work in the lab.”
    She went to him with her hands folded
together and her head lowered. Prax-Denay made a low sound of
approval and led her downstairs.
    Things in the lab started with slow
awkwardness, but soon they were working with the same gusto as
yesterday. Lisette felt the lab to be her comfortable place, no
matter how different all the tools were from what she’d been used
to use. She flitted from one station to the next, accomplishing her
tasks. Every few minutes she blurted a few words to Prax-Denay to
inform him when she was taking an experiment in a new direction. He
understood her thinking with little need for explanation. He gave
her expressions of enlightenment or praise. Then he focused on his
own tasks.
    She got to the point where they needed
to work at the same station. Despite their arms rubbing once or
twice Lisette wasn’t flustered. They were both too impassioned
about the results of the test.
    “ There! No effect on the
thyroid,” Prax-Denay said. “Have a robot run a three week trail on
some moffmits to be
sure.”
    Lisette met his eyes with a smile. It
was because of their success, not an attempt to flirt, but their
faces were close. She saw Prax-Denay swallow. This brought back all
the anguish of his morning revelation. Her smile erased and she
took several slow steps toward the test animal lab.
    “ Quickly! We still have to
run the thalamus test!”
    She sped up to a trot. It was easy for
her to get back into her work mindset. The midday meal seemed to
come way too fast. Then she realized all they’d accomplished. The
serum was near ready. They just had to make sure none of the lab
animals showed the possibility of side effects. Robots would handle
the repetitive minutia involved in these trails. She was free to
proceed with the next exciting project.
    “ Come and eat with me.”
Prax-Denay led her to the door. “You should have had a tour of the
facility. Jorenkis could have at least done that.”
    They passed his office. The door was
open and his chair vacant.
    Prax-Denay harrumphed. “I thought he
might show up—now that you’re here. He’s gone back to his old ways.
The only time he was around was when he needed to harass me about
things important to the council. He’s useless. No skills. No war
experience. He barely managed to finish school and he’s never
strived for anything. Yet he’s what our society values.”
    Lisette felt the forlorn feelings
creeping back. (Though the thought of Jorenkis not being around
much was nice.)
    Prax-Denay gestured for her to sit once
they were a room with sleek cabinets molded into the walls. He
pressed some buttons on a console then retrieved bottles from some
random cupboard and sat with her. The bottle offered to her was
full of liquid cold enough to cause condensation. Lisette watched
how Prax-Denay opened his and mimicked him.
    He didn’t seem to be looking at her,
almost conspicuously so, but then he said, “They