The captain seems unconvinced of my fervor. He looks me up and down, assessing, and shakes his head a little bit.
“Yes,” I add, although no being has asked a question.
The truth is that I am terrified of navigation. But I am more frightened of being jobless. And the idea that nav training could merit me a place in Tarek’s company for a while? Priceless. I understand he is not interested in me. And I should definitely not be interested in him, because he’s been sort of a dick to me.
But I’m drawn to him.
“Navigation.” Tarek crosses his arms over his chest and the muscles bulge out. “It is absolutely a critical part of Zandia’s present. And future.”
I nod and sneak a look at his body and catch a breath at the way his breeches strain over his immense thighs. And his cock.
“Yes. Things like, um, stars. Navigating. The navigation to stars, from stars, and ah, by stars. Asteroids. Space.” I nod back like I’m saying something intelligent. “Good stuff.”
Captain Drayk suddenly has a strange expression on his face but it flickers away after a microsecond. “Best of luck, Zina. Thank you for your dedication to Zandia. Tarek will administer the exam to you.”
I try not to think about what else I’d like Tarek to administer, but the heat in my face tells me that I’m not as cool as I pretend. “Great. That sounds excellent.”
Abbi has been watching intently, and now she clears her throat. “If you don’t need me, I’m going to head back to the barracks. I have another dorm to prepare.” She touches my arm. “Have a good planet rotation, Zina.”
Then it’s just me and Tarek. And Captain Drayk, but he’s moved away to a console across the dome, so it’s pretty much just the two of us.
“Well.” I twist my toe on the ground. “I’m here.”
“So you are. I don’t even know why I agreed to do this.” He sounds confused. But he’s standing close to me. Closer than you’d expect for a random Zandian and a rescued human. Does he still want me?
“Because you see my capacity for greatness, I assume.” It feels good to speak lightly. After being enslaved for so long, the ability to use humor freely with a superior is a drug to me. I can’t get enough. Oh, we humans did what we could to make the barracks pleasant with laughter when possible. But the Ocretion guards didn’t like our camaraderie, and we were often punished if they suspected we were too familiar with each other.
I cross my arms. “Sign of a strong mind, Tarek.” Can I call him by his first name? Am I supposed to use some kind of title?
“Well, Zina,” he emphasizes my name, and this makes me think I was supposed to use some kind of honorific—but, oops! too late—“come on over here. Let’s see how you compare.”
“I compare just fine.” My tone is saucy. I’m sure this is inappropriate, but I don’t care. At this moment, I just want to enjoy our interaction and not think of the future.
“To the standards.” He gives me a look, and gestures to a seat in front of a console. “Take a seat and start the program. We’ll run you through a series of simple simulations just to test your reflexes for foveal and peripheral vision. Then we’ll work on response stimuli.” All I hear is “blah blah blah look at my strong back blah blah.”
“Yes,” I agree, forcing myself not to touch his shoulders. Run my hands down those triceps and squeeze. “Absolutely.”
He snorts. “Go ahead. Start.”
I sit down and look at the screen. We both wait. A few seconds go by. I turn to look up at him questioningly.
“You need to touch the place where it says “start”. He leans in over my shoulder and I almost squeak when I feel the heat from his immense body approach mine.
My neck tingles where he’s leaning over.
“If you’re not sure, it’s the huge bar that says START. That one, that’s red, and about five inches by five inches. Right in front of your face. Blinking.”
He pauses. “I’m told you can cipher, so…”
“Oh, that one. Sure. With my finger?”
He makes another sound. “Unless you prefer to use another appendage, yes, your finger will be acceptable.”
“I’ve never done this before,” I explain, darting a glance at him.
Oh, so close. His face is so close to mine. I can feel his breath on my cheek, and it tickles. In a good way.
“You don’t say.” His voice is dry. Wow, he’s got quite a good grasp of sarcasm, for a non-human.