December
Page 36
*
“Vandoraa? May I come in?” Ted asked, knocking on the door to the cabin that had been given to their Drevi guest.
“Ted? Of course, of course,” Vandoraa said, sounding cheerful yet awkward.
Ted entered the sparsely decorated cabin and smiled at his friend. He wasn’t exactly sure when he’d started thinking of Vandoraa as a friend, it had just sort of happened. “I just... wanted to thank you. For what you did.”
“I never thought a human would thank me for anything,” he said, “but you’re welcome.” Vandoraa glanced away, an apology spilling from his lips. “I... can’t express to you how sorry I am for what my brother did to your friend. It was inexcusable under any Drevi law or morality.”
“I appreciate the apology, Vandoraa, I really do,” Ted said, his voice choking up a bit. “But I have to say, your brother’s an ass.”
“He’s always been... stubborn. But I never imagined he would do something like this.” Ted almost laughed, wondering if Vandoraa had understood the true meaning of his words, but the Drevi continued, “How is Alana? I... haven’t worked up the courage to go see her yet.”
“She’s recovering nicely, from what I can tell,” Ted said. “Though I think you should go see her. It might help bury the hatchet between you.”
“Bury the hatchet?” Vandoraa looked confused.
“Oh, it’s an expression. It means to put past conflicts behind us.”
Vandoraa nodded as he understood. Silence passed between them as the two sized each other up. Ted’s expressions were easy for Vandoraa to read; he picked up on how stressed and saddened the human was very quickly. “Are you all right? I know how crippling grief can be for humans,” he said. “Oh, I’m sorry. That was really insensitive.”
“We’ll figure each other out soon enough,” Ted said. Though the remark had mildly offended him for its insensitivity given the experiments the Drevi had been performing, getting mad about it wouldn’t help anything. After all, Vandoraa was right. Grief was crippling for humans. Ever since losing Juiya, Ted felt like he had a lead ball in his stomach.
Vandoraa paused before speaking again. “I said grief crippled humans, but your race actually seems to handle it better than we do. From what I know, Drevi tend to be more emotionally balanced than humans as a whole, unless grief is the emotion we’re dealing with. Drevi have a much harder time dealing with the death of a loved one.”
Ted nodded, though he couldn’t help but wonder why that was. Was it biological or cultural?
“I also wanted to thank you... for believing in me,” Vandoraa said after taking a deep breath. “A lesser man would have treated me horribly. But you gave me a chance.”
“It sure as hell paid off,” Ted said, nearly laughing in spite of everything.
Vandoraa smiled, happy to have cheered Ted, if only briefly.
“Vandoraa, I know this situation isn’t easy for you, but I think it’s really important that we get more information if we’re going to be victorious. Your Queen. Is she the one who’s behind this?”
Vandoraa glanced around uncomfortably, fighting within himself whether or not to give up the information. Finally, he relented. “For the most part, yes, she is. Dreve has an elected monarchy, and while she does not have absolute power, she is still the most powerful person on the planet. The traditionally female Heads of Houses also wield much influence.”
“You’re a matriarchal society?” That part surprised Ted. From what he’d seen of the Drevi, he hadn’t expected that.
“Historically we are. It made sense—since with women you knew for sure which family line children came from. But for the last two hundred years, men have had the same rights, though there is still some preference for female children among the Heads of the Houses.”
“And you said you’re from one of the Houses? Not just because you live on their land?”
“That’s correct. Each House has a historical claim to certain territories, and people who live on that land are part of that House. But I am the third son of the House of Neryx. Traditionally the Queen was elected by the Heads of the Houses from amongst themselves. Now anyone can run and everyone can vote.”
“So why did your Queen order attacks on both Kolea and on Earth? Are you trying to gain resources? Or is it really some perverted way of studying new life forms?”
“We’re not an imperial force, Ted, I can assure you of that. What Dr. Hio undoubtedly told you is the truth. We really are just curious. Though you’re right, our methods are a bit... perverted.”
Ted shook his head in awe. “So that really is what this has all been about.”
Vandoraa nodded slowly. “Yes. I can’t possibly apologize to you, to your entire race, to the Koleans, for what we’ve done. But I can do something. I can help you make it as right as possible.”
“Why don’t you go see Alana and tell her what you just told me,” Ted suggested. “Start there. I need to talk to General Toka, since I have a pretty good idea of what we need to do next.”
Vandoraa nodded and Ted turned to leave, starting towards the bridge before the memory of Juiya’s cold, dead body came rushing back. He couldn’t have held back the tears if he’d wanted to.