Page 48 of Across The Stars
“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “Are you kidding? I’m a stripper and Sam is… well… depends on the day I guess.” No one was amused. I scanned the faces in the room, braving a glance at Vahko, whose eyes were on the ground now in thought. “Look, I won’t try to lie my way through this. I hated my life back home. Everything about it. Sam had the means to generate fake IDs and papers for us so she did and we went to the Nexus on a work order. It was innocent and stupid and probably exactly what you’d expect from someone with half a college education and no family. But we aren’t terrorists. We’re not here to sabotage anyone or get in anyone’s way. We don’t have a reason to do something like that let alone the brains. We just…”
I stopped there, unsure what to say. Tears burned my eyes, but I willed them not to fall. The feeling of utter embarrassment and fear of prosecution made my chest tight. I dropped my eyes to the floor and just waited for someone to speak, dreading what they might say.
Kasiri took a deep breath and sat back down in her chair, swiping my files to the side.
“We’ve asked the Nexus to retrieve you from the trade station,” she said. “We are to bring you and your friend there to be detained. Your people will decide your fate for your deceptions.”
I closed my eyes to process that. I was actually going to be arrested. What was the sentence for forging papers and going into space with false IDs? I didn’t know, but I was certain it wouldn’t be good. I was starting to shake and tried to keep my cool for a while longer as the room swelled with silence.
23: Vahko
Innifer looked devastated. I could feel her pulse radiating through the floor and smelled the scent of fear rising from her pores. She was no terrorist or spy. That much I could tell. And she was about to implode with emotions if I didn’t get her out of that room. Or, maybe I could do something that would convince the council to protect her wellbeing for a while.
“I would advise the council to rethink surrendering Innifer and her friend to Nexus authorities,” I said. All eyes turned to me.
“You have to have a reason for us to consider this,” Kasiri said. “Do you have one?”
I raised my chin. “I… do not,” I lied, using my native tongue now so that Innifer could not worry herself over our discussion. “Only that she and her friend aided in transporting vital supplies to us and we should not disregard that.”
Kasiri’s eyes narrowed and her head tilted subtly with suspicion. “Still. Human laws are not our laws. We cannot simply offer these women sanctuary because they helped transport materials.”
“I understand, but—”
“But nothing. She lied to her own kind to earn a position that wasn’t hers. She isn’t even qualified for it. So unless you have a better reason for—”
“I’ve surged with her,” I divulged.
Hearing myself admit it out loud made my hearts clash together in my chest.
Kasiri’s face flattened with surprise, her eyes shifting from me to Innifer.
“Are you certain?” she asked.
“I wasn’t sure the first time I interacted with her. The second time, we exchanged touch. It was clearer then. I think it would be wise to keep her here for study.”
“I… we’ve always suspected humans were compatible but…” She paused a beat. “Do you plan to be with her? A human?”
“I… don’t. I have duties off planet. I’m sure by now the council is taking my warnings about the gek seriously?”
“We are. But a surge is just as serious a subject, captain.”
Innifer was looking between us, eyes wide. She appeared to be trying to understand our words, but I knew she could not. Humans didn’t have a full record of our spoken language and even if they did, they were slow learners. Of course, she wanted to know what was being said and I couldn’t blame her. At the very least, she knew we were talking about her.
“Well, if you don’t want to keep her, there is no reason to offer her protection.”
I couldn’t keep her. I had duties. I was not a breeder or a lab subject. I was a soldier and one who had committed himself to defending against the gek’tal. Having a human mate seemed preposterous and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Mated couples were planet-bound. They were carefully monitored, especially since the Thinning. I couldn’t be tied up like that nor did I think she’d want to be put in that position.
“Perhaps I can speak with her,” I continued. “She surged with me, which means she can surge with any valerian. Her genetics could be what we need to resolve our problems. If she volunteers for study, her people may pardon her and we’d get what we need.”
“And why would you want her to be pardoned?” Kasiri asked, baiting me.
I glanced down at Innifer, who was staring ahead now into nothing, deep in thought and on edge. I couldn’t answer Kasiri and she was growing irritated by that.
She sighed. “I would prepare her to be brought to the trade station.” She watched me like she was expecting me to change my mind. “After she is judged by her people, we can negotiate a lease of her body for our studies, but I won’t harbor a criminal.”
I’d never heard Kasiri talk about the humans with such a cold tone. It was like she was trying to get me to defend Innifer again and reveal something, but I was entirely unsure how to do that without getting myself tied down. If I admitted I wanted Innifer, I’d be bound to her and she’d be forced into something she didn’t understand.
Why could the surge not have been between Salukh and the female? He seemed eager to have a mate. He would have offered himself up for study at once.
