23. Chapter 23
Time to rest and heal had been rare in Marissa”s career and she was determined to take advantage of whatever time she could. She had almost a solid twenty-four hours before someone came looking for her. Most of it was spent cuddled up with Cooper, both of them asleep or resting quietly, with occasional interruptions by members of her team with food or news.
It took longer than she”d expected for someone to come with a summons to the Base Commander”s office after the ”guests” arrived. They”d managed to find replacements for most of the uniform pieces that had been lost and a set of civvie clothes that almost fit Cooper.
When he”d protested that he”d prefer to wear a uniform, Marissa had gently reminded him that he wasn”t there as a spy any longer, but as a representative of his people. It had made him visibly uncomfortable and she wondered if he”d ever spent much time out of uniform.
The walk to the office was slow but less painful than she”d thought it would be. Moving her head too fast would still make it throb but she was less light and sound sensitive than she”d been the day before. She knew some of that was Cooper doing whatever he could to shield her from pain.
Her memories skittered away from the other things he”d shielded her from. She”d deal with those eventually. After they were past the immediate crisis.
Maybe.
Her team was walking with her to the office, on unofficial and self-appointed guard duty, and John opened the door to the Commander”s office for her.
Marissa took a step into the room and stopped abruptly. Cooper stopped just short of running into her and hissed in pain with the weight on his still-healing toes.
”Major, come in,” the Base Commander said from behind his desk.
”Sir,” Marissa started and glanced over at the lizard woman sitting in one of the visitors chairs.
”I understand you”ve met Ae-cha Da,” he said. ”She approached us with an offer to help.”
The lizard woman stood and faced Marissa and she could feel Cooper bristle against her back. She put her hands together and bowed.
”I deeply regret the misunderstanding that led to your mistreatment in our home,” she said. ”It is my hope that any help I can offer would make up for it in some small way.”
A derisive snort came from further into the room and she realized there was another lizard man. Marissa couldn”t decide if she just hadn”t noticed him at first because her attention had been taken up by Ae-cha or if he had some ability to blend into the furniture.
”Sir, I don”t think I”m qualified to comment on whatever offer has been made,” she said.
”On the contrary, I think you”re uniquely qualified to comment,” the Base Commander said. ”Though I acknowledge the difficulty you might have in doing so. Most of what”s coming next is above my pay grade but we have immediate concerns that need to be addressed and I would like your input.”
”Yes, sir,” Major Ozark said and stepped further into the room. She took a chair by the unknown lizard man as it was the one furthest from Ae-cha. Cooper stood behind her left shoulder and she could feel his determination to keep her safe.
The small room felt very unbalanced and she got the feeling that nobody really liked Ae-cha very much.
”Since you”ve met Ae-cha Da already, I”ll introduce our second visitor. This is Zoric. I understand your people don”t use surnames?”
Zoric nodded. ”We”ve adapted some of our naming conventions to the humans we”ve encountered but our history has not been conducive to creating surnames. We have other methods of distinction which aren”t relevant and would only serve to confuse.”
”Do you use historic names,” Cooper asked. ”Or are you using an existing database?”
”A little of both,” Zoric said with a nod. ”I am named for one of the first of my line to land on this planet.”
”Hmm,” Cooper said.
I will want to talk with him after this is over. That is not a name covered in glory on my planet.
Marissa acknowledged his message but didn”t respond.
”Where did you come from, Zoric?” she asked.
”We had moved our home recently to a complex of caves under the American Midwest, just past the mountains known as the Appalachians.”
”Where were you before that?” Ae-cha asked, the suspicion thick in her voice.
”We moved regularly,” Zoric said. ”But usually near or under mountain ranges.”
Ae-cha hissed.
”While there is obviously tension between the two groups,” the Base Commander said. ”and I can”t pretend to understand the details or the history, I would like to remind both of you that you”re here because you offered to help. And we became aware of your presence because of malfeasance on the part of at least some of your people.”
Zoric nodded and Ae-cha looked like she was going to protest but thought better of it.
”Now, with that reminder, I would also like to discuss what you”ve come here to offer,” the Base Commander said. ”As I have a limited understanding of what you”re capable of, I would like Cooper to give his input about what”s a reasonable request.”
Am I the lesser of three evils?he asked Marissa, amused.
”I”m happy to be of service, Commander,” Cooper said out loud. ”My first priority must be to keep my mate safe, however, so I will be biased against anything that will put her in danger.”
”Understood, Cooper, thank you.”
”I”ll be honest,” Zoric said. ”Now that I have the option, I am loathe to put any human mate at risk. And that”s part of what I want to offer, though it comes with a request.”
”You are not in a position to request anything,” Ae-cha spat. ”The number of women we”ve rescued from you over the years proves you have no respect or understanding of what it means to be with a human.”
”You”re going to want to shut up, now,” Marissa said quietly.
Zoric nodded. ”We have had a change in management recently which has resulted in a change of circumstances. My personal offer is an explanation of some things that have previously been hidden, along with maps and codes to the areas that I have. Some of my men have offered to act as scouts and guides.”
”That”s an awfully big offer,” the Base Commander said. ”What do you want in return?”
”We”d like our women back.”
Everybody started protesting at once until the Base Commander held up a hand to request silence.
”What do you mean you”d like your women back?”
”Just what I said, Commander. It was brought to my attention that many of the women who have been ”rescued” from my people over the years have died after having the mate-bond broken. We would like to learn how to court human women and have those who are still alive and willing, return to their mates.”
”You realize that a lot of them won”t want to return, right?” Ae-cha asked with a sneer.
”I realize that a lot of them have died from being removed from their mates,” Zoric said. ”And a lot of my men have died or gone insane from loss. If there is any chance to save any of them, I would like to try.”
”Which is why you want to learn how to court human women,” Marissa said.
”To better manipulate them,” Ae-cha scoffed.
”To unlearn centuries of training, culture,” Zoric said. ”We”re not bad people, Commander. And we have a unique opportunity to change.”
”I can”t promise anything, you understand, but I”ll do my best,” he said. ”And you, Ms. Da. What is your offer? And your conditions?”
Ae-cha shifted in her seat. ”We”ve already been helping select groups of humans retrieve women who have been captured and tortured by other enclaves we are aware of. As I don”t have the authority to speak for those who are involved with that, my offer is obviously more limited in scope. The first is to return anything on the captured ship that does not belong to its pilot.”
Cooper shifted and Marissa could tell he wanted to protest but waited.
”The second is to offer my services, and those of several others in my calling, to help those who have been abused by their captors. I understand there was an attack earlier by someone who may have been compromised by one of the other factions. I could help identify how they were compromised and, though I hate to promise, might be able to figure out who.”
”And what are your conditions for this help?”
”Something I think aligns with your own goals,” Ae-cha said. ”It”s simple enough and with the information we”ll be providing you and the technology from your new allies, I honestly don”t think it will be much of an imposition.”
”They can”t help you break into the systems on my ship,” Cooper said, his voice cold enough that Marissa was surprised frost didn”t form on the desk.
Ae-cha waved a hand in dismissal. ”We have no need of their help for that. There”s so much of your bio waste in our cells, we”ll be able to get through your locks soon enough.”
Marissa had to make an effort to stop grinding her teeth. She hadn”t liked Ae-cha from the beginning but the attitude was starting to annoy her.
”You”re holding my property hostage for what?” she asked. ”Because the things that are in the ship that aren”t Cooper”s belong to me or the Orvax. I imagine the Orvax are going to want their communicator back.”
”We”re willing to return it to you once our concessions are met,” Ae-cha said. ”If the Orvax don”t want to wait for you to agree to our conditions, they”re welcome to open their own negotiations.”
”And those are?” the Base Commander asked.
”Nothing, really,” Ae-cha said. ”Honestly, some of your people are already helping with this. It would just be an official backing at this point, maybe with a few more resources, a more coordinated plan.”
I don”t like the way she”s dancing around this,Marissa told Cooper.
I don”t either.
”Anything official beyond immediate needs like food, water, hygiene, will have to go through official channels,” the Base Commander said.
”Your assistance in getting the official authorization, then,” Ae-cha conceded. ”Though I don”t think it”s going to take much once we”ve made official contact through our ambassadors. And I do need to make sure that we”re the first enclave to make official contact.”
”I think you might have someone who”s working a little ahead of you,” the Commander said with a nod to Zoric.
”Oh, I have no doubt they”re working to make contact but we”ve had ambassadors ready to present themselves since the moment the Orvax made official contact. It”ll only take a phone call to let your people know that mine are friendly. Most of the other enclaves aren”t and have proven it by conducting raids on human settlements for centuries.”
”And what do you want from us once you”ve proven your friendly?” the Base Commander asked, his tone showing how frayed his patience was getting.
”Help us destroy the other enclaves.”
”No.” Zoric leaped from his chair.