Ouroboros 2: Before Read Free Page B

pull rank. ‘I do not.’
    ‘ My mistake, never mind,’ she added as she waved a hand at him. ‘We should just concentrate on the fact that we don’t know when we are and are completely on our own with an impossible mission to complete.’
    She couldn’t distract him.
    He just frowned at her. ‘Right,’ he looked down at the scanner again, making a show of going through her work. ‘Now we’ve got this, at least we’ll be able to translate what we see and hear. Now we’ll just need to figure out what we can actually eat on this planet,’ he added as his stomach gave a rumble.
    ‘ I’ve already done that,’ she pointed to what she thought was the kitchen. ‘There were a couple of foil packets, and I assumed they were food. I scanned them, and I selected the ones that won’t make us terribly ill.’
    ‘ Well, that’s reassuring,’ he quipped. ‘Perhaps I should check your work though,’ he said, rather condescendingly. Then he turned from her, his demeanor unusually frosty as he headed towards the kitchen.
    He was clearly still unhappy about her snuffling remark.
    Rather than try to soothe his hurt feelings, she trundled after him.
    In silence he scanned the same foil packages she had, and came to the same conclusion. Bravely selected one, opened it, stuck his finger inside, and licked the silver, powdery contents.
    He immediately made a face.
    He slapped his free hand down on the bench, blinked his eyes close, and hissed slightly. ‘Holy crap,’ he said after several seconds, ‘that tastes like being punched in the gut.’
    She just raised an eyebrow. Leaning past, she dipped her finger into the packet, then, with only a slight pause, licked the contents off her finger.
    She practically fell over.
    Swearing, she slammed both hands down on the counter, and started to shake her head. ‘Oh . . . god. I need water. I need water .’
    He didn’t move to help her. He simply stood there and laughed.
    ‘ It’s not funny.’
    ‘ Yes, it is,’ he conceded seriously.
    She wanted to punch him, but as he was still wearing his armor all the way up to his neck, she refrained. If she so much as touched her knuckles to the ablative plating of his arm, they would probably shatter.
    And as now she was away from the best medical facilities the United Galactic Coalition had to offer, she had to be careful. Very, very careful. No more broken ribs or concussions for her.
    And no more silver powder from foil packets either.
    Once she finished choking, and Carson stopped laughing, she snapped at him to put his clothes on.
    He simply stared back at her as if she were a fool. ‘We are not playing dress ups. We are on an alien planet. By simply putting on a crappy leather vest, I’m not going to fit in. We have no idea what the inhabitants of this planet look like, but I can guarantee you they don’t look anything like us.’
    She regarded him silently, then she rolled her eyes. ‘You really do think I’m the worst recruit in 1000 years, don’t you? I’ve already accessed images of them; that’s how I know what they wear. And as for their physical appearance, thankfully they’re about the same build as we are, but . . .’ she trailed off.
    ‘ But,’ he repeated challengingly.
    ‘ They have white hair, black eyes, blue spots, and ridges over their bodies.’
    ‘ How about I look that up for myself,’ Carson mumbled under his breath as he manipulated the scanner.
    She’d had just about enough of the rude, defensive Carson, and she cleared her throat properly. ‘Are you always this cranky after you wake up? Or is this just because I said you snuffle while you sleep? Because you do. But what’s wrong with that? It was adorable.’
    Oh no, that had been the wrong word.
    Carson looked appalled. ‘Adorable?’
    ‘ Cute?’ she tried instead.
    ‘ Cute?’ he challenged in a far more menacing tone.
    ‘ Attractive?’ She finally chanced upon.
    But that was an even worse word, because the look Carson shot