Page 34 of Reaper

“That’s a lot of meat you guys have there,” Martin said with an amused expression. “I never thought I’d see elite warriors of your caliber doing that kind of work.”

“There really isn’t much we haven’t had to do as part of our missions,” Doom said mockingly. “But since you offered your assistance, you can help us with that chore.”

“Right,” Martin said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm. “But I can see why it’s needed. These are quite formidable beasts you’ve got. You rescued them all here?” he asked, gesturing at the modified Creckels with his chin.

“They’re not beasts, they’re Creckels,” I said in a slightly clipped tone. “They are highly intelligent and understand everything you say.”

I almost felt guilty for what would likely be construed as rudeness on my part, but I didn’t like the way he was speaking of my friends. Martha, Jessica, Thanh, and Madeline visibly trying to hide their amusement reassured me I hadn’t overstepped.

“Highly intelligent, how?” Rickon asked. “What tricks can they do?”

This time, I glared at the man. “They’re not animals or pets. They don’t do tricks. They are an advanced species with their own language, culture, and society. Creckels are people.”

“Do not be fooled by their appearance,” Doom intervened in light of the four men’s dubious expressions.

I wasn’t the confrontational type, and my strong reaction to these men embarrassed me. But I wouldn’t stand for anyone disrespecting my friends.

“Like Janelle said, they are not animals,” Doom continued. “In fact, their IQs put ours to shame, as do their psychic abilities. Where other species’ psychic levels are ranked between one and five—including ours—Creckels are all ranked six from birth, the most powerful among them going up to eight. No other species in the known galaxy has ever achieved rank six.”

Stran and my Creckel friends puffed out their chests with pride under Doom’s accurate assessment of their abilities. I could have hugged him for so eloquently setting the record straight. The way the four males’ eyes widened was both vindicating and insulting. They had dismissed my words but immediately accepted Doom’s as fact. Granted, Doom was a Xian Warrior with an established authority while I was a half-blind, bony girl with no rank or status. Still, it hurt. It made me feel… less. Would others treat me the same once I rejoined civilization?

“Impressive,” Martin said with a speculative look in his eyes. “Are we to assume that you rescued them all from this base?”

“All but Stran,” Doom said with a nod.

“That’s all of them?” Martin asked, his head turning this way and that while assessing the number of Creckels.

“There are more,” Doom conceded, “but they’re not awakened, yet. Come, I will show you where they are. There are many of them, which is why we required assistance to transport them back to their homeworld. It will be a few days before they’re all fully awake and able to travel.”

I watched their receding backs as they headed towards the entrance of the base. Even though there was no true rationale to my reaction, these men rubbed me the wrong way. I wished they would leave and a different team would come assist us instead. Brees projected an image of her tail smacking Martin in the back of the head. I chuckled and exchanged a mischievous glance with her. At least, she hadn’t bared her teeth. So, although she instinctively disliked him as I did, she hadn’t perceived any imminent threat from him or the other three males.

Jessica chuckling drew my attention. My head jerked towards her, and I slightly recoiled when I noticed everyone was staring at me.

“One thing is for certain,” Jessica said in an amused voice, “when you don’t like someone, it is clearly written all over your face.”

My face heated while the rest of my companions laughed teasingly. I had never had to hide my emotions. The Creckels and I were very straightforward with each other. This would be another thing for me to get used to. I didn’t see myself ever growing comfortable with having to act in a deceptive fashion.

“I will work on that,” I mumbled, scrunching my face.

I cast a sheepish look towards Reaper, who winked back at me with a gentle smile.

“It must be a lot for you to adapt to,” Madeline said with a commiserating smile. “Don’t let any of that overwhelm you. Take things one day at a time. You are among friends here, and we all want to see you thrive. Don’t worry too much about these guys. Chances are, none of us will ever see them again.”

“Oh? Why is that?” I asked.

“The war with the Kryptids is over,” Reklig explained. “Over the years, a large number of civilians have joined the ranks of the Coalition to help defend the allied planets. Now, we no longer need so many people. More than half of the Coalition’s personnel has either already gone back home or is in the process of doing so. A lot of people like Martin and his crew are performing their last tasks before resuming a civilian life.”

“Normally,” Reaper added, “these men would not even be helping with the rescue efforts in these abandoned bases. However, as was your case, wherever there are survivors, their situation could be dire. Any extra day or hour could cause their demise.”

I nodded, a shiver running down my spine. “I don’t think I would have survived one more day,” I said with a small voice. My eyes went out of focus while I reminisced about what now felt like centuries ago. “In truth, when you were making me drink that incredibly clean water, I thought it was my dying dream, just another of my many hallucinations. And I was grateful for it. It felt like such a great way to die.”

I refocused on my companions and suddenly felt guilty at the sight of their sympathetic expressions filled with sadness and empathy. I had not meant to upset them, and I certainly didn’t want them to feel pity towards me.

“I’m sorry,” I said with an embarrassed expression. “I didn’t mean to sound all depressing and gloomy. But I understand what you mean with the need to hurry. I do not wish on anyone the hardship we endured. Do you know how many others have been rescued?”

“First, no need to apologize,” Reaper said in that gentle and tender way he always spoke to me. I still could not believe such perfection was mine. “It is good for you to speak about your ordeal. Such hardships tend to leave very deep trauma hidden in the back of our consciousness. Over time, it can be detrimental if it is not expressed. And I’m glad for the comfort we were able to bring you that day and every other day thereafter. As for your question, I don’t know, yet. We have just ended the war. This is the first mission we have been sent on, and it is the same with everyone else. Updates should be coming in within the next week or so. Many of the bases are located in remote locations, some of them quite perilous, that require long travel.”

“Martin said his team didn’t find anything at their location,” Thanh added. “I expect it will be the same for most of those locations. In quite a few cases, they have been abandoned for far too long.”

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