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“You can feel this?” His eyes drift downward as his fingertip trails down my neck, along the curve of a breast, and over a nipple. An electric jolt lances through my body.

“Yes,” I rasp. This can’t be real. A hormonal nap in my weary condition is as likely as me being able to herd Talros’ RAMs, all of them, with my hands tied behind my back.

The man’s finger travels lower. “Show me your Storm.”

“I don’t have one, whatever that is.”

“Your energy.”

I’m not sure to what he’s referring. “I’m asleep. I don’t have any right now.”

“It’s in here.” He taps my sternum. The moment his finger contacts my chest this time, a hot white light blazes out of nowhere until I am forced to close my eyes. “Stars. What in the devil’s asshole is that?”

I hear a chuckle.

“What the f—”

A woman shakes my shoulder. “Jovie!”

I gasp and launch upward on a stretcher in a circular room that isn’t the Abr shuttle. Frantic beeps of heart monitors fill the busy room. Other women look at me: nurses and racers lying on other beds.

My lungs strain for air. I can’t get enough. I’m burning up, sweating, and shaking all over. “What happened? Where am I?”

A doctor rushes over with a syringe. She disconnects the nutrient tube and slides the needle in. “You’re in the Abr female medical wing. Every woman is brought in here while the sleep meds wear off. Now, are you certain you’re entirely human?”

“Yes. What in the blue blazes would make you think I wasn’t?” I demand.

The doctor gives my nurse a look and flicks her eyes at me.

Beside me, my nurse holds up a burnt harness strap.

“There has to be an explanation,” I mutter as I stare at the smoking fabric. “My gauntlets may have discharged during my sleep. I haven’t wired them to be telepathically controlled. I just worked in a shipyard. I’m not an alien.”

The doctor sighs. “Let’s take them then. Some might consider them weapons.”

While the nurse begins the process of disconnecting my gauntlets from my Faraday harness and the merge brackets in my wrists, the woman in a white coat asks me a question.

“What do you think is more important: power or opportunity?”

I shrug. “Opportunity, I guess. Power might make anything possible. But the opportunity for power has to be there, or nothing can change. Having the power to create an opportunity is important, but I think an opportunity not taken is worse than a power not received. Because even the powerless can rise to power given the right opportunity.”

The doctor scrolls through something on her tablet. “And what would you say to someone who stepped in front of you in line?”

“What’s the line for? The bathroom? A flight? A sandwich?”

“Generically.”

“I’d ask if they need help. I’d change my tone depending on the situation. If they look in pain, I’d mean it sincerely. If they’re being an ass, I’d mean it as an implication of their missing honor and respect. Might swear at them. I have a tendency to do that.”

The doctor nods. “Feeling better?”

“Awake now.”

“Good. You are assigned purple bands. Please proceed with the other women to pick up your initial race uniform, get your assigned room, and then on to the buffet.”

“Thanks.” I slide off the bed. The nurse extends my satchel to me.

“Thank you for not burning down my medical center.”

I look back at her. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“I know. But there’s something else going on. Abr would usually make me pull you, but I think removing the gauntlets should help. We’ll keep them locked up in secure storage.”

I nod and sigh as I finally enter the room where I’ll receive my uniform and bands. Purple? Talros isn’t going to believe it when he sees me on the holovid. At least I’m not a pink.

But what bothers me most is my dream. I think my nightmare initiated my defense system and made me fry the strap.

And a Storm? What the hell was that guy talking about?

I fear something is wrong with my gauntlets. Maybe they have a virus? I wouldn’t put it past Verity to suck some guy’s dick just to get him to corrupt my augments.

I shake my head. I’m here. I need to forget about her. I’ll decide what to do about my gauntlets later.

A woman hands me a navy jumpsuit and a set of purple armbands with a wristband that will supposedly unlock my room and keep me posted on race stats.

“The rest of your uniforms, including swimsuits, will be in your assigned room. You can shower and get ready in the locker rooms just through that door.”

“Thanks,” I say, no longer as excited as I once was for the upcoming race.

“Whatever is on your mind, let it go. Just be here, have fun, eat well and rest safely.” She decorates her face with a smile. “Security is tighter with Ohni’s leadership. You can focus on enjoying yourself.”

I thank her and walk toward the locker rooms, eager for a hot shower.

It’s just like everything else. I’ll figure this out.

Except it’s nothing like anything I’ve ever done before. I can’t get over the notion the man in my dream wasn’t just a figment of my imagination.

“Those drugs sure bring out some wild dreams, huh?” a woman asks.

I look up at her as she blow-dries her tawny hair outside of an empty shower stall. She’s banded pink. “Uh, yeah. Crazy.”

The woman next to her with satiny blond hair done up in a sleek ponytail primps her fake eyelashes. “I had three Mindor all over me.” She grunts in lust. “You?”

It takes me a moment to find my tongue and figure out what I had. “One. Amphiran, I think.”

“Electric?” The first woman turns to me with a smile. “Cool.”

The second woman gives my Faraday suit a once over. “Fitting. I’m Coralla. Most just call me Cora.”

She sticks out a hand with acrylic fingernails.

I don’t want to be rude and take her hand in mine. “Jovie.”

“See you ladies out there.” Cora walks out, a slight sway to her hips like she thinks she’s a runway model. Maybe she is.

The first woman clicks her tongue. “Well, anyway. The shower’s hot water is a swizzle to the left.” She waggles her whole body as if to mimic the direction of the lever and laughs lightly. “I had a big blue Thorian. I hear there will be a few.”

“Thanks. Good luck,” I say.

She backs out, stumbles over a bag on the floor, giggles, and points in the direction of the exit. “See you out there, Jovie! Hope you get the electric dude you want!”

I try to call after her to ask her name, but she’s gone before I can get the words out. So I pick a stall, close the curtain, and strip.

Is that what the drugs do? They make us dream about the man we want?

So I want the Amphiran?

I study my bodyweb, wondering if anyone will want me when they see it. But what other woman could handle an electric alien?

I shake the thoughts from my head and swizzle the shower handle to the left, letting the hot water wash away my concerns and years of built-up gear grease and scrubbing away my old life.

Today, I start a new one.