Chapter 3
IRIS
The sun was setting over the valley by the time we returned to the village, painting everything in shades of amber and rose.
I’d been hoping to retreat to my assigned quarters, but instead I followed Sophie and Vash to her quarters, which had been set up with a table and chairs for meetings.
Vash stepped inside before me, looking like he was done with social interactions for the day, but had accepted his fate. Baleck came in behind me.
“Sit, please,” Sophie said.
I sat. Baleck took the chair across from me. He looked relaxed, like being called to meetings with diplomats was just another normal part of his day.
Sophie folded her hands on the table. “Iris, you’re here as part of our security detail, but you’re also an intelligence operative. Your observations and assessments are valuable to this mission.”
“Understood.” I kept my posture straight, professional.
“Baleck has chosen to stay on Destrani for a time as a cultural liaison. He’ll be helping facilitate communication between our delegation and the D’tran.
” She glanced at him with questioning eyes, as if she’d just remembered that he wasn’t a subordinate.
“You’re uniquely qualified. You understand both Destran and D’tran perspectives, and you’ve already established relationships within the settlement. ”
He folded his arms and cocked his head. “True.”
I wondered where this was going.
“I am hoping you could partner with Iris for a time,” Sophie continued.
“The two of you communicated well together at the pod crash site, and think it could be valuable for you to team up. Baleck, you’d introduce Iris to D’tran customs, help her navigate the settlement, provide context for what she observes.
” She turned to me. “In return, Iris, you’ll provide security assessments and help him understand human protocols. ”
I opened my mouth to object—I didn’t need a babysitter—but Sophie’s expression told me this wasn’t a request. For me. All Baleck had to do was tell her no.
Baleck looked at Vash. “You don’t want to do it?”
“Stars, no.” Vash looked like he had endured about all the humans he could for today. “I just arrived myself. And I lack your charm, my boy.”
Baleck shrugged. “I’m happy to do it, if Iris is.”
I wasn’t sure I was, but again, my opinion wasn’t a factor in this. Sophie was who I reported to, currently. “How long?” I asked instead.
“Indeterminate,” Sophie replied. “For as long as you’re both here.”
I nodded, annoyed, but orders that annoyed me were not uncommon. “Understood.”
Sophie stood. “Good. I’ll leave you two to work out the details. Baleck, why don’t you give Iris a proper tour of the settlement? Help her get oriented.”
And just like that, I found myself partnered up with him.
We both stood and left Sophie’s quarters. I sailed past him, but once we were outside I turned to him. “You didn’t have to agree to that, you know.”
He blinked at me. “Why would I refuse?”
“Because you’re not under her command,” I replied. “You don’t need a partner. Neither do I, for that matter.” I added that last bit with some heat, but if he was offended, his colors didn’t show it.
“I’m happy to be your partner, Iris,” he responded.
“Why?” I asked before I could hold it back.
He looked perplexed for a moment. “Iris, I don’t need to be ordered to spend time with you. I find you interesting and smart, and we’re already going to investigate that thing you saw out beyond the mountain, so why would I refuse a request that I would have volunteered for anyway?”
I did not understand this male. At all. My lips flattened. “I would have preferred it if you had refused.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” But he smiled when he said it, taking the edge off. “Come on. The evening light is perfect for seeing the valley properly.”
I followed him away from Sophie’s quarters and into the settlement proper.
The D’tran moved through their routines with practiced ease, as the evening brought the time of rest and socialization to the people here.
I could hear people calling greetings to each other in their melodic language.
The smells of cooking food wafted on the air.
Baleck walked beside me, not too close but near enough that I was aware of his presence. His height, the breadth of his shoulders, the way his skin shifted colors as we passed different groups of D’tran.
“The settlement is organized in a circle,” he explained, gesturing to the layout. “The central area is for communal activities—eating, gathering, celebrations. Living quarters radiate outward. The guest quarters where you’re staying are on the eastern edge.”
I already knew this, as I’d mapped escape routes and defensive positions when I first arrived.
“That building there is the healing center,” he continued, pointing to a structure with curved doorways. “Erith runs it. She’s the one who set Mierva’s broken bone after our crash.”
We walked further. A group of children ran past, laughing and chasing each other. One of them called out to Baleck in D’tran, waving enthusiastically. He waved back, smiling. Did all Destrans smile this much?
“Popular with the kids,” I observed.
“They taught me a lot of the D’tran language. Not many adults had the time, but children absolutely adore teaching adults, and they’re not as afraid of people who look and act different. Also, they like anyone who sneaks them extra sweets.” He glanced at me. “Do you like children?”
“I don’t know any.” The truth came out before I could stop it. “Never spent time around them.”
He didn’t push, just nodded and kept walking. But I felt his attention on me, curious and gentle.
We reached the stone wall that surrounded the settlement. He led me to a section where the wall had built-in steps leading to the top. We climbed up, and suddenly I could see the entire valley spread before us.
It was beautiful in a harsh, post-apocalyptic way. Evidence of the storms that had ravaged this place was everywhere—broken rock formations, deep gouges in the earth, scattered debris. But green was returning. Plants pushed through the soil. Water flowed in the channels. Life persisted.
“This is why I stayed,” Baleck said quietly. He stood close enough that I could feel warmth radiating from his skin. “Not the destruction, obviously. But the rebuilding. Being part of something new growing from something old.”
I looked at him. The fading sunlight caught the amber tones in his skin, made his eyes almost glow. He was staring out at the valley with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Hope, maybe. Or determination.
“You don’t miss being on your Sola?” I asked.
“Sometimes. But Solas are enclosed. Predictable. Here there’s sky. Land. Different scents every day, depending on what’s blooming or cooking or changing with the weather.” He turned to face me fully. “Don’t you ever want something different from what you’ve always known?”
The question hit closer than I liked. “My work is what I know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
He studied me for a moment, his skin shifting through thoughtful purples. Then he smiled, small and understanding. “Fair enough.”
We stood there as the sun sank lower, painting the sky in impossible colors. I should have felt exposed up there, vulnerable. Instead, I felt almost…peaceful. Which was ridiculous.
“How would you like to go about investigating that gleam you spotted?” Baleck asked eventually.
“Meet me tomorrow morning at 0600 at the storage supply outbuilding my people set up before they left,” I said.
“Six hundred hours tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll pack supplies for a full day. Water, food, basic emergency equipment.”
“Weapons?” I asked, because that was an obvious one.
“If you think they’re necessary.”
I thought about the too-clean metal object sitting on that distant ridge. The way it didn’t fit with the storm-ravaged landscape around it. The implications of something arriving here, now, when this planet was just beginning to emerge from its long isolation.
“They’re necessary,” I said.
He nodded once, accepting my assessment without question. Maybe there was more to him after all.
“It’s a date.” He said it casually, but something in his tone made my pulse jump.
“It’s reconnaissance,” I corrected.
“That too.”
We climbed down from the wall and walked back through the settlement. The sky had deepened to purple, and lights were beginning to glow in windows. Cooking fires sent smoke curling into the air, carrying scents of roasting vegetables and spices I couldn’t identify.
“Are you hungry?” Baleck asked. “The communal hall serves the evening meal soon. You’re welcome to join.”
“I have rations in my quarters.”
“That sounds deeply depressing.”
Despite myself, my lips twitched. Almost a smile. “I’m used to it.”
“Being used to something doesn’t make it good.” He stopped outside the guest quarters. “The offer stands. Any evening you want actual food instead of compressed nutrients, you know where to find me.”
I should have said no. Should have maintained professional distance. But I found myself saying, “Maybe.”
His skin brightened to warm golds. “I’ll take a maybe.”
He bowed slightly and walked away. I watched him go, noting the easy confidence in his stride, the way D’tran he passed greeted him warmly.
I went inside and ate a ration bar in my quarters. It tasted like cardboard and regret.