Dominion (Leviathans)

Chapter 1

ONE

ADESEWA

"Where are we going?" Saoirse whispered. "Do you have a plan? We shouldn't leave Lyssa behind. We have to help her!"

"Lyssa can handle herself," I hissed back. "Now be quiet. This situation has serious shege."

I didn't have to worry about using words the oyinbos wouldn't understand; the aliens had given us translation chips that let the others understand whether or not I spoke in English, deep Yoruba, Nigerian, or pidgin.

Saoirse would hear the word shege as her own culture's version, probably trial by fire or hell or bastard or some other word to indicate that the situation was extremely difficult.

Given that Saoirse was bilingual and spoke Gaelic, she might even hear it as anró.

It was more about how I said it than the specific words I used.

As usual, my orders were followed, and Saoirse shut her mouth, even if she gave a worried glance back the way we'd come.

My father always told me that when you told people what to do, you should always speak with your diaphragm engaged, even if it was in a whisper.

Having muscular engagement in your body led a level of strength to the words themselves, a form of power.

I got into playing D at least she had a meditation practice and was willing to go through the steps I required to cleanse her own Orí before she touched me.

Normally I wouldn't let anyone but the palace Onídìrí touch me, but I had no other options.

Even though Andrea had greater skill, it was a boundary that I held onto even after I went to college.

I could only allow those who had clear minds and energy to touch me.

Andrea didn't believe in such things and was angry that I rejected her skill with hair because of her tainted mental and emotional state.

"What is impressive about Mei knowing all those different ways of coding isn't just the knowing of them; it is the fact that she had to learn each one," I said, pulling on my memory of my conversations with the woman.

Part of being a leader was identifying the individual strengths of others and understanding how they worked.

Andrea liked to complain, but it was more that she played the devil's advocate than anything else, and she would back off if presented with direct logical pushback against her negativity.

"If you recall, she went to one of the top tech universities in the US, and her education involved learning how to learn coding languages in a rapid amount of time.

Even if there is simply no way for her to learn the controls, we are capable women, and we will face the problem together. "

I took a deep breath.

Not just because I needed it to keep speaking, but because sometimes a dramatic pause was important to get people to listen to the plan.

"There are many of us, and since they gassed us before coming into the room, there are likely very few of them," I said.

"If we encounter any more of the aliens, we must all be prepared that individuals may have to split off to distract them so that some of us can continue to look for some avenue to power.

As Lyssa demonstrated, they find us very distracting.

If you are unwilling to put yourself in that kind of high-risk situation, stay to the back of the group if we encounter any new alien males.

For those of us who are willing to take that risk and end up split from the group, the objective is to identify a way for us to take power on this ship and communicate it to everyone if possible.

We must take control of the situation if we're going to survive. Now, we need to keep moving."

I knew what I was asking.

Lyssa had started making out with that other alien male, and it was very clear what his intentions were towards her, even when he was badly injured.

There was a reason they kept us locked away from the crew of this ship, and the fact that she was able to separate him from our group so easily meant the rest of us could continue on unhindered.

I didn't like it, but I wasn't going to ask anyone to do what I wasn't willing to do myself.

As an ?m??ba who had gone to a Western college, I wasn't inexperienced, even if I was picky about the energy states of the men I allowed to grace my presence.

The strangest thing about the alien male that Lyssa had taken off with was that he wasn't all hot and twisted like Andrea. His energy was cool and sweet.

If the other males were like him… I pushed that thought aside.

The priority was exploring this ship and finding a way where we could all get off together.

I put my feet where my words were and began to move.

Unfortunately, that was when our luck ran out.