Page 16 of Fallen from the Stars

He said his kindmatedwith humans, Theo replied.

“And…we don’t know what the term means to him. It likely just means sexual intercourse. The likelihood of humans and these creatures being able to reproduce—”

“Can you have babies with humans?” Theo blurted out.

Vasil recoiled, eyes going wide. His mouth opened as though he meant to speak, but no sound emerged.

“That’s a yes,” Theo declared. “Holy fuck.”

She spun away, running a hand through her hair. The IDC had been modifying humans for a long time — they’d eradicated most disease, given people longer lifespans, and made everyone generally more resilient — but that was a far cry fromcreatinga new species!

What had the IDC beenthinking? It’s like they’d been playing God!

“I did not sayyes!” Vasil said.

“You didn’t have to. It was written all over your face.” Theo plopped back down on the seat. “Oh, man. They brokesomany laws.”

“Yes, theydid,” Kane said through the speaker, “which means you need to think about this very carefully, Theo.”

“No shit. If this is why there’s no information about this planet, that means they were trying to hide what they did.”

“And nowweare aware of it.” Kane’s words were punctuated by heavy silence.

“No,” Theo said after a while. “No, they wouldn’t do anything to us for that, Kane. This stuff happened hundreds of years ago.”

“They must never know about this,” Vasil said, leaning through the doorway. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated. “You were telling me the truth when you said you have no means of communicating with them, were you not?”

“Like I said, if we had the means, we’d be waiting to be picked up right now.” She bent forward and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Why? Why would they go through the trouble and risk of creating you and then just leave?”

He inhaled deeply. Her eyes dipped to his chest of their own accord, sliding over his large, sculpted muscles.

“Because there was a war. Outthere,” Vasil said, turning his head as though to indicate the sky — but not before she caught his gaze falter.

“Given his suggested time frame, it could’ve been the Fringeworld Rebellion,” said Kane.

The Fringeworld Rebellion was ancient history, and she’d never attended school. All she knew about it was that a whole mess of planets on the edges of IDC territory had joined forces to rebel against the Interstellar Defense Coalition back in the early days. They’d lost. History wasn’t a necessary subject when your only job was to make sure the ship’s engine didn’t explode.

“There’s anand, isn’t there, Vasil?” Theo asked.

Vasil nodded and met her eyes again. “And around the same time, my people rose up against the humans and killed many of them.”

Theo dropped her left hand, holding it just over the pistol propped against the side of her seat. “You might want to expand upon that before I draw my own conclusions.”

His gaze flicked briefly to the weapon. If he was afraid, it didn’t show in his expression; the silver of his eyes was a hard, cold gray in this light, like the hull of an old battlecruiser. She knew he was fast, and though she was sure of her aim, he was close enough that she’d only get off a single shot if she was lucky.

Something told her that wouldn’t be enough.

“I should not tell you any of this,” he said, his tone measured and even. “You are one ofthem.”

“And you just told me your people slaughtered a bunch of humans. If you were looking to gain my trust, that isdefinitelynot the way to go.”

“It is the truth. Can I trustyouwith the rest of it?”

Theo picked up the pistol and rested it in her lap without looking away from him. “You should be glad I haven’t shot you yet.”

“You have the gun, Theo, but you donothave the advantage here,” Kane said in her mind.

I know that,she sent through the neural link,but he needs to know I’m not going to cower when he says shit like that. It’s not like I have much of a choice, either. I’m just…setting some boundaries.

---