Page 22 of Scars & Starlight
“You’re the best, Kikolino,” I murmur.
Ignoring our antics, Potts speaks to Kairen in his business tone. “Do you plan on sharing your findings about our planet with us? Or is Tara the chosen one?”
I flush as the alien’s grin widens into something smug. “I plan on sharing the information we gathered regarding your leadership, military power, population, infrastructure, and the best methods of restoring it once we’ve eliminated the threat.”
12
KAIREN
After hours of talking with the leadership of Tara’s domicile, I watched as her chin began to dip, and Kiko took over the majority of the translation. Soon after, she’d shake herself out of sleep, and I had had enough. I called an end to the meeting and walked Tara to her quarters.
I only got a peek inside her room through the doorway, but I could already tell that she’s a little chaotic, if not disorganized, and that everything in there smells of her. As much as I wanted to become a part of her inventory, I had to give her privacy. We had only known each other for two rotations of her planet, yet leaving her to sleep alone proved harder than expected. Leaving the planet without her wasn’t an option. Kiko was with her, which meant I could easily be summoned to her side in case of danger, but not if I were in orbit, far above her.
So I returned to the Talon, where I could eat nutritious food (I’ll only accept her planet’s so-called delicacies from her hand, and that just wasn’t appropriate during the meeting), rest in the small sleeping area for a couple of marks, and contact the Sovereign for the supplies and staff the humans needed for repairs.
By the time firstlight spills over the horizon, Lirael lands, along with Kael, Orien, and Cyrel. I roll my eyes at my cousin and her entourage. “Half of Sovereign’s command staff is here. Was it entirely necessary for the chief medic and engineer to be here?” I move my eyes from Lirael and a somewhat flustered Kael to Orien, who gives me a sly smirk, and Cyrel, who busies herself with examining her toolkit. “How about the intelligence chief and science officer? What’s your excuse?”
Cyrel speaks first. “Kael and I have adapted fresh nanites specifically for the human brain. We thought it prudent to be the ones overseeing their implementation.”
I hum in patronizing acknowledgment.
“Lirael?” I address my cousin next.
“Well, I have some experience in treating humans now, more than my colleagues, at least. I berated myself for not joining you sooner and hardly slept. I’m certain there are many injured humans after the Ghorvek raid.”
Flimsy, but plausible. My eyes cut to Orien.
“Oh, no, I just came to look at the females,” he says nonchalantly, brushing a non-existent speck of dirt off his shoulder.
I narrow my eyes at my intelligence chief. “I’d expect that answer from Caden.”
The male grins widely, showing his teeth. “Oh, he’s pissed that he had to stay behind, trust me.”
“Very well,” I say in defeat. I eye Kael. “There is a wall in need of fixing. You can see what assistance you can provide the humans with that.”
The engineer blinks. “Do they think walls will keep out the Ghorvek?”
I shake my head. “No. It’s to keep out other, predatory humans.”
“I can’t believe they’re attacking each other when they should be standing together,” Lirael murmurs sadly.
“Perhaps if they were more unified, they’d be using nano technology and the arrays alongside us, and we would have met sooner.”
I tilt my head in acknowledgment of Kael’s hypothesis. Before I can delegate tasks further, Sergeant Potts appears from the main bunker entrance.
“Good morning,” he greets stoically.
“It means good firstlight,” I tell my confused senior officers. I nod at the human, but don’t return his greeting with words he wouldn’t understand. “Did anyone think to bring an assistive unit?” I ask my fellow Avaren.
Cyrel cringes and shakes her head, Kael and Orien are eyeing Potts like they’re looking for weak spots in their competition, and Lirael bites her lip.
“Only a medical droid,” she admits, abashed. “You already had the med bay’s assistive unit with you.”
“Tara has him,” I reply, though they likely already surmised. I check with Kiko regarding her status. “She’s breaking her fast and will be with us shortly.”
“Why don’t you introduce us to the rest of Tara’s humans, Your Highness?” Orien suggests, his voice so slick, one could almost slip on it and fall. I resist the urge to pull my neural interference gun and incapacitate him for a couple of marks. He’s quieter than Caden, less effusive, but at their core, they’re both single-minded and driven. Unfortunately, that drive is often centered around finding their females.
With a sigh, I gesture for Potts to lead us inside. I don’t think we should start handing out nanites in the middle of this dusty courtyard. The human hesitates, and I can see his jaw working as he considers whether to let five aliens into their buildings, where their children and the elderly are still resting. After a while, though, he seemingly comes to a decision, the promise of hope we bring likely outweighing the fear of our betrayal, and he turns on his heels with military precision. I’m relieved Tara had someone like him leading her and her compatriots through this post-Ghorvek world of theirs, and not one of the politicians we’ve read about in our briefings, with dozens of young girls in theirharems.
