Chapter 13 Jorusk
Brynna stays close as we get in line for lunch. “That was insane. What made you consider jumping from tower to tower like that?”
I shrug, keeping my eyes moving through the chatting males and females in the busy room.
“It’s how I would get around when I was young, while hiding among the cliffs, trying to avoid serving my Talhuskin master.
They always bound our wings with metal shackles coated in heat-resistant ceramics.
It took forever to break them off. My master threatened to cut off my wings, so I started cliff jumping to see if I could do it. First few times didn’t…uh…go so well.”
We fill plates and sit by the window looking out at the race grounds.
Brynna looks outside, but I can tell her mind is on something happy from her past. “And I thought getting twelve inches of air on my hoverscooter as a kid was cool.”
“What is a scooter?”
She mutters something about a floating platform. “Broke more than a few bones trying to do a kick flip. But I wanted so badly to be cool like my older brother. Now he’s gone, but I’ve got a starship nursery that he’d be proud of if he were here to see it.”
“I am sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks. I imagine you know what that’s like.”
Chewing my food, I nod. “Their memories come back to me now and then when I encounter something they liked or were known for.”
Her gaze hangs low now, focuses on her food, and barely checks on her surroundings like she’s stuck in a memory, herself.
“Hey.”
Brynna drags her eyes up to mine.
“Give the pain a purpose. It’s not going anywhere, but that doesn’t mean it has to drag you down with it.”
She sighs. “Like you did?”
“What are you talking about?”
Brynna sets her sandwich down. “Fieri got me docked to Eluni’s ship and had to rush off because you were dying. I heard all about your suicide mission.”
My Inferno curls up and hides in my chest like it knows this is bad. Our mate should not have to worry about us being blind-rage reckless.
I turn my attention to the staff working out on the race grounds. Warm fingers slip inside mine.
“I would’ve tried the same if I had your kind of power. But you’re right, it’s not worth the sacrifice to let that kind of pain pull us under. So no more of that shit. Got it?”
“I just did what I had to do.”
“But now you have a bigger team. Including me. We punch Talhuskins out together.”
I try not to laugh, but the urge is too strong.
“What?”
“I was trying to make you feel better.”
She leans back and looks more at ease. “I lived alone with my thoughts for years. I can handle a lot.”
“Wild save,” Corzin says as he and Sky pass us to sit at another booth. “Thought that egg was a goner.”
I did too. “Thanks.”
“Quite the talented tail,” Brynna adds between bites of her sandwich. “I see how it can be useful.”
As we eat, I begin to miss the heat of her fingers against mine. So I sneak my tail under the table and curl it up her leg.
Brynna pauses and looks up at me. “Is that you?”
I look away, then roll my eyes skyward. “Whatever do you mean?”
She tilts her head and smirks. “Freaked me out for a second. I thought it was a snake or something. Probably because we have the creatures tour next.”
“Probably.” I finish my food and adjust my wings.
“Uncomfortable?” she asks.
“Booths are not made for those of us with wings. They are kind of smashed against the cushions. We prefer benches.”
Brynna stuffs the last of her food in her mouth, grabs her bottle of water, and motions me up.
“You don’t have to make yourself miserable just to appease me,” I say. “Really. Please don’t. We can stay.”
“Are you kidding?” she finishes chewing as we walk to the area of the creature tour.
“This is just normal life. I snag a few minutes to eat, shove food in my cheeks, then I work on it as I keep repairing the hydropump or the transformer bank for the seed cold storage isolation shield.” She lifts her hands in helplessness. “I’m alone. All. The. Time.”
She only half-listens to the automated replays as we enter the zoo filled with animals of all kinds from planets throughout the galaxy.
Brynna squats by a little pink lizard with gooey fingers that crawl out around its face.
“Hey, little fucker. Wish you weren’t so cute because you sting like a bitch. ”
“You’re familiar with that?” I ask.
“A lot of these, actually,” she remarks.
“Another facet of agriculture is understanding pests, the critters that can harm crops: bugs, reptiles, mammals, big and small. Some species come to me for genetic variations that will endure better. I don’t modify plants because I believe natural selection is critical to the healthiest plants surviving.
Plus, what if the only kind of plant that doesn’t get eaten by the bugs is the one that’s genetically modified to not have seeds?
It’s doomed if it’s not synthetically propagated.
That terrifies me. So I have to work with aliens on how to control and eliminate pests from their fields instead of altering the crop. ”
“That makes sense, I guess.” I haven’t seen as many creatures as she appears to have, but I point to one from Earth that I know. “Neon-backed camel spider. May have been bitten by one of those while I served my time here.”
“Oof, yeah. Those can be deadly.” She admires a spiny black creature from Hellsvian. “Why did you fight on Earth’s forces?”
“As a show of good faith to the federation. We needed all the help we could get after we fled the Talhuskin’s homeworld.
For every one of us who served, we had an Earth squad protect and train our homeworld.
Sidius and the others fought, too. We were sent in only for special tactical missions, and we worked with some insane human soldiers who definitely had a death wish.
“The things they could dream up to compensate where they didn’t have Infernos or other powerful sparks inside them still amazes me.
I honestly didn’t want to return home. But Mother Cinuska called for us when the Talhuskins started to become more of a problem.
Us orphans are automatically put into military service because we are not the critical family assets needed to preserve our kind.
We’re allowed to mate. Encouraged to. But we are soldiers first.”
“That seems unfair.”
“It’s not. Our society sacrificed time and funds to raise us, not our parents. It doesn’t matter if our parents chose to abandon us or died. Drathious came together and pooled what they could. Our payment back is to protect them, so there doesn’t have to be more orphans.”
“Sounds lonely.” Brynna knots her hands together as she walks beside me.
I try not to laugh. “It’s not. Not with Vryskas and Rykarn bickering like old Mothers.”
She snickers once. “They are a cute couple.”
“Does Rykarn bother you?” I ask.
“No. He’s overcompensating for an insecurity. I know that much.”
Seeing a group of males chatting in a corner as they look at a creature in a bigger cage, I draw Brynna close and place myself between her and them. “Insecurity is one way to put it.”
“So when do you want to do this mystery tour?”
At the other end of the zoo, I find a bench in the planetarium atrium that looks more comfortable. Sitting, I look up at a three-dimensional holographic representation of Earth’s solar system, then Nytheralians’. The planets shift again to the Vinym system.
Brynna joins me.
“We don’t need to do the planet tour on Thursday since we already know most of them.”
“You’re going to make me wait that long? That’s two days!” She swats at me in mock anger, a smile playing with the corners of her lips.
A mechanic carrying a tool bag walks in a side door and shakes his head as an Abr staff member with a tablet asks for the status of the pool.
“I’m sorry. I’ve fixed the broken line. Damn talon stuck in the pump system.” The human male sighs. “But it’s going to take a few days to heat it up again.”
“Ohni won’t like that, but I’ll let her know.”
I can help. I know I can.
“Brynna, stay with me?”
She gets up when I do. “Sure. What is it?”
I take her hand and draw her against me as I walk toward the Abr staff member. “Excuse me?”
When the human female turns around and sees me, she backs up. “Uh, yes?”
“I heard your pool needs a heater.”
“It’s going to take a few days but…”
“I bet I can do it in thirty minutes, as long as your pumps are running.”
She looks me over. “Any byproducts?”
“I don’t sweat when my Inferno has control. But I’ll have to temporarily remove my arrestor.”
She calls Ohni over her earbud. “Hey, so the pool mechanic says it will take days to heat up.”
The woman winces and holds her ear. “I know. I’m aware of the pool party tonight. But I have the Drathious here. He says he can probably heat it up in thirty minutes, but he’ll have to temporarily remove his spark arrestor.”
She nods. “Okay. Send them to me.”
Seconds later, two teams of Abr security, one human, one alien, march to our position in black tactical armor.
The woman motions us outside. “You have approval. Mike will go with you to test the water and ensure you have not contaminated it.”
I step aside and let them lead. “Just want to help if I can.”
The guards escort us outside and across a pathway to the pool. Two men hold the doors for us as Brynna and I walk outside, and for a moment, I pretend they’re treating her like royalty instead of treating me as a threat. But I know the difference. It’s in their eyes, the way they all follow me.
They open the gate and usher us inside and onto the pool’s concrete deck. I unzip my race suit and drop it to my ankles.
Brynna looks away.
“I am wearing fireproof shorts. I am not dumb enough to trust Abr with my pride.”
She steals a glimpse at me and blushes.
I kick off my boots and look at Mike, who walks in, then slams to a stop when he sees me. The gate clangs shut behind him and makes him jump. He mutters to himself, shakes his head, and sets a kit on a nearby reclining lounge chair.
“Can I have use of my wings?” I ask a nearby guard.
“No,” a human guard replies. “That is a hard no from Ohni herself. If you need to release your wings, there is now a chamber where you can do that. It is between the simulation facilities and the male dorms.”
I prefer not to heat up when my wings are folded, but this will have to do. Crossing my arms over my chest, I grab the edges of the spark arrestor plate and pry it free. It is a painful sensation that makes me shudder. But the moment it’s free, I feel instant relief.
My chest lights up as my Inferno awakens, and I let it, uninhibited. Orange fissures run through my blackening flesh until I look like a molten man with bound wings.
“Might be a bit too hot,” Mike warily suggests. “Don’t want to evaporate the pool.
I set the plate on a bench and calm myself with several deep breaths. At his nod, I descend into the cool water of the shallow end. It steams and fills the air with clouds until I cannot see Brynna or the others. And I do not like that.
“Marco…” she calls out.
“Who’s that?” I ask.
“Ah, never mind. I just wanted to make sure you were still in there.” She sounds happy, and that’s what I want.
“I’m not a swimmer. This is…awkward.”
“I bet.”
I circle the pool for a few minutes, stirring up the water where I can still reach the bottom, and bringing the temperature up significantly.
When I return to the shallow end, a shadow moves in front of me.
Brynna rises smoothly from the water like a mermaid from human legends and wraps her arms around my neck.
“Oof, you are hot.” Brynna pulls back and eyes the steam coming off my body. “Was hoping to get a kiss, but I’m thinking maybe I should wait.”
“You should.”
“Darn.”
Mike calls out from the misty edge that we’re good, then packs up his test kit and hurries away from the pool. So I rein in my monster and steal a timid kiss from Brynna. Stadium lights kick on around us, and more couples begin to walk over.
“Guess our privacy is gone,” she pouts.
I pick her up by the hips and carry her out of the pool. “I know where we can get more.”
“Your room or mine?” she asks.
“I was actually thinking of giving you flying lessons.”
She waggles her brows. “I like the sound of that.”