Page 7 of Crash Landing
“Saleuk,” he greeted, his tone telling of his opinion about me. In other words, I always had something to say.
“About my assignment—”
“The details have been sent to your panel.”
“Right. I just had a question. Uh, why me?”
“Why you what?”
“Why am I being sent to babysit humans? I’m a good pilot. One of the best. Use me for a real mission.”
“Look, I can tell you’re getting restless on this damn moon. All of us are. All of us have been since we heard what happened to Vahko. He found a mate. He surged. Now everyone suddenlywants to get off their asses and do something, even if there’s nothing to be done. The gek haven’t made any moves, so we’re not going to war, thank the stars. We’re still working with humans to get more viable specimens for study, but they’re not easy to work with. Things are coming together, but slowly.”
“So, send me on a transport mission. You know I’d be useful.”
“You are a good pilot, but you’re also one of the few who has interacted with humans to the extent that you have.”
“So?” I shrugged.
“So, you’re the best to interact with them again.”
“To watch them study plants?” I scoffed.
The sour look on Zoval’s face said he didn’t appreciate my tone. I gulped and stood more properly, hands behind my back.
“Sorry, sir. I just feel that my skills would be wasted in that situation.”
“Not really. You’ll be piloting the ship to take the geeks into the wilderness. When you land, you’ll help look after them. It will be a very dangerous and exciting mission,” he said flatly, throwing me the least enthused smile I’d ever seen.
“Sir, I—”
“If you wanted excitement, you had a chance when Vahko asked you to accompany him,” he sighed.
Not this shit again.
I was struck silent by that and finally surrendered to my fate. I was more willing to do that than talk about how jealous I was of my friend.
I was pathetic.
With a pat on my shoulder, Zoval continued up the steps and left me to stew in my silence. When I looked back at the room and the few men who remained talking amongst themselves, I caught D’Syrion looking up at me in an almost sympathetic way.
But his sympathy was covered up by a mocking half-grin. I rolled my eyes and walked toward him with a groan.
“At least you’re getting off this moon,” he reasoned.
“Sure. So I can look after more humans. You know, last time I did that, all I was doing was getting slapped in the arm, yelled at, and sneezed on.”
“We play the cards we’re dealt,” he shrugged.
“What about you? Where are you headed?”
“Toril asked me to come with him to the military base for training.”
“Makes sense. You’ve been doing so great with me,” I snorted.
“Well, you’re still a work in progress, but I’m sure you’ll get your pistols back if you’re going to be a bodyguard.”
Once everyone went their separate ways, I headed to my apartment to look at the mission details Zoval had sent to my panel. My room was small and bland, nothing like my room back home. Or… what used to be home. I didn’t really have a home anymore. Most soldiers didn’t. On Caeol, my apartment was all white inside with a bed, shelving with nothing but empty pilu bottles on it, and a ratty blanket that I tried my best to bring with me everywhere. It was about the only constant thing in my life. My mother had made it and it along with a few other keepsakes had been stuffed in a bin when I went into stasis. Thankfully, the blanket was still intact when I woke up and it was the biggest piece of home I had.
