Chapter 21
Nova
Miran carried her out of the gunship only to stop short because Section Commander Belor was standing there with a thunderous expression on his face.
“I should lock you both in the brig!” He focused on her.
His gaze was so intense that she wanted to run.
She’d never felt so threatened in her life!
“You caused all of this! You’re nothing but a selfish troublemaker.
You thought nothing of the danger you put us all in with your willful actions. We almost went to war!”
Nova had never been spoken to like that before. The other circus performers had always been patient and kind because they all relied on each other to make the acts work. Sure, there’d been some blowouts here and there, but nothing that wasn’t resolved within a day.
Not even Riff spoke to her like this, and he’d technically been one of her owners!
Faced with this level of hostility, Nova’s brain froze. She didn’t know whether to run and hide or beg Belor for forgiveness. Nausea rose up and for a moment, she couldn’t work out how to breathe.
“Don’t you talk to her like that!”
The roar didn’t come from Miran. They all looked over to see Cifon and Hisum running across the bay from where they’d just finished docking their ship. Both of them looked intensely angry, but it was Hisum that opened his mouth to shout again.
“Nova saved all of us!” He came to a stop between her and Belor.
“Without her, the in-person meeting would’ve failed like all the comms meetings previously.
She prevented war and only broke your command because we wouldn’t listen to her.
” Cifon stood next to Hisum, shoulders tense and arms crossed over his chest. “She knew so much more than we did. Even after studying what little we had on the Diniki, we were absolutely unprepared. They don’t speak in a straightforward way we understand.
They talk as if everything has to have a double meaning. ”
“I lost track of the exchange three sentences in after exiting our ship,” Hisum said. “Then Nova appeared out of nowhere and fixed it! We were taken to a room and treated as an envoy instead of unwelcome guests.”
Nerin and Lazil joined Hisum and Cifon so there were four men between her and the section commander.
“If any of us rushed off to help, you wouldn’t be reprimanding us like this,” Nerin challenged. “You’d compliment us on our quick thinking and determination.”
“She’s not a Hissa warrior,” Belor said, finally finding his voice after being so startled by his warriors answering his anger with rage of their own. “She’s a delicate Decanted human!”
“It’s time to stop putting all the Decanted women in the same helpless category,” Lazil said.
“Did you see the report on the women rescued from Saltorn?” Belor said. “They’d all been abused for so long that several of them couldn’t talk. One of them is scared to eat and another one will take years to heal from what they did to her body. Her mind might never be well again.”
“It’s horrible what happened to those women,” Lazil agreed. “But what about Deena?”
There was so much mumbling when Deena’s name was mentioned that it took Nova a moment to remember that she was the one who almost caused a civil war.
“Deena was an outlier,” Belor said.
“Are you sure? Mara and Mian were captains of their own ships. Mian was a bounty hunter with a gunship. She took on raider ships all by herself.”
Belor tried to object, but before he could talk, someone else she hadn’t met yet moved to stand next to the line of men. “Lara was badly abused and yet she managed to survive and thrive before we collected her. Some could argue that we made her life worse for a while.”
“She’s in a marriage pact with Selon and happy,” Belor said.
“That’s true. But how long was it until someone realized she needed the help of a mind mender?” the man shot back. “We ignored her needs. All the males around her simply assumed they knew best.”
“We need to stop doing that,” another man said, joining the line.
More men came with him, and it started becoming a crowd instead of a line.
“We treat these women as if they are children, but that’s not appropriate.
Would we treat our mothers or sisters like that?
We’re dishonoring their memories by treating the Decanted women as if they aren’t as smart or capable as we are.
Having different skills doesn't make anyone lesser than another.”
More men made sounds of agreement. To her surprise, Miran set her down and took one of her hands in his. He led her around the crowd to face the section commander. She felt shaky facing the scary man and would’ve rather run away.
Except Miran was with her and all these men who’d put themselves between her and the section commander were standing at her back. She wasn’t alone.
“Section Commander Belor, this is Nova,” Miran said, as if this was the first time they were meeting. It wasn’t entirely inaccurate, they’d never really been introduced.
Belor’s expression was hard and displeased. “I know.”
“You know her name, but do you know her?” Miran asked. “You got my reports on finding her and chasing her across the Fielden sand but haven’t really met her. Did you even listen when she tried to explain how to interact with the Diniki to Hisum and Cifon?”
“I was there,” he said, but his face was starting to soften into an expression that might be regret.
“You were there, but not paying attention,” Miran said.
“I was dealing with a critical situation,” Belor said, finally sounding a little defensive.
Miran’s voice was respectful but firm. “I understand, but if you had been listening, you might have realized how complicated the situation was and how much expertise Nova had to share. She spent her entire life learning about many species’ customs. That kind of knowledge can’t be summarized in a few minutes, especially when there are so many nuances.
When Nova snuck onto Hisum and Cifon’s ship, she wasn’t trying to be troublesome.
She saw a problem and knew she could help.
After you get our report, you’ll realize that she acted like an ambassador.
She didn’t stand aside as an advisor, she took over and made sure the meeting was a success. ”
The last of the anger drained out of Belor. “She did?” He pulled in a deep breath and moved his gaze to her. She shrank back, intimidated by him even though he wasn’t yelling any longer.
His face turned tragic when she did that. “I owe you so much more than an apology," he said, taking a step back. “I owe you a debt of honor.”
A murmur of approval went through the men around them at his words.
“You’re the first person who’s ever yelled at me in anger. Not even a customer has ever yelled at me.”
She was shocked that those words came out of her mouth. Why had she said that? Shouldn’t she just accept his apology and move on?
Except she couldn’t do that. If these were her new people, they needed to know they couldn’t treat her that way.
“There is no excuse for unleashing my temper,” he said.
“None of us have been getting enough sleep, and it feels like we’ve been doing nothing but dealing with attacks and emergencies.
That means I should've been more willing to accept your help instead of dismissing you. We’re all in danger everyday now that the Kaklan’s have declared war.
It’s foolish of me to set aside anyone with skills. ”
Belor slowly sank down to his knees and bowed his head. “Someday I hope you can forgive my actions. Please don’t punish Miran for what I did.”
There were more murmurs of approval. She looked up at Miran, unsure what to do, when someone offered her a giant knife that might as well have been a sword.
“It is your right to strike a blow,” the male informed her.
“No!” Nova said, then spoke to Belor. “Get up! Get up right now. I don’t know much about Hissa customs, but I don’t like this at all.”
As she commanded, he rose to his feet, but kept his head bowed. “How can I make amends?”
“Make me your primary diplomat,” she snarked. She meant it as a way to break the tension, but Belor lifted his head and pinned her with an intense stare.
“Yes, I’ll send the paperwork to Hissa that you’re the Adrent’s official ambassador for all inter-species relations.
Miran can show you how to access our systems and Hisum and Cifon can show you how to fill out a formal report.
Welcome aboard, Ambassador Nova. I’m overjoyed and proud to have you serving on my ship. ”
Before she could say anything, an alarm sounded. “Sir, there’s an issue with one of the gunships. They need to be towed back. Who should we send out?”
Nova saw an exhausted expression cross Belor’s face before he straightened his shoulders, gave her a last nod, and walked off, barking orders as he went.
All the Hissa that had gathered to defend her rushed off to do their jobs because they were still on a ship that barely had enough crew and were towing another broken ship full of precious children.
“What can I do to help?” she asked Miran as men hurried all around them.
“Let’s find a place to monitor the comm links,” Miran said, leading her out of the busy bay. “That way you can be ready to advise or take over if the Diniki contact us.”
“Right, I can do that,” she said, feeling confident again.
Miran paused outside the hangar, turned to her, and grinned. “I know you can, Ambassador Nova. No one will ever doubt you again.”
Those words were almost as precious as his declaration of love!
***
Five days later and a comfortable distance from Tulsin I and the troublesome Diniki
Nova
“Vi-vi!” a small hand tapped her face. “Vi-vi, wakes up. Wakes up!”
Nova woke up with a smile, opening her eyes to find many little faces staring down at her. She must’ve dozed off while telling the kids a story.
When she wasn’t writing down all the nuances of dealing with various species, she was on the Assist, reading stories or telling the kids about working for the circus.
The problem was that the Hissa had made the reading corner so comfortable that this wasn’t the first time she’d fallen asleep.
A look around showed her that one of the kids was still sound asleep.
She put a finger to her lips and made a shushing sound.
“Let Timon sleep,” she whispered.
The kids all nodded with serious expressions.
Timon was having nightmares, which wasn’t uncommon for Decanted children, but it still hurt her heart.
One of the warriors had decided that tonight, he was going to bed down next to Timon’s cot so if the little boy got scared, he could roll over on top of the warrior and be “safe” from the nightmare.
These Hissa were so wonderful to the children that Nova couldn’t imagine anyone taking better care of them.
“It’s meal time,” Cifon said. Except for a few permanently assigned med tech, all the warriors rotated working in the nursery between their regular duties. They always looked tired but happy.
“Foods!” one of the children cheered in a whisper. The other children hushed her, making all of them giggle.
“Do you want me to help?” she asked. The children were at the stage where they could consume full meals, but they had to be monitored closely for choking.
“Not right now,” Cifon said as he crouched down and picked up a child in each arm. “I think Miran has something to show you.”
“Finally,” she said with a chuckle and grabbed one of the kids and followed Cifon to another area with an easily cleanable rug.
There wasn’t any furniture to accommodate little bodies, so they set the kids on the floor.
The children thought it was great, especially when the adults occasionally ate with them.
“Finally?” Cifon asked.
“Miran has been doing something secretive for a few days,” she said. “He won’t even give me a hint. I’m dying of curiosity!”
“Oh, that explains the arrival,” Cifon said, setting his children down and straightening.
Nova put the child she was carrying next to them. They were all still giggling from earlier. It was adorable how quickly they all started laughing and didn’t stop until distracted by something new.
Standing up, she stepped in front of Cifon before he could go back for the last two kids. “What arrival?”
Cifon grinned broadly. “A ship arrived.”
“What ship?” she asked.
“A space ship.”
Nova let out a low aggravated breath and pretended to shove Cifon, making him laugh.
“It’s only fair,” Cifon said. “You refuse to explain how you successfully hid on our ship to the Diniki space station. It wasn’t a large ship. Where could you have been that we didn’t find you when we searched?”
She gave him a smug look. “That’s my secret.”
“Then I guess I can’t tell you anything about Miran’s surprise,” Cifon said and moved past her.
“I bet you don’t know anything anyway,” she grumbled, unable to stop smiling. Before she could settle down and open the food carrier to hand each child their portion, Miran walked into the nursery.
“Nova, can you come with me?”
Several more Hissa walked into the nursery to help with the meals. She wasn’t needed at the moment.
“Yes!” she said, heading over to him. The children were too distracted by their food to notice her leaving with Miran.
She expected him to take her to their room or the bay, but he wound her through the ship to an area she wasn’t familiar with.
Finally they entered a room that looked like it was meant for gatherings but had been repurposed for droid repair. Several tables were covered in broken droids and shelves were full of tools and spare parts.
Sitting in a circle of chairs at the center of the room chatting was Melee and the cubs!
Nova let out a squeal of joy and rushed over to them. She was enveloped by the furry bodies of the individuals who’d been her family.
This was the best surprise ever. Miran had brought her family to her!