Page 41 of May the Stars Have Mercy
He chuckled whimsically as he pulled a data pad from within his sleeves. Buddy chirped and floated over the Vroz’s head, twirling with glee. Quagmor showed her his screen and her mouth fell open. A massive block of squares full of words and phrases were typed out on his screen. He hummed with appreciation. “I havemanyquestions!”
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Theydidn’tgotothe main floor of the hangar, like they had when they arrived. Instead, the elevator spat them out on a smaller level in between that was heavily guarded. They were all scanned for ID and escorted onto a navy-blue tinted ship. It was slender and bullet shaped with a tapered nose and fluttering frill shaped fins on the side. Unlike the Vroz ships that were flat and sharp, meant for hiding in the shadows of planets and rocks, this ship was built for speed. A true rocket. Aphrodite and Xexis were led inside and sat in two plush chairs. Facing them from across a built-in table, was Quagmor and Xnasis. Aphrodite half expected the prince to sit with his entourage. However, they buckled in and made small talk while everyone boarded.
Quagmor started small, asking about context for certain words in the text he was reading. Then they came across the wordBoyfriendand she knew she was in for a hard conversation. “Uh, well, that’s like a mate that’s not always permanent. Boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, lover; all those words mean a mate but sometimes those relationships end.”
“Mates are for life?” Xexis questioned, face twisted up with his pincers.
“Right, and I’m mated with you for life.” She flushed as panic made a new home in her belly.Oh, saying that outloud is new. For life. Best not to dwell on that.She continued with a loud swallow. “But not all humans have a Vroz or a mate. Some humans don’t even have attraction.”
“Of course, not all Vroz have mates. Fate knows if you need one, if you desire one.” Quagmor nodded, putting his finger back to the screen, “But why would humans not trust fate?”
Aphrodite winced. “Cause we don’t hear fate.”
Xexis huffed softly, folding his arms over his stomach as he settled further down into the seat. “Humans are complicated.”
“Trust me, I know,” Aphrodite wheezed, flipping to the next word on Quagmor’s document. She didn’t want to dwell on the conversation. It would bring up the topic of relationships ending and she didn’t even want to consider it. Instead, she focused on a new word.
Thankfully, the ship was full of tiny conversations that made the air less awkward. After a bit, Quagmor allowed her a break and returned to his text on his data pad. She sat back, leaning into Xexis. He draped an arm around her. “We have some time yet.”
“That’s okay, I’m comfy.”
“Will my mate read to me?”
She blinked rapidly. “Read to you?”
“Speaking of how fate brought you to me made me wish to hear it again.”
“Ooooh! That would be delightful, actually.” Quagmor set his data pad aside.
“Uh, Sure.” She glanced at Buddy. “Will you pull up something I haven’t read before?”
Her data pad beeped as she pulled it off her forearm. Resting it against the table, she stared at a book cover of something…mysterious. There was a lot of smog on the cover and bold text. Flipping it open, she took a deep breath. Suddenly, all three Vroz were staring at her expectantly.No pressure.Flipping to the first page, she started to read. “Funny how things start off in the most dreadful way only to become the reason you inhale breath.”
She didn’t feel the time pass. Three men watched her, enraptured, as she read a cozy murder mystery about a woman who could talk to ghosts through smoke. The main character was in a candle shop one day, unaware, only to see a face in a little plume of smoke. Off they went on an investigation of humans and what one will do for love. They were about eighty pages from the ending when a steward of the ship stepped out from the front. “We shall be landing shortly.”
“We will continue this!” Xnasis put up a finger, before glaring at the other two at their table, “Either of you two cheat and read it before me, and there will be no mercy!”
Xexis and Quagmor chuckled, waving off the crown prince as he stood from his seat. Joining the steward, he walked to the command deck of the ship to speak. Aphrodite put the book away before either of the friends were tempted. Buddy’s text bubble came up on the screen.
We should read more.
“We absolutely will, Buddy.” Without a second thought, she stroked his round, metal head like he was a puppy. He spun in her palm happily chirping and flicking out his tentacles.
“Intriguing drone you have there. It’s almost personable.”
“Buddy has a full personality,” Xexis snorted, putting a finger to the octopus drone. Buddy booped a tip of his tentacle to Xexis’ finger before scuttling across the table.
“So, I was not misled—our Mphronatch is a technician, an engineer?” Quagmor cocked his head to the side.
“I am. I don’t suppose either of you know much about the ship we’re on, do you? I think I saw propulsion fins and…” She trailed off as she looked between a dumbfounded Quagmor and a baffled, but supportive Xexis. “Right, Kannatch and English teacher.”
“I study language and text and the love of writing; I will be of no use to you in that venture.” Quagmor shrugged.
She chuckled. “It’s fine, I’ll find Rexna sometime and ask them about it. One thing I did want to ask…is this specifically a Council ship?”
“Yes, once you join the Council as a people, they supply you with a Council ship; the guards to keep it safe, a pilot, and engineer to keep it. Vroz, Xinti, Loa, and Sinx, the four who sat on the Council first, came up with the design together and make it a resource. The Council has also made them self-sufficient so no one must waste resources on it.” Xexis spread his hands against the tables.
