Celia (Leisure Planet 3)

Celia (Leisure Planet 3)
Alice Gaines
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2017 Alice Gaines

They were separated from the rest of the exploratory party, out of communication with their ship, and flat-out lost, and the woman kept acting as if she'd won the Andromeda Prize and landed in paradise. Well, she was a gastronomist not a scientist, so what did you expect? As Chief of Engineering, Judd Elliott couldn't afford to oooh and aaah about this plant or that. He couldn't enjoy the fact this planet looked like a goddamn nature haven, minus the tourists. He had to get them rescued somehow. Only trouble was he understood machines and engines, and there wasn't one in sight. Except for his com-unit, which was as dead as dead got. At least, his weapon worked.

So, he sat on a rock and watched Celia Lane go from plant to plant as if each one had a hidden treasure hidden on it or in it.

She stood near a small shrub, fingering a leaf. "This resembles an Earth nightshade."

"How can you tell without your DNA analyzer?" he asked.

She shrugged. "You get used to the look of leaves. Definitely a nightshade."

"Poison, right?" he said. "No thanks."

"You just dismissed potatoes, tomatoes, peppers." She thought for a minute. "And eggplant."

"I don't like eggplant."

"Then, you haven't had it cooked properly," she said.

Her answer to any food someone didn't want to eat. If she cooked it for you, it would taste good. He had to admit the food on the Stargazer got better after one of her scouting expeditions. Admit to himself, that was. If he gave her the satisfaction, she'd never let him forget she'd been right about something.

At least she was easy on the eyes. When loose, her hair hung down her back in a waterfall of platinum. Even when she wore it up, as she did now, strands worked their way loose to frame her face. Her pale skin made her dark eyes stand out. But her mouth was her most engaging feature -- plush lips of a deep pink. Not that he spent enough time staring at them to notice.

Though her nose came hardly came up to his shoulder, the energy with which she moved made her seem larger than she was. She seemed everywhere at once, declaring whatever she discovered great or fabulous or delicious. All the while her eyes sparkled and dimples formed in her cheeks. Too cute for words. Her body wasn't hard to take, either.

Which he really didn't need to be thinking about when he had to get them back to the rest of their party or, failing that, to the ship.

"I'll take a cutting of this." She snipped off a small branch of the shrub with the knife she carried for that purpose and slipped the vegetation into a plastic specimen bag. "In a few months, we should have something delicious to eat."

"Maybe we should find something to eat for the near future," he said. "We can't wait months for you to grow our dinner."

"We'll be back to the ship before that."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "And how do you know that?"

She straightened and gazed around. She had that I-must-be-in-Heaven expression on her face again. Serene. As if she weren't on an unexplored planet with no food or shelter and no means of communicating with the Stargazer.

The weather might turn and freeze them to death. A predator might tear them apart and eat their innards. Some disease might wrack their bodies. Had any of that occurred to Lieutenant Celia Lane? Not that you could tell from the look on her face.

He rose. "We'd better start looking for some shelter."

"What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"A cave would be nice, preferably near a source of water," he answered. "We won't survive long without that."

"Very wise, Chief. I'm sure we'll find something to eat, too."

Nothing was sure in exploring new planets, but maybe she was too green to realize that. He might as well let her hope for the best while he kept an eye out for danger. He didn't need a crying, frightened female on his hands. He had more important things to do... like... what? He was an engineer and used to having tools and equipment. This planet offered plants. Period.

Still, he pretended he knew where he was going as they walked off together. She kept up with him and for the most part stayed quiet. At least she didn't chatter.

They crossed a field of high grasses, and she skimmed the tops of the plants with her palm as they plowed through. The planet's lone sun warmed their shoulders. The place seemed pleasant enough, and having a woman beside him brought up memories of a time he'd done his best to forget. Things had started off well enough with Susan before she'd decided he wasn't any fun and divorced him. Maybe she'd had a point.

Oh well, he shouldn't be thinking about another of the ship's officers in sexual terms. If she didn't return his interest, he could get slapped with a harassment charge. Just because she seemed so alive and happy to walk beside him didn't mean she lusted after him. She probably acted enthusiastic about everyone and everything. She could very well have gotten a bunch of men in trouble when they'd read her wrong.

Then she started to hum, of all things.