Chapter 18 Yueril
Chapter eighteen
Yueril
"You need to take a break," Hazel insisted.
Her voice echoed in my implant, a sign that the technology was degrading over the years of exposure to the moon's radiation.
It made sense why the estrelds didn't use the technology themselves and kept their planet isolated.
Their queen, whom they called Almder, has maintained her desire to avoid diplomats that have found their way out to the far reaches of the galaxy.
"It's almost ready. The krelins have already took trade ships full of Ordin without supplying the hewve lard, nectar, or rekol rock. They are changing trade demands, and your Almder may not be planning for an invasion, but one will come. They act like this planet is already theirs."
My breathing hissed out in more of a wheeze as I made sure another satellite was finished for launch around the moon. I assured myself it had nothing to do with my frustrations at the Almder's lack of action. The net circuit was almost completed.
"She's right, I can finish this up," the young male named Loric said with a stoic demeanor.
He was a serious sort of youngling but had advised with the Almder on my behalf to make this defense system a priority.
"Almder told me that your room was designed to repel the moon's radiation.
You'll shrivel up into a worm if you stay out here much longer. "
"That is an exaggeration," I assured him.
"You still promise that you won't return to the great rock if you train me in combat?" Loric lifted a brow ridge at me as I scratched at my dry scalp scales.
"The only rock you're returning to is the one where you remind our offspring that she is not to moon bathe on the tarnpul anymore.
She is as stubborn as you are," my treasure complained, though I could hear the way her tone changed like her mouth was smiling as she said it.
Hazel's green skin had been fading over the years, starting where the loh on her feet were removed, turning pink.
Less and less radiation was being converted by her delicate loh jewels, which made me wish to work faster to protect her.
As strong as she was, she would not be able to fight as she used to.
Another surge like she gave her father could be her last.
"Yes, the tarnpul is dangerous when not treated properly," I agreed.
"I'll remind her that tarnpul can drain radiation as quickly as it gives it if she isn't careful.
" I returned my attention to the blue jeweled estreld, only half my size, yet so grown up.
"You can train with Faith. You two are the same cycles, and perhaps you can remind her of the dangers of untreated tarnpul. "
"She made my whole arm go numb last time," Loric complained.
"All the more reason to train. It's best to avoid the tincture oil near her scales, and it'll better prepare you for defending yourself against krelin musk."
"How am I supposed to win if I can't touch her?"
"A krelin's musk is only useful in close proximity.
They use their wings to blow it into your face before it can dilute itself within the air's radiation.
They must be close, just like you must touch the oil for it to numb you.
You're still young, but there is no shame in using tools to even a duel. "
I handed him the tarnpul pole I carried around, it was treated to repel radiation, and the boy flinched as he grasped it, but he didn't drop it.
He nodded and pressed the button on its center to collapse it to a smaller stick the size of my leg, larger than his own small frame. It would grow with him.
He still seemed confused by the gesture, and I smiled at how he still maintained his composure.
He'd be a fine warrior one day. "If it repels the radiation around it, then it can be swung to deflect a krelin's musk.
It also makes sure that when you are training, you are not relying on your loh's radiation, but on your own strength.
It gives you an advantage that you can train to defeat someone without your loh, while others will struggle to do something they have not yet trained for. "
"Are you trying to kill Almder's favorite youngling?" Hazel interrupted my guidance for the youngling from my implant, that had yet to break the communication connection.
"He won't die from holding tarnpul, and he can train to hold the pole and stop it from interfering with his loh, just as our daughter should do before she goes moon bathing again."
"Remind him that he shouldn't carry it with him all the time.
Only for training. He still needs the moon's rays to be healthy and grow strong, and if you've given him your pole then it would repel too much of the radiation from reaching his loh.
I'll go to the market to buy another one for you.
Ezra won't be pleased that you've given it away. It was a gift, you know."
"Now, it is still a gift," I dismissed her worries. We both knew that living on Estreldez was difficult for my species, and like my time in the deserts of Trillume, I was seen as a savage by much of the clan that knew of my existence.
"Almder says that the net you're building could damage our moon's ability to fuel our planet's rocks with nutrients," Loric said while flipping the condensed pole up in the air and failing to catch it when it returned to the ground. He frowned and tried again.
"To create something is an act of destroying what it was before. Even this tarnpul we've used to build these satellites, will never be the same. For you to live, there are rocks and plants that are ground up into mulch. If the krelins attack, then it is a price your planet will pay to survive."
"They will," Loric grunted about the krelins, as he thrust the pole forward like it was a sword.
"They already have," I corrected him. The ships that sent trade between our planets were no longer under Estreldez control.
Our moon's filled up the ships for less and less in return each time they arrived.
The trade routes were turning more into a tribute to keep them from invading than a real source of benefit for the planet and the clan.
When I arrived back to the dwelling on Bina's outpost, I found my treasure scrolling through code on her screens.
And then a voice filled the room from the speakers, "The samples you gave me have been processed.
You were right, the water supply from the mountain is clean, but the waterfall has arnut root growing on the rock wall behind it.
Half of our water supply comes from there. "
"Even so," Hazel said with a shake of her head, "Arnut root must be crushed to activate, and it would be in the rock wall itself. It would've had to fall from the wall, exposing the roots to the water, and not in high concentration. It doesn't add up."
"Yes, the trace amounts found at the waterfall shouldn't have been enough to cause the miscarriages. We have a team carefully removing the arnut from the wall without further contaminating the water. We'll dig up some of the tunnels to do some more tests between the falls and the clan."
"I am not the only one in need of a break," I whispered into her ear as she jolted a bit from her chair at my quiet approach.
"Great moons!" she yelped.
"Hazel?" the scientist from the labs questioned with concern.
"I'm fine," she huffed out. "Take care of my sister."
"The Almder's pregnancy is progressing nicely. It's the last of your father's seed and if it weren't for you, the princess may never have been given a chance. You know the Almder asks about you often…"
My mate sighed and wrapped her hand behind my neck to pull me against her. Her head nuzzled into my neck for strength. This was hard on her to keep her distance, but our daughter wasn't the only stubborn one on this moon.
"It isn't about us anymore, is it?" she finally said, the message not for me, but for her mother.
"Tell the Almder that the net is functional as it is but still has some blind spots to fix.
There is a risk of using it too soon and a link failing.
A link failure could result in pulling too much radiation too fast from the planet's surface.
It is better to allow the radiation net to slowly fuel itself without directly drawing from the moons or the planet. "
"You can tell her yourself," they replied.
"I don't plan on using it at all, my son," the Almder spoke from the speaker, having been on the call, it seemed, the whole time.
"You will have need of it," I said with measured words to keep my temper in check. Why allow me to build it if she won't use it to defend her planet?
"It is nothing more than a warning. A show to keep the krelin from overstepping again.
My hope is that they see it and decide to waste their efforts in trying to dismantle covertly, while we continue to repair it as quickly as they decide to push their limits.
This game will keep them busy enough while we train our clan to defend itself.
Loric is one of our most promising offspring.
I'll have a team assigned to monitoring the moon net, and a lab built on our largest moon to keep up with maintenance. "
"A show is only as powerful as its performance. A sign won't tell the krelins anything," I muttered through gritted teeth. I would have to discuss our options to leave Estreldez if the Almder wasn't willing to defend my mate and my lifeborn. My daughter, Faith, would see war if the net went unused.
Hazel's fingers massaged through my scales, and I felt the heat in my veins quickly shift from agitation to something that required this communication to end immediately for more enjoyable endeavors.
"There is great risk in using the net," Hazel reasoned, her voice soothing despite my disagreement of how to protect this planet. "At least, the risk is greater when it hasn't had enough time to safely accumulate a radiation field."