Page 118 of Return of the Nine

“It is understandable. I didn’t know, nor did he, that a bonding could happen with casual contact.”

Ula frowned. “We haven’t had any contact. Not even a handshake.”

Darthuun blinked. “Really?”

Deniir nodded. “Really. Ula made it very clear that she was aware of the dangers of contact with our kind, and we maintained a circumspect distance.”

Darthuun frowned. “That is unusual, but her ability to use your linguistic skills is proof that there is a bond.”

“But, the bond will be broken when I return home, correct?” Ula’s voice was firm. She wasn’t leaving room for anyone to disagree.

Darthuun shrugged. “I do not know. I have never heard of a spontaneous link in the last five generations.”

Deniir rubbed the back of his neck. “This is going to require some research.”

Ula frowned. “Should I stay somewhere else?”

Both men said, “No!”

She jerked back at their vehemence. “Um, okay.”

Deniir spoke more calmly. “I mean, it would be awkward for you to be in the home of a mated couple, and that is the only safe place for you right now.”

Ula was about to say something, but Darthuun got to his feet. “Dinner is ready. You have to let it rest or all the juice runs out when you cut into it.”

Ula shrugged and rose to her feet, lifting the hem of her gown as she crossed to the dining table.

Deniir held her chair out, and she settled carefully on the narrow-backed seat. When Deniir took a seat to one side of her and Darthuun took the other side, she had the feeling that she was the guest of honour.

Dinner passed as each food was described and a small portion was put on her plate. She used the eating prongs in the method that Deniir showed her, and soon, she was making inroads into the food that Darthuun had so carefully prepared.

“So, Ula. How long have you been a designer of the useful and fascinating?”

She blinked. “Since the Tokkel raids. When the first scout landed, a friend of mine was injured and that was when my mind sort of split and the images started to appear.”

Darthuun blinked. “Not before then?”

“There were a few small creations before then but nothing on a truly useful scale.”

Deniir spoke quietly, “You mentioned that your parents had passed on.”

Ula focussed on her meal. “They were taken in one of the first Tokkel ships, along with twenty others that we can pinpoint. They are presumed dead.”

The two men with her paused. Deniir asked, “Didn’t any of your people go looking for them?”

She snorted. “We don’t have space technology yet. There was no way for us to find them, and by then, the other attacks started and they were simply casualties of the Tokkel.”

Deniir winced. “Of course.”

Silence fell and Ula took pity on them. “Don’t fret about it. It isn’t something that most people know. Even on Gaia, everyone forgets the first few to disappear.”

“Do you think that they could still be alive?” Darthuun’s tone was soothing.

“I doubt it, but anything is possible. If there were a way to findthem, I would be on it immediately.” She blinked. “Do you have gene trackers?”

Deniir blinked. “Only for short distances.”

She lifted the data pad and scribbled more notes for the morning before she tucked it back under her chair. “I apologise, but I wanted to make a note to look into the gene trackers.”

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