Chapter 4
I inspect my wings as I listen to Fieri and Cinuska argue in the hallway. The left has several bruises like the right, but the significant injuries are all sealed up, the broken bones mended. My Inferno will heal the rest.
Mother Cinuska cuts Fieri off. “Do not lecture me about my priorities. You will not change my mind.”
Fieri closes the door, leaving me alone in the room.
A screen lights up beside me. “Jorusk.”
I look up and smile at the white orb floating in the center of the ship on the screen. “I know that voice. Hello, Allele.”
“How are you feeling?”
Talking with the spirit of a ship, an alien entity that exists primarily as light, has always kind of freaked me out. But Allele and Aura’s team saved me from being clawed apart by a Mindor on the Amphiran Mothership Tiatith. So as much as I feel like a demon among angels, I try to behave myself.
“Fieri repaired a lot.”
Allele is always calm, no matter the situation or emotions involved. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
I look down at the medical supplies on the table beside me. “It doesn’t matter, Allele. My purpose is to guard my people until it takes my life.”
“That’s a closed-minded way to look at your existence, Jorusk.”
“What do you mean?”
“Zia and I have been communicating with Eos and the other Orillium. You did not come to us three years ago by mistake. Your Inferno was searching for a connection. Amphirans are powerful beings, like you. But you needed our help. You needed Aura and his team.”
“This is the first I’ve heard of all of this.”
“You said before that you trust the ancients above others.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
I shrug. “Gut feeling. Something about your presence calms my Inferno. Ancients didn’t have modern distractions. They had life, love, and death. I trust you because your priorities are preservation of life and love, loyalty, and kicking ass.”
She makes a noise I interpret as a laugh. “Well, if you choose, I would like to help you get to the races. My kind and Aura’s will protect the Drathious. Fieri is right, you need a break.”
“I don’t.”
“Jorusk, you were seconds from death when Aura pulled you out of the mud. His Storm saved your Inferno. You need to find a mate, or your power will do one of two things: burnout or blow. I have seen it many times in Aura’s people.”
Allele continues, her orb pulsing softly as she speaks.
“You must lead your people home. You were sent to the Drathious. You are the same, and you are not, just as traditional Genesis Amphirans have their exiled modern New Order colony. The other Orillium agree that the Drathious have another colony out there, but it is lost. For some reason, sending a hatchling is the only way they can communicate. We believe you are the messenger, the note in a bottle, as Jovie calls it.”
“Did you know all of this when you met me?”
“No. I sensed only then that you were an honorable being. Time exposed the rest. We, Orillium, sense the universe in dimensions beyond this one. Besides, you know I listen in on every communication feed. Fieri knows a lot of what he does because of me.”
I smile at this and adjust my wings into a more comfortable position at my back. “So he’s acting like the tough guy when you’re doing all the leg-work.”
“I do not have legs. I do not understand this reference.”
“Flying. You’re flying him everywhere, and he’s just along for the ride.”
“Ah, I understand.”
My Pyraforce armor is in bad shape, and it makes me wonder how my team is doing and if they even made it out alive. “I know Jovie was created at the will of the universe, a Light Keeper, or whatever. And that’s why she can handle Aura. But I’m not exactly human-grade. Do you know what I mean?”
I’m wondering why I ever signed up in the first place.
I always felt different from my Drathious brothers and sisters, mostly because I’m more reserved in my behavior, and I don’t want a monster for a mate.
Mother Cinuska is mild compared to most Drathious females.
But I’m certain my Inferno is too dangerous now for a human.
“Jovie has taught me that many human females are often cold. I think you will be a better match than you realize.” The screen flashes away from an image of her and shows me designing wristbands for Aura and Jovie, repairing parts of the ship during the battle near Mars, and the combat training I’ve done with Fieri.
“You can be gentle and careful, and you can fight without your Inferno. Trust yourself.”
I don’t. “Then why did Eluni give me a spark arrestor? That is what this is, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is a backup plan.” Allele pauses.
“She might be in the scheme with Fieri and me. But there’s one more thing, Jorusk.
That Talhuskin you killed on Mothership Genesis was only part of a bigger plan already in play.
They were going to attack soon. I sent the warning to your command, but they didn’t have enough time to prepare.
I look at the screen where Allele’s orb floats. “Have you heard anything about my team? Vryskas, Osiris, Rykarn. Sidius and his team?”
“Jorusk…” Allele’s tone drops. “Sidius’ team was hit during their evacuation. They took down a Talhuskin fighter, but Fenom, Bokson, and Kallus are reported deceased. I am sorry.”
My heart twists into knots. “The others?”
“Alive. They are on a nearby Drathis ship, recovering.”
The door slides open. Fieri grabs a medical kit.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Nebs have raided another cargo ship headed in our direction to supply your new flight of ships. I’m going to assist with the crew.”
I get down and rush to the door.
“You’re not going,” Fieri states, stepping in my way.
“The fuck I’m not. They are my kind!”
Mother Cinuska steps around the doorway. “I’ll go with him. I’ve been guarding hatchlings, but I’d like a chance to let off some steam.”
Fieri smiles devilishly at this. “Alright, fine. But you take my orders. Jorusk, you can help the crews unload Brynna’s agricultural cargo.”
Brynna? My heart picks up its pace as a memory of her face and the sound of her laugh come back to me. I was only part of the crew last time. But I’m happy for a chance to see her again, even if just to get another glimpse of her.
The challenge in Cinuska’s eyes makes me wonder what she and Fieri talked about as they turn and hustle toward the hangars at the end of the corridor.
“Follow me,” Allele says, lighting up screens, leading me through the ship like a staccato beacon.
“Brynna has come to supply your people with food and seedlings for a new garden on the colony ship. But she cannot dock with Mothership Pyralite, as it is packed to capacity. So she’s here unloading into Cargo Bay Five Bravo.
You will need a suit and to bind your wings. ”
I grimace as I step into the room where the bulky insulation suits are.
“And I suggest you mask up, so your breath doesn’t overheat the fragile plants.”
“Thanks, Allele.”
As I climb into a suit from the rack, Allele’s white screen blinks to life on a built-in wristband. “There are more ways to help your people than just to fight and to kill the enemy. You used to remember that. What happened?”
Her tone is inquisitive, not condescending, something I appreciate. “Is it that noticeable?”
“Yes.”
I sigh as I zip up the suit as far as I can until it gets hung up on my wings. It will have to do. “War changes instinct, exposes what’s truly at risk. There are many things that I just do not care about anymore because they do not affect whether my kind lives or dies.”
Allele makes a thoughtful noise. “A young Drathious once told me that he believed fighting was the action of living, but love was the purpose of it. Do you not believe this any longer?”
I consider it for a moment as I bind my wings with straps and step into the hangar to look up at the Amphirans carrying crates of seedlings and food off of a bright white ship. “I don’t know, Allele.”
“Then you need to go to the race and remember your purpose again.”
I’m not sure I agree.
“Mask up.”
I close my leathery face covering and look out at the world in red hues.
“Be nice to Brynna. She has had a long day. Talros, you remember, Jovie’s human friend, says to call her ma’am. He is in the neighboring hangar, organizing crates with his RAM drones.”
Talros? Good hellfire, is everyone involved? “I will do my best.”
I hike toward the ramp of Brynna’s ship, grow nervous at the idea of seeing her pretty face again, and peer in the next hangar to waste a little time and summon some courage.
A human male kisses Eluni’s purple cheek before commanding his collection of robotic animals to move another pallet of crates.
Definitely Talros.
Brynna won’t remember me, but I remember her. A smile like hers is hard to forget.
Finding the guts to get in line, I walk up the ramp of her ship and meet an Amphiran female in a similar insulator suit who holds a tablet and scans crates as they’re carried out. “How can I help?”
“Just follow the others,” she replies.
I get in line with the Amphirans and make my way inside the vibrant ship layered with rows upon rows of plants. They’re all in various stages in each compartment I enter, from seedlings to blooming to producing fruits and vegetables.
Last time I helped, I did not board the ship. It is a magnificent feat of engineering. Red fruits drip from the ceiling. Pollination bars zing like little golden bugs through the flowering corridors.
We pass a cold room with hundreds of thousands of little drawers stacked in columns, each bearing words I can’t decipher and a picture of a different plant.
The line shortens, and I get a glimpse of Brynna’s dark hair and her white suit of armor. A tickle of hope flutters through my Inferno. It’s oddly interested.
Every step closer to her makes me forget more of my trouble outside her ship. I forget about the war, the ache in my tired body, and the threat of the empire in the distant stars.