Chapter 11
Fenrysin advances. “You got involved in the wrong war, little female.”
We’re not going to get to wait for Ohni. Osiris guides me back and ignites a ball of fire in a hand, looking fully ready to protect me to the death. But I’m not letting any more of his kind die.
I twist the orb, initiating the disruptor with a crackle of electricity, swing myself around Osiris, and throw it at Fenrysin. The orb lodges in a field of energy and vibrates, making a cloak ripple.
Osiris gapes as he scrambles to pull me back.
I thought something was off about you.
The talons that reach out and grab me by the front of my race suit as the cloak shatters confirm how the other Talhuskin made it inside. Fenrysin masked his true form, just like they did as an Amphiran on Mothership Gravion.
“You son of a bitch.” I have no weapons or armor because such things are outlawed here.
It’s supposed to be a peaceful and fun place without this kind of drama.
But even when all the guns and knives and pulse grenades are gone, we still have anger, and we still have fists. But I am half the Talhuskin’s size.
I aim right for his eye.
The hit is jarring without my armor and flares pain up my wrist into my forearm. But the Talhuskin rears back in shock and careens sideways to the snarl of an actual Mindor.
I curl away into the shelter of Osiris’ body and clutch my arm. “Mother…”
Osiris guides me away from the fight as the Mindor rakes his claws over the Talhuskin’s body, and they tumble down the hallway.
Ohni and her crew race toward the Talhuskin, security drones also whizzing by to monitor the situation.
“Super boss, Brynna.”
I look over at the doorway we pass to see Sky leaning out. “Sure. Just everyday life in space.”
She smiles half-heartedly and watches Osiris escort me back to their ship. I have a feeling her Chosen is the one who came to our rescue.
A cameradrone zooms ahead of us and turns around to face me as it stays three paces ahead.
“How did you know he was cloaked?”
“They’ve done it before,” I say.
“Why did you punch him?”
“Because he came after me. I have no other weapons except my fists and my rage.”
“Why do you hate Talhuskins?”
Good grief. Leave me alone! I just want to get back to Jorusk. But I think about the question and the one Nebulous soldier who broke into my ship to take medicine. He didn’t take everything I had, just one of each, leaving me other plants to continue growing.
“I cannot hate an entire species. There is always a possibility that someone among them is different. I hate behaviors like lying, deceiving, stealing, and the killing of others because of what or who they are. And that one poisoned his talons. Jorusk is now very sick. So please, get out of my way.”
The drone hums and drifts aside. “Why a demon?”
I glare back at the camera lens. “He protected me more than anyone ever has. I don’t give a shit what he is. I care about what’s in his heart.”
I was trying to leave this life behind me, but I’m starting to think this is where I’m supposed to be.
When we’re back aboard the StarEmber, I hand the leaves off to Sidius, who pulls out an old-fashioned mortar and pestle and grinds them into a paste. He mixes in a few things from their inventory and then spreads it over Jorusk’s open wounds.
Osiris sighs when he sees the paste fizzling on Jorusk’s chest. “Our Infernos won’t heal us while creosotine is present. It’s like…”
“A corticosteroid,” I reply. “Yeah, I get it. It suppresses your Inferno, which doesn’t just power you but also acts as your immune system.”
Osiris looks down at me like he didn’t expect that from a human. Or maybe he doesn’t know what a corticosteroid is.
“I research everything I can on a species before I deliver plants. I work hard to grow them from seeds. So I don’t want them to die because I didn’t understand the culture or the behaviors that I might have to retrain to get their new owners to keep them alive.
There are no vacations or holidays, religious or otherwise, in farming. Plants need water when they need it.”
Jorusk squirms on the bed.
Boots clomp up the ramp. “How is he?”
Behind us, Ohni peers in on Jorusk from the doorway.
“He will recover,” Vryskas says. “A couple of hours and he should be able to return to the games.”
She glances at me. “If any of you need anything, just contact me. I’ve got the Talhuskin in custody.
He and the other are being picked up by a security team from Earth, one I know well.
We will disrupt this entire facility tonight, while everyone sleeps, and flush out any remaining holdouts.
For now, I have two Ginarigon fighting over who gets which woman. So I’ve got to get back to work.”
Ohni rolls her eyes and mutters to me. “Ruby said this was a way to foster new intergalactic relationships. I feel like I’m always just trying to prevent catastrophes. Really wish she was still here. Some days, I’m at my wits' end with the shit males try.”
“You’re doing what you can. That’s more than most would do.”
“I guess.” Ohni starts for the ramp, but the slump in her body concerns me.
“If I can help you in any way, let me know.”
She slows and looks back. “Thanks.”
When she’s gone, Rykarn closes the ramp. Osiris releases Jorusk’s wings and lets them flop over the sides of the bed.
“They’re sealing. Finally,” Sidius says.
“Brynna?” Jorusk calls to me with a breath of embers.
I slip past Osiris to stand beside Jorusk’s head. He lifts a hand. I take it, but he keeps moving, reaching for my face, gliding the back of a finger down my jaw.
“Are you okay?” he rasps.
“Yes.”
“Why do you look like you’re in pain?” Jorusk coughs a plume of fire.
“She punched the Talhuskin that did this to you.” Osiris adjusts Jorusk’s wings. “In the face.”
Rykarn whistles while Vryskas whoops.
Jorusk eyes my bruising knuckles. He draws them to his mouth and rests my hand against his lips. The heat of him soothes the pain.
I keep thinking that there has to be a way to heal the Drathious faster.
A spray form or something that can negate the presence of creosotine, bind to it, and get it out of their system.
Sidius is busy caring for Jorusk’s deeper wounds.
So I turn to Osiris. “Do you have any of this creosotine on hand? I’d like to study it in my office. ”
“What for?”
“You think I just carry medicinal plants without knowing how to use them?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Didn’t figure you had time.”
“I have lived alone in space for many years. I make time for things, or I die.”
Osiris dips his head. “Sure. I can show you what we have.”
I rest Jorusk’s hand back on the bed. I want to help him because he’s already proven he is what I need. “I’ll be back soon. Get some rest.”
“S-sorry,” he wheezes.
I look back. “For what?”
“Ruining your night.” His face screws up like every word causes him immense pain.
“The Talhuskins did that. You saved my life.”
“Wouldn’t be in this position…” Jorusk swallows. “If you hadn’t come to help our colony.”
“You can’t think like that.”
“How can we not?” Osiris asks. “That’s how you got involved.”
“Right, but the other species involved in the interaction have to choose to target me. I still chose to help. That’s on me.”
“You regret helping us?”
“Hell no. I’d do it again. Trust me, the Talhuskins are the least of my concerns.
I’m just saying that there are a lot more factors: my decisions, theirs, and yours.
Maybe others. We all know Talhuskins have worked with Denarso in the past. And Denarso steal tech like portals and cloaks.
So let’s just move on, work together, and get Jorusk back in the race.
I came here for a mate, not another job. ”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rykarn, Vryskas, and Osiris say like a team that just got a talking to.
Jorusk calls to me. “Brynna…You should be with someone safer.”
“Screw that. It was no Rage Roar, but punching that Talhuskin felt so good. I am right where I want to be.”
He cracks a smile. “Wish I could’ve…seen it.”
“I’ll replay it for you later. Just rest,” Sidius says to him.
Jorusk closes his red eyes.
Sidius pulls up a seat and doesn’t look like he has any intention of leaving Jorusk’s side. After losing his whole team, I’m certain he’s afraid of losing Jorusk, too.
“Can I do anything for you?” I ask him.
He looks up, confused. “What? No.”
“Sidius, this is a team effort. I’m happy to be a part of one again, one that feels whole. Let me know what I can do for you or the crew or whatever.”
He shakes his head and drags his eyes away.
“Just the fact that you care at all means more than you know. We are shunned by most of the universe because of what we resemble. We have been hunted, enslaved, frozen, and poisoned to death. I knew something like this was going to happen. I just didn’t know how to stop it. ”
His wings droop the longer he stares down at Jorusk. Osiris waits patiently behind me.
Sidius continues, “He’d just fixed our mobile missile launcher.
We were headed for base. And it was just a flash.
My team was gone. The launcher had caved into the ground, leaving metal shards everywhere.
The only reason I survived was that I was inside the shielded gunner’s box up top.
Ended up blown a hundred paces from the launcher. ”
Only as he shifts do I see the bruises on his wings and the healing scars that seem to be everywhere.
“We are not evil, though we have the potential to be deadly. But we are frightening to many. And most cannot confront what they fear without a weapon. So no, we will not ask you for anything. It is why Aura did it on our behalf. It will only perpetuate a stereotype that has destroyed us for centuries. Even human stories about us are wrong. We do not eat souls or trick others into doing bad things. And we do not serve the exiled Leosantian named Lucifius.”
“Brynna?” Osiris calls to me from the doorway. “DIA wants to speak with you.”
I glance over Sidius’ heartbroken posture and wish something could change. I have been alone, and I see now that even Drathious, though there are many more than just one, still feel alone in the universe.
Following Osiris, I descend their ramp and walk to the next hangar, where an inky black ramp unfolds. Osiris stands at the edge and motions me up. “She does not want me. Only you.”
“She?”
“DIA, Drathious Interactive Assistant.”
“Okay…” I hesitantly hike up the ramp inside the vessel that gleams with red lights. “Hello?”
The pilot’s seat swivels around. “Brynna Thatcher, welcome. Please have a seat.”
“Uh, I’m good.”
“I understand you are hesitant because of what’s been going on.” A fiery female face manifests on a screen beside me. “Is this better?”
I’m not so sure.
“You can relax. The last thing I want is to harm Jorusk’s fated.”
“I’m sorry. Fated?”
“Anchor-spirits exist in every species, though they rarely ever cross paths.”
“What the hell is that?”
“Who did you rely on as a child?”
“No one. My sister hated farming and left home young to marry an alien and leave the galaxy. My mother was always working her other jobs when she wasn’t on the farm.
Dad was on machinery all day, driving it, fixing it, swearing at it.
And my older brother worked at other farms for extra money.
I basically ran the farm, even as a kid, because I was the only one consistently there. ”
DIA’s face moves aside for a list. “These are all the species your ag ship has helped. They come to you when they are desperate. I pulled the logs from public record.”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“The Drathious species is spiraling toward extinction. They need an anchor, someone to help them, believe in them, heal them.”
I look around at the ship, wondering how anyone with such technology could need my plane Jane, human help. “What about Amphirans?”
“They are not anchors. Drathious are critical to fighting the Nebulous Empire because they can survive in space without star suits. Not even Talhuskins can endure that kind of cold.”
“Uh, okay. What am I supposed to do?”
“No matter how hard things get, do not give up on Jorusk. He is from the hidden colony of Drathis. Only he can lead his kind back to them and unite his species. If you fail to anchor him, the Nebs will win. And the universe will fall into chaos.”
I slump into the captain’s chair. “Is that all?”
A bracelet snaps around my left wrist. “For now. I will communicate with you through this. And I will tell you everything I can. But please, find a solution to the creosotine. If you can do that, you can save more lives than just Jorusk’s.”