Page 17 of Ava Stargazer

Erox cut in, “They didn’t learn their lesson from stealing ours? It didn’t work for them, though Orla and the others never told them how they could control their fertility.”

After a moment, Iryl spoke again. “Yes, but can the Humans do that? The Tuxa were asking questions. They are clearly interested.”

Erox glanced at Vox. “I don’t know what Humans can do with their fertility. Ava doesn’t want any more tests right now.”

Keervel spoke in the background. “Like we said the other day, so many unknowns . . .”

Vox ignored that, and his eyes narrowed as anxiety raced down his spine. He exchanged a wary glance with Rhutg.“What could that do to our goal of trying to find more Humans?Are the Tuxa going to look now as well? Or others who saw this video?”

Rhutg thought back,“On Xai, Ava is still safe.”

Iryl continued speaking, “Ava aside, after this happened, I also had something interesting happen. I found a camera, at least I think it was a camera, in my rooms.”

Vox ground his teeth as he forced out. “A camera? How?”

“It was ingenious. I only noticed it because it gave off a very faint signature similar to our IO minerals, but it looked decorative. There was a power outage here in my sector and it must have been planted then. I bet there’s more elsewhere in the board, but I only noticed this one because I know all the electrical signatures so well in here that I could spot the difference.”

Rhutg leaned forward. “Was it the Tuxa? That would make sense. Who else . . . ?”

Iryl shook his head rapidly. “I don’t think so. The Tuxa keep trying to mess with me, don’t get me wrong, but it didn’t feel like any of their technology. And I don’t think they could have gotten it in my room. Somehow the power outage was related, and they don’t have the ability or connections to do all of that.”

“Who does?” It made little sense to Vox.

Iryl shrugged. “I don’t know. But it puts me on edge here to think someone else is interested enough to go through the effort. If I didn’t work so much with the IO minerals directly during all these trades I wouldn’t have noticed, since the device was powered differently.”

Erox scoffed. “Maybe other species are becoming wary of us?”

Iryl said, haltingly, “Maybe, but that raises a bit of a concern. We do not want to be viewed as a hostile offensive species. Defensive is fine, but there is a line.” He added quickly, “There is a balance here that I am coming to learn about.”

Rhutg leaned forward with a leer on his face. “I don’t mind it. Camera was probably planted because the Tuxa are whining about being hurt and others are curious.” He paused, then added, “I’d wipe them all out if I could.”

Vox chewed on that a minute as silence fell. “Or it was planted because the Tuxa are flashing that picture of Ava around.”

Rhutg looked at him. “I know we care for Ava, but there’s so many species . . . why would that be connected?”

He thought back on the logs that Ava had recently looked through from Ebel, from Cipra.A lot of this doesn't add up.A whole breeding facility. A whole planet, wiped out. Ava labeled as non-sentient, Class 3 species, even when she was clearly intelligent. “Not Ava in particular, but someone went through a lot of effort to keep information about Cipra and Humanslimited. Now there’s the Tuxa being bold and stupid talking about her? And it’s known now that we have her?”

Rhutg’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe.”

Vox pushed off of the counter.I hate diplomacy.As he rewatched the fight on Torga, his lip curled. “If you are insistent that these inane peace talks continue, then I wish to be present for one with the Tuxa. I want to stare them in the eyes so they can remember exactly what happened, and go on record with our side of the story. I’d also like to find out what they know. Any more information about Humans can help.”

Turning closer to the hologram, Rhutg added in a measured tone, “No offense, Iryl, but all of us have more experience with the Tuxa and will be able to feel them out better. Maybe find out what is going on there.”

Iryl shook his head, animated. “None taken. I would welcome that. It’s only me and Lirell here, and we could use the help.”

Erox unfolded his large body to stand next to Vox. “I would like to be present for this as well.”

Iryl cleared his throat. “Yes, all of you.”

Keervel walked up next to Vox, who watched him with detachment. “What would smooth everything over so we can quit these forced peace talks?”

Smooth things over?Vox prickled at that implication. Like their grievances could be so easily solved and brushed under the rug. He turned to glare at the three quorum members, ready to object. “There might be balance with others, but not the Tuxa,” Vox eventually ground out. “I don’t think that the quorum have accepted that things can never go back to how they were before we first fought with the Tuxa.”

Rhutg snarled, turning to Keervel, “I do not want to give even the illusion of cooperation. There is nothing to smooth.”

Vox crossed his arms. “Agreed.”

Rhutg’s words hung in the air, their tense notes coating the navigation room.

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