Alien Romance: Caged By The Alien: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 4) Read Online Free Page B
down every time they returned to the cryo pods. Only three more cryo sleeps. Only two. Only one.
The lid of Penny's pod slid away with a pneumatic hiss and Penny opened her eyes, an electric hum coursing through her like Christmas morning. This was it. They had arrived.
"Can we see anything yet?" she asked, hurrying onto the bridge after the others, still tugging her clean suit on, "How close are we?"
Rivera was already at her console, turning on the view screen. A solar system sprang to life before them, a huge yellow sun burning furiously in the distance, the planets that orbited it tiny in comparison.
"We're on the edge of the system," Rivera explained, "We've begun deceleration, but we'll be at the source of the transmissions soon."
"Christ, guys, look at the airwaves!" Cho said excitedly, leaning over Salome's shoulder.
"It's packed with transmissions," Salome said with delight, "Just like the ones we saw on earth. It's positively noisy with them!"
"We did it," Penny was practically bouncing with excitement, hugging Ian's arm as delight overwhelmed her, "We actually found them!"
"They're originating from the fourth planet," Salome reported, "Which early mapping is saying looks just like we expected. Atmosphere, liquid water, all of it!"
"Any sign of the Hermes?" Ian asked, solemn.
Rivera nodded to Salome, who took a moment to scan for their twin ship's frequencies, then shook her head.
"No sign," she reported, "But it will have taken them time to get back on course. They might be right behind us."
"Yeah, don't count them out just yet," Penny patted Ian's shoulder reassuringly and Rivera nodded.
"Captain Gaugin is one of the most capable and accomplished men I know," Rivera assured them, "He'll figure something out, I'm certain of it. And in the meantime, he would want us to go on with the mission regardless. So, Ambassador, are you ready to meet some aliens?"
Penny's heart leaped, but she nodded, smiling nervously.
"I really wish we'd been able to learn more of language before we arrived," she said, "But I think I can handle it."
"Well, you've got another-" Rivera paused to glance at a console, "Six hours, thirty eight minutes to go over what Cho and Abdullah have got so far. Good luck."
"We only have the slimmest of grasps on their written language," Cho commented as Penny sat down with the other two women to go over what they had, "We have no idea how, or if, they communicate vocally. What will you do if we can't talk to them?"
"There are other methods of communication," Penny explained calmly, "Like math. Math is, at least as far as we know, a pretty universal concept necessary for the development of a species. So, if we can't communicate, I'll try to start counting for them. If math is as universal as we think it is, that will demonstrate a lot of things about our species, least of all being that we're intelligent and non-aggressive."
"And if math isn't in fact a universal concept?" Salome asked, "Or if we land in the alien equivalent of Kentucky and none of the aliens finished grade school?"
"I'll figure something out," Penny told them both, scrolling through the data, "Now show me that thing you were talking about the other day, the concept grid?"
"Okay, so, each quadrant of the grid has a distinct meaning. And there are further quadrants within each quadrant, going from simple to complex. The closer you are to the edge of the grid, the more 'pure' the concept is. The closer to the center, the more nuanced the meaning becomes..."
For about six hours, Penny studied, and then went to rest until they arrived at their destination. She climbed into her bunk and lay staring at the bottom of the bunk above her, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. She heard the bed creak and realized Ian must be in his own bunk resting as well.
"Are you excited?" he asked after a moment.
"Very," she answered, "I've wanted this my whole life. Are you?"
"Losing the Hermes like that," Ian confessed, "It's kind of
The lid of Penny's pod slid away with a pneumatic hiss and Penny opened her eyes, an electric hum coursing through her like Christmas morning. This was it. They had arrived.
"Can we see anything yet?" she asked, hurrying onto the bridge after the others, still tugging her clean suit on, "How close are we?"
Rivera was already at her console, turning on the view screen. A solar system sprang to life before them, a huge yellow sun burning furiously in the distance, the planets that orbited it tiny in comparison.
"We're on the edge of the system," Rivera explained, "We've begun deceleration, but we'll be at the source of the transmissions soon."
"Christ, guys, look at the airwaves!" Cho said excitedly, leaning over Salome's shoulder.
"It's packed with transmissions," Salome said with delight, "Just like the ones we saw on earth. It's positively noisy with them!"
"We did it," Penny was practically bouncing with excitement, hugging Ian's arm as delight overwhelmed her, "We actually found them!"
"They're originating from the fourth planet," Salome reported, "Which early mapping is saying looks just like we expected. Atmosphere, liquid water, all of it!"
"Any sign of the Hermes?" Ian asked, solemn.
Rivera nodded to Salome, who took a moment to scan for their twin ship's frequencies, then shook her head.
"No sign," she reported, "But it will have taken them time to get back on course. They might be right behind us."
"Yeah, don't count them out just yet," Penny patted Ian's shoulder reassuringly and Rivera nodded.
"Captain Gaugin is one of the most capable and accomplished men I know," Rivera assured them, "He'll figure something out, I'm certain of it. And in the meantime, he would want us to go on with the mission regardless. So, Ambassador, are you ready to meet some aliens?"
Penny's heart leaped, but she nodded, smiling nervously.
"I really wish we'd been able to learn more of language before we arrived," she said, "But I think I can handle it."
"Well, you've got another-" Rivera paused to glance at a console, "Six hours, thirty eight minutes to go over what Cho and Abdullah have got so far. Good luck."
"We only have the slimmest of grasps on their written language," Cho commented as Penny sat down with the other two women to go over what they had, "We have no idea how, or if, they communicate vocally. What will you do if we can't talk to them?"
"There are other methods of communication," Penny explained calmly, "Like math. Math is, at least as far as we know, a pretty universal concept necessary for the development of a species. So, if we can't communicate, I'll try to start counting for them. If math is as universal as we think it is, that will demonstrate a lot of things about our species, least of all being that we're intelligent and non-aggressive."
"And if math isn't in fact a universal concept?" Salome asked, "Or if we land in the alien equivalent of Kentucky and none of the aliens finished grade school?"
"I'll figure something out," Penny told them both, scrolling through the data, "Now show me that thing you were talking about the other day, the concept grid?"
"Okay, so, each quadrant of the grid has a distinct meaning. And there are further quadrants within each quadrant, going from simple to complex. The closer you are to the edge of the grid, the more 'pure' the concept is. The closer to the center, the more nuanced the meaning becomes..."
For about six hours, Penny studied, and then went to rest until they arrived at their destination. She climbed into her bunk and lay staring at the bottom of the bunk above her, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat. She heard the bed creak and realized Ian must be in his own bunk resting as well.
"Are you excited?" he asked after a moment.
"Very," she answered, "I've wanted this my whole life. Are you?"
"Losing the Hermes like that," Ian confessed, "It's kind of
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