Ally or Alien: A Sci-Fi Novel Read Free Page A

till only stripes of blue remained.
    Oh, how he must have burned from the inside. 
    "Please, do not call me that. It is becoming patronizing."
    "Leave me alone in my lab, and I promise to drop the Terran slurs."
    eLoom bowed and rotated toward her testing stage. eVax rolled his eyes and aimed at the exit gate of the deck. During his mid-float, he rotated 180 degrees one last time and said, 
    "I wish you much success with your discovery. But make sure you do not become obsessed. We have come so far with our collective and must not revert to our primitive roots."
    eLoom couldn't, wouldn't, hear him.
    She was already back in her world, where only the hulled testing stage, the nano-microscopical scanner and her two extra cybernetic arms existed. 
    A world filled with wonder and new discoveries.
    Ready to get debunked…

5
     
    For the next hours of local ship time, eLoom burned with curiosity. She analyzed every surface pattern and checked possible matches via the database. If possible, she would have attached five more arms to each of her sides to speed up the process. There were simply too many questions: where did the object come from? Was it sentient? How did it function?
    Thousands of more questions stormed through her neuron highways. The only thing eLoom could claim with clarity was that the organism stayed in some kind of hibernation to preserve its energies. Speaking of preservation, the warning voice of the local aid echoed through her brain.
    
    "But I'm in the middle of work."
    She checked her biometric avatar on the upper-left of her HUD. The emerald color had changed into a green-yellow mix and flickered. eLoom had more than enough power to work for another five hours without fearing any trouble. But then again, it had been an eventful time. Plus, her crew was watching her process, anticipating another screw-up on her side. She already peeved them by solo-venturing toward asteroid Pandora-5. Refusing the recommended recharge times would taint her reputation even more. eLoom held still and exhaled deeply. Watched the round-shaped organism and pressed her lips.
    "Fine. You win."
    The aid sounded its delicate voice.
    
    Imagine all the discoveries I’ll miss by going off the grid, eLoom thought.
    But the discussion was over. eLoom sealed off the organism behind the transparent hull, shelved her exo-arms in the locker and moved her body into the clearance area for the decontamination process. Before she traversed the shutter gate of the science lab, she winked at the organism behind the sealed section.
    Do not run away from me, hear me?
    The object didn't reply.
    eLoom floated back to the central core of the spaceship and found every other crew unit still inside their pods, checking their protocols and preparing for the recharge. eLoom slipped inside her capsule and ignored the looks of her compeers. She closed the hull when eVax pushed his arm between the opening. His face revealed a smile, but she was too annoyed to welcome it.
    "What is it now?"
    He grimaced at first but quickly swapped to a smile—one that couldn't look any more artificial. 
    "Nothing. I am just glad you came to your senses. It feels good to follow protocol once in a while, doesn't it?"
    She tilted her head.
    "No, it does not. I have already wasted 12 minutes and 45 seconds."
    He exposed his smug grin and was unable to brush it off. eLoom closed her eyes but could feel eVax staring at her through the hull. 
    "Are you going to sing me a lullaby now?"
    He grumbled.
    "That would be childish, eLoom. Besides, do not be mad at us. Everyone is doing their part of the protocol, to the best of their abilities.”
    No, she thought, I'm more curious than all of you combined.
    More driven and determined. 
    And I'd outwork every single one of these