3 Saleuk
D'Syrion threw a crescent sweep toward my head and I sloppily leaned away from it, nearly losing my step. Before I could recover, he delivered another blow toward my abdomen. I jumped back and that time I actually stumbled.
D’syrion chuckled, relaxing his blades by his sides as I found my footing.
“I have a feeling you’re not in the mood,” he said.
He was an older man. One who’d seen many battles, who had lived through war. One who once had a family. Now he was my teacher and the teacher to many others. His body was a valley of muscle and scars and while most valerians’ skin changed color depending on their emotional or physical state, his remained a soft aqua. And according to many, it had been that color since he lost his mate and son in the Thinning.
I could consider myself lucky in that regard. When they put a majority of the population into stasis to preserve the few who could still potentially reproduce one day, I was one of them. I only woke up decades later because they needed my military service in what many thought might be another war.
With humans…
They weren’t a new race. Only the newest to venture off their planet. And since they were new to the galactic relations, they were unpredictable. No one knew exactly what would happen.
I sat on one of the metal benches near the wall in the training arena and set my dual blades by my side. Practice blades were heavy and clunky. Not like the sleek energy blades most actually used in a fight. Not that I was any good with those, either. I was a firearm specialist and a pilot. I could also throw a good punch, but blades? That was always Vahko’s thing. But any well-trained combat specialist said that melee was important to know, especially considering our biggest enemy, the gek’tal, was partial to hand-to-hand combat and if anyone was ever caught by them without a firearm, it could so easily go south.
“I got an assignment,” I said, flipping my long, black braid behind my shoulder.
D’Syrion had cut his hair long ago as an act of grief and at his age, it had gone a dark silver, which he kept loose and hanging to his shoulders. In it were mourning beads. Many in our religion who had lost loved ones wore them.
I only wore one and it was tucked in my braid where few could see it.
“An assignment?” he asked, sliding his weapons onto a rack on the wall. “I thought that would be a good thing. You’ve been so restless.”
“I have been restless.” I slid my jacket on over my sweat-damp body and stood with a sigh. “It’s not so much the assignment that’s distracting me. It’s the timing. Apparently, the council is having a meeting with representatives from Earth. Seems our two races are getting closer.”
“It was bound to happen. When Vahko found a mate in that human woman, it forced things a little. Valerians can breed with humans. It’s life-altering for us. We went from a dying species to one with hope overnight.”
“Sure, it was bound to happen, but…” I trailed off.
D’Syrion groaned as he leaned up against the wall. “You think your assignment will have something to do with humans?”
“I don’t think. I know.”
“And?”
“And I’m a pilot. I’m military. If I get sent on some mission to talk to humans again or babysit some diplomat, I’m going to lose it.”
“Then why didn’t you go with Vahko when he asked you?”
“Because…” I paused again, eating my words. “Because he and Innifer were getting closer. And…”
“Don’t tell me you thought they needed time alone. Vahko has a crew, you know. They’re not traversing the galaxy alone.”
“No, I know. I mean… sjek.” I straightened my shoulders, cracked my neck to the side, and smoothed my hands over my jacket as calmly as I could. “I’m bitter, alright? My best friend found someone. And I’m happy for him, but Vahko didn’t even want it,” I scoffed. “He tried everything he could to avoid it. I would kill to feel a surge. To feel my other heart again.”
“You think Vahko took it for granted?”
“No. Not at all. When he finally realized how much he loved Innifer, he was all in.” I hissed, spinning on my heels to head out of the training arena. “Listen, I’m being a thorn in everyone’s side. Maybe this assignment will be really good for me. However boring it is, it’ll keep me busy, right?” I shrugged. “Right.”
I stood with my feet shoulder-width apart and my hands behind my back as Zoval walked down the grand stairwell into the Skoda. The room was used primarily for large groups of military or other officials to gather. War plans, assignments, meetings. The room saw all of it. The glass walls showed the outside, but outside eyes could not see in. On Caeol, the sun was eclipsed by Valer so the only light we had was artificial. Which was fine with me considering valerian eyes were sensitive to light. Stepping aboard human vessels was always blinding unless we had our helmets on. It came with the territory. Earth orbited a bright star. Valerian planets mostly orbited dwarf stars. They were smaller. Dimmer. Less obnoxiously prominent.
The Skoda had a slick, reflective floor that was cleaned regularly to ensure it was always shining. A sign of respect to the officials that held their business in there. I’d been in that room a hundred times since I was awoken from stasis. I was usually there with Vahko, but without him, I was running solo. I didn’t know my other comrades well and I didn’t really want to know them. They’d all been born after the Thinning. After stasis. Our people called them miracles because only one in a hundred natural pregnancies ever saw a birth and most of those were carefully monitored in labs.
I was an older generation. One that remembered our world when it was a thriving society with a large population. So you could say that I didn’t relate too much to the men I was standing next to in that room. Except for D’Syrion. He hadn’t told me his whole story, but at least I knew he had one. He walked in and stood next to me, giving me a nod.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
He shrugged. “Got a message for volunteers just after you left.”
I furrowed my brows as Zoval made it to the middle of the room to stand in front of three lines of soldiers. Zoval, like D’Syrion, was older with a long, thin braid of silver that hung past his waist. His crown was cracked like mine, but instead of it being from a friendly tussle, it was from battle. He’d seen plenty of it.
“You’re all here for your assignments,” he began, speaking in a heavy northern accent.
He lifted a silver pad in front of him and began sifting through the information. He listed a dozen names before telling them they were assigned to one of the many military bases on Valer for recruit training. Then he listed a dozen more names to assign them to one of the labs to oversee the valuable transportation of embryos to one of our other lunar bases.
Both assignments would have been a nice change of pace, but I wasn’t on either list. When he named off six other people, I finally heard my name.
“You’re all going to the Nexus to escort a group of botanists into the Phesian wilderness for research,” Zoval said.
I blinked slowly with confusion, wondering if I’d heard him right. I was close to blurting out my reservations in front of everyone, but that kind of thing would have only been met with consequences. I might have been rusty but not rusty enough to talk back to my superiors.
D’Syrion noticed my tension and nudged me with his elbow as Zoval finished his lists. Once he was done telling everyone when and where to report, I swept my head toward D’Syrion. He raised his brows like he knew what I wanted to say, but neither of us spoke. I just needed the damn room to clear out so I could approach Zoval with my questions. D’Syrion cleared his throat as if in protest, but I wasn’t exactly known for thinking things through.
As Zoval was walking back up the steps, I jogged up to meet him.
“Sir,” I said as respectfully as I could.
He turned, his hands behind his back and his chin raised.
“Saleuk,” he greeted, his tone telling of his opinion about me. In other words, I always had something to say.
“About my assignment—”
“The details have been sent to your panel.”
“Right. I just had a question. Uh, why me?”
“Why you what?”
“Why am I being sent to babysit humans? I’m a good pilot. One of the best. Use me for a real mission.”
“Look, I can tell you’re getting restless on this damn moon. All of us are. All of us have been since we heard what happened to Vahko. He found a mate. He surged. Now everyone suddenly wants to get off their asses and do something, even if there’s nothing to be done. The gek haven’t made any moves, so we’re not going to war, thank the stars. We’re still working with humans to get more viable specimens for study, but they’re not easy to work with. Things are coming together, but slowly.”
“So, send me on a transport mission. You know I’d be useful.”
“You are a good pilot, but you’re also one of the few who has interacted with humans to the extent that you have.”
“So?” I shrugged.
“So, you’re the best to interact with them again.”
“To watch them study plants?” I scoffed.
The sour look on Zoval’s face said he didn’t appreciate my tone. I gulped and stood more properly, hands behind my back.
“Sorry, sir. I just feel that my skills would be wasted in that situation.”
“Not really. You’ll be piloting the ship to take the geeks into the wilderness. When you land, you’ll help look after them. It will be a very dangerous and exciting mission,” he said flatly, throwing me the least enthused smile I’d ever seen.
“Sir, I—”
“If you wanted excitement, you had a chance when Vahko asked you to accompany him,” he sighed.
Not this shit again.
I was struck silent by that and finally surrendered to my fate. I was more willing to do that than talk about how jealous I was of my friend.
I was pathetic.
With a pat on my shoulder, Zoval continued up the steps and left me to stew in my silence. When I looked back at the room and the few men who remained talking amongst themselves, I caught D’Syrion looking up at me in an almost sympathetic way.
But his sympathy was covered up by a mocking half-grin. I rolled my eyes and walked toward him with a groan.
“At least you’re getting off this moon,” he reasoned.
“Sure. So I can look after more humans. You know, last time I did that, all I was doing was getting slapped in the arm, yelled at, and sneezed on.”
“We play the cards we’re dealt,” he shrugged.
“What about you? Where are you headed?”
“Toril asked me to come with him to the military base for training.”
“Makes sense. You’ve been doing so great with me,” I snorted.
“Well, you’re still a work in progress, but I’m sure you’ll get your pistols back if you’re going to be a bodyguard.”
Once everyone went their separate ways, I headed to my apartment to look at the mission details Zoval had sent to my panel. My room was small and bland, nothing like my room back home. Or… what used to be home. I didn’t really have a home anymore. Most soldiers didn’t. On Caeol, my apartment was all white inside with a bed, shelving with nothing but empty pilu bottles on it, and a ratty blanket that I tried my best to bring with me everywhere. It was about the only constant thing in my life. My mother had made it and it along with a few other keepsakes had been stuffed in a bin when I went into stasis. Thankfully, the blanket was still intact when I woke up and it was the biggest piece of home I had.
The only piece of home, really.
When my door shut, motion-activated lights activated above, giving the room a faint, purplish hue. Next to the far wall was a silver panel with a curved glass screen hovering over it. I swiped the thing awake and started sifting through my sparse inbox of messages to find my mission file.
It looked like I was headed back to Sylos. Or, more accurately, its moon, Phesah. I was to pilot and guard a group of eight botanists from Earth into the wilderness to collect samples. The planned trip would last four days with a base of operations at blah blah coordinates somewhere near blah blah.
I rubbed my eyes and started going through the details. I found the ship I’d be flying. A Tk-3, which wasn’t fancy, but they were tough. Older models usually were. They weren’t too aerodynamic, though. Shame. I would have loved to scare some science geeks with my fancy tricks.
Then I opened the roster. I didn’t know why I felt the need. Vahko always said it was good to know your crew, whether they were essential members or clients and I guess those words stuck. First, I found a long list of supplies being sent with the humans. Scientific stuff mostly. I studied the kinds of suits they’d be wearing and the oxygen masks they were all going to be equipped with. Fancy. For humans, anyway. They were breathers with facial coverings that had all kinds of data and recording capabilities.
When a list of humans showed up in front of me following the small cargo they were coming with, I started skimming names and pictures trying to see what I was dealing with. Michael Hemberg, lead researcher. Ulia Fost, professor. Jory Reynolds, Field tech. Nathaniel Nells, student researcher.
My brain shorted for a split second when I came across a particular photo. I narrowed my eyes on it, blinking a few times as if it would make it go away. The woman in the photo had a tired smile on her face. Full lips. Pink cheeks. Dark blonde hair, unlike the last time I saw her. She looked so proper. So cleaned up. So… bored.
Next to the photo was her name and title, but I already knew them.
Samantha Worthingon: Student Researcher
Sam… the small, sassy, sickly girl that made my life hell when she was stuck on Sylos. Despite the fact that Vahko and I had saved her and her friend from certain death, she still treated me like a pest on her shoulder. Her picture and her name were plastered right there in front of me on a list of people I was to escort. She thought she was a botanist? She was allergic to everything! I laughed because it all sounded so ridiculous. Out of billions of humans and millions of valerians, the two of us were about to be stuck together again.
I scrubbed my face and paced around my room for a moment, regretting more and more every day that I didn’t join Innifer and Vahko.