Chapter 30 #2
It was Ikar who finally spoke, his voice so flat and controlled it could only belong to someone fighting very hard not to lose composure. “You think we look alike?”
Lily stared at them as if they had just asked whether a burning star emitted heat.
“Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
The astonishment on her face was almost comical. When she finally found her voice, it came after a brief hesitation.
“Maybe the differences are obvious to you, but I don’t see them.”
A heavy silence stretched between the three Divani males as they exchanged glances, then turned back to Lily.
“Look, I’m sorry if that came off insensitive or something.”
Another beat of silence.
“Lily,” Aros began at last, sounding properly mournful, “I’m not even sure how to say this…
the truth is, even our own mother couldn’t tell me and Ikar apart when we were children.
And now that Khar has finally shed that ridiculous ‘I am so dominant my coloration must advertise it’ phase, he looks exactly the same too. ”
“The strongest in the galaxy,” Ikar chuckled quietly.
“Allegedly…” Aros finished, clearly repeating an ongoing joke between the three of them.
Aros paused, grinning, waiting for Lily’s reaction.
His satisfaction did not last.
Her eyes flashed, and she lunged after him.
“You were teasing me?”
Ikar and Aros bolted out of the medical bay in a heartbeat, leaving Lily no chance to catch them. Khar did not even consider running. He knew that if Lily was serious, all three of them would be reduced to defeated prey within moments.
“Et tu, Khar?” she accused, brown eyes full of mock betrayal, still impossibly adorable even when furious.
“I have no idea what that means,” Khar said, “but I accept the punishment.”
Her wicked smile made him question his choices.
“First we eat. Then I deal with you.”
“I know, Lily. That is exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Khar wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and they walked toward the common area, where his two cowardly brothers were already lurking.
The moment Lily entered, they dramatically leaned away from her as if she were a fearsome predator. Lily laughed and waved them off, only for them to recoil with exaggerated terror.
Khar had never imagined how much joy it would bring him to see Lily among his brothers like this, fitting in as if she had always belonged.
If he survived the experience, he might even thank them.
Eventually.
No need to rush that far ahead.
Lily generated a generous plate of her favorite foods from the ship’s synthesizers. She looked so sweet and innocent that Khar immediately began plotting how to trick his brothers into eating something blisteringly spicy, just as Lily once tricked him.
They would never see it coming. Her disguise was far too perfect.
Khar’s scheming was cut short by Ikar’s voice.
“Lily, at some point you will need to give a report to the authorities.”
Khar’s eyes flashed, dangerous, but Lily didn’t seem surprised.
“Yes. Honestly, I’m shocked it’s taken this long. But I suppose with Horos dead and the Vitro recovered in one piece, the investigation lost priority.”
“What makes you think Horos is dead?” Aros asked.
Lily froze mid-bite, caught off guard.
“Aros. You broke his neck.”
“Yes. From the neck down he was paralyzed, but I did not kill him. That would not have been useful. As long as he stayed alive, he remained a viable target for the Colossus. It bought us time. I only disabled him so he could not move.”
“You’re telling me he was lying paralyzed on the floor while the Colossus tore the ship apart around him? Completely helpless?”
For the first time since their arrival, Aros looked almost remorseful. It lasted two heartbeats before he lifted his chin and met her eyes.
“I’m sorry if that frightens you, but…”
Lily cut him off.
Her laugh was so eerie that Khar felt every hair on his body rise. It was terrifying, edged with the faintest shimmer of madness.
Khar adored it.
“Frightens me? Aros, I don’t think anyone has ever given me a more beautiful gift. He got exactly what he deserved.”
She didn’t need to explain. All three Divani understood enough about what Horos had done to understand why she sounded like that.
Lily shrugged and continued as if the topic were hardly worth the oxygen.
“Yes, then I suppose they’ll need my statement. What should I expect?”
“Well, Horos switched off the Vitro’s internal cameras after he…
” Ikar cleared his throat, discomfort visible even in his rigid posture, “…after he attacked you. So you won’t need to recount that part, since there is verified footage.
They will ask about the time after, and they will especially want to know what happened with the smugglers. ”
“We already submitted our statements,” Aros added. “So for you, this is really just a formality. Since both of us hold senior rank within the Divani Constabulary, no one questioned anything. You are the victim, so it is entirely up to you how much you share.”
Lily snapped her head up and stared at Aros.
“Wait. What did you say about Helios? Where is he now?”
The three brothers exchanged a look heavy with meaning. They radiated masculine satisfaction, but Ikar looked the most pleased with himself.
“He’s here on the ship. Completely drained, so he’s recharging.
We had to hide him. Under IMPERIUM law, any surviving Colossus must be destroyed immediately, but Helios can no longer be separated from it.
So it’s possible we destroyed the protective shell it was found in, along with the defective parts it removed from itself, and launched the fragments into space.
The authorities only needed to see that to stop asking questions. ”
The Divani straightened, unmistakable pride in his posture. He had clearly been the architect of the deception.
“I thought Horos being arrested would be the best news of this chrono-cycle” Lily said, “but I was wrong. You are my new favorite relative, Ikar.”
She hesitated only a heartbeat before giving him a warm hug. Ikar stiffened, startled, then returned it awkwardly but gratefully.
“Hey!” Aros barked.
“Hey!” Khar echoed.
“I helped too!” Aros protested, trying to wedge himself between them.
The moment Khar saw what he was attempting, he hooked a clawed hand into Aros’s collar and yanked him back, only releasing him once Lily let go of Ikar.
“Thank you,” Lily said, her voice softer now. “Truly. Helios saved me, and he was my only companion when I traveled alone through space without knowing anything about the universe.”
Her words sobered the room instantly. Then she asked the question that mattered.
“What will happen to Horos?”
Ikar and Aros looked at Khar, silently electing him to answer.
“If it had been up to me, he never would have made it into official custody. But these two paragons decided this was the perfect moment to grow a spine. So he is with the IMPERIUM Constabulary. They will treat his injuries. The evidence is overwhelming. He is charged with the theft and attempted sale of a high-value vessel and, far worse, with the abduction of a sapiens under protected status.”
Lily frowned.
“But my two chrono-years are up. I’m the same kind of IMPERIUM citizen as you. I pay taxes and everything.”
“Yes. But the IMPERIUM is particularly sensitive about species rare enough to be at risk. You fall into that category. They want to stamp out any trade involving sapiens beings.”
“I see. So what can he expect?”
“For crimes on this scale, either partial or total asset seizure, many years of compulsory public service, then rehabilitation. Usually a significant portion of the species’ natural lifespan spent in confinement.
We can’t say exactly how much Horos will get, but he won’t take a single step outside an IMPERIUM camp for at least twenty chrono-years.
And those camps are not pleasant places.
He will need extraordinary luck to leave one alive. ”
Khar folded his arms, making it abundantly clear how little he approved, but Ikar and Aros showed no concern.
Lily looked lost in thought.
Khar wondered what was happening in that quick human mind of hers. She often tried to map galactic concepts onto Earth equivalents. A logical instinct, though not everything translated cleanly.
“So basically forced labor under conditions designed for profit,” Lily said slowly, “where the workers get ground down?”
Aros grinned. Given the topic, it should have looked wrong, but the smile was for Lily.
“Exactly.”
Khar felt they were drifting into dangerous waters. Lily was compassionate. For a heartbeat, he worried she might pity Horos.
That creature did not deserve sympathy.
“It’s not all that different from Earth,” Lily said, “except back home everyone is exploited by a tiny elite, so honestly, thank you, I’ll take IMPERIUM laws any day.” Her eyes widened. “Though I am just the tiniest bit concerned about what happens when they find out that WE ARE HIDING A COLOSSUS!”
All three Divani flinched hard at her sudden volume.
None of them had seen the outburst coming, but at least they recovered quickly enough to talk over one another in frantic reassurance.
“Lily, no one will find out,” Ikar began.
“We planned it while you two were regenerating. Helios just needs to reshape himself, but he can do it,” Aros added.
Khar silenced both with a growl.
“Lily, I have been avoiding IMPERIUM inspections for chrono-years, the same way Vegrun avoids the desert. I would stake my life on our ability to hide him. You need to apply for a new central intelligence core for your ship, but only after we disguise Helios properly.”
Khar’s tone finally eased the tension in Lily’s face. The rigid worry that always surfaced when the IMPERIUM was mentioned softened a little.
“I suppose the sooner I get the hearing over with, the better,” she said. “Then we lay low until attention shifts elsewhere.”
“You don’t need to worry,” Ikar assured her. “It probably won’t even be an investigator. More likely an automated program. Like we said, it’s a formality. You contact them when you’re ready.”
Aros attempted an encouraging pat on Lily’s shoulder.
Khar growled.
The pat instantly became a long, gentle, and most importantly non-intrusive stroke down to her shoulder blade.
Khar considered overturning the table onto his brother’s head. Aros, wisely, retreated before Khar made a decision.
“If we’re already on the topic,” Lily said, eyes bright with mischief, “Ikar, Khar, Aros?”
“Do you want to ask something else?” Ikar said, cautious.
“It’s nothing, really. Just a thought.” Lily paused.
“There’s an old Earth legend about a boy who lived long before humans learned to fly with machines.
He built wings out of feathers, wood, and wax.
He could fly, but when he got too close to the Sun, the heat destroyed his wings and he fell to his death.
People use it as a warning that being too curious, or too reckless, leads to disaster. The boy’s name was Icarus.”
The three Divani listened attentively.
Then they burst into loud laughter.
Lily stared at them, baffled and slightly offended.
“I get that it’s not literally about you, but I do hope we’re not tempting fate with all of this.”
Aros managed to pull himself together enough to answer.
“Lily, don’t take it the wrong way. It’s just that it feels like you can see right through us.
During our coming-of-age ceremony, we wanted to do something together, so we chose to fly a glider without an AI around the Hatur star while it was in near eruption.
Fine. Khar was piloting the glider, Ikar was remote-controlling from a distance, and I flew alongside in the escort craft, but the story might as well have been written about us. ”
“It seems to me you let Khar take the spotlight during your ceremony,” Lily joked.
Khar’s surprise was palpable, followed immediately by the snickering of his siblings.
“That gargantuan hornbearer was so occupied with his role and his glory that he didn’t realize we were exhausting ourselves to protect him too,” Aros chimed in, with Ikar solemnly nodding in agreement.
Khar could not believe what he was hearing. His irritation slowly bled into quiet appreciation as he began seeing his brothers in a new light.
“Well,” Lily said, turning to Ikar and Aros with unmistakable expectation, “since we’re sharing…”
Khar felt dread explode in his chest.
“You can make up for teasing me earlier by telling me all of Khar’s youthful mischief,” Lily said sweetly. “The things he does not want anyone to know.”
Khar tried for calm, but his blood went cold.
“Lily, that is completely unnecessary,” he began, hoping to steer the conversation away.
Lily silenced him with a look.
“Don’t be shy, Khar. I said you would get your punishment.”
Aros and Ikar pounced with the joy of starving ferish bear-beast offered fresh prey, each trying to outdo the other in tearing open the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Lily had handed them.
Khar felt strongly that prisoners of war received more ethical treatment in the Legion than whatever was about to happen to him now.
Oh Cradle, have mercy.