Close Remembrance by Anna Zaires Read Free Book Online Page B

She doubted Saret would leave just anyone around all the complex lab equipment.
    Getting up, she walked over to the common data storage facility – a Krinar device that was light years ahead of any human computer. Mia was just beginning to learn all of its capabilities, so she decided to use the downtime to explore it a little and brush up on some of the other apprentices’ projects. The data unit responded to voice commands, which made it easy for Mia to operate it.
    The next six hours seemed to fly by. Absorbed in her task, Mia hardly felt the passage of time as she read about the regenerative properties of Krinar brain tissue and the complexity of infant mind development. She took a short break for lunch – requesting a sandwich from the intelligent lab building – and then continued, fascinated by what she was learning. It seemed like the project that took the other apprentices away from the lab was even more interesting than what Mia and Adam were working on. Feeling slightly jealous, Mia decided to ask Saret if she could somehow get involved.
    Finally, it was five o’clock. Although Mia typically stayed later in the lab, she decided to make an exception today, since nothing much was going on. Leaving the lab, she headed home.
     
     
    Arriving at the house, she wasn’t surprised to find that Korum wasn’t there yet. His schedule was far more grueling than hers, although it helped that he didn’t need to sleep more than a couple of hours a night. He actually got a lot of work done at night or early in the morning when Mia was sound asleep.
    Making herself comfortable on the long floating plank in the living room, Mia decided to use the time to call Jessie. They hadn’t spoken since before Mia’s trip to Florida, and she really missed hearing her friend’s bubbly voice.
    “Call Jessie,” Mia told her wristwatch-bracelet device, and heard the familiar dial tones as the call connected.
    “Mia?” Jessie’s voice sounded cautious.
    “Yep, it’s me,” Mia said, grinning. She knew that the call would show up on Jessie’s phone as coming from an unknown number. “How’s it going? I haven’t talked to you in over a week!”
    “Oh, I’m good,” Jessie said, sounding a little distracted. “How’s your family? Did they already meet Korum?”
    “They sure did,” Mia said. “Believe it or not, they loved him. But hey, listen, are you busy right now? I can call back another time –”
    “What? Oh, no, hold on, let me just go into another room . . .” A short silence, then, “Okay, I’m good now. Sorry about that. I was just hanging out with Edgar and Peter. Do you remember Peter?”
    “Of course,” Mia said. Peter was the guy she’d met at the club – the one Korum had almost killed for dancing with her. Mia still shuddered when she remembered that terrifying night, when she’d thought Korum had found out about her deception and was going to kill her. In hindsight, she’d been an idiot; she should’ve known even then that he would never harm her. But at the time, Korum had still been a stranger to her, a member of the mysterious and dangerous Krinar race that had invaded Earth five years ago.
    “He still asks about you,” Jessie said – a bit wistfully, Mia thought. “Edgar tells me he’s really worried –”
    “That’s nice of him, but there’s really no reason to worry,” Mia interrupted, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. “Seriously, I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life . . .”
    Jessie fell silent for a second, and then Mia heard her sigh. “So that’s it, huh?” she said softly. “You’re in love with the K?”
    “I am,” Mia said, a big smile breaking out on her face. “And he loves me too. Oh, Jessie, you don’t even know how happy he makes me. I could’ve never imagined it could be like this. It’s like a dream come true –”
    “Mia . . .” She could hear Jessie sighing again. “I’m happy for you, I really