“Let me go first.” Loka moved in front of Heather before she had a chance to open the door. “I will be able to detect any bots out there.”

“Fine. They might not be so interested in getting their cold metal limbs on you.”

Loka glanced at her. “They really did seem intent on attacking you. Was it just because you threatened them with a laser?”

“I can think of no other reason. Maybe I smell funny to them.”

He inhaled deeply. “You smell pleasant. I don’t think it’s that.”

A flash of a smile passed across Heather’s lips. “Whatever the reason, I don’t want them to target me again. They might think twice when they see you, especially considering what your horns did to the last lot.”

Loka self-consciously rubbed a knuckle against his horn. He’d never stopped to think that Heather might consider his horns unusual. On his home planet, the bigger the horns, the higher regard you received.

This time, Heather grinned properly. Her gaze rose above his head. “Your horns are lovely.”

Loka blinked at her. It was as if she’d read his mind. “Thank you. And you have lovely... teeth.” And she did. They were too small to be of any real use, but they were neat and white, and her face lit up when she smiled.

Heather’s nose wrinkled up as she bared her teeth at him. “I’m not afraid to use them if you step out of line.”

Loka chuckled. His hand reached into his pocket before he was even aware of what he was doing. He held out the piece of coal. “This is for you.”

Her eyes widened. “Another gift?”

“You like my gifts?”

She took the coal from him, holding it as if it was a fragile creature that could break at any second. She placed it under her nose and sniffed. “I do. I call them friendship lumps.”

“Friendship lumps?”

“I figured that was why you’ve been giving them to me. You want us to be friends. You want us to have a bond.” The color in Heather’s cheeks rose.

“I do not give coal to females I wish to be friends with.”

“Oh. Well, I like it.” Heather stared at the coal. “I read in a report that coal is given to forge bonds.”

Loka looked at the ground. He still wasn’t certain why he was giving her regular gifts of coal. He was not looking for a mate. He had to keep reminding himself that.

He found himself unable to speak. Instead, he opened his mouth and a low, deep bellow rumbled from his chest.

Heather stumbled back and hit the door. “Stop doing that! The bots will hear you. You’ll draw attention to us.”

He lowered his head. A sense of release filled him. Loka had wanted to bellow for some time. Keeping it in made him tense. “It is to show my feelings. I like you.” He raised his head again, meaning to issue another bellow.

Heather dashed forward. Her hand clamped across his mouth. “No! No more bellows. We’ll draw all the crazy bots to us if they hear you.”

Loka poked his tongue out and tasted the flesh on her palm.

She yanked her hand away and stared at it. “Did you just lick me?”

Loka felt his ears heat. “I was curious as to your taste. Your palm has a sweet, salty tang.”

She wiped her palm on the back of her jumpsuit. “Don’t do it again. It’s weird.”

“Your hand was over my mouth. What did you expect me to do?”

“Not lick me.” Heather’s expression turned curious. “And quit the bellowing. It’s lovely that you like me. I like you too when you’re not telling me off for messing with your experiments. Bellow at me later if you have to. We need to get out of here.”

Loka’s shoulders sagged. He’d expected a more enthusiastic response. It was the first time he’d directly given her a piece of coal. He was used to placing it by her office or quarters and scuttling away like an adolescent Picar, who didn’t know his way around a supernova. All Heather had done was told him to keep quiet. And she’d also stuffed the piece of coal in her pocket. She didn’t cherish it like she was supposed to.

The door to the lab slid open.

Loka yanked Heather toward him, expecting to see bots on the other side. Instead, it was Hoan.

Hoan froze as he saw the two of them in the room. “I was looking for you.” His gaze went from Loka to Heather. “Something odd is going on.”

“We know.” Loka relaxed his hold on Heather. “We have been investigating.”

Hoan nodded. “What did you discover?”

“Not much of value. We were about to head to engineering. I wanted to check on our work before we did so.”

“Are the experiments holding?” Hoan peered around Loka to the chiller cabinet.

“For now. If the power remains off for much longer, we will have to begin again.”

Hoan groaned. “Let’s get to engineering then and see if we can lend a hand in getting things back online.”

“Are there any bots in the corridor?” Heather asked.

“They attacked us earlier,” Loka said.

“None that I noticed. The whole place is quiet, like everyone is in hiding.” Hoan looked down at Heather. “I recognize you from the matchmaking agency.”

Loka cleared his throat. “This is Heather. Heather, this is Hoan, my colleague.” He had not said much to Hoan about his interest in Heather, but Hoan was quick to pick up on any female he discussed, as he tried to figure out who Loka was giving his pieces of coal to.

Hoan’s brows rose. “So, this is Heather.”

Heather smiled. “I am.”

“It’s an honor to meet you.” Hoan lowered his horns as a mark of respect.

“Let’s get moving.” Loka strode into the corridor. He did not need Hoan sharing any of his confidences with Heather. Hoan had a tendency to talk too much about private matters that did not concern him.

“I know a shortcut to engineering.” Heather’s gaze was curious as she looked at Loka.

“Show us the way.”

She nodded, before striding ahead.

Hoan and Loka walked side-by-side, just behind Heather.

“Was she impressed by our work?” Hoan’s voice was low.

“She interfered.”

“She damaged the experiments?” Hoan glanced over his shoulder back to the lab.

“No. Heather was being curious.”

“Curiosity is a good thing.”

“She does not understand our work.”

“You could explain it to her. Heather seems nice.”

Loka twisted his head from side to side. “She did know a surprising amount about the mapping of space.”

“Another positive. You have said you do not enjoy idle talk. You will not get that with Heather if you discuss matters of space mapping.”

Loka rubbed a horn. “I might have made her angry.”

“Let me guess; you got overly protective of your work?” Hoan grinned at him.

“I do not get overly protective. The work we do is precise. If it is interfered with, it goes wrong.”

“We have had the same level of training, brother, yet you continue to tell me off at least once a day. I am used to it. I know you do not mean any disrespect. A human female, who is getting to know you, might not realize that. Perhaps you hurt her feelings, rather than angering her.”

“Her feelings are fine.”

“Which is why she’s stamping her feet, and her hands are clenched into those cute little fists.” Hoan nodded at Heather. “As if those adorable little hands could do any damage. They will break if she strikes anything.”

Loka studied Heather. She did appear tense. “She was attacked by station bots. I rescued her from being thrown from an airlock. That is why she is tense.”

“Not because you told her off?”

Loka scrubbed the base of his horn again. “I might have been sharp with her.”

“If you apologize, she will understand.”

“I did. I gave her coal, and I bellowed at her.”

“Not quite the apology I meant. That behavior suggests you are interested in her as a mate.” Hoan’s head swung sharply toward him. “Are you?”

Loka ignored the question. “She doesn’t understand our ways. She called the coal I gave her a friendship lump.”

Hoan laughed. “I’ve never heard them called that before. It is kind of sweet. It might be nice to be friends with Heather, first. You can get to know her and puzzle through all the strange behavior humans exhibit.”

Loka sighed, and his attention went back to Heather. He wanted to get to know her, and he did want her in his life but in five years’ time, when his mapping project was over. Now was not suitable for him to start a courtship. You had to dedicate two full months to fully court a mate. That had to be your sole focus. You were entering into a lifelong commitment to another individual. You did not do that lightly. He would not be able to juggle this project and appropriately court Heather. Both would suffer, and he’d be left feeling inadequate and angry.

Hoan nudged him with an elbow. “There’s no use hiding from love. If you have discovered somebody you think will make a suitable mate, you shouldn’t deny yourself.”

“I’m denying myself nothing. We’re here to work, not make unions with females.”

“If I found someone I wished to mate with, I would not let my work prevent me.”

“You would abandon our project?”

“No. But you would let me take a couple of months off to go courting.” Hoan grinned at him.

“I would not. I need you.”

“Love finds a way.”

“Have you been watching those romantic movies again?” Loka asked. “They are bad for you. They give you strange human notions.”

“They are enjoyable and funny. There are three thousand five hundred and eighty-six romantic movies to watch. I intend to view every single one. It is helping me learn about humans. When it is my time to join My Single Alien, I shall be fully equipped to find myself a delightful female and court her in the most appropriate way.”

Loka grimaced. He would not endure thousands of movies to show him what he needed to do to win Heather over. Was there a way he could make this work? Perhaps she would agree to be put into stasis. He could continue his work and wake her up in a few years’ time, when he was able to fully commit to her.

Hoan shook his head. “Whatever you’re thinking about, stop it. I don’t like that look in your eye.”

“I’m not thinking about anything.” The stasis idea was ridiculous. Loka could not expect his female to go into a deep sleep and wait for him while he toiled. There had to be another way.

Heather glanced over her shoulder as she reached the end of the corridor. “This way.” She turned a corner, weaved through a series of pipes, and arrived by a door. “This is the back entrance into engineering.”

The door slid open. The sound of clattering metallic limbs on metal bounced around the room as several bots fled out of the door opposite them.

Loka pulled Heather back against his chest as he surveyed the scene of devastation in front of them.

Heather’s breath came out shaky as she looked around. “Engineering is so screwed.”