Page 7 of Matthew

“It’s…it’s…” Matt couldn’t vocalize the beautiful instrument was a holy grail. He drifted close, staring at the spruce and rosewood body, the mahogany neck, the gloss finish that hadn’t faded with the decades of its existence. The gold tuners showed some wear, and the strings would have to be replaced, but there’d been no signs of warping. When he’d been allowed to strum it in the shop where he’d seen it, the incredible deep tone had resounded straight to his soul.

It drew him. He reached trembling fingers toward it, this hallowed beacon of music, his being aching to make it sing. At the last second, he stopped.

He burst into sobs.

Chapter Three

Matt’s heaving emotion filled the room, straining his chest, hurting his throat. He bent from the force of the pain.

“Oh. Hey, Matt, what—” Avir started, his tone panicked.

“Why? Why?” He twisted to confront them, three dark silhouettes made blurry by the blinding pour of tears. “Why would you do this for me? I’m no one to you! Just a dumb, undersized Earther Kom caught stealing because I couldn’t get hired for even the lowest of jobs!”

Kom had grabbed him in the middle of his diatribe, and he wailed the last half of it against the Nobek’s solid, warm chest, his arms circling his Kalquorian love as he hung on for his sanity. He couldn’t understand why they’d be nice to him.

“Before that, I was involved in the mess that made Kom a prisoner. I helped keep your Nobek locked in a cell far from you where he was abused and could have died! I don’t deserve any of this. You should be spitting on me, beating me—”

“Enough. Stop it right now, Matt.”

The voice wasn’t Kom’s. It had an authority that jerked his dive in turmoil to an abrupt halt. Matt twisted his head around to find Avir crouched next to them, his intense expression inches away.

Intense, but not angry. Avir’s demeanor softened as Matt stared at him. He thumbed the tears on Matt’s cheeks dry. “We know the circumstances that led to you guarding Kom in an enemy brig. Didn’t Kalquor and the Galactic Council clear you of all charges? Didn’t Kom and the rest of the prisoners testify on your behalf?”

“They were wrong. I did nothing to help him or the rest—”

“You called in Captain Walker when the guards were ready to beat Nobek Almon to death.” Kom’s grip on him tightened.

Matt gaped at him. “I never told you. I never told anyone.”

“I attended Walker’s trial. When he took the stand, he said someone had sent him an untraceable emergency message about what was happening. I always suspected it was you. You were the only person, besides Walker and the woman who fed us, who treated us with any kindness.”

Masok had drawn close as well. “You weren’t the bad guy, Matt. If it hadn’t been for you, Kom and the rest of the prisoners would have been in a far worse situation.”

Kom nodded. “They wouldn’t have stopped once they’d killed Almon. They would have gone after others of us.”

“You see? You might have saved the lives of several men, including Kom.” Avir continued to stroke his face, his hair. “Besides, it isn’t a matter of you deserving these gifts, though you do. We simply want you to have them. It’s reason enough.”

“It’s a lot,” Matt said. “You’re giving me too much.”

“I’ll give you a lot more, so you’d better get used to it.” Avir’s eyes twinkled, and he tugged Matt loose from Kom. “I want to see you hold your guitar. Kom said it needed new strings, so it won’t play well until they’re replaced, but at least take it off the wall.”

He prodded Matt to the Martin. After continued encouragements from the trio, Matt took it down and held it to make them happy. Once it was in his hands, the awful feelings inside him subsided, and he lost himself in the joyful dream of possessing the amazing instrument.

Avir’s initial horror at Matt’s emotional eruption subsided as the Earther sat on a stool and examined the instrument with minute attention. His beatific expression rendered him heartbreakingly beautiful. It told the Dramok he was blind and deaf to everything but what was apparently the gift of a lifetime.

Avir whispered to Kom, “I can understand why you’ve worried about him. It’s a terrible life he’s had.”

“The sickest part is how he blames himself for what was out of his control.”

“Thank the ancestors you found him. It’s devastating to watch such a sweet man undone by a simple gift and a couple of nice rooms.”

“What you just witnessed is the tip of the iceberg. It was a squall compared to the storms I’ve witnessed.”

Matt was humming, his eyes closed, fingers dancing over the neck of the guitar. He didn’t strum the sagging strings, apparently unwilling to hear the instrument utter less than perfect sound. He looked at peace. Ethereal. It was shocking to note the difference in a calm Matt, even compared to when Avir thought he had been relaxed before.

“Nobeks always find others’ emotions overwhelming,” Masok chuckled. “You don’t realize how even good stress can tip a sensitive person into upheaval. Think about it; he was barely scraping by months ago, stealing to eat. You came along and rescued him, and now he’s moving in with your clan and given tons more space than he had on the ship.”

He quieted, because Matt was blinking at his surroundings as if just waking up. Masok joined him and questioned the functions of the various alien instruments in the room, which Avir had collected over the months since Kom had found the former brig guard he’d fallen head over heels for. The Nobek had sent Avir and Masok information about what discoveries Matt had identified as wants while they traveled on theRogue.

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