Page 54 of Sol Survivor

Caah frowned, the flop of his white hair ruffling his shield.“I don’t like this.Some of her enhancements have been stripped from her.”He gripped the side of the pod, careful not to touch anything but the edge.“The pod has been fitted with an explosive device.I would need to remove it to study it.”He tapped the holographs on the model shining from his arm.“If I hazard a guess, once the sealed pod is opened, there is a time limit to reseal it before it explodes.”

Drafe gritted his teeth at the logic of it and the arrogance of the Ivoy and Qaldreth not to test for explosives.“That makes sense.If they have to open a pod, they need a bypass.”

“They expect these pods to be destroyed upon impact.”With shielded fingers, Vaen caught a lock of her brown hair, as if he tested the texture of it.Drafe had done the same when he first met Vic, relishing the softness of her hair.“Why do this?Why not burn or bury the bodies?”

At Vaen’s words, they spun as one to Aehort still in an Ivoyan trance, all hoping the Ivoy would answer or complete his assessment.

“Burying would require soft soil, a mine, or cavern.”Nenn pinched his lips, his red hair rising and falling the faster he typed.“They would need immense fuel reserves.”

“This close to Jupiter?”Drafe waved his hand at the looming giant.

Nenn shrugged and deactivated his arm.

“Hydrogen gas is volatile, and mining it would be hazardous.”Caah as a tech expert, a Taed, traced a thin line across the woman’s skin.

Drafe’s symbiotes rippled in alarm.He leaped across to study the crisscrossing scars.“What the foq?”He’d seen those before.How was Vic tied to this?He closed his eyes, willing his racing heart to calm.There had to be a logical explanation.

“Place the sensors, Caah.Let us have done with this rock.”Vaen scanned the surrounding hills.“We have an Ivoyan in the open.”

Drafe grimaced.“We wait for Aehort Uz.Spread out.”His males obeyed, halting ten meters away in perfect synchronicity.Drafe remained by Aehort’s side as he should have done with Luharp Vadril Ot.

Time passed, the silence calming, yet his symbiotes leaped and bounced, as if warning him of impending danger.He clenched his fists, willing to endure all manner of pain to protect Aehort.Having failed the Ivoyans, he wouldn’t do so again.

His males were better trained, remaining still with only their heads turning from side-to-side as they scanned the horizon.

Aehort gasped, stumbled back, then spun on his heel and marched to the shuttle.Drafe’s males closed in.He waited until the last male stepped inside before he shut the door on the pod and this desolate gray rock.

“Caah Taed, hurry.”The steel in Aehort’s voice straightened Drafe’s spine.He met the Ivoyan’s gaze, waiting for something to cross their bond, something more than a deep-seated urgency.

“What is it, Aehort?”Instead of answering Drafe, Aehort shook his head.

Frowning, Drafe focused on their bond until the intense dread became his, like a solid weight in the pit of his stomach.The more he assessed the symbiotes’ reaction, the more it didn’t flow from Aehort.Sadness and longing leaked through.Vic was in danger.

Drafe tapped his smart band and whispered her name.The shuttle’s droning engines and the muttering between his males highlighted the silence from her.

“Drafe Arrak, we have a problem.”

Drafe touched the implant in his neck.“What is it, Gusin?”

Aehort slumped, his skin fading from amber to orange.“It has begun.”

Foq.Luharp Vadril Ot had been as secretive with his motives.Drafe should have expected the same from an uz.Ivoy was Ivoy.

“We have collected a stranded human.”Gusin hesitated.“Ulvus Sava intends to interrogate.”

“Foq.”Leaving anyone in Ulvus’s hands would be murder.“Caah, get us back now.”Drafe lunged to the front of the shuttle, slamming his hand into the power lever.The shuttle shot forward, the full-pulsed engines bringing it in hot.

Caah’s fingers flew across the console, the male laughing as he steered the shuttle with admirable skill.

“The bay is prepped for landing.Ulvus Sava has the human trapped near the airlock.”

“I will return to my quarters.”Aehort rose to his four-toed feet.“No escort is needed.”

The shuttle tinkled when Drafe disembarked.He didn’t spare it a glance.Instead, he bolted.All knew the wickedness of Kreta lurking in Ulvus’s mind.

Drafe sprinted around the corner and into the airlock prep room, then skidded to a halt.He gaped, disbelieving his eyes.

Chapter Twenty

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