Page 31 of Kryxis

They clicked their tongues. “Vinash resa xi ish nikari ri—”

“I’m asking for a truce. I’ll follow you and in return I go back to the ship.”

They hissed. “Nisetship.”

She did a double-take. “Excuse me?”

“Niset. Ship,” they clipped out.

Her eyes narrowed. So, they understood a few words. “Does that mean no?”

They grunted. Before she could argue, they moved around her, gesturing again for her to follow. This time she did, careful as she walked on her ankle. She followed them to another set of doors into the gaming center lobby. The vrisha threw open the door and pointed up toward the sky. Dani peered outside and saw the dust storm that was rolling in. A big rumbling cloud of debris that could hold anything from dirt to glass with high winds that could knock you right off your feet.

Damn.

The vrisha shut the door and locked it. “Esh na shinia essa diras hassa.”

Something told her that translated to: you stay here till it passes.

“How long?” she asked, pointing to the door then making a wavy gesture. “When will it pass?”

“Hassa.” They repeated her wave.

“Yes, but when?”

They led her back into the room of stuff and headed to the table. On the metal surface, she noticed several hundred small notches carved into it. The vrisha tapped on one, paused, then tapped on three.

“What? One to three hours?”

The vrisha appeared to be thinking over her words. She set the canteen down and point to a notch. “One,” she said. Then she tapped on three. “Three.”

“Xa. One. Three.”

“Hours.”

They moved over to a map on the wall, hanging with several others. One was of the planet with the sun in the corner. They tapped on the sun then traced their talon around the planet. Doing so three times.

The blood drained from her face. “D-days!?”

“Daysss,” they hissed.

She almost sat on the ground. Instead, she leaned against the table. “No. That can’t be right.” She was told the storms only lasted a few hours. But then they had also been told the chances of dealing with a big storm would be slim.

As were the chances of many things, and yet everything was going wrong on this planet.

Dani covered her face with her hands. If they had just made it past that damn bridge, they would have gotten to the labs and back to the ship before it hit. Thinking of her crew made her throat tighten again, tears stinging her eyes. They didn’t deserve that. She should have protected them better; she could have turned them around at the first sign of a threat. But she had been so determined when they’d been so close to finishing, refusing to believe it could have gotten worse after the vrisha.

Now they were probably dead, and it felt like her fault. Her crew…her friends. What had she done?

A little sob caught in her throat, her body trembling. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t stop herself. She’d failed. She’d failed them and herself.

She felt movement beside her and something brushing against her head. She looked up and saw the vrisha petting herhair. She stared at them in confused wonder. What was up with them anyway?

“I don’t need your pity, you know.” She knew they didn’t get any of that. They grunted all the same and guided her hand that held the canteen, raising it to her mouth. For some reason that made her want to laugh. She uncapped it and took another drink, and it helped a little. As she rested the canteen at her side, the vrisha reached out to her again. Its talons brushed against her face, catching one of her tears.

“Es mish ri nivara, lillak,” they whispered. Then they licked the tear off their talon. They stalked away, leaving her leaning there in stunned silence. She heard them rummaging around across the other side of the room, then a moment later they stood before her with something in their hands.

Dani looked down at what they held and this time didn’t contain her laughter. It started quiet until her body was shaking from it. She took the stuffed animal—a shabby looking white cat with four arms and little antenna—and held it to her, trying to contain her laughter. What was even happening?

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