Alright, she had been scared shitless when he’d first entered her cell, but it had been mostly the lighting. That had added an eeriness to his alien appearance that had further unnerved her, and it had vanished as soon as she’d seen him in full light.

    She could’ve understood that better if she’d discovered he looked like a human. He didn’t-close, but definitely alien. The impression, she realized, was almost cat-like. Not that he looked like a cat and she couldn’t think of any feature in particular that gave her that impression, and yet, overall, it was there and it should have bothered her even if it didn’t repulse her.

    It certainly shouldn’t have appealed to her and yet the truth was, he was fascinating- exotic in a way that was a lot closer to appealing than repulsive. She would’ve liked to think it was just the fact that he was the first alien she’d ever encountered. She knew that was probably part of it-and completely understandable. The problem was, that wasn’t the only level of appeal-scientific curiosity. His maleness appealed to her-his build. He was tall-very tall, well over six feet in height, she was sure, muscular-in a raw-boned sort of way, as if he should have been a good bit heavier-but his build was still undeniably appealing to her.

    Maybe that was partially responsible for the sense that he was cat-like? The leanness? Maybe. The thick mane of hair that fell to his shoulders and grew down his forehead in a wedge-shaped V added to it, certainly. It was no widow’s peak, that was for sure, and his hair was gorgeous, thick and streaked with gold, brown, and dark auburn.

    It reminded her of a lion’s mane, she realized abruptly and maybe that was why her mind said ‘cat-like’? The hair and the lean build?

    Even his eyes, she realized, were oddly cat-like, slightly tilted, heavy lidded-like a lion.

    He had striations on his tan skin she thought abruptly, lighter streaks like stripes along his forearms, even along the column of his neck.

    The image that instantly rose in her mind with that memory was… disturbing, mostly because it was undeniably arousing.

    She lifted her head and looked at her roommate. “You’re right-caution.” She hesitated. “That means in all dealings with them, you know.”

    “What are you getting at?”

    Sybil considered whether she should say anything at all and finally decided, as long as Holly had thought it was alright to lecture her, tit for tat. “We don’t know anything about them-and I haven’t seen anything to make me believe they’re aggressive or cruel-but we don’t know that they’re a lot different from us either.”

    “Meaning?”

    Sybil gave her a look. “It’s safer to be passive.”

    Holly stared at her blankly for several moments before that sank in. The look of horror and revulsion that crossed her features made her sorry to have spoken at all, but she thought the woman should try to prepare herself mentally. Captive women always had to worry about rape. “I don’t believe they would,” she added hurriedly. “I’m just saying, it’s safer to be passive. It’s usually more an act of aggression than anything else and fighting is the wrong thing to do. It only encourages them to more violence.”

    “Did he…?”

    Sybil resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “No. He didn’t try anything.” She wasn’t sure it would’ve constituted rape if he had, because she was uncomfortably aware that he wouldn’t have had to try very hard to convince her, but that was beside the point. “I have the feeling he hasn’t really decided what to do with us… yet, but I don’t think he’d encourage that or allow it-if he knew. We don’t know that everyone agrees with him, though.”

    “You said he was the commander!”

    Sybil did roll her eyes that time. “Do you think the base commander is aware of everything that happens on the base? Yes, he would probably hear about it, but that wouldn’t do you any good-not if it was after the fact.”

    “What kind of creature is he?” Holly demanded as if she hadn’t heard a word she’d said.

    Anger surged through Sybil but she tamped it, examined it, and realized why she’d felt it. “I think he’s a good man.” The kind that would try to protect a complete stranger from harm by shielding her with his own body.

* * * *

    Anka cursed himself for being ten kinds of fool all the way down to the command center. He arrived to find chaos, however, and that, thankfully, distracted his mind for a time. “What happened?”

    “The volcano in sector ten blew!” Loka, the captain on duty reported.

    “I deduced that,” Anka said dryly. “It was too close to be anything else. What’s the damage?”

    “Damage to the shutters on the southern observation room, Sir! The translucent is cracked but holding. I don’t know how long it will continue, though, with the atmospheric pressure. We sealed the room off and I sent a crew out to repair the damage to the shutters as soon as the volcano ceased to bombard us.”

    Anka nodded grimly. “What’s the estimated time on patching it?”

    “Within the hour, Sir.”

    Anka relaxed fractionally. “Send another crew out to examine the hull for any other damage. We can’t afford a breach.” He scanned the other workstations in the room finally settling his attention on Cerek. “Any damage to any of the terra-forming units?”

    Cerek saluted. “I’m still checking, sir. The unit that lies between us and the volcano seems to be working alright, but there was quite a bit of debris deposited around it and there’s interference in communications-which could be damage to the unit or simply damage to communications. We need to site check it. Unfortunately, the conditions aren’t safe right now for flight and there’s a lava river cutting us off from it.”

    Anka nodded. “Ready a team to go out as soon as it’s deemed safe enough. No heroics. We can afford to lose anybody.” As he turned to go, he met up with Onur, one of the civilian engineers attached to the project. His expression was eloquent of doom and Anka felt his belly clench in anticipation. “Yes?”

    “We lost at least six droids at the new construction site.”

    Anka ground his teeth to keep from cursing long and loudly. “You’re certain?”

    Onur looked uncomfortable. “We lost communications with them. No, I’m not completely certain, but it seems likely.”

    Anka nodded grimly. “Inform me immediately if you manage to reestablish communications. Otherwise, you’ll need to take a team out when it’s possible to retrieve the units to see if there’s anything salvageable.”

    Onur looked uncomfortable. “I think the damage to the construction site was pretty heavy, as well.”

    “Very likely that will be more a matter of wasted man-hours than resources. Let me know when you have a full report on it.”

    He paused in the corridor outside of the command center, trying to decide where to go next. Remembering abruptly that he’d offered to try to retrieve Sybil’s flight suit, he headed down to the recycling center. It wasn’t difficult to find. The materials it was made of were not like anything that they had. Beyond that, there wasn’t actually a lot that made it to the recycler. No one was willing to give anything up as long as there was some use to be had from it.

    He hesitated as he retrieved it, an image of her in the bulky flight suit rising to his mind. He supposed it served a purpose, but she didn’t need it now, regardless of what she thought. She certainly needed something, however. From the moment he’d seen her in the short top and briefs that left her more bare than clothed, he had been on fire. He’d refused to consciously acknowledge it, but he wouldn’t have done anything as stupid as he had if he’d had an ounce of self-control or resistance. And he wouldn’t have as much control now as he’d had before when it was only his imagination working upon him.