Chapter Twenty-Two Corrina
I sit in my office staring at the doorway in silence for several minutes after Zann leaves.
Never in a million years would I have guessed that he, that they, might want to stay here at the base or on the station.
I glance down at my desk, where my tablet sits with the names of possible vessels that I thought might be able to take the haleens home.
It is a short list – captains who I trust cross-referenced with routes that might pass near enough to Gyria to make the detour.
I even have a message composed and ready to send.
I chuckle to myself. I won’t delete it yet, but it makes me smile to think that I might not be saying goodbye to these strange males for a while at least.
The council, mostly Vertage, accused me of being overly friendly with the haleen males.
Maybe he was right if the idea of them staying brings a smile to my face.
But I can’t bring myself to feel even remotely bad about it.
Krish, Davix, and Zann are interesting and obviously intelligent creatures.
Beyond that, though, there is something about them that just seems to draw me to them.
I don’t even know if I could put a name to it, but it’s a feeling that isn’t completely foreign.
It’s the same thing that happened when Curran and I first met in the academy – a sense of knowing that someone belongs in your life.
I chuckle to myself. Curran and I spent so much time together at the academy that most of our peers were convinced we were sleeping together.
I mean, I guess it’s true that sometimes we would crash in each other’s rooms, but there has never been anything beyond friendship between us.
Most of the rumors died down after he met Yuva, but there were still times when Curran would tell me about someone asking him if it was really okay to ask me out.
Usually, he would tell them no out of spite – he figured that anyone who wasn’t ready to talk to me directly wasn’t good enough for me anyway.
I shake my head to clear that train of thought.
The important thing now is to figure out a way to get the haleens to be able to stay either at Kapoor or Azaris without having to foot the bill for their room and board myself.
I can probably justify a couple more weeks of IPC covering their expenses as the hearing on Lianov’s death wraps up and others start going, but after that people may start to talk and wonder.
And the last thing I need is more accusations about being too friendly with them, especially if they are hoping to serve in IPC.
Although speaking of being friendly, I think I need to find out what Krish meant about a female wanting to breed with them.
???
“Sex ed videos?” I ask, as I lean against a cot in the med bay. Ryder grimaces at me. “That part was my idea. Wenschel was the one who wanted to talk to them about sex in the first place.”
“Because people wouldn’t stop asking me about them!” Wenschel retorts.
“Are you normally in the habit of being an intermediary for people wanting to hook up?” I ask jokingly.
“Commander!” Wenschel exclaims, before putting her face in her hands.
“As a medical professional, I thought it would be prudent to bridge the gap between species. And I didn’t,” she hesitates before glancing at me and lowering her voice.
“I didn’t want there to be an incident over a misunderstanding if someone got a little forward with them. ”
“What Wenschel is trying to say is that she didn’t want to treat Kendrick or Jonasson for slash wounds if one of them tried grabbing Krish’s ass,” Ryder supplies.
“It is objectively a nice ass,” Curran chimes, strolling into med bay. “Got a minute, Commander?” he asks me.
“Yeah, one minute,” I reply. “All teasing aside, I think it was probably a smart move to talk to them about it. But it sounds like it isn’t going to be an issue.”
“I guess not,” Wenschel says. “Anatomically, there seems to be reasonable compatibility, but it sounds like they are largely asexual except for procreation.”
I shake my head for a second. “Back up a minute. You’ve examined them for compatibility?”
“Not like that,” Wenschel protests. “It just came up,” she adds.
Ryder snickers. “I mean, I DISCOVERED it while doing other scans. WE discovered it. Ryder was here.” I make a hand motion for Wenschel to elaborate.
“Haleen males have an appendage similar to a human penis. It’s stored in like a pouch or slit of something in roughly the same place as a human penis.
But it’s not like I’ve seen it, except for in scans.
” She glares at Ryder. “And it’s not like I was looking for it – we were just running some full body scans. ”
“But it doesn’t sound like any of them are interested in sex with humans, or at all,” I confirm.
Wenschel nods. “And I assume you’ve shared this fact with Kendrick and Jonasson and anyone else who has asked?
” She nods again. “So as interesting as this information might be from a medical and scientific perspective, it’s effectively a non-issue, right?
” A final nod. “Right. That’s good enough for me,” I say and then turn to my second-in-command. “What’s on your mind?”
“Walk with me,” he says seriously. With a nod to Wenschel and Ryder, I stand up and follow my sergeant.
“Vertage is making a lot of noise about his innocence and about how he’s going to get even for what he’s calling a conspiracy against him,” Curran says softly.
“He realizes that saying he’s going to get even just makes him sound more guilty, right?”
Curran shrugs. “Vertage was never the brains of the operation,” he continues.
“And Halstern?” I ask, referring to the other councilor who was taken into custody.
“Claiming he didn’t know anything about any illegal activity, despite all the evidence that was presented in the hearing where he was serving. Also, not the brains of the operation.” Curran scoffs.
I chuckle. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? The mental giants in holding who are awaiting hearings?”
“Not exactly,” Curran says. He stops and looks down at me. “Vertage’s threats bother me. I don’t know why. It’s just a feeling.”
“You’ve notified the guards on the haleens?”
“Yes, but they aren’t the target of Vertage’s threats,” he says seriously. “You are.”
I start to laugh and then realize that Curran isn’t. “Come on, Curran. We both know it’s not the first time I’ve been threatened by someone we’ve taken down.”
“I know. But this feels different. And there was the whole incident with the poison. Just promise me that you’ll take care of yourself.”
I nod. “I always do, but I’ll be careful. Not that I ever really leave the base,” I say with a shrug.
“Except that Krish wants you to take him out to explore Azuris,” Curran says sternly.
“You think Vertage hopes to catch me unawares while I’m being a tour guide? Or is that you are worried that spending time with Krish and the others will make it seem like Vertage is right about me being too friendly.”
“I’m just worried about your safety. Full stop,” Curran replies.
“Okay,” I say, nodding. I know my good friend wouldn’t say something unless he was really worried. “I’ll keep an eye out,” I assure him.
Curran glances around to make sure that no one is around and then pulls me into a tight hug.
“Proud of you,” he murmurs. “Proud of what you’ve accomplished.
” Then he releases me and stalks away. I clear my throat and wipe my eyes before heading back to my office, but there’s a little extra skip in my step when I do.