Page 10 of Instinct for Disaster

Kiddel looked wary. “A null? Overseer. They are unpredictable.”

“No, Kiddel, they are very predictable. They act only in their own interest or the interest of those they deem worthy. Everyone else can burn.” The overseer smiled. “That is the code of my people. We act, and we guide, and we guard because we have been programmed to, nothing else.”

Kiddel blinked. “Right. I had forgotten that.”

Yasku nodded. “Most do. They see us as protective and benevolent, not that we were designed for brutal defense against our own kind.”

Cassandra smiled. “Me, too.”

Yasku reached out and stroked her hair. “I know, kit.”

She looked at the warmth in his expression and then looked at Kiddel. Understanding was dawning in his pale blue gaze.

Kiddel swallowed. “Well, Overseer, while you were gone, we had forty-two more bonded pairs with differing homeworlds at the gatherings. Seventeen more blended children have been born with two of them having all four of your target species. They do look very much like you, Master Yasku, aside from the wings. No wings have occurred yet.” Kiddel chuckled.

Food began to arrive, and Cassandra examined the plates with interest. Yasku beckoned to Kiddel and said, “Bring your setting down here. You can help Cassandra figure out what she likes.”

Kiddel blinked and shrugged, picking up his plate and bringing it to Yasku’s right side.

Cassandra watched Yasku serve himself, and then, she gestured to Kiddel. “Please go ahead and eat. I don’t know how to consume any of this to the best advantage.”

“Ah, I understand. My people, the Briktrari, favour heat and sour.”

“Then, I will watch how you eat and add spicy sweet.”

Kiddel nodded and served himself from the plates with several colours of food on them. She didn’t like the mixed food but had been eating rations for years. The difference would be good for her.

She tried all six dishes in small amounts and then avoided the ones that were mushy or prickly. She added the sticky, the sweet, and the spicy. Her second plate was far better than the first.

She set the eating sticks down when she was done, and Kiddel and Yasku kept going until the plates were empty.

When she was sitting calmly, she listened to the discussion of crops, exports, and citizens in some kind of lockup. New mineral deposits had been discovered by forager groups, and the hybrid babies were all healthy and developing normally.

Cassandra asked, “How do you know?”

Kiddel looked at her. “What?”

“How do you know what is normal? Do you draw an average of bio signs? Can you tell by the height?”

Yasku grinned. “I will explain to you the markers that we are looking for.” He paused. “Another day.”

She nodded. “Shall I leave?”

“No. I still want to send some of my men over to make sure that your home is ready for you.”

Veel stepped away from the wall where she had been posted. “I can send a cleaning team to the house to make sure it is ready for your... acquaintance.”

Yasku nodded. “Please get everyone underway.”

Cassandra frowned. “What will I do for the rest of the day?”

Yasku chuckled. “I will take you on a tour of my home and explain some of the edible plants in the garden.”

“Do you have animals on the property?”

“I do.”

“Can I meet them, too?”

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