Chapter 10
ADRYEL
Kantenan guards carried large, curved weapons and marched around.
Others mingled in with the off-worlders, taking names and information so that everyone could be logged and counted.
It was a strange combination to see the Kantenans, all of whom looked like warriors, carrying data pads and generally playing bookkeeper rolls.
It was something to look at. To think about, instead of the last few minutes.
As Adryel waited with the others to be treated medically, she took in the buzz of her surroundings. And wondered where the one who’d saved her had slipped off to.
Fancy dresser that he was, he had vanished into the crowd, but she had a feeling if she looked long enough, she’d find him again.
Looking at her.
Sure enough, in a cluster of others, his gaze met hers.
And he gestured from across the room for her to get treated.
She could wait. Other people had it worse than she did. She didn’t need to rush it. The pain in her side slowly grew, but it felt karmic.
After all, she’d nearly got everyone killed. If they had listened to her and went inside the ship instead of getting off the platform like they wound up doing when she was arguing with that Kantenan, they would have been killed.
Everyone.
Once again, Adryel made the worst possible decision in the circumstances, and people suffered or died because of it. She seemed to be very skilled at those kinds of decisions.
Someone came up, and Adryel gestured for her to go in front of her. The wound in her side ached, and she started to wonder if it was worse than she realized.
If it had been just a scratch, it would have stopped hurting by now.
That's what she thought, anyway.
Of course, her thoughts weren't the best.
“I hope you're satisfied,” the female said.
Adryel looked up and sighed. “You can take your animal dung and shove it, Roemary.”
Roemary threw her shoulders back. “You need to know; this is all your fault.”
Adryel waved her arm at her like she was brushing away a bug. “Seriously. You can move along. If you're injured, see the medics. If not, go, I don't know, bug someone else.” Any snippy comeback she may have had died on her lips.
It didn't really matter.
She carried plenty of guilt over this. Because now they were trapped here. And if it really had been somehow connected to the Rhysgarrds, then they’d tried to kill an entire ship of people in order to get to her.
Roemary wasn’t helping with that feeling either.
At least Janae was safe. She hoped so, anyway. By the time she'd gotten her bearings from the second explosion, Janae was gone.
Graecey was gone.
Who knew who else had gone over that edge into the jungle below.
And now Roemary was here, blaming her?
Of course she was.
Well, whatever got her through the day. It didn't matter, because not a damn thing mattered anymore.
Roemary leaned down. “You are a waste of skin, and you don't deserve to be alive.”
Adryel raised her eyebrow. “That's a little dark, even for you.” She looked around, and realized what was different about this.
Roemary was alone.
Roemary never traveled alone.
“You will pay for what you've done,” Roemary said.
“Can you tell me what that is, exactly? Because I've done so many things. I have a list, and frankly, anything I've done to offend you is really low on the bottom of that list.” She stood up. “So if you got a problem with me, get in line. There are a lot bigger stars than you with issues with me.”
She smirked. “You have no idea who I am.”
“Oh stars, here we go,” Adryel said.
“You cannot imagine what I've endured--”
“Stop it right there. Listen, goddess--”
Roemary put her hand on her chest, offended at the name 'goddess,' which wasn't a flattering term anywhere on Kerde.
Adryel didn’t let her continue. “I don't care who you are, or what you had to endure.
I promise you, I've been through worse. And the fact that you'd dare compare your lack of a manicure or whatever to being kicked out when you're a kid, living on the streets, and one last hope being this program, then you truly are the most self-centered female on this planet. Hell, in this galaxy.”
She opened her mouth to argue her point, when a Kantenan came over, one with long, slim, pointed horns on his head.
“Ladies, is there a problem?” Unlike the grumpy one from before, this male oozed charm. Smiling, even.
Roemary turned to him, and whatever hostility she had vanished in a blink. “No, of course not. We were only speaking.”
“Come,” he said, his gaze bouncing from Adryel to Roemary and back. “Walk me around the floor and introduce me to all the lovely ladies.”
He glanced at Adryel again, and he winked.
Wait.
He winked at her?
What the heck was that about?
Finally, Adryel let the medical droid look at her after everyone else had been treated. Her head throbbed by the time she relented. There were some deeper wounds that she really couldn't feel—shock most likely—but the medical droid was able to treat them quickly and fairly efficiently.
Though only after a couple of hits with the dosing gun, her head stopped swimming and the pain receded.
The whole time, though, she kept scanning the crowd of the girls from the program. Some were doing okay.
Others were more distressed.
Though even Adryel was surprised how the little cliques of girls were rallying around each other, and helping the ones who were the most upset.
She kept hoping she'd see Janae, or even Graecey. That they'd found her, but no luck.
The droid poked her with a needle.
“Ouch!”
“Apologies. Fornige Four-two-three treatment requires tiny needle insertion.”
She sighed. “It's fine,” she muttered, though why she cared if the droid's feelings were hurt or not, she didn't know. “Just wasn't expecting it.”
“There, there.” The droid pulled the needle back and patted her side. The awkward pat was probably supposed to soothe her, but instead it made her chuckle.
“All better there.”
“Good. I can go?”
“We have more to tend to.”
Adryel groaned, and leaned forward, letting the droid go over her back. Evidently, she had some cuts that needed attending to on her back and side.
Never the most pleasant thing to have cuts stitched up.
They probably will look better than anything she’d had before. Normally she slapped a medpatch on them and just let it be.
After what felt like eternity the droid seemed to stop.
“It is repaired.”
She nodded. “Are we done?”
“Vaccines are necessary.” His chest started to blink as he mixed up a batch of whatever vaccines he thought she needed.
It wouldn't surprise Adryel to find out she'd missed a few things. Still, she thought the Galactic Alliance's Science Society had prepped all of that already. Maybe they missed something.
Whatever.
It was all --
“Ouch!” the injection gun at her neck burned when it hit.
“Apologies. The vaccines can cause discomfort.”
She inhaled a breath, and she swore she could feel the stuff swimming through her system before the sensation died away.
“Now we need to--”
“Adryel!”
She turned and looked. There, standing before her was Janae, looking perfect.
“I didn't see you! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” It was a big weight and worry that had been on her shoulders finally eased seeing her friend. One she didn’t realize she was carrying.
“I didn't know where you were, and I didn't know how to find you!” Janae said.
Janae started to step forward but was stopped by the medical droid. From behind her, she could see the Kantenan that had claimed Janae coming up, as well as the grumpy one who'd kept her from getting hurt in the explosion.
“Excuse me. But she has more wounds I need to tend to,” the medical robot said.
Adryel pushed the droid back. “I'm fine. Go deal with someone else.”
Mr. Grumpy seemed amused by her.
She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him, because who knew if it would be mistaken for a mating ritual or something.
“Is this your friend?” the one that followed Janae asked.
Adryel interjected. “I am her friend. And you must be her new husband.”
“Mate.”
“Whatever.” She couldn’t help grinning at Janae. After all the time she’d been sure she wasn’t pretty enough to get a Kantenan, and boom, out of the wormhole, she’s the first one picked.
She smacked Janae on her arm. “I told you!”
The Kantenan males looked unsure about it, at least until Janae grinned and blushed a bit.
“Knock it off, Adryel,” she said. “I know. But I didn't believe it then, and I'm not sure I believe it now.”
Adryel rolled her eyes, and figured now was as good a time as any to get past the formal stuff.
“And since she has no manners, I'm Adryel.
Terran, and I grew up on Trinity Alpha Prime.
Joined the program to get away from the family and find my place in the world.
Thought meeting some new species of humanoids would be an adventure, but this wasn't what I had in mind.”
“No one had this in mind,” her mate said. “I am Khalzin, Gol-Vett of the Coalition, and this is my friend, Stron, also a Gol-Vett of the Coalition.”
Adryel leaned over to Janae. “What's a Gol-Vett?”
“Like a prince. I think.”
She’d heard that before, she thought, anyway. Around Stron, but she couldn’t be sure.
“We are not princes,” Stron said. “We are children of the Coalition members. It makes us a higher status than other Kantenans.”
“So, princes,” Adryel said. “They weren't kidding when they said those that would be picked would be treated like princesses.”
“If it means to honor you above all else, then yes, we will treat you like princesses.”
Janae waved her hand. “We have things to discuss.” She turned to Adryel. “Now, I just need to see Graecey--”
“Graecey fell,” Adryel said, the pain of it hitting her again, and her eyes watered.
Janae's eyes got wide, and she looked like she was about to freak out. “What?”
“She was right there, and when the pad gave out, she fell, along with a few others.” She choked on the words as she said them, and damn, those tears came out anyway. She tried to hold them back but she couldn’t.
It was just too much.
The final bolt flew loose, having to tell Janae.
Janae covered her mouth. “I can't... That's just...”
Khalzin put his arm around her. “I am sorry your friend is lost too.”
Adryel wiped her eyes.
Stron took a step toward her and put his hand on her shoulder. “I am sorry about your friend.”
She patted his hand. It was a nice gesture, considering how much his grumpy—not to mention shapely—ass made her nuts before. “Thanks for that.”
“What are we going to do?” Adryel asked. “How are we supposed to leave?” She looked at Stron, who was the one who seemed to have taken over, or at least was working with the ones in charge because everyone was asking him what to do.
Not that she was watching or anything.
Nope.
Not her.
“You're going to stay here. We are securing everyone’s residences where we can keep all of you safe and protected,” Stron said. “We have an embassy for the Galactic Alliance. There is plenty of room there for you to reside, and we can make sure all of you are safe.”
“For how long?” Adryel asked.
“As long as necessary.”
“What about the experiment? The exchange program?” Adryel asked.
Khalzin glanced at Janae. “I think we'll have to put it on hold for a while.”
Janae met his gaze and nodded.
“So we’re stuck here.”
“It could be worse,” Janae said.
Adryel glanced to one of the windows, where she could see some of the jungle green.
“It could be a lot worse.”