Page 88 of Aria's Ascension

That was her only warning before the vertigo intensified, and the peculiar feeling of fingers whispering over her brain had her face screwing up and goosebumps rushing down her arms.

It was over in under a minute, thankfully. She wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to stand that much longer.

“We will remain here.”

Raising her eyebrows, she peered up at them searchingly. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. We accept your offer. We will remain here as free beings to help you in your coup.”

“Thank you. I’m happy to have your help… I’m sorry. I didn’t ask your name.”

We possess no name.

“Oh.” That made her unaccountably sad. Gazing past the leader, she took in the dozens of Gaelli in the room and tried to imagine calling out ‘hey, you’ anytime she needed to get their attention, never knowing which one she was speaking to. Looking back at the leader, she asked, “Do you want names?”

They hesitated again before answering very quietly,“Yes.”

Aria smiled gently. “You’re free, now. I understand all of you share a mental link or hive mind, of sorts, but you’re free to be your own individual persons, if you’d like. You can dress differently, pick out names for yourselves, pursue individual interests. As long as you aren’t hurting people, you can do basically whatever you want.”

It was damned hard to read their expression, but she got the feeling she’d just shocked the hell out of them.

“We… wewill ponder your ideas. We—Ithank you, Aria. You have given us a great gift.

She smiled again but shook her head and corrected, “Freedom isn’t a gift. It’s a right and shouldn’t ever have been stolen from you.”

When they didn’t respond, Aria let it go. They’d already told her they were bred to be slaves. Freedom might be a hard concept for them to truly grasp in the span of a couple minutes, but they’d get the hang of it, given time.

“Alright, I’ve got a lot of questions, but first, if you’re willing, I’ve got about two hundred newly arrived slaves in need of healing and translators. And I need help getting them settled in.”

They stood a little straighter, there was a sparkle in their eyes and, unless she was mistaken, a slight smile curling the corners of their slitted mouth.

“Wechooseto offer our help.”

Aria grinned widely, even as a lump formed in her throat, and her eyes stung with the threat of tears.

She’d never seen anything as beautiful and heartbreaking as that tiny, hopeful smile on the face of a nameless slave.

The possibility that everyone she loved back on Earth could be dead—her family, Foster, her friends—weighed a little less heavily on her heart at seeing that her loss meant these people gained so much in exchange.

Chapter 48

Aria stepped off the elevator and into madness. Everyone crowded on the ground floor seemed to be yelling, there were fights beginning to break out, and, near the edge of the mob, lay the unconscious form of an alien female.

Holding out a hand to halt the Gaelli from stepping off the elevator, she raised the other to her mouth and let out a loud, piercing whistle.

As though someone pressed pause on a movie, everyone froze before whipping around to face her. Most stared at her wide eyed, some were covering their ears, but they all looked like guilty children caught fucking off while mom was out of the room.

Sweeping everyone with a seriously pissed-off glare, she yelled, “What the actual fuck is going on, here?!”

Tirox shoved his way out of the middle of the crowd, a scowl on his face and the beginnings of a bruise forming on his cheek.

“These godsdamned fools are going to push me to madness!” he growled, casting a glare back at said fools over his shoulder.

Signaling the Gaelli to hang back until she decided it was safe, she strode forward to meet Tirox halfway.

“What happened? Everything was mostly fine when I left.”

He let out a deep, exasperated sigh. “The female there,” he began, waving back at the unconscious woman. “Her clan mate was in the first group to leave with Kix. They have not returned, and she decided we were tricking them and were, instead, taking them down to their deaths. She lost her senses, began flailing and fighting, hitting those around her. One of your people punched her in the face. That… did not go over well. Now, they all believe we are taking them away to slaughter them.”

---