Page 83 of Guardian's Destiny

Sloane's expression warmed the moment I stepped in, and the tension I hadn't noticed in my muscles left me.

"All done?" Sloane asked.

"Yes, have you filled Zapharos in?"

Her eyes moved to the other two females, and I got the hint. She hadn't wanted to discuss it in front of them. Good.

The other females arrived, and we watched the Pandraxians showing the humans how to use the food dispensers. Dread filled me when I noticed that at least two of them were pregnant. There was no way we could take them with us to Darlam. They needed more medical attention than a healing wand. Frygg.

I ran my hand through my hair; maybe it was worth the risk of sticking to our original plan and stopping at Rodbar 2. Like it or not, we were stuck in an impossible situation. I had to trust that my friends were Space Guardians and would know what to do. They were probably already aware of the potential danger of Ohrurs showing up around Darlam. The Ohrurs wouldn't have guessed where to look for us had we not taken Moddekdum. Taking off with two Ohrurs was a dead giveaway.

"I'll try to get a message through to Nock." I pulled out my comm. I would need to keep it short and unsuspicious, but even if we got lucky and he received it, it would probably be days before he did. It would also take us a week to get back to Darlam, and then again, so would the Ohrurs.

"You look stressed," Zapharos remarked.

"We need to talk." I stood up, waving him and Sloane with me. There was no way to kick the females out of the breakroom so we could talk in private. It was easier for us to go to the bridge where we would be undisturbed.

Zapharos looked at Ella, who gave him an encouraging smile. "Go, we'll be fine."

"I'm all ears," Zapharos said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall.

"I disabled all overwrite protocols and tracking on this ship," I filled him in.

"I was wondering when you would get around to doing this," he stated, rising my ire. And by the look on Sloane's face, not only mine. She looked ready to kill him, which pacified me some.

Enough to ignore his jab and come right to the core of the matter, "Either way, our ship will be recognized on Rodbar 2 the moment we land. We won't have much time to find ships for both of us. Plus, I'm certain the Ohrurs now know that we are heading to Darlam. They probably don't know that the others are already in orbit, but it's only a matter of time?—"

"Time we don't have," Zapharos agreed. I was torn between wanting to rip him to shreds and being glad that he already grasped the situation.

"The Ohrurs won't suspect anything if we go to Astrionis," I sighed. "Some of the females need medical attention."

"Agreed," Zapharos nodded. "But you don't have time to do both, warn your friends and take us to Astrionis." He turned to Sloane with a grin, "A conundrum, wouldn't you agree?"

I had no idea what that word meant, but Sloane seemed surprised that he did. Damn him I wanted to bang his head into the wall to punch some sense into him. We didn't have time for his games.

"So you've already set the course for Astrionis then?" he asked, but it wasn't really a question.

"I did."

"I might be able to help," he pursed his lips, assessing Sloane and me.

"Just spit it out, Zapharos," Sloane groaned.

"You take us to Astrionis as agreed, and we'll get you a ship there so you can head straight back out while I find a way to contact your friends and warn them."

"How…" I broke off as he arched an eyebrow at me. Whatever ways the Arkhevari had were probably a lot more advanced than ours, and I doubted he was about to share that information with us.

"That would be very much appreciated." I pressed out, hating the idea of taking his help.

He seemed surprised. "You're welcome."

"We also need to interrogate Moddekdum to find out the?—"

Zapharos cut Sloane off midsentence, "How big of a fleet the Ohrurs have and how many Space Guardians are at their disposal."

I could see the frustration coming off Sloane like smoke. Commiseration rushed through me; her urge to kill the Arkhevari was as great as mine.

"Yes, that," I said, hoping to diffuse Sloane a little.

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