Randall’s POV

[I’ve completed the thorough search of the accessible medical libraries.]

[Took you long enough. Out with it,] I snapped at it after I stopped chewing on the bone remaining from my breakfast.

[I found nothing similar to the name “CPR” or the description of the technique.]

[Of course. Useless as usual.] I continued to chew on the bone careful not to break it too early.

There was no way something like this existed without anyone knowing about it. I spent my entire life learning medicine, and then a half-burned human brat just casually throws out something nobody even heard about. Unbelievable!

And he still didn’t show up to take me up on my offer. MY offer!

In my frustration, I ended up snapping my bone in half.

“Great...” I mumbled while throwing it down to my plate.

[Good morning, Aium!]

“Morning Genna,” I said while preparing for a huge wake-up stretch.

Before I could finish it with my usual roar at the end, I had to cut short the stretch and yelp loudly instead. My body was aching all over. I felt like I went to the gym for the first time in my life yesterday and on the way home someone beat me up too.

“Agh… What the fuck?!” I tried touching my shoulders while trying to open my severely dried out eyes.

“Could you keep it down? I’d like to sleep a bit more,” said a female voice from beside me.

Oh shit. I tried to force my eyes open as much as I could. Kal’s naked back was facing me in the bed.

Everything clicked back into place in my mind. The date yesterday. The museum, the dinner and the night we spent together. After coming up to her apartment, everything turned foggy. I still remembered everything but in a kind of hazy way.

No wonder I ached everywhere. Kal really did bite… and scratch and slap and…. Ugh. That fucking drink she gave me made me flip out too.

I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry as a desert. I needed water desperately.

I tried crawling out of bed but, all I could manage was another hiss. My legs were sore like I ran a marathon. I didn’t even have my boxer on; I was buck naked under the thin blanket. I didn’t even want to acknowledge how worn out my billion credits technology felt down there.

With great effort and noise, I managed to sit up. Hungry, thirsty, beaten down… This wasn’t a morning I would want to repeat.

“Look, if you don’t feel like sleeping anymore, go ahead and leave. It was a really great night, but Kal has things to do today. I’ll call you back sometime,” interrupted my wailing Kal while looking up at me.

She just kicked me out. I was used for sex. I didn’t even know how to feel about it at the moment, all I could do was a weak nod.

I stood up and shuffled into her bathroom. I washed my face and drank right out from the tap.

After freshening up a bit, I looked at myself in the mirror. Scratch and bite marks all over my chest, shoulder, and neck. I looked horrible. If I didn’t know the story, I would have said I had a deathmatch against a banshee.

Collecting my courage, I looked down to check out the status of my most important part. It had definitely seen better days, but it wouldn’t fall off anytime soon.

[Aium, next time please don’t drink something like that. I didn’t expect its effects would be this drastic for you. I’m sorry. You should just spend this day resting,] said Genna with slight guilt in her voice.

She was talking about the purple drink Kal gave me. I asked Genna before taking it and she said it’s nothing harmful. It was a kind of energy drink and potency booster cocktail. Unfortunately or fortunately in my case, the effects were too good. I was like an animal in heat on cocaine. No wonder my whole body hurt like a bitch.

[Agreed. Never again,] I responded.

I tried to dress up as fast and as quietly as I could manage which was pretty hard since every part of my body ached.

Before leaving I stopped because I felt like I should at least say something.

“Thanks for the date Kal,” I said without turning back. I got a mumbled response from her I couldn’t understand.

Last night I didn’t have the attention to spare to look around Kal’s apartment while we wrestled into her room.

Everything was blue. There was no surprise there. I was in a hallway while trying to remember which way the exit might be. It would be so awkward to go back to her room to ask for help getting out of her apartment.

After stumbling through the small hallway, I spotted the exit door. At least I managed to take a look at the door last night, so it was familiar.

My hand was already reaching for the metal plate when someone interrupted me.

“Hey there! Good morning! Would like something to drink? Maybe a nice breakfast?”

I froze. Should I turn around or make a run for it?

My curiosity took over me, and I turned around.

Behind me, in an open kitchen, a middle-aged guy was sitting on a bar stool in front of a holoscreen. He was looking at me with a smile.

“Who-Who are you?” I asked with a stutter and open mouth.

“My name’s Andrew. I’m Kal’s legal partner. And you would be?” he asked with a bright smile.

“Legal partner? Like husband?” I asked while I could feel my blood slowly freeze in my veins.

“Well, you could say it like that too I guess,” he said with a thoughtful expression.

[GENNA! DEFCON 1! Get ready for escape! We might have to fight our way-]

“You didn’t say your name yet,” he interrupted my inner panic attack.

Looking at the guy he didn’t seem like someone ready to brawl. No weapons in sight around him either.

“I’m… I’m Timmy,” I answered.

[Calm down Aium, he won’t attack you...] scoffed, Genna.

[Yeah, sure… It’s not like I fucked his wife in their home last night.]

“So? Would you like breakfast? You must have had a rough night by what I heard.”

Dear God! He was here?! What have I gotten myself into?!

I could feel a bead of sweat running down my forehead.

“I’m fine, thanks. I’m not really hungry, but I just remembered that I had this thing to do today-”

“Come on; I make a mean pormel. You have to try it,” he said, still smiling while standing up.

I took a step back. Which made him frown a little.

“Don’t be so timid. It’s just a breakfast,” he said. “I don’t bite like her, you know,” he continued while looking at my neck.

[Is he acting? After what happened last night, why would he be like this? Is he planning on taking me out with poison?] I asked Genna.

[I wish I could just slap your head sometimes. Why would he want to poison you? They are legal partners but both of them are free to do what they want with other people.]

[You can sleep with other people when you’re married?]

[Of course. Was it different in your time?]

[Absolutely! Sleeping with someone other than your husband or wife was bad stuff.]

[Wow, that’s an interesting view.]

“So?” I was still standing before the door and the guy was patiently waiting for my response.

“I guess I can stay for a little,” I said finally.

Under normal circumstances, I would have never accepted his offer, but currently, I was so hungry I would have gladly chewed on an old shoe.

I walked up to one of the bar stools around the counter and sat down while trying not to hiss. Apparently, my bottom hurt too. If I didn’t remember the last night, I would have thought I got violated from behind, but no such thing happened. Which was kind of lucky on my part if I considered Kal’s temperament.

The husband who’s name I already forgot walked up to the kitchen took out a few thing and got to work on the food. I expected some kind of conversation or something, but there was complete silence.

[Why isn’t he talking? Isn’t this weird? Are you sure he won’t try to kill me?]

[It is a bit odd, but I’m sure he won’t try to finish you off. Calm down.]

She wasn’t convincing at all. I shifted around in my seat uncomfortably.

While something was frying in a pan, the guy brought us drinks. It was some kind of green juice. He motioned with his head to drink it, but I wouldn’t have it so easy.

I brought up the glass and motioned with it towards him.

“You first,” I said with a fake smile.

He laughed a bit and took a sip. Following that, I felt brave and safe enough to drink, so I chugged down the whole thing.

“Oh, you’re awfully thirsty, here, have some more,” he said while refilling my drink.

Then he walked back to the frying food without a word. He didn’t do anything special to it. He just threw everything into a deep pan like thing, and it was doing everything for him, but he still watched it intently.

He put a plate of fried vegetables in front of me and sit down at the other end of the table with his own plate.

“Thanks,” I said meekly.

He only responded with a smile and a nod.

I waited until he took a bite and swallowed it. After that, I dug in like an animal and wolfed down the food.

The whole thing was super uncomfortable because the guy just ate leisurely in silence. He invited me to breakfast, and now he was just looking around and occasionally staring at me. Did I make a huge mistake staying here? Did my hunger choke out my common sense?

I finished my food in minutes, and I felt like the sooner I left this place the better.

I stood up and thanked him.

“Thanks for the breakfast!”

Before I could turn around to leave, he finally spoke.

“Did you find it enjoyable, Timmy?” he asked with a small smile.

That question lit up too many flags. Way too suspicious question. And who the fuck it Timm- of yeah, I said my name was Timmy….

“It was great, thanks, but it’s really time for me to be on my wa-”

“You know, it was remarkable. You two went at it for a long time and with great momentum too,” he said while looking down at his food and poking it with his fork.

[FUCK! He’s going to kill me! This is all your fault for making me lower my guard!]

[Wha-] she tried to respond, but I didn’t have time for this now. I had to escape this situation.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know she had someone. I wouldn’t do something like this normally,” I tried.

“She’s a free spirit alright, that’s one of the reasons I love her so much,” he said with a thoughtful smile, still poking around in his food.

I was slowly backing towards the door. This guy was a lunatic.

“You know, she frequently goes on dates with guys like you but she rarely brings them up here. It kind of became our ritual in a way. When she brings home someone, I welcome them the morning after,” he said while looking up at me and standing up.

I quickened my pace towards the door. I prayed to all kinds of gods for the door to be open.

“So, Timmy, after a nice meal, you must have restored some of that lost energy from last night. Would you like to join me in my room? I’m far more gentle than she is,” he said enticingly while taking off his shirt.

“What?”

[What?]

Somewhere in space

A transparent sphere jumped out of Bend-Phase with a light show.

Onboard The Ermwert and Laurent were already handling the various scanners and observation equipment of the ship. They had to travel a long distance, and they didn’t have the luxury of spare time.

“Preliminary scans came back without anything. The phenomenon happened far too long ago. Let’s save us a few rounds and set the scanners to maximum sensitivity right away. It will take a while, but at least it will find anything worth finding,” said Laurent.

The Ermwert just hummed in response.

They went around the reported area several times while the scanners worked at full capacity. They found some residual readings about the phenomenon quickly, but they continued with the surveying for several days.

“There isn’t anything around here,” said Laurent after the scanners finished while looking out at the area where the reported event happened.

The Ermwert hummed.

“We could do a few more rounds and look for anything out of place. I really don’t want to go back empty-handed,” said Laurent with a deep frown.

The Ermwert hummed louder.

“What do you mean?” asked Laurent.

The Ermwert hummed.

“Do you think it’s feasible? What’s the possibility for that?”

The Ermwert hummed in a higher pitch.

“Well, let’s check it then, we don’t have much to lose if we sniff around a little,” said Laurent with a sigh.

They buried themselves in their holoscreens for several hours until…

The Ermwert hummed deeply.

“It’s… I mean it matches the time of the incident perfectly, and the ship’s route should have crossed this exact area.”

The Ermwert hummed.

“Hard to believe it but there is a chance if you look at the details,” said Laurent while taking a deep breath. “Set course to Hatuu.”

The Ermwert hummed in response.