Page 11

She turned slowly. Irul hovered in front of the opening, cooing softly, her nose half buried in the wall. The cooing became chittering, which became whistling. She turned and flew to perch on her shoulder and she watched, wide-eyed, as several small shadows emerged.

They clung to the cave wall and shook before they crawled in different directions. Five, no, six shadows separated from the mass and one by one, the shadows fell. Baby versions of Irul stared at them with eyes in heads too big for their tiny bodies.

Razili looked on in horror as a seventh stumbled from the opening and fell to the cave floor.

She gently cradled it in her hands, but she knew there was nothing she could do.

A puncture wound marred its small chest, and its head lolled on its neck.

She smoothed a finger over its head and told it nonsense in whispers broken by her sobs.

She knew it died when the rest wailed in unison.

Razili turned to Calyx. “Why? Why would they do this?”

“I don’t know. We have to go, Razili. The one I chased seemed to communicate before I dispatched it. They will know we’re here.”

She nodded and laid the small body gently on the floor.

The other babies returned to their den when what she assumed was a parent swooped into the cave.

She turned to leave, but Irul’s screech stopped her.

She was once again hovering near the opening, one leg buried in the cavity.

At first, she thought she might be stuck.

Then she drew her foot out. It was covered in a bright purple substance.

The same color the walls had turned when struck.

She flew to Razili and stuck her foot in her face. She dug out a collection jar and scraped as much of the substance from her talons as she could. He went to the trouble to get it, get her attention, and then shove it in her face. It had to be important.

As soon as she’d stowed the vial in her pack, Calyx grabbed Razili’s arm and towed her from the cave. Their exit was much faster than their entrance, but Irul kept up, whistle-clicking as they went to keep the bioluminescence lighting their way.

With each step, his nanites helpfully recalculated their odds of reaching the ship without Scozid intervention. When they reached the cave entrance, he picked her up and sprinted.

He slowed when they reached the edge of the small clearing concealing his fighter. “Stay here.”

She nodded and he began a perimeter sweep. He found nothing disturbed. It looked like they’d manage to get off planet with no more trouble.

He was walking up the ship’s rear ramp when he heard Razili gasp. He turned around to find his worst nightmare—Razili, being held by a Scozid who had a knife to her throat.

The same knife he’d plunged into the Scozid’s body a few moments earlier. How it survived was anyone’s guess. Usually, a pierced outer layer made them pop like a balloon. This one was still intact—mostly. There was fluid leaking from the stab wound.

If he kept it busy, maybe it would collapse from loss of fluid. He didn’t intend to wait and see. He held both hands up, palms toward the squid as he trudged back down the ramp.

His nanites translated a series of hard knocks . “Under Scozid law, you are both to die. It is forbidden to kill an individual.”

Interesting. He chose not to point out that if it’s forbidden to kill, a death sentence shouldn’t be allowed. He suspected that applied only to non-Scozid.

“You will come with me now.”

His eyes flicked to Razili’s. She was looking from him, down and to her right, and back to him. He glanced at where she was looking and saw her hand nearing the stab wound. He gave her an imperceptible nod.

She grabbed the edge of the wound and yanked with all her strength. A shadow swooped from behind and Irul’s sharp talons sank into its flesh.

The Scozid popped, sending a gush of fluid over both Razili and Irul. She gagged. Irul chittered happily.

Calyx grabbed her arm. “Time to go. Now.”

Irul tried to follow them, but Calyx shooed him away. “You need to stay here, where you belong.”

Irul clicked his talons together in Calyx’s face and hissed at him. Calyx shrugged. He didn’t have time to deal with a reluctant pet. “Suit yourself.”

As soon as he and Razili were strapped in, he hit the thrusters. The fighter climbed through the atmosphere, pinning them to their seats. They broke into space and found themselves in the center of a group of Scozid fighters.

“Hold on.”

In the corner of his eye, he saw Razili brace against the back of the co-pilot’s chair and close her eyes.

Irul locked her talons to the back of her chair.

His fighter was smaller and faster than theirs.

He maneuvered it through the crowd, using their targeting systems against them.

As they lined up to take a shot, he would swerve and send their bolts into another of their own ships.

He managed to move them closer to one of Dunia Prime’s moons. After taking out two more Scozid ships, he ducked behind the moon, engaged the cloaking mechanism, pointed the fighter toward Denchui space, and pushed the thrusters to their limit.

He didn’t let up until they were well out of sensor range.

“Are we safe?”

He scanned the monitors. The lack of Scozid presence didn’t ease his vigilance. “No, but we’re out of range and moving fast toward Alliance space.”

“Okay.” Her voice was small and he could see the guilt she shouldered.

“None of this is your fault.”

“If I hadn’t attacked them in the cave—”

“Then those babies would all be dead.”

“But we could have finished the mission. We wouldn’t be running back with our tail between our legs.”

“You have all the cave samples to test. Don’t give up, yet.” He sniffed and smirked at her. “But do go take a shower.”

She laughed. “They really do reek, don’t they?”

“Their insides do, for certain.”

“That’s à propos, isn’t it? They’re evil. It makes sense for their insides to be rotten.”

She shuffled into the shower and he turned his attention to the avian perched on the back of her chair. “Go with her. She’ll feel better with your presence.”

Irul cooed and flew after her. Calyx shook his head. Irul was proving to be just as protective as Cora’s preuvret. She had even attacked the Scozid for her. The human’s pets were almost as famous as they were, and now he understood why.

He felt it himself, this overriding need to shelter and protect his rhun .

Razili’s tablet chirped, and Calyx swiped his finger over the screen. Cora’s face appeared.

“I can’t hold him off… oh, Calyx. Where’s Razili?”

“In the shower.”

“You need to come back. Kiran has called for a search party to go after you. They’re preparing to launch.”

“We are returning now.”

Cora visibly relaxed. Then to someone offscreen, she said, “Go get him.” In moments, Kiran’s face replaced Cora’s.

“What is your position?”

Calyx rattled off the coordinates and their ETA.

“Were you successful?”

“Unsure. Razili has several untested samples. We made a rather hasty retreat.”

Cora shoved him out of the way. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine.” He smiled. “It was actually her that caused our need to flee. She rather impressively took out an entire cadre of Scozid.”

“Razili?”

Calyx nodded. “She is quite fierce.”

“But… Razili?”

Kiran eased her aside. “Did you gather any tactical intelligence?”

“A bit, but I’ll need to wait for Razili’s analysis before I can say what it means.

” He glanced toward the back of the fighter.

“I can tell you they’ve developed a substance that removes all organic material from existence.

We watched it literally turn fertile soil with thriving plants into barren earth. ”

“Stars. A substance like that…”

Calyx nodded. “And then I watched Razili’s compound bring it right back to life.”

Kiran closed his jaw and nodded. “I’ll make sure her lab is fully outfitted and waiting for her arrival.”

“She’s not to be disturbed.”

Kiran glanced to the side, where Calyx assumed Cora stood.

“Understood.”