Free Shalia's Diary Book 6 by Tracy St. John Page B

temperatures don’t run as hot as ours. But every Earther sign belongs to someone else. It’s like she’s not even on the ship anymore.”
     
    That made terror slam into my gut. “Oses, you’re not saying—”
     
    He grabbed me and hugged me tight. “No, Shalia. No outer hatches or bay doors have been opened. She wouldn’t be able to do that without proper security clearance anyway, not with us in space. Candy has not left the ship, no matter what the sensors say.”
     
    That was a relief. “What about the Ofetuchan phase gadgets? Is that a possibility?”
     
    Oses shook his head. “All the devices from that ship are accounted for. Searches on Finiuld’s vessel have turned up no others. Candy couldn’t have gotten to it to operate those devices anyway.”
     
    We have a real mystery on our hands. Where the hell is Candy?
     
    After hearing all that, I wandered the ship’s concourse. I asked around, because not doing anything made me crazy. Of course no one has seen her. I knew I would turn up nothing, but what else was there for me to do to get through this nightmare? Sit in my quarters, hoping for word? Wait until someone else stumbled across her?
     
    I ended up in our almost-finished club. No one was working on it. All the Kalquorians who usually help us out were either on duty or searching deck by deck for Candy. All the Earth women who are also involved didn’t have the heart to work when one of the people most involved in the project is missing.
     
    I ended up staring at my reflection in one mirror-covered wall. My long-sleeved dress showed my baby bump ballooning my front. I thought about the few memories I’d built in this space. All the times I came in here, hoping to help. Being made to sit around and offer little more help than my opinion on how this place would shape up. Candy, running up to ask about this configuration of sitting areas, tweaks to the color palette, how long the bar should be, and did I need anything to drink or eat?
     
    I should have been blubbering at that point. Instead, I felt rage fill my head. Fury over not knowing where my friend was, over my helplessness to do anything, over ... I don’t know, life in general. I was mad at the universe in that moment. For an instant, I thought about smashing the mirrors.
     
    Instead, I left the would-be club. I went to my quarters and had a bath. I went to dinner and picked at my food. I spent the night with Oses, who kept promising me they would find Candy if it meant tearing the transport apart. I woke up and still no Candy.
     
    My com is going off. Oh please God, let it be good news.
     
     
    May 18
     
    The last 24 hours have been horrific. I keep telling myself, at least we got Candy back. But that’s not true, is it? We got what used to be Candy back. Whatever this thing is she’s become ... becoming ... oh fuck, I don’t know.
     
    My portable com went off yesterday, and I fell on it like a hyena on a zebra carcass. All I wanted was to hear Oses or Betra saying they’d found her safe and sound. I thought my heart would explode with gratitude when the voice on the other end said, “Shalia, it’s Candy.”
     
    I flat-out screamed in my relief, even though the rough voice sounded little like my friend’s. “Candy! Oh my God! Tell me you’re okay!”
     
    “I’m fine. I need you to come to me though. And I need you to come alone this time.”
     
    That should have raised some warning flags, but I was too over the moon to know she was okay. “Of course I’ll come! Where are you? What the hell is going on?”
     
    “Everything will be clear once I can talk to you face to face. I’ll give you directions to where you’re going, but don’t let anybody know you’re coming to see me, Shalia. I mean that. I will not be responsible for what happens if someone else shows up.”
     
    That got through my giddy sense of relief. “Not responsible? Candy, what do you mean?” My stomach dropped to remember her as I’d last