Page 5 of Warrior
She gasped, full pouty lips falling open in disbelief. "You - you know Emmy?"
"Yes," I said, struggling to stand despite the heavy chains. "I am Daicon, war-chief of the Vaktaire ship, the Bardaga."
Her expression shifted from shock to awe and back to shock. "Sweet fancy Moses!" she murmured.
“Excuse me?” I knew the name Moses from my Earth studies, but nothing I learned about him suggested him to be sweet or fancy.
The Kerzak child stood by the doorway, his dark eyes narrowing as he evaluated me. I made it clear to his twitching, prying ears that the human had nothing to fear from the Vaktaire. “Emmy is well. She travels on our warship, the Bardaga, protected by our chieftain, Khaion.”
“Oh, my gosh!”
Daisy gasped and brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes shimmering with tears. I reached toward her and tugged against the chains binding me to the wall, though they didn't give more than an inch. The small Kerzak boy hovered at her side, dragging over a chair for her before disappearing through the doorway, only to return moments later with a cup of water. I watched, astounded. The Kerzak cared for no one.
“How did you find me?” Emmy asked after she drained the cup, her wide eyes unblinking.
I sat on the cot's edge—the only piece of furniture I could reach—and licked my lips before meeting her eyes. "We deployed trackers on the ships that took you from the Trogvyk."
“Trogvyk?” Her nose creased adorably as a frown yanked at the corners of her mouth. “Oh, you mean the cat people?”
“Cat?” An image flickered in my mind, remnants of my earth studies. “You mean Earth felines? Yes, I suppose the Trogvyk does have feline attributes. They are notorious human slavers.”
Daisy winced at my words and curled into herself. "Do you know where the others are? Willa? Clara? Agnes and Pearl?"
“We tracked the general course of the ships once they left the wormhole,” I told her. “Members of my crew are in pursuit.”
“Wormhole?” Daisy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she processed my explanation. The Kerzak moved closer, hisstern gaze letting me know he was ready to intervene if necessary. The top of his head would barely skim my thigh and still he glared at me with the fury of a warrior. Impressive, I had to admit.
"The wormhole behind your dwarf planet that connects the Praxian system to your Milky Way,” I clarified. Daisy and other earthlings knew little of the known universe. “It's what allows slavers such easy access to Earth.”
“My apologies to exotheology,” Daisy murmured, her gaze dropping from mine.
Her small, blunt teeth rested on her lower lip for a moment. I wondered how it would feel to catch her lip between my teeth. To practice the Earth's custom of kissing with her. Vaktarians did not kiss; most found the practice unsanitary. However, after watching so many Earth videos and seeing Daisy's plump lips, my curiosity about kissing became overwhelming.
Her hazel eyes gleamed under the light before focusing on me and posing her question. "Where am I? What planet is this?"
I felt the corner of my lips twitch, amused by her innocence. She was inquisitive and eager to learn. At that moment, I understood why my Chieftain was so enamored of Emmy. “We are on Giezo, one of the six moons orbiting the Gilese suns. It's an isolated mining moon, thirty moons’ journey from Tau Ceti.”
“Tau Ceti?” The foreign words glided off her tongue as she repeated them deliberately, as if trying to commit them to memory.
"It is the human settlement where your kind resides." A frown creased her forehead as we exchanged glances, and I continued. "Once a human goes through the Garoot Healer, it is forbidden to return them to earth." At her side, the youngling's wide eyes glinted with fear, and his body tensed at the news.
“Garoot Healer,” Daisy repeated, drawing out the syllables. A long, heavy sign accompanied a shrug of her delicate shoulders. “I understand that. It would be difficult to explain to people back home why I look forty years younger. Do you know… were my friends… or will they beyouth-i-nizedlike me?”
Her question brought forth a flash of anger. I would protect her with my life. “Certainly not. Vaktaire do not euthanize humans. It is unheard of for my kind to harm a weaker being.”
Emmy’s eyes sprang wide, stunned by my anger. She drew in a sharp breath… and giggled. The sound stroked over my skin like a caress.
“I don’t meaneuthanized. I meant…." She pressed her lips together momentarily. “Did my friends go through the healer… the machine that makes you young again?”
“I don’t know about the others, but Emmy is very young and beautiful.” But not as beautiful as you, I added silently.
Daisy stared at my mouth, her gaze unblinking and full of intense curiosity. “Wait, a minute. Say something else.” Her lips parted slightly in anticipation as she waited.
I tilted my head to the side, confusion etching its way onto my brow. “What would you like for me to say?”
Daisy gasped sharply, her hand covering her mouth. The youngling standing nearby startled and stepped closer, his furred hand resting protectively on Daisy's shoulder.
"Oh my gosh," Daisy said the shock evident in her voice. "You're actually speaking English."
