Page 64 of Crash Landing
Ilisa returned to Sam, shifting to a language she could understand. “This is cold,” she said, gently pressing the patch over the swelling bruises. “It will help with the pain and swelling.”
“Thank you,” Sam said.
Ilisa turned back to me, the kindness in her face turning stern.
“What?” I said, returning to Takesh so Sam could not understand.
It felt shameful for me to have a private conversation in front of her that wasabouther, but I didn’t yet know what Ilisa would think of the situation or what she would say.
Ilisa remained silent for a moment until her eyes went to my chest. She was no fool. A valerian with a working paetal sounded different. Smelled different.
She knew.
Her lips parted subtly with quiet surprise before she reached out to press her hand flat to my chest. Her violet eyes twinkled with astonishment and joy when she felt the two hearts beating in tandem.
“You have surged,” she said breathily. Then her smile dropped again and she tossed Sam a quick glance. “And a human triggered it?”
I nodded and Ilisa stepped away, pulling her gray medical jacket down to straighten any wrinkles.
“It seems humans are good at awakening that part of our males,” she said, a hint of bitterness in her tone.
“Ilisa—”
“You should surrender yourself and her to study.”
“I thought Vahko and Innifer had already submitted enough—”
“They are off-world. And having new subjects would aid our scientists’ efforts greatly.”
“I don’t want to submit Sam to any studies right now. She’s been through a lot.”
“We’ve all been through a lot,” she spoke through a clenched jaw.
Ilisa had never been particularly loud in her thoughts regarding the Thinning or humans, but the way she spoke when she knew I’d surged displayed her passion. She was frustrated,like all of our people. I couldn’t imagine how it looked through her hopeful eyes.
“Ilisa,” I said softly. “I care about her.”
A stretch of silence spread between us. She glanced slowly between Sam and me, considering things. Sam had started watching us, likely after she heard familiar names, but I knew she didn’t understand the words.
“So it was not just a surge, then,” Ilisa sighed.
“No.”
“Have you told her?”
“I haven’t.”
“Then what will you do?”
“I will allow tests to be done on me and I will ask Sam if she will allow the same. Beyond that, it must be her choice how to go forward.”
“She does not feel the same about you?”
“I don’t know.”
Ilisa nodded, taking a deep breath before she headed toward the door. Before disappearing, she turned to face me once more.
“If she doesn’t understand the gravity of her situation, then make her understand the gravity of yours. There are women at the Temple of Silica who would be overjoyed to know you can breed. They long to conceive.”
