Lothric flicked a glance at her, and then made eye contact with Dav, as if expecting him to tell Dimitara she had no right to tell his crew what to do.
Dav stared back.
Lothricʼs behavior toward Dimitara since sheʼd been assigned to the Barrist a month ago bordered on antagonistic, and Dav still hadnʼt worked out why.
Lothric had been assigned to him because heʼd worked as the aide to the Rear Admiral overseeing the Grih space fleet station on the main Garmman home world and all officers-in-training needed deep-space time as well as time at headquarters or diplomatic outposts to advance.
Garmma was one of the five members of the United Council, and Lothric had been rubbing shoulders with members of the United Council Administration and officers like Dimitara since nearly the start of his career. His hostility didnʼt make sense, especially as Dav had casually asked both of them separately if theyʼd ever met, and the answer had been no.
The Grih believed in the UC, in its laws, and unlike some of the other species that made up the five member groups of the UC, the Bukari and the Grih were on good personal terms. They had nothing to fear from a UC representative like Dimitara, and in fact, Dav was glad sheʼd been on the Barrist to witness what had happened with the Tecran. There could be no claims of a cover-up here.
They could have had a Tecran officer instead of the reasonable, intelligent Bukarian, and wouldnʼt that have been fun in the current circumstances?
“Rose is in her room, resting.” He kept his tone mild. “But I agree with Liaison Officer Dimitara, we do not call her an orange, behind her back or otherwise.” Heʼd done it himself, of course, but heʼd apologized, and still felt a faint flush of shame at the thought of it.
“Dr. Havak did, as well. To her face.” Dimitara turned to him, eyes narrowed. “I trust you will speak to him also, Captain?”
“I will.”
Rose hadnʼt looked particularly upset when Havak had called her an orange, but there was definitely the taint of something pejorative about it. Rose would pick it up sooner or later, and he planned to nip it in the bud now.
“Any response from Battle Center?” The two battleships theyʼd requested as back-up still hadnʼt arrived, but Dav hoped to have received some word.
Lothric shook his head.
“Borji has something.” Borjiʼs second, Hista, looked up from her console.
Dav strode across to her.
“Our signalʼs being jammed by the Class 5.” She tapped the screen in front of her, and Borji came online from the Class 5ʼs command center.
“Itʼs been coded in, just like the air and power shut-off.” Borji looked at his handheld and then back up. “Set for twelve hours. So thereʼs at least five hours to go.”
Dav crouched to look him in the eye. “Can you rewrite the code?”
“Itʼs theoretically possible, but getting in to that part of the system is proving difficult.”
Dav turned and looked briefly at the large screen display of the Class 5, hovering in space beside them. “So youʼre not in control of it?”
Borji tilted his hand from side to side. “Sort of yes, sort of no. Weʼre in the air and power supply, the shipʼs steering controls and shields. We arenʼt in the weapons system and we arenʼt in the comms system.”
Dav didnʼt like it. At all. “Can you see when the code shutting off our communications was initiated?”
Borji nodded. “Three seconds after we light jumped into this area.”
“They were waiting for us.” Dav spoke quietly, but everyone on the command center heard him.
“Who, though, sir?” Hista asked. “Not the Tecran, unless they gave us one of their Class 5s and killed almost all their crew for some long-term strategy.”
“Thatʼs the problem.” Dav looked back at the Class 5. “I just donʼt know.”
He turned to Borji. “And do we really have the Class 5? Or does it have us?”
She was hungry and thirsty.
It occurred to Rose that she hadnʼt had anything to eat since this morning, when she and Sazo had engineered their escape. Sheʼd drunk some water on the explorer craft, but that had been hours ago.
It was night now, and she was parched.
Sheʼd barely started searching the comfortable room sheʼd been given to see if there was something to drink, when there was a faint chime and a light flashed.
She guessed someone was out there, asking for entry, so she pressed the button next to the door and took a step back.
It was Dr. Havak.
“My apologies, Rose, but Iʼve completed my tests, and I have a few questions.”
Rose looked at him, and felt the thump of a dehydration headache gaining traction, knew her hands were shaking with hunger. It was as if being out of danger, and away from the med-chamber, she was finally catching up on the signals her body was sending her.
She hated the tears that flooded her eyes, hated them. She tried not to blink. “Iʼm sorry, but I really need something to drink, first. And something to eat, if thatʼs possible.”
Havak reared back. “What have you had since Captain Jallan found you on Harmon?”
“Nothing.” She found the calm within, something she was getting better and better at. “Iʼm used to going without food from when I was with the Tecran, but I really need some water.”
Havak opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again, and she realized she was looking at an enraged Grih. His nostrils were flared, his eyes wide. Sheʼd become adept at watching for the signs of anger since sheʼd been taken.
He lifted a hand and tapped at his ear. “Captain Jallan.” He spoke clearly, as if to a computer, in order to be connected, and after a few seconds, tapped his ear again. “Is there a reason Rose has been given nothing to drink or eat since you found her? I was looking at her blood work and it indicated dehydration and hunger to me, so I came to ask her. It seems sheʼs used to this treatment from the Tecran, but they apparently did give her water.”
The last sentence was said with a deep sarcasm, and he closed his eyes for what Rose guessed was Jallanʼs response.
“The Tecran did feed me, but I couldnʼt always bring myself to eat it,” Rose corrected, quietly.
Havakʼs eyes snapped open. “I stand corrected. Rose says the Tecran always fed her, she just wasnʼt able to eat everything they gave her. Still, the thought was there, hmm?”
He turned his back on Rose abruptly, and faced the cool milky green and blue wall of the passageway. It reminded Rose of pictures sheʼd seen of high waves from Hawaii. Havak jammed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He was slightly shorter than Jallan in height, and instead of the black tipped with silver-gray of Jallanʼs hair, his was a dark brown tipped with auburn.
“Agreed.” He tapped his ear again and when he turned back, his face was more impassive. “Liaison Officer Dimitara will bring some food for you from the dining room, and I will show you how to get something to drink inside your chambers. Iʼm assuming the guards who brought you here didnʼt give you a tour?”
She shook her head. “Thatʼs probably my fault for having a meltdown all over them in your med-chamber. They couldnʼt get away fast enough.”
“If theyʼre unsettled by a little emotion, perhaps being in the Grih guard is the wrong career path for them.” Havak stepped into her room for the first time, looked around. “At least Jallan gave you decent quarters.” He strode to a wall that had a ring of light embedded in it, touched the center with his finger, and two doors slid back, one on either side, to reveal a circular recessed cabinet. “Here is the tap to purified water from the main tanks.” Havak pulled out a cup that was nestled in a secure holder, demonstrated how to use it and then held it out.
Rose took a sip. It tasted strange. Not like the water she was used to, and different again from the Tecran water sheʼd drunk on the Class 5. Over time, sheʼd get used to this water, too. It almost hurt to swallow, she was so thirsty, and she tried to drink slowly. She held out the cup for more when she was done.
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“You try it.” Havak took a step back.
She saw it was all straightforward, although it would have taken her some time to find the cabinet at all without Havakʼs help.
“There are hot drinks you can make here, too.” While she was sipping at her second cup, Havak showed her the two different hot drinks she could make. The words he used had no Earth equivalent, and she decided that trying them could be an adventure for another day.
“Do you know if they have sent up my things, so I can take a shower?” She looked around the room more critically now, with her headache receding and with the knowledge of how the cabinet worked. “Is there a shower here?”
Havak pointed, and she saw the room wasnʼt square. In the far corner the wall came across at an angle.
She walked to it, studied it, and finally saw the small ring of light to one side. Touched her fingers to it.
Large doors slid open to reveal a neat bathroom, with toilet, shower and basin. The walls were made of a deep blue and green glass-like material, much bolder than the passageway.
“Nice,” she said.
“You seem very comfortable with our technology. Youʼve grasped it very quickly.” Havak was looking at her like Kila had on Harmon. Like she was all his Christmases come at once.
She quirked her lips. “We donʼt have the same level of technology as you, but some things donʼt change all that much. If they work, they work whether you can light jump or whether you canʼt. And quite a few things we donʼt have, weʼve already imagined. So it isnʼt as if I canʼt extrapolate.”
Havak frowned. “What do you mean, youʼve already imagined?”
“In stories.” Rose shrugged. “Weʼve imagined far-off planets, space travel, light jumps, other alien species. Iʼve seen the alien abduction movies, read the sci-fi novels and bought the t-shirt, so to speak.”
Havak stared at her.
The light over her door trilled, and Rose went to open it.
Filavantri Dimitara stood in the doorway with a tray of food, and Rose stepped back to let her in.
“You can see who it is before you open the door by looking here.” Havak showed her how to screen her visitors by first checking the lens feed from above her door.
“There are lenses along all the passageways?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Only outside personal living areas and in sensitive areas of the ship, like storerooms, the armory and the command center. We fought a war hundreds of years ago, where our own lens feed was used against us. Because of that, and because of our belief in individual privacy, only areas which are security concerns have lens feed now. Itʼs part of our law.”
“And in this bedroom?” She asked because she thought they might feel justified in watching her because she was a potential danger to them, but both Havak and Filavantri drew themselves up in shock.
“No.”
Filavantri cast a slightly hostile look at Havak. “Despite your treatment so far, Rose, the Grih usually conduct themselves in full compliance with the Sentient Beings Agreement. That includes the right to privacy.”
“I havenʼt been treated badly so far,” Rose said to her. “I could have asked sooner for food or drink, but I was too stressed and overwhelmed. Itʼs no oneʼs fault but my own.”
Havak rubbed his forehead. “Saying things like that just makes it all the worse.” He watched Filavantri put down the tray on a small dining table to one side of the bed. “Iʼll leave if you wish, but would you mind if I stayed to see which foods you like? And it would be good if I am here in case you have a reaction to something.”
Filavantri obviously wanted him gone, Rose could see from the way she huffed out a breath, but she didnʼt say anything.
Heʼd been angry on her behalf, had helped her. Rose couldnʼt think of a way to tell him or Filavantri sheʼd like them both to leave and give her a few minutes peace without sounding churlish, so she gave a nod.
Havak drew out a chair for her, and she saw he unclipped it from the floor by tipping it to release a catch.
“Everything is either in holders or clips in case the ship has to perform extreme maneuvers, is that right?”
Havak nodded. “Light jumps can be a little wild sometimes, and if we ever engage in battle, then we donʼt want furniture and crockery flying around.”
Rose sat, and Filavantri lifted the covers of the three dishes on the tray.
“I brought you a selection, because I simply didnʼt know what would appeal to you.”
Rose looked at what was before her. One plate looked like it was full of fruit or raw vegetables. They were all cut into segments, and she gingerly reached for a piece of long, thin fruit whose coloring was the opposite of a red apple, bright red flesh, white creamy skin. The anti-apple she thought as she took a nibble.
Bitterness flooded her mouth and she pursed her lips. It was strong, but not absolutely terrible. But she couldnʼt eat a whole fruit of it.
She put the piece down.
“Not good?” Havak asked.
“Not bad, itʼs a taste Iʼm familiar with, but only very diluted and in small quantities. Itʼs too much all at once for me in this form.”
Havak took out a handheld and started taking notes.
“I like that one.” Filavantri pointed to a green, softer fruit with what looked like dark blue seeds flecked through it.
Rose took a piece, bit down. “A bit like grape, but weird because it has the texture of a pear.” She ate it all.
The plate with meat proved more successful. Rose was able to eat all the different types, although most were too gamey for her taste. The last plate had what she guessed were cheeses and tiny desserts, but she didnʼt like any of them.
She was incredibly sorry about that.
When sheʼd had enough, Filavantri picked up the tray. “Weʼll leave you now. You look very tired.”
Rose nodded through a yawn. “Do they have my things yet?” She realized Havak had avoided the question earlier. “So I can shower and change?”
Havak shrugged. “I donʼt know, but there are some things for you in the closet.” He walked over, showed her another cabinet, this one quite large, and with shelves, no hangers. There were a few items of clothing folded up on the lowest shelf, and three towels as well.
“Is there anywhere I have to be? Do I have to set an alarm to wake me?” she asked them.
Havak shook his head. “Sleep as long as you like, and then you can contact Liaison Officer Dimitara or myself by using the comms built into your room.” He showed Rose where it was, and how to call up someone through the directory.
“Rest, and be assured, you are safe now,” Filavantri said as they stepped into the passageway. “The Tecran will be held to account. As a representative of the United Council, I can promise you that.”
“Thank you.” Rose tried to stifle another yawn, then pushed the button to slide her door shut. When it closed, she stood, almost too tired to do anything but stand and stare at it. She felt in her bra for the earpiece, took it out and looked at it for long minutes and decided not to put it in until after her shower.
She would deal with Sazo again when she could think straight.
12
Havak and Dimitara stepped onto the bridge, and Dav signaled Lothric to take over from him as he approached them.
“Letʼs discuss this elsewhere.” He didnʼt give either of them a chance to express an opinion, walking past them and through the open upper level into a small conference room.
“Captain Jallan, Iʼm sorry to do it, because until now, youʼve shown yourself to be in complete compliance with the codes of the United Council, but I will be noting the lack of care youʼve shown Rose in my report.” Filavantri Dimitara chose not to sit, instead, walking to the large screen which showed the Class 5 hanging menacingly before them in space.
Dav joined her, standing straight, hands behind his back, as he looked out with her. “Youʼre right to do so. Iʼve dealt with Rose personally since we found her, because there was
, and still is, a possibility she was responsible for the deaths of nearly five hundred Tecran. I wanted to observe her, make sure she wasnʼt an immediate danger. But Iʼve had other claims on my time, more immediate crises to deal with, and I did not take the care I should have done.”
She was silent for a moment. “What crises?”
“Our comms are jammed, which means no help is coming. Borji has confirmed the Class 5 system is blocking all messages, and is blocking all efforts to get into its comms system, and its weapons system as well, for that matter.”
“That is not good news,” Dimitara acknowledged. “Does this mean there could be a pre-loaded sequence to fire on us in there, and Borji couldnʼt do a thing to stop it.”
Dav gave a curt nod.
“I understand there are other priorities for you than whether Rose gets any food or water, but that kind of thing could surely have been delegated to someone else?” Dimitaraʼs shoulders relaxed, and she turned, unclipped a chair, and sat.
Dav sighed. “I take full responsibility. It never occurred to me once to offer her anything. I think I had a vague thought that we shouldnʼt do so, in case she reacted to anything, because Kila may be a trained medic but sheʼs not capable of handling anything like that. But since we arrived on the Barrist, we could have given her water while she was being tested in the med-chamber. It didnʼt cross my mind.” He paused, and then said what heʼd feared since Havak had first called him out on the issue. “Was she too afraid to ask?”
Havak shook his head. “She claims she was too stressed and overwhelmed by events to think of it. She doesnʼt blame us at all. Says itʼs all her own fault for not asking.”
Dav swore. “Now I feel like a swamp worm.”
Havak rubbed the back of his head. “No more than I did when she said it.” His face hardened. “She also didnʼt blame the guards you got to escort her to her quarters for not showing her any of the features of the room. She says itʼs her fault again for her interaction with them in my med-chamber. In her words: They couldnʼt get away fast enough.”
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