Page 3 of Soros
I looked out the side window, angling my head away from Soros. He had just touched on a sore subject, but I didn’t want to sour our first meeting by explaining to him why I was bothered by his reminder that I didn’t know telepathy.
“Did I say something wrong?”
His astuteness surprised me as I hadn’t actually said anything. “No.” Giving him a polite smile, I added, “Did they tell you I’m a hybrid? I’m part Eidron like you.”
“I didn’t know that.” His eyes widened. “How unusual.”
“You can stop looking at me like I’m a new species to dissect and study.” I gave a nervous laugh.
“My apologies. I’ve just never met a hybrid who is part human.”
“Yeah, well, unfortunately my father’s ability for telepathy didn’t get passed on to me. Nor did he stick around to teach me about his people.”
Soros leaned forward and looked at me with great sympathy. “Sounds like there’s a story to dive into and things that I can teach you about our people.”
My shoulders eased and my expression softened as I gave him a grateful smile. I liked how he saidour people,making me feel included.
“Yeah, but first let me get you settled into the apartment. The good thing is that we don’t have to think about disguising you. With the Tuncallons that was time-consuming and stressful.
“You think I’ll blend in among humans?”
“Yes. You might stand out because of your height a little, but there are plenty of human men who are taller so I wouldn’t worry about that. Are you hungry?”
“Yes. And curious to try human food. I’ve heard that some of it is very tasty but to stay away from something called Pozza.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not sure. Something flat that didn’t agree with K’rem’s stomach. He warned me.”
“Oh… I know what you’re talking about.” I laughed because K’rem was my contact person at the Federation, and I was the one who had served him pizza the last time he was here. “I don’t think it was the pizza but the wine he drank. But don’t worry, there are plenty of other delicious foods I can introduce you to.”
We smiled at each other, and I felt a delicious bubbly sensation in my stomach. When I drove to the military base this morning, I’d felt a little nervous, but Soros was delightful company and I already felt surprisingly at ease around him.
“I can tell that I’m going to enjoy my time on Earth,” Soros said and dipped his chin with a look of determination.
“Yeah? How do you know that?” I asked but felt relieved that he was being so positive.
“Because I’ve wanted to come here for the longest time and becauseyouare here.” He said the last part as if it was self-explanatory.
I tried to control my goofy smile and ignored how my cheeks heated up from his flattery. I wasn’t normally easily affected by men, but Soros was so vibrant in his energy that I felt instantly attracted to him. “I’ll do my best to make you feel welcome,” I promised.
Aboard theGreat Defender
Exhaling hard, I turned again and pushed away the memories of my first meeting with Soros. I knew from experience that if I didn’t shut it down, my inner movie screen would take me to more intimate memories that always made me yearn for him.
To think that Soros was here, onboard theGreat Defenderand just one room, away made it impossible for me to relax. There were so many things that I wanted to say to him and questions that I wanted to ask. Like how he could have stayed away for four years without a sign of life.
It had been days since he joined us onboard the spaceship and by now, I was sleep deprived, anxious, and so frustrated with him that I couldn’t even bear to look in his direction.
I would have confronted Soros by now if it weren’t that there were bigger issues at hand than my failed love life. From the moment Soros came on board this spaceship, he had focused on finding the criminals responsible for abducting Jade, Sival, and a number of other innocent victims. On his list of priorities was also to locate the two children that had been stolen from Jade and Sival.
It had seemed selfish to distract him because of my need to talk about what happened between us four years ago.
The mission on Markatoria to arrest the criminals and retrieve the two children had been dramatic and incredibly scary. As a civilian I should never have been involved and I was well aware that I was lucky to get away from that horrible place alive.
The team had managed to arrest nine suspects on Markatoria, and Jade and Sival were now reunited with their children. But despite all of that, the mission was only partly successful. Because not only did one suspect called Ko’roz get away, but he also killed Keindra and kidnapped Ziba.
We immediately chased Ziba’s kidnapper to Tandaquon, the home planet of the Thaddoinian people. I watched Soros and the crew work with local authorities and hand over the nine suspects to the prosecutors of the Federation. Unfortunately, Ziba was dead by the time she was found.
