I knew he was right. I did not want to admit it, but he was. While I may not have had any medical training, I knew enough from speaking to Phoebe and watching the Novai change with my own eyes to know they were not healing. They were only getting worse, and, if we did not do something, they would die just as others had. I also knew Sevani was right about what he had said to me: it was our responsibility, having accepted the Novai as colonists, to do what we could to ensure their safety and well-being. That was the entire purpose of the Elderhood, to ensure the safety and well-being of the A’li-uud. Once humans colonized here, the Council accepted that responsibility for them as well. It only stood to reason Novain colonists were protected under the same creed.
“I guess we don’t have a choice,” Phoebe said in a small voice. “They need to know, and we need to know what they know.”
“Yes,” Sevani agreed. He stood suddenly, and I realized he intended this to be the end of our conversation. “When a ship has been readied for your mission and a crew gathered, we will send warriors to fetch you and bring you back to Ka-lik’et. Until then, continue your work with the Novai.”
Without another word, he left the room, and Phoebe and I stared at each other. We may have just been sentenced to imminent death.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Phoebe
I was homesick. Homesick for Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America, Earth. Homesick for my little round hut in Ka-lik’et. I was even homesick for my windowless room in the mutacorpathy hospital—or Zuran’s windowless room, for that matter. All I wanted was to be somewhere comfortable and familiar and safe.
Instead, I was standing on the market walk while I waited to be summoned and sent into space.
Edie was next to me, chattering my ear into deafness. When I’d arrived in the city that morning, she had flown out of the infirmary and thrown herself at me so hard I toppled over.
“You’re back! You’re back!” she screeched, making my molars hurt with the sheer shrillness of her voice. I managed to untangle myself from her and stand up again, and she looked around on either side and behind me with a wrinkled brow. “Where’s your boy?”
Hearing Zuran referred to as a “boy” made me laugh out loud. “He’s just outside the city,” I told her. “He’s helping to prepare a ship.”
Her eyes widened, and she bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly. “Ooh, does that mean you’re back to stay?”
“No,” I replied mournfully. “Not yet, at least. I’ve got to go on a mission.”
“A mission? What are you, a secret agent all of a sudden?” she joked, making a face.
I laughed again, but this one wasn’t as genuine. I was too nervous to be in a properly good-humored mood. “Not exactly. A secret agent would probably be more glamorous than this.” She tilted her head with interest, and I knew she was going to ask for more details, so I just headed her off. “Zuran and I have to get onboard the Novai mother ship.”
It was her turn to laugh now. “What?” she giggled. “You can’t be serious.”
“I wish I wasn’t,” I said honestly.
“What do you have to do that for?” she demanded as she slammed her hands onto her waist and jutted a hip out with attitude.
I wasn’t at liberty to tell her everything, so I tried to keep my answer as vague as possible while still managing to satiate her need for gossip. “The Council thinks we need to talk to the captain. Zuran was assigned because he’s an IAO, and I was assigned because I’ve been working on the task they recruited me for. We need some information, and we’re hoping the Novai in space have it.”
Her light eyes gleamed. “What kind of information?” she asked eagerly.
Shaking my head, I chuckled, “You know I can’t tell you that, Edie.”
“Oh, come on! You’re going into space; it’s not like anyone’s gonna know,” she begged.
“Nope.” I shook my head again and then smiled brightly at her. “But, the good news is I’m free to hang out with you until they need me. Unless you’ve got to get back to the infirmary, of course. I don’t mind entertaining myself, if you have to—”
“Girl, knock it off,” she chided. “You know I’m not going anywhere near that infirmary as long as you’re here. I feel like we’re those friends who were tight all through high school and promised to stay in touch during college but now we only see each other once every few years because we made new friends and life went on.”
I narrowed my eyes with faux offense. “You’ve made new friends? I’m that replaceable to you?”
She rolled her eyes and said, “Shut up. I can’t just hang out by myself all the time, you know. The hairdresser on the other side of the colony, Octavia, is pretty cool and I’ve spent some time with her, but otherwise, I’m alone.”
“What about the Corporal?”
Her face lit up. “Oh, yeah, him too. But that’s a given.”
I asked her then what she wanted to do until I was called away, and she insisted we leave the colony so she couldn’t be called back to the infirmary. Now, I found myself on the market walk where the last time I’d come back to Ka-lik’et, I’d been dressed like an A’li-uud hooker and terrified I’d never see Zuran again. The mystery and whimsy of the booths was lost to me; the only thing I saw anymore as I looked down the line of tables and silk canopies and merchants was the seedy underbelly lurking beneath the outwardly pleasant sight. And I was acutely aware that, somewhere below my feet, was the den of criminals and outlaws.
“…I guess, but I still think a real date would be nice for once, you know?”
Edie had been rambling about her relationship with the Corporal for almost twenty minutes straight. I’d thought I was paying good attention, but I realized I’d let my mind wander and had no idea what she was saying. I tried to play it off.
“Yeah, dates are good,” I said absently.
“Yeah,” she agreed stoutly. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m expecting too much. I mean, we are basically building a whole new civilization here. We’re like the pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. I’m pretty sure they had more important things to worry about than dates, right? But sometimes a girl just wants to go out. Have you had a real date with Zuran yet?”
I smirked with so much wry amusement that Zuran would’ve been proud. Our relationship thus far had been packed with more action than most people would ever experience in a lifetime. We’d watched an Elder die at his brother’s hand, been relocated to the middle of nowhere to battle a mysterious disease, snuck out of the middle of nowhere and into Ka-lik’et only to barely escape Albaterra’s worst criminals, testified in a trial before the entire Council. And now we were being shot into space to meet with a notoriously temperamental race and tell them their people were dying in our care. I almost felt like a “real date” would be too boring for us.
“No, we haven’t had the chance to do that,” I admitted. I wasn’t nearly as bothered by it as she was.
“Don’t you think—”
Edie’s words were cut off at the knees by a terrible, gut-wrenching scream. I didn’t even realize the scream was mine until a hand closed around my mouth and muffled the sound, and my whole body was wrenched backward against something very large and very rigid.
“Hello, laaka,” a very slimy, very familiar voice said in my ear. I felt something cold and sharp slide flush against my throat. “I hope Zuran has found another female to entertain because you are mine tonight.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Zuran
The ship assigned to us for the mission was the Tek’raqiq De-striit. It was a relatively small craft, outfitted with sleeping quarters and a small galley for overnight trips, but it was prized mainly for its speed and not intended for long journeys. I was told if all went as planned we would be back in Dhal’at by the next morning. In the interest of preparing for a mechanical malfunction or an act of nature, I spent my first few hours in Ka-lik’et helping the rest of the crew load the engine room with spare parts and repair equipment, as
well as stocking the galley with several days’ worth of food. We were primed for potential problems with the Tek’raqiq, but it did not escape my notice we were extraordinarily vulnerable to potential problems with the Novai. My opinion that the Elders were intentionally getting me out of their way and sending me into the line of fire was strengthened with each passing minute.
I was well-acquainted with most of the crew. They were fairly young warriors, save for the Communications Officer, who had been in his position since I first entered the militia. As the ship was limited in space, the crew was comprised of only the most necessary roles. However, I felt the Elders had actually made wise, thoughtful selections: the two mechanics on board were experienced and respected; the Navigations Officer had twenty-three successful missions under his belt; Yazzi, the Chief-of-Arms, was reputed never to have missed a target.
“Who has been assigned as captain?” I asked one of the mechanics as we carried a replacement booster to the engine room. I was a skilled pilot, but I had not been informed whether I would be leading this mission, though I sincerely doubted Sevani would have allowed the Council to charge me with such a responsibility.
“We have not yet been told,” he replied with a grunt. Simultaneously, we heaved the booster into its designated corner and trekked back through the ship to disembark and bring in the extra gravity stabilizer. As I scaled the ramp into the garish sunlight, however, I noticed an all-too-familiar face approaching.
He walked with long strides and purpose. Unlike the last time I had seen him, his head was tilted up with stern dignity, and he held his shoulders squarely. The belt around his waist was fully outfitted with weaponry from blades to guns of various sizes, and the jodhpurs he wore looked to be freshly cleaned. I waved the mechanic on alone and strode forward to meet the newcomer.
“Quite the difference a week makes,” I remarked, skimming my eyes from his revived cheeks to his new boots. “You are looking well, Venan.”
“Thank you, but I have always been the better-looking twin,” he returned slyly.
I grinned. He was rebounding from the nightmare of his recent past more than I would have anticipated by this point. “Have you come to see me off, brother?”
“Hardly.” He straightened up further, puffing out his chest with such vigor the sheaths and holsters dangling around his hips bumped against each other. “I have been named Captain for this mission.”
So surprised was I that I laughed. Venan’s face flushed navy, and he scowled at me with indignance. Before his irritation could commute to temper, I waved a hand and choked back the rest of my chortles. “I apologize,” I said, wheezing slightly. “You are well-suited to the job, I do not doubt. My response was not intended to imply otherwise. I am merely astonished the Elders have the gall to demand your service so soon after putting you through all they did.”
“The Elders did not assign me to this task,” Venan stoutly corrected me. “I requested the position.”
“Oh? I was not aware you had a fondness for space travel.”
He frowned. “You know quite well I am not fond of space travel,” he said. “Nor am I all too fond of the Novai. I simply feel it is my duty to help wherever I am able to serve Dhal’at and the A’li-uud, as well as those in our charge.”
I skated a brow toward my hairline. He had always felt his duty was to help the kingdom, but he had never before stepped forward and asked to be included in a space mission. “Come now, brother,” I said knowingly. “Remember to whom you speak, all I have been through. Duty and obligation aside, you requested captaincy because you want a reason to slip away from the last couple of months, if only for a moment.”
Again, his skin deepened to navy as he became defensive and snapped, “And if I do? I will still be serving my kingdom.”
“You will meet no judgment from me,” I assured him, clapping a hand on his shoulder and jostling him a bit. “If I were in your place, I would have disappeared the moment those bars were opened. I have done exactly that, come to think of it. No, Venan, you might be the better-looking twin only in your mind, but you are definitively of greater moral fortitude than I. Dhal’at is lucky to have your devotion.”
I clapped his shoulder once more and then started to walk away.
“Where are you going?” he called to my departing back.
“To fetch Phoebe,” I responded, turning around to face him and walking backward. “We are nearly ready for take-off, Captain.”
The market walk was busy, as usual, but business during the day was an entirely different entity than business in the depths of the night hours. Those mingling about in the center of the sand-washed road strode slowly in groups to eye the goods for sale and talked amongst each other, and the vendors were not silent with covert secrets available only to those in their circle. A gentle breeze flapped the edges of the dynamic booth canopies and urged shoppers to venture a closer look at the merchandise within. This was the reason the Ka-lik’et market was the largest, most frequented trade hub on Albaterra.
A scream ripped through the hum of activity, and my blood immediately turned cold. I knew that voice, though I had never heard it in such trills of terror before.
Phoebe.
I sprang into a sprint, tearing through the crowd without care for pardons or personal space. My elbow crashed into a startled female dressed in clothes native to rural Dhal’at, and I heard her screaming obscenities at me as I flew past her. I was running so fast faces became blurs, but I knew I had not yet met the one face I was seeking.
When I saw her, I bellowed. She was struggling, her fingers clawing manically at a thickly-muscled forearm and her heels dragging helplessly over the stone street. To her throat was pressed a slender blade around which beads of bright blood were already forming. A scarred mask, once marred only by a single crease but now mangled with two crossed slashes as well, peered with evil glee through a net of her hair.
It was Terrik.
He had spotted me before I had realized his identity, and his eyes were flashing with malice. A’li-uud around them were clearing back with just two courageous males stepping forward to demand Phoebe’s release. Terrik’s reputation preceded him, especially in Ka-lik’et. Few criminals were willing to tangle with him, let alone innocent bystanders of a purer lifestyle. A sickening pit dropped into my stomach as I realized he likely would have gotten away with her had I not shown up at the right time.
There was no time to muse over alternate possibilities, though. I wanted her away from him. Now.
I sprang toward him, unsheathing my daggers in a swift fraction of a second, and he twisted away. Phoebe was thrown to the ground, and I saw tiny droplets of blood spatter the stone as she landed hard on her front. My instinct was to go to her, but to do so would mean turning my back to Terrik, and that was a deadly move. Thankfully, her friend Edie disengaged herself from the throng of onlookers and scrambled to help Phoebe stand.
“Zuran. How nice to see you again,” Terrik said slickly, crossing one foot over the other to step sideways. I mirrored his movement, and we began circling with our eyes locked.
“How dare you touch her,” I hissed through my teeth. My daggers were light in my grasp, ready to delve into flesh and pierce muscle.
“Touching her was the least of my intentions,” he jeered.
I roared with fury and lunged. Before I reached him, however, a melodic plea caressed my ears, freezing me in my tracks.
“Zuran. Please don’t.”
Shouts were rising in the distance, and I heard the steady thump of footfalls seconds later. Terrik was still leering at me, but he had not moved, either because he felt he did not yet have enough of an advantage or because he wanted me to attack first. I looked at Phoebe, curled against Edie’s tiny form with sand dusting her face and knees. A single trickle of blood was beginning to dry in a trail from her neck to her collar from the surface slit across her throat.
“Don’t do it,” she whispered. I could barely hear her, but I saw her lips form the
words and felt the tug of her entreaty in my heart. “I don’t want to lose you.”
The shouts were louder now. A breath later, a group of guards broke through the crowd, yelling orders in A’li-uud for everyone to clear away. I hesitated. My past self, the Zuran of revenge and selfishness and vigilante justice, was aching to spring forth and plunge both daggers into each side of Terrik’s chest. But I had nothing to lose then. I had everything to lose now.
My feet acted for me. I took a step back, then another, before turning my back on the A’li-uud I once would have died for and taking the hand of the human I now lived for.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Phoebe
I thought nearly being dragged off at knifepoint by a deranged alien gangster would be the scariest thing I ever experienced. When I boarded the Novai mother ship, I realized I was dead wrong.
Faces were everywhere. Stark white, eyeless faces framed by sheets of jet black hair. I was lost in a sea of ridged foreheads and cheeks, lips as red as a vampire’s after the hunt, and undefined noses reminiscent of snake snouts. And the screeching…
So much screeching.
Hearing one Novai speaking was painful enough on the ears. An entire docking bay of Novai conversing was enough to render me deaf for life. The shrieks pierced straight through my eardrums and rocketed into my brain, making my whole head feel like I’d slammed it against the wall over and over for hours. The ache was so extreme in fact, I probably could have banged my head and experienced no greater pain than the one I was already experiencing.
We’d been standing in the docking bay for at least ten minutes and, so far, we were basically being ignored. I kept waiting for Venan to speak to someone since he was Captain, but the seconds dragged on, and we just stood stupidly next to our ship while Novai hustled around us. Zuran was whispering translations in my ear, telling me they were analyzing the spacecraft and preparing to inspect us. I was pressed as close to him as I could be. Being in the presence of so many Novai was alarming enough; being inspected sounded utterly terrifying.
Zuran: A Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 6 Page 23