Page 41 of Ava Greasemonkey

Her eyes were drawn magnetically to Vox, who smiled slightly in return. His gaze held warmth. “I trust your companions were as we promised, alive and unharmed.”

“Yes, Ebel and Nuor were. Not anyone else though.” Ava winced as she finished speaking and mentally slapped herself. She shouldn’t complain lest she got the two who mattered mostto her hurt. She nervously wound her fingers together, cheeks paling from speaking so freely.

Erox answered slowly, “We did not wish for any to be harmed and only attacked those that would not stand down or we could not breach.”

Vox nodded, coming up to reach for her hand before she could respond to Erox. He pried her hands apart, stopping her nervous twitching, and held both between his. His palms felt searing hot next to Ava’s skin. “I feel pain to have caused you distress, Ava. In time, hopefully, you will see our actions in a more benevolent light. We are creatures fighting for our survival, as your species also has needed to do. Would you begrudge fellow Humans for doing what is needed to save their people?”

Ava’s mouth felt cottony. Again, they were lumping Humans in the same category with them. Not knowing what to say, she looked at the scanner in the corner and then back to Vox. The scanner was already powered on, lights bright and ready to work. It was all familiar to Ava, who came up periodically if she didn’t feel well or needed a larger wound tended to. Erox stepped to the side of the chair and motioned for her to come closer.

She took her hands out of Vox’s and started to walk forward before she hesitated. “I have medical scans on file. You can probably look those up.”

“We have,” Erox answered. “They were incomplete for what we need.”

“This will not harm me, correct?”

“Nothing we do will harm you.” Ava looked deep in Erox’s eyes, deciding that he looked sincere.Besides, they have gone out of their way to keep me safe up to this point.With that assurance, Ava walked over to the scanner and sat in the gray fabric chair, resting her hands lightly on the matching arm rests.

The scanner went through its start-up protocol before a green laser flew over her briefly. She saw her insides light up on the screen in front of her, along with her DNA profile. Every scar she had gathered over the years showed up in brighter patches on her skin, showing the thickened areas where it had healed from the heat seal.

Vox walked over to her after the preliminary scan was done and gently zipped down her jumpsuit to expose her midriff with the fabric hanging on both sides covering her breasts. Before Ava could react to his actions, he placed his hand flat on her abdomen so he was being scanned with her. The movement was unexpected. His hand was hot on her stomach and extended across the entirety of her front. Ava felt a flush that was at odds with the simple touch.

Erox looked intently at the screen. Rhutg leaned forward, obviously interested as well, despite his aloofness earlier. Vox’s hand flexed and his blunt fingernails dug in the area right by her belly button. Ava took her eyes away from the sight of his hand on her stomach and looked over at the screen they all were staring at.

Erox had it configured on a setting she had never seen before. She was unable to read all the Phor lettering on the screen. She could read the last alert, though, which appeared in Common on the screen after the scan was completed.

“Compatible.”

Vox did not move his hand off her stomach. Ava turned away from the still-flashing screen and looked at him. He was not looking at her, but all four of them were lit up looking at one another. It didn’t last long, and then they all turned and looked at her almost in unison when they were done, making her scoot back, pressing into the gray fabric chair, at their intensity.

Ava asked quietly, “Compatible for what?” She had a strong suspicion of the answer but wanted to make sure.

Erox answered, glancing down at Vox’s hand still on her stomach as he slowly removed it. “It appears that yours and our species are genetically similar enough to crossbreed.” The words hung in the air.

Ava broke into a cold sweat and quickly zipped her jumpsuit back up. Visions of her mother passed through her mind. Ava was the fifth child her mother had, but not the last. Every year, a new baby would come. A new little sister she would grow to love and then lose, forever to worry about when her mind got too quiet. The very last thing she wanted was anyone interested in her for . . . that.

She got off the chair shakily, nerves jangling. Vox backed up and let her, still staring at her in an unsettling way. “No. I want to go back to my room now. I did what you asked. Please let me go.” She worried that she would now be kept yet again, but in a different way from what the Phor had used her for.

Vox turned to her. “Relax, Ava. Even without looking inside your mind we can see your unease. Sleep will perhaps clear your mind. Nothing will happen to you. I swear it. We are not beasts like that.”

Ava swallowed and nodded tightly. She was not going to ask them what they wanted with her after hearing that news.I will not be a breeder like her. I will not. I WILL NOT.No, she wanted to get out from under their gazes and line of sight and think through everything that had been happening on her own. She’d reached the end of how much she could handle emotionally.

Reaching for a calm voice, she began walking to the doorway. “I can walk myself.”

Vox quickly caught up, flanking her side. “It would make us all more comfortable if we could escort you.”

Lirell also stepped up to accompany her. “Come, Ava.”

Vox let out a low growl and Lirell jumped back, startled. Rhutg and Erox both turned and gazed sharply at Vox, who didn’t wait and walked forward toward the door.

“Careful, Vox,” she heard Rhutg mutter.

“He got his answer,” Erox answered softly.

Vox didn’t seem to listen. He stopped halfway to the door and looked back at Ava to see if she would follow.

Ava did, wanting to get out of the med bay as fast as she could.

Around halfway to her room, Vox turned around and walked toward her, crowding her. Ava stepped backward until her back hit the wall next to one of the pin pads that opened a door leading to a flight of stairs.

---