Ajos: The Restitution - A Sci-fi Alien Romance, Book 1, стр. 20
“You already scanned?” The medic, Aker, interrupted his thoughts and Ajos looked down at the small Taiq'ud.
“Yes, and the human scanned as well.” Ajos’ gaze flicked back to Keh-reh-nah. She was smiling with the other human she was speaking to, her white teeth showing in her small mouth. As he stared at her, his nefre stirred again, and once more, he had the urge to plant himself by her side. He frowned and shook away the feeling. “The human is well.”
As he said this, one human at the far end of the room let out a high-pitched sound, her arms thrashing as she tried to fight the Taiq'ud tending to her.
The intern, shocked by the sound, fell back, scattering trays upon trays of medical items that were behind her.
Aker winced. “The humans’ pain tolerance is remarkably high for their simple bodies. However, they are scared urgless of us.” Aker winced again as the woman continued with the high-pitched noises. “We have given them the standard dose of anesthesia, and it seems to work for the pain. It would be unethical for us to give them more just to make them calm.”
Aker’s nose flexed, the round fleshy bits bunching up as he sighed. “There is much to do. Almost all the humans are injured. If you are not busy, we could use your help.”
Ajos nodded and pulled his gaze from Keh-reh-nah. Somehow, his eyes had found her again, despite the chaos in the room.
“What do you need?” he asked as his frown deepened.
“We need help to lift and move the humans. The machines we usually use are out of service. There was a magnetic blast with the explosions. Most instruments are not working.” He looked Ajos up and down. “That human seems comfortable around you. Your presence may calm the others as well.” Aker’s nose moved again—a sure sign he was distressed. The medic looked around the room.
Funny that Aker should think his presence would calm the others.
His gaze moved over Keh-reh-nah.
There was a strange pull to her, a strange energy, and he wondered for a second if that’s why she’d been so calm around him. Did she feel it too? Maybe it had nothing to do with him personally.
Maybe the gods were trying to tell him something else…lead him from this path of penance…
He stopped the thought right there.
There was no other reason.
Yet…
Something was strange…
He didn’t feel nearly the same pressing urge to protect the other humans as he did with her…
With Keh-reh-nah, this strange human female he’d just met, it felt as if he had to protect her and nothing else mattered.
With the others, it was more a sense of duty.
He frowned deeper at this.
This felt like bonding…but he couldn’t be sure.
After all, he’d never experienced bonding before.
Still, that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t do what he joined the Restitution to do.
His duty came first.
Ajos touched Aker on the shoulder to steady the medic, who was now quaking with pent-up stress.
“I am here, Aker. I will assist.”
Alaina's smile grew brighter as Kerena walked over.
"Girl, you look better than all of us and I thought I was lucky."
As far as Kerena could see, the wound on the woman's head was almost healed already—possibly another medical advancement that Earth didn't possess.
"No." Kerena returned the woman's smile. "But, I can admit, I was lucky."
Alaina's gaze drifted to somewhere behind her.
"Does that tall guy have something to do with it?"
Kerena turned to look behind her, and her gaze immediately landed on Ajos. He was standing beside the doctor and they were engaged in what looked like deep conversation.
"Something…" she murmured in answer to Alaina.
"He seems friendly. Friendlier than the others. They all keep their distance from us, like they don't want to spook us, but he's been by your side. Luckily too, or you'd probably be tending a broken arm or something right now." Alaina's grin grew even wider when Kerena's eyes reached her again. "Ugh, I envy you right now."
Kerena couldn't help but laugh. "To be fair, I'd envy you too if you were the only one uninjured."
"Ha! That's not what I'm talking about.” Alaina’s gaze followed one of the fly doctors. “You're the only one that can understand them AND one of them is actually being friendly with you."
Ajos was friendly.
Friendlier than she'd expected him to be. "He is friendly, isn't he." She studied the woman before her. Alaina seemed so unperturbed by it all—a stark contrast to some of the other women in the room.
To Alaina’s right, a brown-haired woman lay looking straight up into the roof, her eyes glassy, but no tears fell down her face.
“Hey.” Kerena made sure her voice was soothing. “Are you okay?”
As soon as she asked, she felt stupid.
Of course, the woman wasn’t okay. None of them were.
The woman turned her head slightly, her green eyes focusing on Kerena.
She nodded, but it was obvious she was holding her tears back.
“I only have a broken arm,” she said. “I was lucky.”
Kerena smiled a little, one of consolation more than mirth.
“You’ll be okay.” She certainly hoped that wasn’t a lie. “What’s your name? I’m Kerena, by the way.”
“Constance,” the woman said.
“Nice to meet you,” Kerena smiled again, “even under these circumstances.”
Constance nodded again and smiled a little too, a note of sadness pulling down her lips.
“Nice to meet you too,” Alaina added.
Kerena’s gaze flicked back to the woman.
Alaina was following everything that was happening in the room, soaking up every bit of detail, it seemed.
"Aren't you wondering what happened back there?" Kerena asked.
"Not, one of the women in the black and white came over and told us not to worry, that it was a bomb but the threat is gone, for now at least."
“They didn’t even seem shaken up about it either,” Constance added, her voice low. “The way they look, it’s like they’ve seen so much shit before, the bombs were nothing.”
She