Chapter 3 What’s Right #2
Khoth wondered if there weren’t infected people in the population.
The Khul had been known to infect individuals and set them loose to infect others rather than taking them directly to their ships.
Part of him considered advising General Intoshkin that the best course might be to euthanize all of the people who could have come in contact with the Khul, civilian or military.
He had not had the heart to tell Jace this option for he feared the young man would break earlier.
He could still remember how Jace had stood in the last vessel and closed his eyes. Tears had squeezed out of them as the young man had whispered, “Let there be no death. Let there be eternal life.”
I will see to Jace’s needs before the Ashaton arrives, Khoth told Thammah. You must keep the others occupied until then.
There was “silence” over the HUD. There was only a blinking cursor and he could practically feel Thammah debating with herself over whether to tell him what she really felt or simply defy him.
Flight Commander Pyrrhus, he began then stopped as he thought of Colonel Parker making him use her first name.
Thammah, I am doing what is best, not only for the majority, but for Jace.
Do you think that his mental health is best served being made to relive what happened to those people in the Hive? Telling it again and again and again?
How bad was it? She asked.
Bad is a term that has no meaning, he reminded her.
This was a human word that was so amorphous as to be useless, and yet, despite what he had just said to her, he understood why it was used then. It had been quite “bad” in the Hive.
Jace found aliens exist, he fought them, he became the Pilot, and then he went and destroyed a Hive with you in one day, Thammah listed out the bare minimum of what Jace had been through that day.
You’re right. He needs a break. I’ll do what I have to in order to give you time to make him as right as you can. But, Khoth…
Here she was using his first name and the pause held a peculiar effect. He almost felt her hand on the front of his suit, gripping it and him, bringing his face even with hers. Eye to eye. It was a mental impression only, but it felt real.
Don’t let the Rule of Duuskukeh get in the way of doing what’s right, she ended the connection.
He blinked. The Rule of Duuskukeh was what was right. The majority over the one. The selfless over the selfish. One’s personal desires had to bow to what was best for everyone else.
And yet…
He had reached Jace’s residence. He slowed to a walk as he went up the front pathway to a door.
The hum of an air conditioner turned on.
The churr of night insects was obscured by the mechanical sound and yet there was something comforting in the whir of a fan, the clank of metal on metal.
It reminded him of being in the Exarch. The mechanical processes were peaceful as when he was inside of the Exarch he was alone and cocooned away from all expectation and duty.
His eyes slid over the low, single-story home.
It was solidly built. It hugged the ground as if hiding from the sun and moon.
Cacti were the only vegetation and formed a protective barrier along the outside of the house.
There was a single concrete step before a door painted white.
There were no lights on inside. At least, there wasn’t at first, but then there was a flash of one and Khoth smiled. He’d been right.
He’d been taught that humans “knock” on doors before entering a dwelling.
They also would wait after the “knock” to be let in.
Or they might hollar “hello” and simply walk in to announce their presence if they were particularly close to the owner of the property.
Before Khoth could determine what course was best for him in this situation, the door opened and Jace was standing at the threshold.
In one hand he had a jar of something that said “Jiff” and in the other was a spoon with a dollop of tan, creamy substance that he was licking.
“Are you going to just stand there or come in? We’re letting the air conditioning out,” Jace said as cool air rushed past him and bathed Khoth’s face.
“I was debating whether to knock and wait or knock and yell a greeting as I pushed my way inside or just go inside so you wouldn’t run away,” Khoth told him.
Jace’s face, which had looked lined with exhaustion, had brightened with every word he said. At the end, Jace was just grinning and chuckling despite Khoth’s growing confusion.
“I do not see what is so amusing. Is that not the way of your species?” Khoth asked with a lifted eyebrow.
“Oh, Khoth, may you never change.” Jace just shook his head and laughed.
“I am certain I will. As do we all.”
Khoth, though, decided that such a discussion on change and stability would be best held inside. Jace was right. The cool air was leaving the home and considering that humans used fossil fuels for the most part to create their electricity, it was wasteful to stand outside.
Once he was inside, and Jace had shut and locked the door after him, Khoth was able to observe that Jace had retracted his hard suit. He still had on the Syntheskin suit, but the collar was undone and he had wrapped himself in a hooded sweatshirt with a zipper.
Jace caught sight of him noticing his outfit and gave a rueful smile.
“I was actually going to get changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, but none of my stuff fits. Too small. This is my dad’s.
” He plucked at the zipper. “If I actually zipped it up, it would be skin tight on me. But it’s cozy open like this. ”
“Your Syntheskin suit should perfectly regulate your temperature,” Khoth stated.
“Cozy is different from warm,” Jace said.
Khoth frowned as he followed Jace towards a small kitchen table where there were bags of “chips”, bottles of “Coke” and “Mountain Dew” and “Fanta”, along with various wrapped food items called “burritos” and “Hot Pockets”.
Gehenna was over in the kitchen proper. She had opened one of the “burritos” up and put it on a plate before placing it in a microwave oven, likely to be heated up. Or so his suit told him. It was the light from the interior of the oven that he had seen outside.
“I went over to the Con-Ve and grabbed whatever I could. I’ll have to reimburse Walter…
” Jace stopped and stared down at the foodstuffs.
“The Con-Ve… do you suppose they’ll rebuild it for him?
And the rest of the people… Their homes and their businesses…
What are they going to do about that? Will the whole town be in on it now?
That aliens are real and… Or will they lock them all up forever and throw away the key?
Like Sunrise will become a ghost town. Or maybe they’ll fill it with secret agents that look like citizens, but aren’t. ”
“I do not know. Any of those options are possible,” Khoth responded, while internally, he thought, And it will not matter. Because you will not be here to see it or deal with it.
“How did you find us? I had Gehenna totally block everybody’s ability to scan for us. Even the Osiris hasn’t quite gotten past her defenses yet.” Jace’s head was lifted up again and he was focused on Khoth in a way that had been similar to Diane’s gaze.
Khoth found himself straightening up under it. “I surmised that after all you had experienced that you would seek someplace familiar. Someplace where you felt safe.”
Jace blinked at his explanation. “Most people would think I’d want to be with my parents if I wanted to feel safe.”
But Khoth shook his head. “They lied to you. Even though the reasons for it were good ones. You would not feel safe with them.”
Jace slowly nodded. “I love them so much.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, again like Diane. “But I just need a moment, you know? To just think. To just…” He made a gathering gesture. “Take everything in and sort it out. To feel like me again.”
Don’t let the Rule of Duuskukeh get in the way of doing what’s right, Thammah’s words echoed in his mind.
There was an electronic beep from the microwave.
Gehenna used one of her pincers to press a button that made the door pop open.
A smell, it wasn’t unpleasant at all, but rather meaty and rich, flowed out.
She took the plate out with a pincer and set it down on the table.
She urged Jace to consume this “burrito”.
“It needs sour cream. I think there’s some in the fridge, Gehenna,” Jace said.
The AI in her cleaning bot body went over and opened the refrigerator and took out a small white plastic package.
Jace took it from her and used the now clean peanut butter spoon–that’s what Jiff was, his suit had told him–and put two large spoonfuls of white cream on top of the “burrito”.
Jace then dug into the steaming meat and corn mush.
He was about to eat it when he noticed Khoth watching him carefully.
Don’t let the Rule of Duuskukeh get in the way of doing what’s right.
Jace, with a crooked smile, held the spoon up to Khoth’s lips. “Try it. You might like it. I know it’s something new, but–”
Khoth ate a spoonful of “burrito” with sour cream. The taste was surprisingly good. It was meaty, smooth in parts and chewy in others. The sour cream was cool and had a faint tang. He swallowed and licked his lips before finding himself staring at the “burrito” again and then at Jace’s face.
Don’t let the Rule of Duuskukeh get in the way of doing what’s right.
“Gehenna, I think he might like it,” Jace let out a soft, wheezing laugh.
I want to keep him laughing, Khoth found himself thinking.
Exaggerating the archness that was usually in his voice, and crossing his arms at the wrists behind his back to look extra aloof, Khoth stated, “Of course, I enjoy it. It is much like space paste.”
Jace threw back his head and laughed so hard that his eyes started to tear.
The laughter started to change. Khoth had not expected this.
Tears were flowing down Jace’s cheeks. He was shaking and the laughter had turned to sobs.
Khoth stood there, dumbly, for a moment and then he recalled how Jace’s parents had hugged him and the way the tension had bled out from Jace.
Hugging. It was a sacred act, only done with family in private for the Thaf’ell.
But Jace needed that comfort. And though Khoth was not family, he was the only one there to give it.
And he wanted to give it.
Khoth reached for Jace and, without hesitation, Jace came into his arms and clung to him.
Don’t let the Rule of Duuskukeh get in the way of doing what’s right.
“I will make sure that you always have the time you need,” Khoth found himself saying to Jace. “I swear it, Jace.”
This was what was right. So this was what he would do.