Page 6

“No. I need to call for more medics. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t ask you. Maklr and I can’t handle everyone on our own.”

“I can’t,” Nell protested.

“You can.”

“I…” Nell reached for her fallen tablet. “I’ll call for help.”

“Please.”

Her fingers trembled against the tablet’s screen. Three attempts later, Nell succeeded in dialing the code Charlotte provided. She sucked in a breath when Sovereign Giald himself answered the call.

“You’re not Charlotte,” he said, eyes narrowing. His regal features hardened. “This is my private communication code. How did you get it?”

“No.” Nell whispered, wrapping her free hand around her knees as she shrank into a ball on the floor.

“I cannot hear you,” he said. “Speak up.”

Nell brought the tablet closer to her mouth. “Wounded soldiers, Sir. Maklr and Charlotte need help.”

“How many?” The Sovereign’s brusque tone made Nell want to crawl into a deep hole and never come out.

She sucked in a deep breath and counted to three before she answered. For a split second, she debated with herself over answering the Sovereign’s question, and hanging up. A soldier cried in pain, and Nell knew she had to answer. It was the least she could do for the citizens of the planet who readily accepted humans. “Of the wounded?” Nell shook her head. “I don’t know.” She flipped the tablet and panned it around the chaos unfurling in front of her.

“I’ll arrange for off-duty medics to report.” The Sovereign ended the call.

“Charlotte has a direct line to the Sovereign.” Nell’s fingers trembled. “Why?”

Nell’s gaze fixed on Maklr. She watched him move from patient to patient, his expression neutral as he silently assessed the individuals before barking orders to Charlotte. He glided between wounded soldiers, head nodding as he gestured to the handful of able-bodied warriors.

Charlotte moved with certain movements, displaying more empathy than Maklr, taking time to caress the injured and whisper words in their ears.

The scene unfolding before her tugged at Nell’s heartstrings. She longed to get over her fear of the aliens. No, not aliens. Not all aliens were evil. She was the alien on this planet. These injured soldiers, Klagan warriors, were her people now. Rescuing more humans or other aliens from the Elodians likelycaused their injuries. Guilt formed a ball in her stomach. “I didn’t do this to the soldiers. It’s not my fault.”

Nell twisted her head away from the wounded. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the tiles. Although she was now clean, her dark brown hair hid part of her gaunt face from lack of a balanced diet. Bruises left behind by the Elodians had long since healed in the time she’d lived on Klaga. Her reflection showed a human woman, physically healed. Her mental health was another story. Tears welled in her eyes as she glanced at the shell of her former self. “I want to be whole again. I don’t know if I can.”

“I can do this.” Nell gave herself a pep talk. “They’ve given you so much. You’d be dead without them.”

“Nell, come here,” Charlotte called. “I need you.”

“I can’t.” Nell forced herself to stand. She watched as Charlotte wiped the hair out of a warrior’s face.

Charlotte mouthed something, but Nell couldn’t tell what she attempted to communicate. Nell pointed at the tablet and raised her thumb up. Charlotte threw her hands in the air, gesturing to her wrist in a ‘what time’ motion. Nell shook her head.

A haunting scream, one Nell recognized from dozens of the women she’d been held with during her captivity, escaped the soldier next to Charlotte. She shuddered, trying to shake the memory.

“Maklr, do something to calm him!” Charlotte screamed over the blaring sirens. “Bedside manners.”

“I’ve got my hands full.” Maklr wrestled with a soldier fighting against a sedative.

“Nell! There’s no time. Maklr’s stretched thin enough. It’s up to us.”

Nell shuddered. “I can do this. I am strong enough. I am healed enough.”

The warrior’s back arched, and he screamed again. Nell’s heart broke for the Klagan in pain.

Without any further thought, Nell sprinted from the safety against the wall. She raced across the rapidly filling space with incoming wounded on stretchers and portable regen beds. Her dark hair, now shoulder length, fluttered with her movements.

Words she overheard her first night onboard the ship that rescued her from an Elodian auction block echoed in her mind. “Humans are resilient. They rise to any challenge. What they lack in physical strength they make up with steel spines and willpower.”