Chapter Two
Birun checked her scan results and smiled. She was a match. He didn’t particularly crave a consort, but he wasn’t foolish enough to dispose of one.
She was small but up to species averages.
He had watched the entry into the tank and saw the way she braced while she purged her lungs.
She had wanted to get to the healing portion of the program and knew what to do with the mask.
That was impressive. Normally, the bots had to put the cycler over the mouth and nose to get the subject stable. She had done it herself.
Her files made for interesting reading, and when the call went through, he looked up and saw the gold features looking at him. “Hello, brother.”
“Overlord Birun, what has woken you?”
“A peculiar ship had to take refuge here, and it has your fingerprints all over it.”
Nebel looked at him with his eyes full of stars. “Where is the pilot?”
“The passenger is in a tank. She got some cold exposure, but she is alive and in pretty good shape.”
A voice behind Nebel said, “Is she okay?”
Nebel reached out and pulled his consort onto his lap. “She’s fine. Well, she’s in a tank, but she is recovering from cold exposure. Birun, this is my consort and breeding partner, Lily. She is the same species as... Trin.”
The consort was the same gilded colour as Nebel with the piercings that his people favoured. She looked like a small, wingless Hmrain.
Lily waved. “Hi. Trin is a friend. If we hesitate, she recently changed her name. Very recently.”
“What was it before?”
“Will. The same as her father and grandfather.”
“But she is female.”
“Hence, the change as soon as the last family member was dead.”
Birun nodded. “So no one to upset.”
“Correct.” Lily smiled.
“Are you sure you are the same species?”
Nebel laughed. “They go beyond compatible. They are malleable. Our nanites work on their biology and physical aspects. They don’t only fit, they change.”
Lily laughed. “And we have little Hmrain hybrids with higher concentration rates and cute little wings.”
Nebel grinned. “Ours is with his nanny.”
Birun blinked. “Really? How long have I been asleep?”
“Three hundred and twenty years. You linked to my systems about fifty years ago.” Nebel smiled. “That is how I know you were waking.”
Birun nodded. “I am still waking up. I wasn’t expecting a guest.”
Lily paused. “Does she still have the program with her?”
“Boss? Yes.”
“So... you have noticed...”
“That he and I share a vocal pattern. Yes. Apparently, Trin enjoys listening to it.”
Nebel snorted. “That is an understatement, but I am sure you will figure it out.”
“Why does Boss keep mentioning that she was a caretaker?”
Lily smiled softly. “She kept her grandfather alive while our world was dying. She stepped up for him and got him on an exit shuttle. She helped him navigate the Education Station and go through testing that astonished the administrators. She helped him adapt to life on Nebel, and she was at his side each and every day until he passed. The moment he was gone, she left. I don’t think she has ever been on her own before, and while it may be exciting for a while, I think she is going to feel alone and vulnerable in very short order.
Bear that in mind if she goes a little crazy. ”
“So, having had a weight removed, she will jolt suddenly.”
Lily beamed as if he were a child. “Exactly.”
Nebel chuckled. “Based on his expression, you have insulted him. Off you go, love.”
Lily snorted and pointed at the screen. “You had better be nice to her. She’s a good friend.”
When the female had left, showing that her back was covered with nodes for some kind of accessory, Birun looked at her back. “What are those for?”
Nebel grinned in triumph. “Her wings. I designed a set for her, and she flies with me regularly.”
Birun blinked. “So, she truly adapted to you.”
“Yes. Their world suffered a catastrophic asteroid strike. There is no going back. They also were one of Ra’s favoured worlds, so the Education Station had to refund their bonds.”
“So, she is not available for a contract?”
Nebel grinned. “Funny you would say that. I just happen to own her bond for her programming services.”
Birun smiled. “So useful.”
“Yes. She thrives on being useful, but she feels that is her only purpose.”
“Helpful.”
“Yes, but if that purpose is taken, she does not feel she has a reason to live. Lily doesn’t acknowledge it, but I have seen the signs. The moment she cannot work, she will begin degrading. If that happens, send her back to us. We can keep her busy.”
Birun looked at the intriguing arrival. “I will do my best to occupy her. If not, I will call you and send her back.”
“The ship she arrived in will bring her back. She just has to step inside.”
Birun paused. “That sounds like a threat.”
“It is a promise for her safety. You do not need to worry about discarding her.”
“Why are you so focused on this?”
“You have been known to leave a displeasing consort out in the snow, two to their deaths.”
“They were tributes who begged for death, so I obliged them.” Birun frowned. “There were only the two.”
Nebel exhaled. “They were not consorts?”
“Just tributes. They wept when I got near them and kept chanting that they were contaminated by leaving their homes. So... I gave them what they asked for.”
Nebel nodded, and understanding was in his eyes. “You have Pericoffs?”
“They are one of my species. Are Urthers delicate and weepy?”
“They start out delicate, but they change rapidly with focused bonding.” He grinned.
“Lily has forearm and hand prosthetics, and she broke my arm on our first meeting. I was accidentally strangling her at the time, but I just wanted to get her closer to see the curve of her lips and the furious sparkle in her eyes. She recovered, and we made a contract. This species is exceptionally sturdy. The ones who survived had to go through trials, and it shows.”
Birun perked up. “May I have her files?”
“Of course. They are only partial as we are now understanding that she and her grandparent were a working unit. She designed, he built, and she programmed. Together, they made some nanites that are ideally suited to each application with programming locks that bind them to purpose.”
“Nice. That is useful.” He glanced over at the woman in the tank again. “She is waking early.”
“Call me with any questions. She and Lily are very similar. They can adapt to anything as long as they know what is being asked of them. You might want to offer her your consort protocols.”
“Ah. Yes. Thank you for the briefing. When I saw the vessel she arrived in, I knew just who to call. And Boss told me. It is rather disconcerting to hear my own voice. He is constantly amused.”
Nebel laughed. “Yes. If people around her are smiling, they are less of a threat, so she makes sure that she keeps everyone cheerful if possible.”
“Has she been assaulted?”
“Nearly all of the survivors have, but I believe there is a reason that she was so close to her grandfather and not her father. I believe he was the violent one. Trin did not say while she was with her grandfather, but she is very aware of her environment and anyone new who walks into it.”
Birun kept his gaze on the woman who had begun to move her limbs slowly. “Noted. Thank you for the chat. It has woken me up considerably.”
“Call at any time. She is a friend. She also knows she’s consort class. That will not be a surprise to her.” Nebel grinned. “We have an agreement for her to contact us every three days. I expect her to hold to it.”
Birun nodded. “That will be possible from here. Perhaps not so possible later.”
“Well, as long as you do what you can, I won’t need to come out and retrieve her.”
“Since when do you leave your world to travel?”
“Since I have a mate and a child, and friends among our kind. It has made me feel all kinds of social. We take the little one to visit other children for socialization, and I am rather enjoying it. The little wings get bigger and stronger every day.”
The soft and proud expression looked startling on Nebel, but it made sense now. Trin was related to his happiness, so Nebel would protect her.
Birun smiled. “I will talk to you in three days.”
“Excellent.”
“Show me the little one.”
“Of course. He’s amazing.” Nebel grinned. “Talk to you soon, Elder.”
“Three days, little brother.”
They nodded to each other, and the screen went blank.
Birun stood and walked over to where the woman was beginning to move in the tank. He stretched his wings out and looked at the creature that appeared to be too small for what his instincts wanted. Lily was a similar size, and Nebel did not have any hesitation.
He brought up information about Urth on his tablet. He stood and read about the asteroid, the two years of survival, and the species that had more per capita consort-class beings than ever before.
Looking up the addenda, he noted that the assessors had left genetics in the population, which had been found in survivors on the station. Those contributions had left distinct marks in the survivors that were now being scanned for.
He tapped on his tablet to see if she was one of them.
It wasn’t necessary, but it was good to know.
She was not. That made their connection easier.
He didn’t have fond memories of the assessors or the designers.
They had given him tolerance to cold and not much else of note.
He was the one who brought water to the worlds, and it was an arduous process. A companion would be just the thing.
Birun went through her history and noted a surprising lack of detail.
Normally, a psychic would have gone through her memory and added the details to the final file.
He glanced at her family file and found the details in her grandfather’s file.
She hadn’t been treated like a separate being.
She was a servant as far as the station had been concerned.