Chapter 17
Leigh
Once Timber mentioned Xalan, things went from a dead stop to full-on action. She and my aunt jabbered animatedly with T’raat in Xalanite, occasionally muttering something in English to one of the two former officers whose home we’d taken over. They kept their voices low, low enough that I couldn’t understand even the English, but whatever they were talking about, it must have been something important and exciting.
I suddenly wanted nanites of my own, if only so I could participate.
I waited as patiently as I could for things to settle down to the point where someone would remember I existed. Being not only the youngest person in the room but also the only pure civilian of the group frustrated me because sometimes the few words or phrases I could make out made no sense to me, and no one bothered to explain.
Like what’s a stellar blockade, and why might we need to get “creative” about it?
After what seemed like an eternity of discussion, John and Marcus excused themselves to “take care of our part” while Timber and Aunt Ann stood to “make ready.” T’raat stayed with me, but I was so confused it didn’t make much difference. I was so out of the loop at that point that nothing I said or did really mattered. I could’ve been kidnapped right from under their noses without any worry of me blabbing their plans.
T’raat rubbed my back while staring off into space. I had no idea what was going on in his head, but after a few minutes he surprised me by speaking up.
“There. It is done.”
“Um … Good?”
He shot me a quizzical look before realization crossed his features. “My love! You did not understand much of what we said, did you?”
I shook my head. “Absolutely none of the Xalanite, maybe a few bits of the English. You guys kept your voices low enough that I didn’t really get an idea of what’s happening.”
“I am sorry. I did not realize we were leaving you out so completely.”
“Are you allowed to tell me?”
His arms engulfed me in a massive bear hug. “They could not stop me from telling you. You are my tyr’il ; I am honor bound to tell you whatever you ask me.”
I didn’t fully understand what tyr’il meant, but since he’d just called me his “love” I assumed it meant “mate.” At least he was trying not to freak me out by using the wrong terms around me, though I wondered if tyr’il didn’t basically mean the same thing as “mate” for him.
With that, T’raat launched into an explanation of how we were going to get away from the AARO that were in pursuit, how we were going to sneak a Xalanite ship past a space blockade set up by the Xalanites, and how we were going to …
… To space ?
“Wait, we’re going to Xalan? I thought you didn’t want to go back.”
He shook his head. “Earth is not safe for you. We have ruled out Xalanites as the perpetrators of the slanderous rumors that have turned the AARO on us. If it means keeping you safe, I will return to Xalan.”
“How did you guys rule out Xalanites?”
T’raat shrugged. “They have not found us yet. Xalanites would have access to tracking technology that can find us by our nanites.”
I cast him a dubious look. “What if they haven’t found us on purpose? Maybe they’re waiting. Shouldn’t we keep that possibility in mind here?”
“We are aware of that. However, unlike those inside Timber and your aunt, my nanites work both ways. I can detect and track other Xalanites just like they can detect and track me. There are no Xalanites on Earth closer than the intake center. Of that much I am certain.”
That in itself seemed weird to me. Why wouldn’t there be any other Xalanites outside the intake center? I mean, Aunt Ann had told me and Dad about the hassle of granting vacation passes and travel vouchers to various Xalanite visitors and dignitaries, so why was it that right at that moment, when everyone was a potential spy against us, no other Xalanites were traveling around Earth?
It was a little too convenient, in my opinion. I made a mental note to talk to Aunt Ann about it later.
Something else about this trip bugged me, and it had nothing to do with spies or devious plots. How was I supposed to communicate with anyone on Xalan? T’raat said John and Marcus were staying home to cover for us, so the Xalanite language won’t be an issue for them, but Timber and Aunt Ann don’t have to worry about communication; they’ve both got nanites. Unless I only talked to people who have English piped into their head with tiny machines, things would get pretty lonely.
Maybe it was time to rethink my stance on the devices.
“T’raat?” I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him as he got up to leave the dining room. “Wait. This ship that’s coming for us, will it have nanites on board that I can get?”
He paused, and his brows furrowed in confusion. “I thought you did not wish to learn that way.”
“Yeah, well, I guess I kinda don’t have a choice right now.” Another thing occurred to me. “And if I get them, I’ll be able to know where you are, right? Like you and Aunt Ann and Timber can sense other Xalanites through the nanites?”
He nods. “Perhaps. If the ship has the right type of nanites, you would be able to access my location whenever you wish.”
“No matter where you are?”
“Of course. Some are even programmed to make it automatic. You would not even need to request this of the nanites.”
That clinched it. The few minutes I’d thought T’raat kidnapped had been the most agonizing of my life. If I could prevent that agony from happening again, it would go a long way towards making me feel comfortable being on an alien planet.
“Okay. When we get on the ship, the first thing I want is nanites.”
The grin he grinned made it all worth it. He tackled me in a bear hug, almost knocking me out of my chair. I giggled and hugged him back as he nuzzled my neck and whispered sweet nothings—I assumed, anyway—in Xalanite. Finally, just when I was about to pass out from lack of oxygen in his iron grip, he backed away enough to look me in the eye.
“Some day I will tell you what that means. In Xalanite, it is very … romantic, I believe is the word.”
I beamed up at him. “I can’t wait to hear it again and understand it.”
With that settled, T’raat took my hand and lead me to the living room, where Aunt Ann and Timber had their heads together on the couch. They were watching Fawkes News by the looks of it, and when I read the ticker at the bottom of the screen beneath an old picture of me and Aunt Ann, I saw a phrase that made my heart sink.
“Traitors to the human race.”
Fuck. That wasn’t good. Being spies or traitors to the AARO was one thing, but traitors to the whole human race? I couldn’t think of any possible way for my aunt to spin the situation to our advantage. I mean, the media had figured out that T’raat and I were a couple, and Timber’s romance with Xalanite Prince N’kal was widely known. I wasn’t quite sure why they’d lump Aunt Ann in with me and Timber, though. She didn’t have any partner, human or otherwise.
Then the image on screen changed, and I gasped as I saw Aunt Ann in full military dress, side-by-side at an altar with a handsome Xalanite man placing a ring on her finger, a ring that I hadn’t even noticed before. I whipped around to look at her hand, which she tried to hide, but I saw it.
“Aunt Ann! When were you gonna tell me and Dad?”
She sighed and rubbed her temple. “I hadn’t even told the US government. X’nit was a Xalanite physician who helped me during my recovery last summer. One thing led to another, and we fell in love.” She pointed at the screen, which Timber had paused. “There weren’t supposed to be any cameras on site.”
T’raat shrugged. “No cameras, perhaps, but there were Xalanites present, correct?”
“Yeah. What of it?”
He waved a dismissive hand at the screen. “Some Xalanites have recording devices implanted in their sensory organs. It is useful for intelligence gathering, though if the humans have a Xalanite image, it is quite disconcerting.”
I had a bad feeling, but I asked anyway. “Why is it disconcerting?”
“The only way to extract such an image is through death or consensual download.”
My aunt groaned. “So, either one of my wedding guests is dead, or they were a spy.”
“Likely, yes.” He squinted at the screen, then his eyes did this weird unfocusing thing for a few minutes. The rest of us waited, anxiety palpable in the room. Finally, my boyfriend stood back and let out a low whistle. “Well, he was not a spy.”
“Wait, how can you tell that from staring at the picture?”
Another shrug. “How do you humans call it? Yes! The image has a … a watermark of sorts. It is this specific Xalanite’s personal code. My nanites and I have searched all of Earth and Xalan and in between, and he no longer lives.”