Page 3 of Scars & Starlight
My nanites answer my unspoken question. MILD MALNUTRITION. SIZE AND DEVELOPMENT BOTH WITHIN HUMAN FEMALE AVERAGES.
Huh. Once we saw what type of creatures human leaders are, we decided against initiating contact for now. All the soldiers I saw – some of whom foolishly opened fire as if we weren’t here to eliminate the Ghorvek in the process of exterminating them – were smaller than Avaren males, even some females. But this human is half the size of an average Ghorvek.
I order my nanites to open a channel to the fleet communications station. “Prepare the med bay on the Sovereign,” I say.
“Yes, Commander.”
If Eira, the comms officer on duty, is surprised at my order, she doesn’t show it. Then again, after working with me for decades, she has learned that I generally know what I’m doing. I just wish I were as certain of that right now. I take one last look at the infected human child, now at peace. I should have been faster. I should have tracked the scum to this planet faster.
Bring the Talon around.
While the nanites connected to my small attack ship execute my command, I catch up with the squad I brought to this skirmish.
“All threats have been eliminated, Commander,” Sorin says respectfully.
“Why are you carrying it?” Caden – my first officer, cousin, and best friend – asks with a lot less deference.
“Did Sahraki flies eat your eyeballs?” I ask dryly. “Or have you just not seen a female in so long that you cannot recognize one?”
“Who knows what these humans look like under their clothing?” he replies wryly, not taking any offense. He lifts his white eyebrows and points at my cargo with his chin. “Perhaps she can show us? Appease our curiosity.”
I remove my visor and shoot him a glare.
Zane, another of my soldiers, lifts his hands up. “I’m not curious.”
My cousin smirks. “His Highness obviously is. Feeling a bit territorial, Kai?”
I blow air out of my nose. “She’s injured and won’t make it without Lirael. I’m not thinking about anything else.”
Though her body does feel nice in my arms, and her scent isn’t unpleasant at all. Her hair looks soft…
Not now, Kairen.
I shake my head.
Jorik, the last soldier with us, joins the conversation. “We already know they’re compatible. It stands to reason they look… the same as us.” Despite his words, his silver eyes gleam with intrigue as he eyes the human I’m holding, gaze lingering on her chest. I squeeze her tighter.
“Mind if we kill all the Ghorvek before you start thinking of nothing else but breeding?” I growl quietly.
Sorin, Zane, and Jorik look appropriately chastised. Caden looks like he just won in a game of Drazhani cubes. Thankfully, the Talon descends just then, landing at the edge of the cliff with a low vibration. The doors open with a hiss of hydraulics, and I board with the girl, my men following.
“Do you want to strap her onto the cot, Commander?” Zane asks, indicating the triage station.
I click my tongue and head to my seat at the front of the ship. “Let’s go. The medics on the Sovereign are expecting her.” There’s no time to waste, and it will be fastest if she remains in my arms.
I sitby the human’s side, observing her cuts healing as the nanites get to work. Lirael, my chief medic and another cousin, patters around the med bay, preparing to do research on the small blood andtissue samples she took while healing the Earthling. Every now and then, she looks at me questioningly.
“The damage is all but mended, Kairen,” my cousin says softly. She only addresses me by my first name when we’re alone – a sign of respect Caden never bothers to mimic. Then again, I guess when you dunk someone’s head in Vorthai excrement as a child, it’s hard to observe honorifics in the future.
“I know,” I answer softly, not wanting to wake the woman up while the nano robots are still active.
When Lirael says nothing, I glance away from the human’s face and take in the medic’s curious demeanor.
“So, you are free to clean yourself, change out of your suit… attend to commander things,” she continues.
I can feel the sides of my mouth twitch up into a smile. Unlike Caden – again – Lirael’s sense of humor is the quiet kind, not boisterous and obvious. Leaning back, I lift my arms up into a stretch and yawn. Perhaps I could get some rest while the human sleeps.
Before getting up, I take the woman in one more time. I recall the exoskeleton suit away from my hand so I can feel her skin as I push back a fine lock of light-brown hair and graze my fingers down the soft curve of her cheek. When I realize I still haven’t moved, I clench my fist and jump up, then exit the trauma station, followed by the med bay in its entirety. It’s not until I’m in the hallway, away from the prying eyes of meddlesome cousins, that I bring my fingertips to my nose and inhale the lingering remains of the human’s scent.
