by Jade Waltz
No matter the cultural barriers between us, all Circuli on Destima were forever indebted to Selena and the sacrifices she had made to allow us to live here.
The colony’s high-tech advancements alone put the rest of the galaxy to shame. I was embarrassed to fumble around the new systems provided to the infirmary, especially when Oeta, Kaica, and her siblings managed them with great ease.
One thing I knew for sure: I needed to find time between shifts to apologize to Kaica privately. I didn't want today's argument to put a damper on our professional relationship, especially when lives were on the line.
Sighing, I took one last look at the charts before heading to the villa’s landing pad.
Odelm and Xylo were currently stable in their unconscious state. There wasn't much for us to do, other than give them all the nutrients they needed as their bodies healed. My primary concern was their nestqueen's absence since Circuli bodies sought their queen when injured.
Instead of feeling excited at the opportunity to work side by side with my mentors, I was nervous. We weren't working on patients who were strangers. The lives of their son and his nestbrother lay in our hands. It was up to us to save them.
Usthu’s familiar sapphire mental thread brushed against my mind's shields. Reluctantly, I accepted it, already knowing what he had to say.
"Where are you?" Confusion laced his voice, reflected in the worried orange tinge of his mental thread. "I’m surprised Kaica beat you here. Stars, even Oeta woke from her slumber to greet our guests alongside the princes. I thought you would be excited to be united with our past mentors."
"I had to check on the infirmary," I replied as I crossed the sanctuary in a rush. Sunlight beamed through the glass dome, almost blinding me as I made my way to the front doors. I have never understood why no one used them but me. Why travel through the warehouse and garage when you can skip all that and traverse outside along the driveway? I walked outside whenever possible because I had been stuck inside since Selena’s disappearance and hardly ever caught a break. I longed for a chance to enjoy nature while the twin suns hung in the sky. “I’m almost there.”
Rounding the corner, I nearly tripped as my foot caught on the incline I had missed. How could I pay attention to the ground when I was unable to pull my gaze away from the way the bright suns reflecting off of Kaica's long, translucent hair?
It was unnatural, and yet, stunning.
If the Yaarkins had done one thing right, it was the utterly unique appearance of each demihuman. Though demihumans spliced from the same species shared similarities, each coloring was individually unique.
Kaica was no Circuli nestqueen, making my communication with her unnatural, I had grown to respect the Fab Five member since we settled here.
I somehow found her easy to converse with and be around, especially when compared to her siblings and Selena. Whether she was naturally quiet or always focused on her work, she rarely spoke unless someone addressed her. It was relaxing to work in such a professional environment for once, unlike—
Stars, I had done it again.
No matter what I did, my jealousy was like an itch in my scales on a dry day; guaranteed to reappear.
Stepping between Kaica and Oeta, I glanced at my gathered teammates, acknowledging those who met my gaze.
Usthu and Ayces flanked Kaica, clearly surprised by my delayed arrival. Oeta shook her head in disappointment as her fuchsia wings tightened around her body, settling down after the ship's landing.
Suddenly, a soothing wave flooded me, as if I had stepped into a warm pool and let my body slowly sink beneath the surface.
Surprisingly, Prince V'dim's influence felt dimmed. Had the stress of Selena's disappearance and the condition of his nestbrothers already affected his leadership?
Ayces noticed my concern and nodded.
Thank the Stars the Abyssal Fire hadn’t lowered its ramp door yet. I didn’t want to give our guests the impression I was irresponsible. Or, Stars forbid, offend them at a time when they had been summoned to aid their dying sons.
The group’s auras shifted between worried orange and nervous brown. Oeta was the only one with a peaceful blue aura, seemingly unconcerned by the day’s events.
“No,” Oeta’s sharp mental voice interjected, halting my wandering thoughts. “I don’t believe in wasting time on what-ifs. I’m reserving my energy to solve our predicament. Worrying about the future or dwelling on the past won’t fix the present. If you want to be productive, fix whatever has come between you and Kaica, because both of your clamoring thoughts are too loud to ignore.”
“Kaica?” I shot a glance at the female in question. Her hands fidgeted nervously, her hair matching the nervous yellow and worried orange of her aura. “Why is she so concerned?”
“First impressions matter,” Oeta replied, her face stoically focused on the ship before us as if we weren’t communicating at all. She was better versed in mental conversation than most mature Circuli. “It’s her first time working as a medical researcher, leading the effort to heal her master’s nestbrothers. She has far more on the line that you do.”
I felt her withdraw from my mind, leaving me to ponder her words.
Watching Kaica, distraught and fiddling with her hands, concerned me. What happened to the confidence she had always displayed?
She was a Fab Five agent, known for deadly precision. Each sibling had a specialty, and Kaica’s primary skill was medicine.
On the kind of missions the Fab Five were assigned, dying patients should have been common.
While my professors at the medical academy taught me to handle patients I knew personally, I wondered what training she had received. I’d heard a rumor that the Fab Five had taught themselves everything they knew, using datacubes and whatever knowledge they could get their hands on. If that was the case, then Kaica had more theoretical knowledge than hands-on experience, as her siblings' self-healing capabilities eliminated the need for medical intervention in most cases.
Perhaps we weren’t so different after all. I vowed again to make time to speak to her alone. Maybe I could help ease her struggles after I apologized for my earlier behavior.
I winced as a hiss pierced the air, instantly diverting my attention to the Abyssal Fire. Slowly, its ramp lowered, revealing four worried Circuli males.
The fathers hurried forward, halting in front of the princes.
Saluting as one male, the green one with gray stripes, stepped forward.
“Where are our sons?”
Three
KAICA
“They are currently stable, and unconscious in the villa’s infirmary,” Z’fir replied, his voice hardened in the princely demeanor I had often witnessed Z take on when discussing business. “I assure you, we have been working hard and tending to them around the clock.”
“Who is monitoring them right now?” A charcoal Wudox male with magenta and teal splotches along his scaled skin scanned the gathered medical team behind the princes. “I count your whole staff amongst us.”
“That is irresponsible of you.” A dark-purple Ulax male with seafoam-swirled skin gripped the upset Wudox’s shoulder. “It is a good thing we have been summoned here. We will make sure our sons get the help they need.”
It was clear these two were Xylo’s fathers, but I wasn’t going to leave them uncorrected. Their history and rank meant nothing to me, no matter how distraught they were.
“You are mistaken—and rudely so,” I snarled, not caring for once if my hair displayed my emotions for all to see. “Your assumption is insulting, and the fact you think so little of us, goes to show you’ve worked unchecked for too long. For your information—not that it matters anymore since you claim that we left your sons unsupervised—your sons’ readings are streaming on my implant with an alarm set to alert me if something goes awry.”
“Kaica—” Chyox sputtered.
“No, she is correct,” V’dim announced, glancing between me and the fathers. “I understand tensions
are high—you don’t need to be sworn to our mental web for me to pick them up clearly—but to claim our team has provided ill treatment to your sons without even seeing them yourselves is not only absurd, but highly offensive. Healer Kaica was well within her rights to speak up the way she did.”
“I second Prince V’dim,” Oeta interjected, crossing her arms as her wings shuffled briskly. “I have done everything within my power to keep Destima running, including helping your sons’ nestmates, the Circuli royalty of this moon, by relieving some of the stress of managing their mental web. You do know that not only your sons’ lives are in danger, but theirs, too?”
Xylo’s fathers stared at her with mouths agape. Oeta was right; they had never considered what might happen if Selena didn’t return in time.
“Have you heard any news about Selena?” Odevlyn asked, staring directly at me. The gray-striped green Ulax male was in my implant’s database from his encounter with Selena on the space station. Kaede had been gracious enough to share the information with us over our family network. Still, Xylo’s fathers’ IDs were not in our system, since Circul was a relatively low-tech, isolated community compared to the rest of the galaxy. When I had asked them to hasten their travel plans to Destima because their sons were in jeopardy, there was no other option but to contact the planet with a written message. “My partner Suvax and I had the… pleasure of meeting your brother, Agent Kaede. If anyone has updates on our sons’ nestqueen, it would be you.”
I didn’t miss the glimpse of hope that flooded the princes’ stares, as if they thought I might have been hiding news of Selena.
“Sadly, I have no updates,” I sighed, shaking my head and watching that hope instantly fade. “My brother left shortly after he sent her away, hoping to catch her before anyone else could. The Sovereign sent my sister, B, and her assistant, Q, this morning to guide my other sisters who were already hunting for her. From what I’ve gathered, she lives but is still missing.”
“She still lives,” Z’fir muttered, closing his eyes. “I may not be able to hear her, but…” He tapped his forehead. “I feel her.”
“Have faith that the Stars will guide her back where she belongs.” Oeta snaked an arm around my waist, pulling me close. Her fuchsia wing encircled me as if to comfort me or perhaps protect me from the males surrounding us. “Kaede is alive, too… His mind is determined. All he can think about is his prey, Selena.”
“Sounds like him,” I breathed as the weight of the stress pressing down on me lifted slightly. “If anyone can find Selena, it’s him—and perhaps Z, but we all know he can’t leave his empire in its current state.”
I was glad Oeta was able to keep tabs on Kaede, even though he disconnected from our family network. There were so many questions I wanted to ask him; why he left, where he was, and whether he needed help.
“But to answer the question that many of you are wondering about,” Oeta continued. “No, my father can’t pick up Selena’s mental signature either. He reports the same things I’ve heard from Kaede.” She laughed harshly, shaking me in the process. “Kaede wasn’t as welcoming to him as he was to me; he dared to snarl at my father. I don’t know what happened between those two, but we haven’t reached out to him since. Perhaps he was getting annoyed that we both were checking on him.”
“But you will be able to tell us if he…” I looked at her, unable to finish my sentence in fear my words may come true.
“Dies? Yes.” She nodded, pursing her lips. “However, if he moves out of my range or his mental signature is somehow hidden like Selena’s, I will be as blind as you about his future.”
Silence met her.
What a welcoming party we were.
“Let’s continue this discussion in the infirmary,” Chyox announced. “You had a long journey, and I know you want to see your sons before you do anything else.”
Four
USTHU
Introductions were awkward, to say the least.
While I was used to working with the two recent female additions to the villa’s healer team, my old mentors weren’t, judging by the way they struggled through conversations with them.
Female Circuli healers were uncommon, mainly because nestqueens didn’t want to worry about accidentally leading on an injured, unmated male, or worse, offending another clan’s nestqueen by seemingly mistreating her nestmate.
I had witnessed a case where an Ulax male in his courting stage was injured and his nestqueen accused the female healer who had cared for him of trying to steal him away, acting out of jealousy that she hadn’t been able to provide her nestmate with the care he needed. Some Circuli nestqueens even threw degrading insults at female healers, claiming they would rather work than let a clan full of males fulfill their needs.
And yet, two fully capable females served on our team uncontested.
I didn’t mind that neither was Circuli. Oeta’s mental strength was probably more powerful than all of ours combined. Kaica was an asset to our team as well, despite the prejudice some Circuli held against her.
I was shocked that some Circuli dared to think of the demihumans’ strong mental shields as a disability. Selena was an outlier because she had been designed as a breeder, while Kaede and the Fab Five had been designed as assassins and leaders to other demihumans.
I had heard stories of the deadly Fab Five and was relieved that the earlier generations couldn’t match their strength. Other than a few capabilities they inherited from their spliced DNA, the most useful attribute of a basic demihuman was their mental shield.
Until they reproduced.
Xylo had mentioned that demihuman citizens might only be able to reproduce with the species whose DNA the Yaarkins had spliced into their bodies. That would remain a theory until any demihuman tried to have children and sought guidance with their clan—or whatever demihumans called their family.
I sat across from the princes in the infirmary’s lobby as the rest of the group filled Odelm and Xylo’s private room. Ayces had excused himself to visit Destima’s Hatchery and continue preparations for our population’s future. Many nestqueens had reported feeling the beginning signs of their heat cycle.
Praise the Stars for some positive news for once.
Now that Destima’s nestqueens were ecstatic about their renewed fertility, Ayces had little time to spare for our senior healing team.
I knew our separation was inevitable, but after spending over five years together on a ship, it was odd not to have him around as often. I was glad the team’s new additions would relieve some of the stress his absence had caused, even if it could take a while for us to get used to working together.
New teammates brought new perspectives to our work.
When Odelm and Xylo had been transferred here, Kaica had demanded the two temporary walls be removed so the injured nestbrothers could rest in neighboring beds as if they were sharing a nestbed.
The sentiment was astonishing—a kindness I had never witnessed before.
I had never cared for a pair of nestbrothers at the same time before, but I believed that Kaica, Oeta, and Xylo’s fathers would all help to create a fantastic team.
I pray to the Stars we will be enough to help Selena’s nestmates.
“How long do you believe they have?” Kaica asked, addressing the princes as she sat beside me on the couch. “You said your crew slowly deteriorated when they left their nestqueens’ homes. When did they start showing symptoms?”
Z’fir glanced at V’dim, who shuddered and stared up at the ceiling as he recalled the details of our time in the war. Z’fir gripped his nestbrother’s shoulder lovingly.
It was clear how much the two of them cared for each other and had grown close over the years. I wondered how their bond to Selena had changed them.
Instead of standing alone against the universe, they had pulled strength from both their nestqueen and nestbrothers. Now, that support had suddenly been ripped away and once again, they were forced to retreat to their old way of c
linging to each other.
“After thirty days, they started to weaken, reporting low energy and disorientation. By sixty days, nearly all felt depressed and their coloring began to fade, the vibrant colors paling. At ninety days, they went immobile, losing all energy and the will to live… If they lived to one-hundred and twenty days, it was by the will of the Fates. Only a few of our original crew survived one-hundred and fifty days separated from their nestqueens.”
“So we have about a hundred days,” Kaica muttered, clutching her knees. Her hair started to turn a worried orange, matching the discouragement she failed to hide in her voice. Glancing over her shoulder, she sat up to look over my leafy hair.
“Oeta!” she shouted, gripping my mossy shoulder to steady herself. “You said your reach is almost as far as your father’s? Near the edge of the galaxy, right?”
She was touching me.
Me.
Nestqueens never touched an unbonded male unless they were interested—not even casually. Did this mean she was interested in me?
Outside a few conversations with her brother, Kaede, and glimpses of her sisters passing by on their way to meet with Sovereign Zirene, I had not witnessed any demihuman interaction. I didn’t know what they considered normal.
Selena often expressed herself with touch, though she was an outlier for her species. She had grabbed Chyox on purpose in a few scuffles, and she clearly didn’t claim him as a nestmate.
I glanced at the princes. Their gazes were locked on Kaica’s hand as if they shared my thoughts.
Maybe I wasn’t going insane from stress after all.
“Correct. My range is slightly shorter than my father’s. He is nearly twice my age, so I hope to achieve his longer range and more powerful awareness when I reach his maturity.”
“Are you able to determine how far Kaede has traveled?” she asked, curiosity dripping from her voice.