Chapter Thirteen
Hell of a Place for a First Kiss
“If I remember correctly, I’m the one who pulled you out of the pool.”
The look in Julius’s eyes asked questions I didn’t know the answer to, though I wished passionately that I did. To stall for time, I asked a question of my own, that changed the subject back to a safer topic.
“Why? Why do you use fish--of all things--to decontaminate people?”
“It’s a matter of using what we have available, Storm.” Julius looked away, reluctantly this time.
“Dardara is an unforgiving planet with only a limited amount of natural resources. We take advantage of any that present themselves. We consider the nik-niks a precious, highly-valued resource.”
He reached up and pulled a dead fish out of my hair. He threw it into the pool and watched the nik-niks devour it.
I thought again of piranhas with a shudder.
Julius read my thoughts. He looked at me and smiled.
“I would like to think of it more as a symbiotic relationship with the nik-niks. We give them a safe environment to thrive in--they clean and decontaminate all of us happily.
“See….. They’re done now.”
As I watched, the fish drifted away from Julius’ legs.
“Does this mean you are now sanitary?”
“That part of my body anyway,” Julius laughed. He grinned mischievously and slid his body into the water. He went under for a second, and came up still grinning, his pants in his hand, causing my face to flame.
He tossed them onto the floor and looked up at me with a challenge in his eyes. “They have to be able to decontaminate my entire body……….” He left the sentence hanging, not putting into words that I had to do the same thing. I groaned.
The nik-niks swarmed around Julius, but his eyes never left mine.
“You’re over-thinking this, Storm. Let me help. I promise I won’t look,” he teased.
How I could resist that kind of persuasion? I couldn’t. I untangled my legs and let them slip over the side of the pool. I flinched when the fish swarmed around my legs, but I kept my legs in the water. They didn’t actually hurt, more like a million tiny fingers gently tapping against my skin.
Clutching the robe together as best I could, I reached out my hand towards Julius. Never hesitating, he reached up to grasp my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine. His eyes changed from challenging to dark and smoky with an emotion that even I recognized.
YOU ARE READING
A Storm in the Making
Science FictionStorm Weatherly & her family are swept up into the Bermuda Triangle to a world they never imagined. A world where it is a death sentence to be a Traveler. A world that imbues the Weatherly's with strange powers. A world that wants Storm to be its...
