Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Thirteen humans, one daunting galaxy
Garrison
I NUDGED ELLIE forwards until she stood directly before the giant talking lizard.
The Archon—Issskar? Ithssar?—stilled, surveying Ellie with all the controlled grace of a predator.
Harsh cell lighting glinted off his iridescent scales as his forked tongue began to flicker, and I shifted my weight over the balls of my feet, my fists tightening at my side. Just fucking try it, arsehole.
His sinuous head stretched forward for a heartbeat, then receded, his piercing gaze returning to neutral.
I let out a soft breath, a little of my tension going with it.
Ellie squared her shoulders, hands on her hips as if she hadn’t even noticed how big the gharian was.
“My name is Ellie Draven of Ceres III Station, New Earth.” Her voice didn’t waver, and a smile almost curved my lips.
“I’ll speak with you, Archon, but my friend needs medical attention, and everyone needs more food and water.
We’ve been treated like criminals, and you’ve already said we aren’t, so what are you going to do about it? ”
The diplomat’s sibilant voice exuded lazy command.
“Please accept my apologies for this, Ellie Draven. Part of my role is to make all these things right. My assistant will see to it immediately. Come.” He gave an imperious wave as he strode out of the door, and Ellie trailed after him, keeping her distance from his powerful, spiked tail.
I rubbed the patch of cold skin behind my ear, the only side effect from the neural translators we all bore. The only lasting side effect; the initial implantation was an agony I never wished to repeat.
“Bloody hell. They just keep getting bigger.” Roth jerked his head at the door. “You used to being average yet?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Not even close. I definitely preferred seeing the tops of everyone’s heads.”
I cast my eyes over our little group. People sat or stood in clusters, some talking, some with vacant stares. Things had to be about to improve, didn’t they?
A faint moan to my left snatched my attention.
One of the girls was still slumped against the smooth metal of the cell wall, cradling her bad arm in the other.
A lock of lank hair had fallen over her face, and I hooked it behind her ear, wincing at her clammy, too-pale skin.
“Help’s coming, sweetheart. Hang on just a little longer. ”
It wasn’t the Galactic Reserve’s fault she’d been caught in the crush of people on Tathar Refuge.
But it was absolutely their fault she’d only had cursory medical attention since then, as we travelled as their prisoners to wherever it was we were now.
Draim Station, the lizard guy had said—but that meant bugger all to humans who hadn’t been out of the Sol system until a few weeks ago.
Sharp claws clicked across the floor. The older gharian paused at the door, flicking his reptilian eyes back to his wrist-comm. “I will be back with a medic. And then food.”
He pushed past the guards, hissing as he went, but they remained motionless in their slate grey armour, eyes no doubt trained on us under their mirrored visors. Galactic Reserve jerks.
My too-tight trousers pinched places I’d rather they wouldn’t, but I didn’t move from the cool floor, stroking the injured woman’s hair, murmuring reassurance.
She was barely conscious when the shaa medic arrived, her head lolling as he picked her up in sinewy orange arms.
I sprang in front of him, eye level with the nubby grey horns nestled in his moulded plumage. “One of us goes with her,” I said. “You’re not taking her on her own.”
He regarded me with an indifferent sneer. “As you wish.”
“I’ll go.” Roth brushed past me and out of the door, ignoring the impassive guards.
I rocked on my heels, a sudden lightness in my chest. We were all exhausted, running on nervous energy, but I had to believe this was the beginning of something better. For the first time since we’d been taken, fragile hope began to chip away at the despondency which had burrowed into my bones.
Was our friend being looked after well enough for Roth to enjoy being out of the cell?
I yearned for the same respite and pulled my T-shirt away from my sticky chest. We were too many people in too small a space, and the acrid stench of unwashed bodies filled my nose far more than it had on the Reserve ship.
My tongue rolled in my mouth, trying to find moisture. How many hours had it been since we’d had water?
“Never been happier to see an alien.” Someone gestured at the older reptilian, who set down two crates of assorted cartons and pouches.
“Food and drink. On behalf of the Alliance, we’re sorry for your treatment,” the gharian said. “You’re officially no longer under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Reserve.”
Amongst the sighs of relief, I pressed my lips into a line. The Reserve guards at the door still held their positions, their bulbous, deadly firearms angled down, ready to aim at trouble without hesitation. Arseholes.
When different soldiers came to relieve them, their blue cloth uniforms marking them as something other than the Galactic Reserve, I regarded them with the same narrowed eyes. Grey jailers with assault rifles or blue jailers with blasters—it didn’t make any difference.
I hung back until everyone had a water pouch and a carton of something I prayed was better than dry ration bars. The room stilled, apart from rustling, crunching, slurping, swallowing, and the hum of the station vents.
I squeezed the water into my mouth, wincing at the metallic taste, and glanced over at the diplomat. “So, what now?”
The big reptilian swivelled his emerald eyes towards me without moving his head. “The archon will handle it. You have to be patient a while longer.”
I allowed myself a slow lungful of stale air and counted to twelve on the exhale. All we’d been doing for two weeks was waiting.
When Ellie returned, her steps were slow, and her eyes weren’t quite in focus, but she gave us a tight smile. “We’re free. We’re moving to guest quarters as soon as they sort it out. Today.”
Free. I let the word sink in, fill me with warmth, and I wrapped Ellie up in a hug. “I knew you could do it.”
“We’re genuinely not prisoners?” someone asked.
“No. It’s complicated, though.”
Several people asked questions at once, and I held up a hand. “Quiet. She’s exhausted. Give her a chance to catch her breath.”
Ellie gave me a soft smile but waved me off.
“It’s okay. Let me tell you what I know, then you can ask questions.
” She checked points off her fingers as she talked.
“We aren’t going home, but we kinda knew that anyway.
We’re basically refugees. I don’t know where we’ll end up.
” She took a measured breath. “We’ll probably be here for a few more hours while they work things out, but then we’re going to guest quarters. No more cells.”
We’re not going home.
Other than a dull ache in my chest, I couldn’t find it in me to be too disappointed.
Ceres III was tolerable, as the outer territories went, but I was in no hurry to return to asteroid mining.
And definitely not back to the military, my only other option.
As a civilian engineer, my job was better than some, but it was repetitive.
Boring. That’s why I’d jumped at the chance to go to Tathar Refuge.
We’d known it was risky. Trust some unknown aliens who claimed to be able to broker safe passage to the nearest space station for the weekend? What could possibly go wrong?
Get arrested in a riot was what.
“Why aren’t we being taken back? They’ve kidnapped us, for fuck’s sake.” Rayna crushed the straw she’d been rolling between tense fingers, and Ellie snatched it, whacking her on the nose.
“Were you on Tathar Refuge with Galactic ID? No. They could have shoved us in a prison or refugee camp or something, but they haven’t.
” She ran a hand across her forehead. “I’m not happy about it either.
But the Alliance views humans as hostile aliens.
According to them, we fired first at Neptune, so I think it’s going pretty well, all things considered. ”
What? No, the Galactic Alliance had fired on us during the battle of Neptune and refused to allow safe passage out of the solar system ever since.
That’s what we’d been told, at least. The realisation that nobody might have even attempted diplomacy boiled my blood. Fucking humans. Fucking New Earth.
And fucking kri’ith.
Of all the alien species we’d met, kri’ith looked the most fearsome, with their wide, upturned jaws like a skull’s when they talked or smiled, complete with jutting tusks and deep-set, glistening eyes.
Massive ridges ran down the sides of their ears, they had short, sparse spikes on the tops of their heads in place of hair, and every one of them was built like a seven foot strongman.
Yes, the alien pirates had been true to their word. Their ship was fast, they avoided patrols, and what they’d told us about Tathar Refuge was accurate. We hadn’t even cared they were scary, ugly fuckers.
But they had to have known they were dropping us into a potentially volatile situation, and they hadn’t even cared.
Even us na?ve, new-to-the-galaxy humans had been suspicious.
But why would we pay attention to a group who kept to themselves in the dark cantina corners when there was the excitement of exotic drinks, food, and entertainment?
Thankfully, we’d not seen any kri’ith since leaving Tathar, apart from the odd Reserve soldier.
This place was full of the tall, horned shaa, the blue, human-like nebaru, plus the reptilian gharians.
So I could stop thinking about kri’ith, New Earth, or riots, and try to look forward to the future instead.