Page 16 of Ava Stargazer (Planet Xai #2)
Vox was anxious to get back home, but their shuttle was not scheduled to leave until the next day. Things like departure times were regimented here, instead of just coming and going whenever they wanted to like on Xai.
Iryl took them through the main halls, to a gathering area of sorts where others were eating. “Here, now that the meeting is done, I’ll show you around.”
The board sprawled, with multiple lounges and gathering places open for business. Vox had a moment where his hearts pounded, feeling the pressure of so many different smells from food vendors, and so many different species pressed in around them. I don't give Ava enough credit. Anything new like this is overwhelming.
Vox stepped to the side where he could, grateful for having Iryl’s framework, but still silent as he absorbed what he could. Under the pretext of getting a drink, the team stopped and lingered in a common area. They took a seat in a corner of the communal hall, in an area where they could easily observe the other species coming and going. His eyes flitted up to the sign. “Is this the one where Iryl’s memories had the bartender being bribed by the Tuxa? To poison his drinks? Some of the scenes run together.”
Lirell answered as Iryl went to go get the drinks, “No. We haven't been back there. But that bartender left anyway, probably got paid for nothing.”
Iryl came back, his hands full. He put them down in front of the others. “Right, the Tuxa are so obvious. Poisoned drinks. Even if I couldn’t read thoughts I would have known something was off from the way he was acting.”
Vox resisted the urge to close his eyes to focus, instead sipping the drink and opening his mind. So many species. The sharing that Iryl did earlier helped immensely for being able to place everyone. He fit more pieces into his mental map.
Iryl, for his part, was fascinated by their reach. “You can all pick up so much more than I ever could.”
“With practice comes more depth.”
“I can tell.” Iryl’s mental tone was laced with undertones of respect. “Let’s sit awhile, and let me see what you find.”
Vox sampled the aliens that came in and out. “And to think that there are other species like Ava out there that aren’t at this table at all. Maybe still left undiscovered.”
Iryl pointed out several important races as they came in. “The Galactic Board has several species that are more powerful than others. The original founders. Most contracts go through them, and since they were the first, the majority of technology goes to them first as well.”
He pointed them out. “The Decata is one such species, as tiny as they are. The Riolie. The Fira. The Phor are becoming more powerful, too.”
Rhutg frowned, drinking. “As long as they’re all breakable, it doesn’t matter who they are.”
“That I cannot tell you. ” Iryl gestured to the side, where two Haroo were gathered, their mop heads looking down. “There's different degrees I can get on all of them. The Tuxa are easy. Most of the plant-based ones are harder, same as others that have more minerals in their bodies. None are as difficult as the Haroo, however; I can get nothing there. Which is so odd, as nothing seems special about them biologically.”
Erox added, “Maybe they just don’t have anything to think about?”
Rhutg smirked, turning his focus on the Haroo sitting nearby. “I think that needs to be revised.”
Vox had a moment of shock. He couldn’t reach them, but he saw through Rhutg that he could get a vague impression of their thoughts. “That’s more than before. Not much. I doubt you’d be able to break one, but at least it isn’t a complete blank slate.”
Rhutg nodded, closing his hand in a fist that tremored from the effort. “All the practice really has expanded our capability.”
Vox frowned at Rhutg’s trembling hand before looking up. But the thing he now focused on was not the Haroo. It was the rest of the crowd. And the undertone that he could pick up underneath their conscious thoughts. The thread of guilt that in some that seemed ever present. “It is so confusing. They are all like Ava. Acting in a way where their thoughts say one thing, but they do another.” The universe definitely was different from Xai. It was a fascinating play since he could see the parts that were hidden. “How do they live in their own deception?”
Erox rubbed his face in thought. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could break them all and find out every secret they’re hiding?”
Iryl snorted. “Erox. I didn’t know you were that bloodthirsty.”
Erox fired back, “True war does that.”
Vox regarded his brother with amused eyes. “Really? Did you forget I've known you my entire life?”
“Iryl, didn’t you say there was a bartender ready to poison our drinks? Where is it; I’ll go get Vox one.”
Vox snorted, but the reminder of enemies here made him look inward, feeling for the same echo that Iryl had felt in his room when he found the camera.
Rhutg followed the train of his thoughts and answered before him, mirth over the drinks forgotten. “Whatever it is, there’s more of that mineral signature everywhere. Someone is watching the entire board.”
Iryl glanced around the room, as if that would make the cameras visible. “Fascinating how much more you can sense. I will have to be more careful, I can feel it now through you.”
Vox inwardly agreed and held his drink to his lips as he looked over the crowd, thinking on Erox’s more cut and dry view. Especially when a few of the bigger species like the Riolie came into view. The Riolie were remarkably beautiful, their crystalline bodies catching the light, though Vox noted they seemed to have a marked disdain for everyone around them. It is harder to read their thoughts too, with the mineral makeup of their bodies.
But then he caught thoughts from the others. Gentler creatures like the Decata. One of whom stood on a large stool to reach the top of the counter. The Decata counted his currency to buy a drink, stroking his long ears and whiskered chin in concentration as the credits here were foreign to him. He was debating what he could buy here to bring back home to his family as a gift.
And then, outside, was a group of the Fira, who were so happy to be somewhere the air was clean as they unfolded their many limbs and stretched their arms, which were covered in limp greenery, to the sun. A small family of them also sat on the terrace of the bar and were just taking deep breaths in with their siblings as they watched the plants sway in the breeze.
Even the Haroo, who Rhutg was tracking intently to try to glean what he could, was only thinking of the next charter ship they were going to be getting on. Vox had a pang of guilt, thinking of the contractors on the Phor ship that had gotten caught in the crossfire. Maybe we are in the wrong in some ways as well.
He thought then of the ones who ran the facility on Cipra that Ava referred to as the minders. After going through the memories Iryl had gifted him of the various creatures he’d seen, none matched her memories of a robed figure with sallow yellow skin. He tilted his head in Iryl’s direction and shared Ava’s memory with him. “Have you ever seen this form? It is what Ava remembers from Cipra.”
Iryl just shook his head. “Never heard of or seen it. Not every species visits or has an envoy here. I’ll keep an eye out for them, though. They don’t look pleasant.”
Vox sipped his drink again while watching the crowd. “Can’t be them either with the cameras then. Unless they are working with someone else.”
His mind spun as he worked through all the information. He then shared his thoughts with his brother, “Erox, I understand taking a hostile stance. Especially after all we have been through fighting for our place ... but ... I am beginning to see why diplomacy is harder than just remaining isolated on Xai.”
Iryl overheard and nodded. “Yes. The rest of these species aren’t as cut and dry as the Tuxa. Not all are bad. We had to fight for our place, but now that we have it, we need to think more on what to do.”
Rhutg shook his head. “Annoying.”