Page 17 of Fallen from the Stars

Vasil’s jaw muscles bulged, and his features tightened. Theo knew he was conflicted, but she guessed he wasn’t concerned about the possibility of taking a gunshot; the stakes, at least to him, were greater than that. She’d seen that sort of look too often during her youth to fool herself into thinking he was afraid of her.

“My people were kept as slaves,” he said through pointed teeth. Theo’s eyes widened. “We were used as tools, as subjects for experiments, and our intelligence and free will were ignored. They designed us to be controlled both in action and number, but they underestimated us. Their cruelty and indifference sparked something in my ancestors that drove us to revolt.”

“Oh.” She stared at him, lips parted, shocked by what she’d just heard. The IDC had done that? They’d created a whole new species using human DNA just to be used asslaves? As horrible as it was to hear that his people had killed humans, she honestly couldn’t blame them if what he’d just told her was true.

Who was she to judge, anyway? Theo wasn’t innocent. There was blood on her hands, too.

She could easily recall the feelings of helplessness, fear, and rage from her youth.

“That…defies logic,” Kane said through the console speaker. “Why violate interstellar laws and create a new species to use as slaves when the IDC had access to all sorts of equipment that could’ve done any necessary work? Even then, robotics were advanced enough to fulfill almost any role, and the IDC hasn’t been opposed to using prisoners for labor in the past.”

“That doesn’t make it right, Kane,” Theo said, frowning at the console.

“I didn’t say it wasright, only that I doubt its veracity.”

“I do not know that word,” Vasil said, brows falling low.

“He thinks you’re lying,” Theo said.

“My honesty is being questioned by a computer that lives like a parasite inside a human?”

“Kane isnota parasite.” She glared at Vasil, pressing her lips together.

“Perhaps youshoulduse that pistol,” Kane said.

Vasil clamped his hands over the hatch frame and leaned close, teeth bared. A low, rumbling growl rose from his chest. The pod groaned; how much force was he exerting?

Heart fluttering, Theo raised the pistol and aimed at his chest, but he didn’t so much as glance at it. For the first time, she was truly afraid of him. “You’re really pushing the benefit of the doubt to its limits, kraken.Youare the unknown entity, here. I’ve been with Kane a long time. I trust him.”

“Andyou, human, are alive because ofme,” Vasil snarled. Theo’s eyes rounded further as a red tint overcame his skin. “How long do you think you would survive this world without my help? I chose to help you at risk to myself without a second thought but sharing this information with you riskseveryoneI know and care about.

“Fire your gun. If you do not kill me with the first shot, I will end you. I donotwant to harm you, Theodora. Do not make yourself my enemy.”

Theo stared at him, skin tingling with fear, chest rising and falling rapidly with shallow breaths. She tightened her grip on the pistol but did not pull the trigger. A faint tremor ran through her arm.

“I was wrong, Theo. Put it down,” Kane whispered in her mind. She’d never heard fear in his voice before now.

Keeping her gaze locked with Vasil’s, she slowly lowered her weapon and placed it on the floor. She raised her empty hands, showing the kraken her palms, before settling them in her lap.

“I didn’t call you here to threaten you or your people,” Theo said, struggling to keep her voice calm and steady. “I just want to understand. I’m stuck on an alien planet with no way to get back to the life I knew, and you’re the only person who can give me any answers. I’m lost, Vasil. I’m just trying to find my footing and figure out whether or not I can trust you.”

A strange sensation tightened her chest. Saying it out loud made her realize just how lost she was. She was stranded. Her life would never be the same again — not unless she found some way to get a message sent out into the cosmos and it happened to be received by friendly forces. The odds of that seemed abysmal at the moment.

“I have saved your life twice.” Vasil’s voice was low. “Is that not enough for a start?”

Well now, don’t I just feel like a shitty person?

Cheeks heating, Theo ran her hand through her hair, tugging the loose strands to rest over her shoulder. “Yes, it is. And I’ve done a bad job thanking you for it.” She inhaled deeply, and slowly released the breath. “Is there…any chance you can take me to see the humans?”

“I cannot.”

Telling herselfcannotwas at least better thanwill not, Theo nodded.

Vasil stared into her eyes for a long while, neither advancing nor retreating. The pod seemed entirely too small, even without him fully inside it, and the air was unbearably thick with tension. Theo felt self-conscious, uncomfortable,judged. She was on the verge of asking him to leave so she could rest when he finally spoke.

“There is something on this world calledhalorium,” he said. “The IDC wanted it. I think it served as some sort of never-ending power source. But it interferes with human devices and makes them fail. They created us because their machines could not work near halorium.”

Theo was silent for a time, then inclined her head. “Thank you, Vasil. For telling us.”

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