Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
He nodded.
“Yes, I have heard that many human men are abusive and have no control over their sexual urges.”
“You heard right,” Phoebe said dryly. She sighed. “Look, it was wrong of me to assume things about you just because of how you look. I guess I’m as bad as the assholes back at the PD where I was working that treated me different because I’m a woman.”
“Thank you.” He nodded. “And I’m sorry I frightened you, bringing you up here all alone. But I do have a lesson planned.”
“Um, okay.” Phoebe nodded. “You can put me down and teach me then—if you still want to.”
“Yes, I think you’re ready now. You seem much calmer and your scent has settled somewhat.” He set her carefully on her feet and crossed his arms over his chest. “I want you to walk into the field of Unglix plants,” he said, nodding at the dense purple vegetation that covered the field.
“What? But why?” Phoebe frowned in confusion.
“I’ll tell you when it’s time to ask questions,” Sirex rumbled, frowning. “But for now, I want you to learn to obey my orders.”
Phoebe wanted to ask more questions but she sensed she wouldn’t get any answers. Her mentor was in teaching mode now so she had better get into learning mode.
“Okay,” she said and took a step out into the field.
Nothing happened so she took another step and another. She had her foot lifted and was in the act of taking the fourth step when Sirex called,
“Freeze!”
Phoebe tried to do as he said, but she was already in motion. Her foot came down anyway and a puff of bright pink dust sprayed up into the air and directly into her face.
“Ugh!” she gasped, sputtering and coughing as she wiped the pink dust off her face. “What is this stuff?”
“That’s Unglix pollen and it’s completely harmless,” Sirex answered. He was frowning, she saw. “But if we’d been out in the field on a mission, trying to cross a stretch of land laced with mines or destroyers, you’d be dead instead of just coated in pollen.”
Phoebe was beginning to get the point of this lesson.
“Okay, but how can you know where I should step or not?” she demanded. “This whole field looks exactly the same.” She waved a hand over the vast, uninterrupted landscape of dark purple plants, none of them higher than her calf.
“Maybe it looks the same to you—but I can see the heat signatures of the pollen bulbs hidden under the leaves,” Sirex rumbled.
“Wait—you can see in infrared?” she exclaimed.
“When I wish to. My eyes can see all wavelengths of light,” he said. “Now start walking again and listen for my commands. Pretend that every pollen bulb is a landmine.”
They practiced for another hour that way and when they were done, Phoebe was coated in the pink Unglix pollen. She had only stepped on two more “mines” but one of them had been what Sirex called “a gusher” which sent a spout of pollen fifteen feet into the air. It then rained down on her, getting in her hair and dusting her all over with the tiny, bright pink particles.
“Ugh—how hard is it to get this stuff off?” she asked, brushing at herself when Sirex finally called a halt to the exercise. “Does it stain fabric?” She looked down at her torn uniform shirt which was showing more cleavage than was strictly professional. Well, that was a lost cause anyway—she would have to go ask for a new shirt to replace it, she decided.
“It doesn’t stain fabric but I’m afraid you’ll have to shower thoroughly to get it out of your hair,” Sirex said, giving her a critical look.
“Damn it!” Phoebe muttered. “I was afraid of that.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Is that a problem? Taking a shower?”
“No, of course not. It’s more the hair washing part. I just washed my hair last night and it takes forever. Between the washing, the conditioning, the leave in conditioner, and the detangler…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “Never mind—you don’t want to know all that. It’s just a pain in the butt, that’s all.”
“I would ask why you don’t simply cut it, but I can see why you like to keep it long,” he remarked, eyeing her long, curly hair which was pulled back in a ponytail. “It’s quite beautiful.”
“Oh, er…thank you, Sir.” Phoebe found that her cheeks were getting hot and she wondered if he could tell that she was blushing. Probably so, since he could see in infrared, she decided and then blushed even harder.
“Now you’re embarrassed. Would you prefer it if I don’t compliment you when we work together?” he asked seriously.
“No, Sir,” she said quickly, without thinking. “That is, I find compliments very, er, motivating,” she added, trying to explain. “Much more so than criticism.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he murmured thoughtfully. “You must be hungry by now so let’s go get something for Mid Meal.”