Page 38 of Soros
Malliko sounded sympathetic. “The whole situation probably just overwhelmed her. Thinking clearly under pressure isn’t easy.”
We were rushing through the lobby and out on the street. Nerix and I both watched Lios, who looked to be in doubt over what to do. We didn’t know the city. We couldn’t use our normal ways of working and we had no idea where to start searching. “Did they tell you where they were when they met Ko’roz?” Lios asked Malliko.
“Yes. They said that they were shopping in a place called SoHo.”
I searched mentally for an area map, but Lios was already on it and started walking.
Nerix and I followed along, and he mumbled next to me.“The worst part is that I had a dream about Star connecting with me. Maybe she tried to reach out and I was too unaware to open up a connection with her.”
“Don’t blame yourself. You were sleeping,”I told him.
Kicking at a plastic cup on the street, Nerix made a sound of deep frustration. “Star is like a kid. She’s so innocent and naïve. If Ko’roz lays a hand on any of them, I’ll perform that inside-out punishment right here myself.”
He was referring to the brutal death penalty on Markatoria that was so disgusting that I didn’t want to think about it.
“What does your training tell you?” Nerix asked me while we jogged to keep up with Lios. “If he killed Ziba, will he do the same to Star and Tania?”
His question made me physically sick, and my answer came from my need to calm myself. “I don’t think so. They aren’t soldiers and don’t pose a threat to him. Ziba was trained to kill him. Star is sweet and agreeable and Tania…” I didn’t finish my sentence because of the dread in my chest.
“Tania is what? She’s definitely not sweet and agreeable. Does that place her in danger of getting killed by Ko’roz? Is that what you’re saying?” Nerix glared at me as if I had threatened to hurt Tania myself.
“No, of course not. What I’m saying is that keeping someone subdued with mind clouding is draining. Of the two women, Tania is the feisty one, so she’ll cost him more energy than Star.”
“Where are we going?” Nerix called out to Lios, who was jogging down the street.
“To SoHo, where they were last seen.”
“They could be in a different part of town now,” Nerix pointed out and came to a halt when Lios stopped jogging and instead spun around, scanning the area as if hoping to spot Tania and Star on the street.
“I wish we had placed a tracker on them,” Lios said in frustration and stopped running. “I never thought that they would be in this situation.”
Malliko was still with us remotely and spoke up telepathically. “Clara has an idea. She’s right next to me.”
I knew Clara to be Malliko’s human partner, which was a strange concept to us Eidrons.
“She says that if you give Tania’s phone number to the police, they might be able to track her phone.”
“Humans can do that? I thought they were hopelessly behind technologically,” Lios said.
Malliko answered, “It’s worth a chance.”
Nerix didn’t seem to have much confidence in humans. With an angry look on his face, he watched Lios, waiting for orders on which direction to go. “We should still keep trying to connect to Star telepathically. Remember how she had a connection with her Tuncallon servant at home? That has to mean that although her abilities for mental work are weak, she still has them to some extent.As I said, I feel like she tried to reach out to me while I was sleeping. But now I’m not getting a connection when I reach for her.”
“Ko’roz mind clouding will subdue her mental powers.” Malliko pointed out.
“Ko’roz better not hurt them,” Nerix mumbled with another side scowl to Lios.
“I thought I told you to focus,” Lios said and for once the usually calm and friendly Ugon looked pressured.
People passing us would see two men staring at each other with strong postures, but without any words spoken aloud between them, none of the humans took notice of the tension between Lios and Nerix. With his legs slightly spread and his arms crossed, Nerix mirrored Lios’ posture and once again accused his captain, “It’s your fault that Ko’roz has Star and Tania. They reached out for our help, but you once again misjudged the situation and dismissed them. It’s because of you that they are now in the hands of a Malbreean psychopath. He has already killed two of our friends. Why is it that you don’t seem to understand that females need our protection?”
“Because I don’t see people as male or females like you do. I see my soldiers as individuals with strengths and weaknesses. Your weakness is your lack of emotional control and your savior complex. You crave being a hero and for some reason you think of women as fragile beings when they’re not.”
Nerix made a sound of disbelief. “Are you blind? Surely you can tell that females and males aren’t physically equals. Of course, women are more at risk. When we face dangerous criminals, it’s logical that they’ll attack the smaller soldier if they’re trying to avoid getting arrested.You Ugons fight with your minds, so I get that gender isn’t as important to you. But physical strength matters for the rest of us. Especially when we’re dealing with Malbreeans because they have a fundamental lack of respect for females. It’s on you that you allowed Star and Tania to walk around in this city, knowing that there’s a monster on the loose.”
“Allowed? Star and Tania aren’t my prisoners, Nerix. Did you want me to lock them up to keep them safe? Do you want us to evacuate the entire city? Or how about we ban all humans from leaving their homes, huh? Or should it just be females? How extreme do you want me to get before you realize that protection always comes at the expense of freedom?”Lios remained calm but spoke with great authority shining from his green eyes. Out of all the Descendants of Doom, Ugons had the longest lifespan with an average of around a hundred and sixty-eight years. I had never asked Lios how old he was, but at that moment, he looked twice his age.“You didn’t like it when I told you that you couldn’t come on this rescue mission because I’m unsure that you can control your emotions and stay focused on the job, did you?”
Nerix didn’t answer at first, so Lios drilled deeper. “How does it make you feel that I see your weakness?”
