Hunted: BBW Alien Romance (Warriors of Karal Book 4) by Harmony Raines Page A

its name?” she asked.
    “Yes, it indicates the sector and the planet number.” He pointed to it on his screen.
    “Aren’t you organised,” she said. “How much of the universe have you mapped?”
    “A very small amount. But we keep records of everything we discover.” As they approached the wormhole, the computer screen flashed. “We are receiving an update.”
    “What kind of update?” she asked, excited that they might be in touch with other ships, or that they could contact Karal; it made the universe feel smaller somehow.
    “It is the mission details from other deep space missions.” He waited for the light to flash off, and then said, “Here we go. I can look at the update later.”
    He steered the ship towards the beacons, waiting for it to be completely central before tipping the throttle forward and taking them into the tunnel of swirling light.
    Down, as if the bottom had fallen out of space. She felt the fruit juice rise in her stomach but was determined to keep it down. Apart from anything, she did not relish the thought of having to clean the mess up, and there was no way she could get to the bathroom with the ship at this angle.
    Glancing across as Garth, she was at least pleased he was not phased by the angle of the ship. “Is this normal?”
    “Yes. All wormholes are different; this one is almost vertical.” He leaned forward and tapped something into the computer. “I have updated the wormhole description; I think the angle has increased.” He took another reading. “I am surprised, they don’t normally change.”
    “But we are going to come out in the right place?” Her voice wavered with concern.
    “We should do. The readings are the same.”
    She looked out of the window, determined to let her nervousness pass. There was nothing they could do about it, they had reached the point of no return as soon as they entered, so they would have to journey to the end and then see where they were.
    Lights flashed, pinpricks of stars appeared, and then it went dark. Only distant planets, like dark shadows in the night, could be seen circling a dim star. It was like a planets’ graveyard. And then there was a bright flash, as if lightening had struck, before they burst out into normal space.
    But was it the right space?
    Garth took a reading, and looked puzzled.
    “Are we lost?”
    “No. But the wormhole has definitely moved. The end has, anyway.”
    “So where are we?” Her stomach threatened to spill its contents once more, but she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, knowing she had to keep it together, for Garth’s sake.
    “About two hundred light-years off-course. It’s as if someone tried to yank the beacons free and moved the end instead.” He pressed more buttons on the monitor.
    “Are we still going to the planet?” she asked.
    “Yes. It could have been some kind of anomaly,” Garth said, but he didn’t convince her.
    “Then set a new course, and let’s go.” She raised her eyebrow, waiting for him to argue, to tell her they should turn around and go back the way they came, and she would have been relieved, despite wanting to see a new planet.
    But the change in the wormhole bothered her. “What if it collapses, or changes while we are inside it? What would happen to us?”
    “Hypothetically, we would just be spat out into space somewhere along the length of the wormhole.”
    “Hypothetically?” she asked, not liking the sound of that.
    “Yes. It is not a thing that has ever happened, so no one can say for sure.”
    “Great. I don’t mind being the first person to set foot on a new planet, but I don’t want to be the first person to break a wormhole.”
    “Don’t worry, we will be fine. Now let’s get to this planet and see what is there.”
    “Hopefully there isn’t another alien race there waiting to ambush us.” She half laughed, but really she was scared. Maybe it was being a human, who up until eight months ago had thought they were