Coral
Emilie and I have been arguing for an hour and now I’m completely exhausted.
“Even if I could get you back into the Kirakos, if the Sarkarnii have left, what will you do?”
“There’s a species in there called the Ragad. They might be able to help. They were the original inhabitants of the Kirakos, and the Sarkarnii gave them back control.”
“I can’t just put you back,” Emilie says for probably the fiftieth time, but the way she’s shaking her head, I think I might be wearing her down.
Above us in the cockpit, there is a melodious chime. Emilie hops up swiftly and runs her little paws over a flat screen attached to the main chair.
“The Habosu craft has left the quadrant,” the creature calls down to me.
“Good,” I call up.
“I have to find Draco now,” Emilie says.
“I explained to you, I can’t do that. I can’t risk being bait for the Sarkarnii.”
“My job was to go to the nearest trading moon and arrange supplies. I doubt that will cause the Sarkarnii any trouble and we can meet them there. You’ll be safe as a mate of a Sarkarnii among those on Harbar, they are well-disposed to the Sarkarnii since they removed the threat of the spaceworms.”
My guts spin. I feel so nauseous it’s hard to think most of the time. All I want is for Drasus to be free and to be back in his arms once again. My blood is chilled however at the condition I am in. Will he even want me, damaged as I am by the poison in my veins? I feel so lost, unable to work out what is happening to me, as if I never trained as a doctor at all.
“Harbar may well have medicines to deal with the venom,” Emilie calls down. “If nothing else, they can make you more comfortable than I can.”
Part of me wants to shout at the ratty space pirate. I want to tell Emilie to leave me behind, to go do what she needs to do to free the Sarkarnii if needs be, or re-supply them if not. I want to shout about being let into the Kirakos, that it’s what I expected would happen, and why not be left behind.
But I can still see Drasus’ handsome face, eyes burning into me as he claims me. I can still almost smell his smoky scent on my skin, and I can still hear his deep, resonant voice calling me his “heartsfire.”
If I can hear his voice, he is real, isn’t he? I didn’t dream him up.
“I don’t think you get to have a say in where we’re going.” Emilie’s voice brings me back.
She’s tucking a silvered blanket around me, and I’m as weak as a kitten.
“What do you mean?”
“The poison is working faster than I thought it was. I need to get you to a medi-facility as soon as possible,” Emilie says. “If you do have a Sarkarnii mate, I have to save you as I am sworn to protect them and any of their kin.”
“I have a mate,” I say, my voice trembling, “but I can’t be responsible for bringing down the alien orcs or spiders on them, on him.”
I can feel consciousness ebbing and flowing within my body. I hate it because I want to stay awake, to be in control of what happens to me. Not to have someone else make my decisions.
“Oh, believe me, little human,” Emilie says from a long way away. “The very last thing either the Habosu or the Bogarok want is the Sarkarnii on their trail.”
“Then why take us?” I whisper. “Why me and Jade?”
“Because they’ve forgotten what the wrath of the Sarkarnii is like,” Emilie says as my vision dims down to a small tunnel. “But now they’ve taken what’s theirs, they’ll learn it all over again.”
The smellof ozone wakes me, sharp and familiar. My hand bangs against something hollow and cold.
I’m in a tube—it’s clear above me like glass. Outside there is movement, tall creatures moving elegantly on multiple legs.
Bogarok!
Emilie has sold me out, sold all of us out. I’ve lost Jade, I’ve lost Drasus, I’ve lost all of them. Now I’m bait once again.
“Calm, human.” A voice, squeezed through some sort of speaker to sound metallic, echoes around me. “You are healing.”
“I don’t want to heal,” I growl, scrabbling at the side of the tube, attempting to find any way of exiting this place.
“The human doesn’t want to heal.” The voice is confused.
“Sedate it until it is ready,” a second voice says, quieter as if farther away.
“No! Don’t sedate me, please,” I beg. “I’ll stay in here until I’m healed.”
I do feel better than before. The ever-present pain is lessened, my head less full of fog, and my eyes feel like they fit in my head. I can breathe again, even in this strange atmosphere.
I lie back down, and now I can see the creatures are not Bogarok. They’re not insectoid at all, just very tall, probably close to ten feet in height, and they wear flowing grey gowns which flutter like silk. Almost humanoid from the torso up, save for the additional arm and glowing blue eyes, they have six rather than eight legs, moving around the place gracefully like giraffes on the savannah.
They’re mesmerizing, and I’m wondering if they have actually sedated me when, with a hiss, the clear part of the tube dissolves, and I’m able to sit up.
I don’t want to be sick, so I’m guessing it’s a win.
“Ah, the human.” One of the creatures moves easily over to me. “I am Zira, a Zio. This is my mate, Zilla.”
The other Zio waves at me from across the room.
“You know what I am?”
“We have met humans before in this galaxy. You are rare and easy to spot.”
“Yeah,” I grumble. “That was my worry. Where am I?”
The two Zio look at each other. “You are on the Harbar. You are a guest of the Preator.”
My heart slams into my boots. The Zio seem nice and yet this isn’t sounding good.
“I think I came with a friend, Emilie,” I suggest. I don’t know where Emilie is right now, whether I’ve been sold off, or used as a bargaining chip, but potentially calling the space pirate rat a friend might help, I hope.
“The Lepke? Yes, they brought you here, but they have left.”
“Who is the Preator?” I ask, unable to stop my voice from shaking.
“I am.” A vast green Habosu steps into the room. “And I just found my prize.”