Chapter 9
GEMMA
What the hell? Talking to this alien was like having a conversation with a very stubborn lavender brick wall. Gemma would expect a lavender brick wall to have a touch more whimsy and not be so inflexible, but brick walls were gonna brick wall. Or something.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I am going back to Earth,” she said.
“No,” Zalis repeated.
“Oh yeah?” Not her best work. Gemma clenched her fist and lifted her chin, stubborn to a fault.
If Zalis was bothered, he gave nothing away. He coolly watched her little display of defiance. “Travel is prohibited.”
“No travel at all? No ships? I can’t catch up with the other people heading to Earth.”
“We are in an active warzone. Travel is restricted,” he said, doing his best brick wall impersonation.
“A warzone? Since when?”
“Since our arrival yesterday,” he said. “The warlord has taken your report of a Suhlik purchasing humans very seriously. He declared it an act of war.”
“So, this is my fault?” That damn Suhlik. Ren kept trying to convince her that she hadn’t seen a Suhlik, that it was impossible, but Gemma knew what she saw.
And now she was stuck because of it.
Zalis held up both hands in a calming gesture, palms facing her.
“My words were clumsy. Let me clarify. Suhlik aggression has increased and for one to make it so far into the system without detection is alarming. The warlord is taking action. My new assignment is to help establish a base on Val Mori.”
“What about the teleport thing?” She got the pamphlets in the mail like anyone else.
Be ready for your match! They outlined what a person should bring to the testing facility in case of a match because they would be teleported immediately.
No running home to pack. “If Earth can teleport me here, then you can send me back.”
“Security protocol demands that teleport capabilities are taken offline.”
She held his gaze. “That’s a very smooth answer and I don’t entirely believe you.”
“I am stating facts. I do not tolerate falsehoods and would not insult you with anything other than the truth,” he said.
Did he sound a little offended? Yes. Noted. Zalis was big on honesty.
“I appreciate that. I’m just confused as to why yesterday a shuttle full of humans left the hospital to go back home and, somehow, I missed the boat.”
“They will travel on a ship, not a boat.”
Gemma blinked. “That’s… not the point. How come they get to leave and I can’t?”
“They left before the full situation was known. You traveled to the Judgment.”
And now it was too late.
She knew what he was saying. The situation was complicated and it had changed. That happened all the time in the kitchen. She learned to roll with the chaos because she couldn’t afford to have a meltdown every time the dough didn’t rise the way she wanted or her preferred flour was out of stock.
“I hear you. I’m just feeling some sort of way knowing this is my own fault.”
“It is not,” he said. “None of what happened to you was your fault.”
Gemma huffed, amused. “Oh, it is. I was so angry at being forced into the draft that I paid shady characters to get my name off the list, which made me a target for blackmail and ultimately got me abducted and put up for auction.” Saying it took some of the sting out of the words.
“I panicked and dragged you into this mess. Don’t tell me I was acting reasonably, because I wasn’t.
I was scared and I folded on my principles immediately.
That’s why I want to leave. You deserve better. ”
Zalis’ top lip curled in a snarl, exposing his fangs. He gripped the edge of the table like he wanted to lunge across the table and, she didn’t know, either hug her within an inch of her life or bite her for saying such things.
Really hope that look means hug.
Instead of hugging or biting, he stood to clear the table. “You are being unreasonable.”
“Hey! You don’t get to tell me how I feel.”
“You have been through a great ordeal. It is unreasonable to expect an ideal reaction in such conditions. You must be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to heal before you penalize yourself. My mother advocates that one must give themselves grace to make mistakes.”
Gemma sat stunned as he cleaned. “Your mother sounds nice, but my mistake involved you.”
He turned around to face her, that sparkle back in his eyes. “No.”
ZALIS
“There you go, being a brick wall again,” Gemma said.
Idioms. The translation chip took the meaning literally and the end result was confusion. A brick wall? He could not be a support structure or barricade.
“Explain this idiom,” he said.
“I tell you how I feel or what I want, and you just say no.” Her voice went lower and rougher. It sounded nothing like him. She said, “It’s like talking to a brick wall. Stubborn. Obstinate. Unyielding.”
The last did not sound particularly insulting. He liked this idiom. “I am a bulwark, an unyielding barrier and fortification. You needed such protection. Involving me was not a mistake. It was a good choice.”
She tossed her hands up, as if conceding the point. “Fine. You’re a brick wall but you’re my brick wall.”
He liked the sound of belonging to her. “Your bulwark,” he said.
“I’m not going home anytime soon, am I?”
“Correct.”
“So, you can say something other than no,” she muttered.
“You cannot leave for Earth, but you do not have to remain with me, if that is what you wish,” he said.
Her entire body went rigid, as if alarmed by the thought. For reasons that were entirely selfish, this pleased him.
“I will give you all the pertinent information so that you may make an informed decision. You have options,” he said, producing a black marker from a pocket and drawing directly on the table.
He tapped a circle at the center of the table.
“Forgive the crudeness. This is meant to be a star chart. This represents the core of the Sangrin system.”
He drew a smaller circle, then several others scattered across the table, each successively getting closer to the edge of the table.
A projection table such as the one the warlord had would eliminate most of his demonstration.
He did not mind. The work was slow but enjoyable, particularly the way Gemma watched his hands.
“This is Tholla, where you were held. These are smaller planets and colonies,” he said, making an X at the edge. “This is the Judgment’s current location. We travel in a circuit. It is a predictable pattern.”
With a different pen, he traced a route through the system. With yet another pen—
“Seriously, where are you hiding all those pens?” Gemma asked.
“Pockets.” He demonstrated the pockets in the hidden folds of the sleep pants.
“You keep markers in your pajamas?”
“Inspiration often strikes as I am falling asleep. It is prudent to have a pen on my person to write the idea down, rather than fumble in the dark.”
She chewed on her bottom lip as he spoke. “All right. That makes sense.”
He marked the surface of the table with triangles. “These are known Suhlik attacks. A mining colony, a merchant ship, a research vessel, an abandoned station, among others.”
She leaned forward, examining the map. “That’s a lot. What kind of coverage does it get in the media?”
“Minimal.”
“Seriously?” She looked up at him. “The moon base got attacked a few years ago and it was all over the news for months. How can people just not talk about it?”
“Earth’s invasion is within recent memory. The Suhlik invaded Sangrin more than a century ago.”
She made a thoughtful noise. “I guess it’s easier to ignore something when it’s a long way from home.”
“As you noted, the attacks so far have been confined to the fringe of the system. Except for this sighting.”
Using the pen, he tapped Tholla.
“Oh, that’s not good,” Gemma said. “That’s nowhere near the others.”
“Exactly. It is easy for the Sangrin authorities to ignore Suhlik aggression when it happens on the fringes of the system. The Suhlik penetrating so deeply into the system without detection is alarming.” And difficult to ignore.
“How is that possible?”
“An excellent question. A small ship could be disguised as a merchant or a cargo vessel.”
“Or someone smuggled them in,” she said.
“It is possible.” Zalis disliked the idea of the Suhlik having an associate but, clearly, they did not act alone.
Purchasing humans meant they had had a ship large enough to transport them all.
Perhaps not in comfort but with enough capacity for life support.
“The warlord has a team of our best trackers working on it.”
“Not you?”
He dipped his head, feeling modest. “No. My skills are different. My assignment is to go to Val Mori.”
“You said.” Gemma leaned over the table and gently touched a planet with an attack symbol. “This one? Is it dangerous? It had an attack.”
Pride washed over him at Gemma’s correct identification. “Yes, historically. We upgraded the shielding after the attack. It was a mining outpost on a moon and is currently abandoned.”
“Haunted mines. Spooky,” Gemma said, eyes still on the map.
“It is not haunted.”
Gemma looked up, grinning. “Can you tell me why you’re assigned to the haunted mines of Val Mori or is that classified?”
“I should tell you that information is classified, but I suspect you will continue to ask regardless.”
Her grin widened. It was like standing in the warmth of the sun. She said, “We’d be done having this conversation if you just told me.”
“Then this conversation would be over,” he said honestly. He enjoyed speaking with her.
Pink flushed her face. “Stop flirting, Zalis.”
“I was not—” Denial served no purpose. Perhaps he was flirting. “We are establishing a base on Val Mori.”
“You said I had options.”
“Yes. You can remain onboard the Judgment. Your rooms are comfortable, you will have plenty of company, but the chance of conflict is high.”
“I’d be alone.” Her tone indicated that she disliked the notion.