Page 20 of Dark Survivor (The Qaldreth Warriors #2)

Chapter Twelve

On Ceres

Orbiting the Planet Jupiter

Seated next to Drafe was the only opportunity Nenn had had to fire his questions at the male. They were en route to some dwarf planet called Ceres to investigate the contents of a pod they’d captured.

In his tribe and with the symbiotes, all knew who was mated to whom.

Here, in the wilds of outer space without the Qaldreth soil beneath their feet, Nenn could only hazard a guess what had happened between Drafe and Vic.

And if they’d shared…time together, then it had to have happened on the Lunar Base.

He leaned in and whispered to Drafe, “As a maed, I would like to know how the robotic creatures got into your body?”

Drafe glanced at him, his eyes brightening to a blinding yellow. “None of your business.”

“Fine, can you explain the face-latching to me?”

Drafe jerked back, his scowl turning ferocious. “The what?”

“Vaen and I observed the way the humans greeted each other.” Nenn glared, not prepared to demonstrate what he meant on anyone, especially not the crew.

“Kissing is what it is called.” A smile formed, changing Drafe’s demeanor to approachable though Nenn knew better than to push. “It is most enjoyable.”

“Oh.” Nenn stared at the moon’s marbled-gray landscape whizzing past.

“Laying with a human is worth it, if you get the chance.”

At Drafe’s words, Nenn’s focus shifted. “Thank you.” He grinned. So, Drafe had mated with a human female. “Does she have your symbiotes?”

“Yes, though she calls them organisms.” Drafe chuckled and turned his focus elsewhere, ending the conversation.

When Caah landed the shuttle miles from any civilization, they waited.

A frowning Aehort stayed seated, staring at the hovering pod in the center of the shuttle’s compartment.

Drafe rose and tapped his throat, activating his shield.

The crew did the same. Nenn lingered, choosing to trail Aehort Uz to where Vaen had pulled the pod meters away from the landed shuttle.

Its red exterior hinted at the danger within.

“The last one detonated after a few hours of breaking the seal.” Drafe met each male’s gaze through his shield.

“Work fast. Gather what information you can, and do not disturb me.” Aehort’s eyes rolled back when he splayed his palm above the capsule.

Vaen opened the pod, needing Caah’s help to do so. Inside lay a naked female. Nenn inched closer, intrigued by her unmottled gray skin. She could’ve died days ago. If he compared her to the humans on Lunar Base, parts of her were missing, exposing metallic bones.

“Mm,” Aehort hummed. “She endured great pain.” He winced. “Even in death, her cries for mercy fall on muted ears.”

“Her body has been enhanced.” Nenn ran his arm over her, scanning and recording details visible and unseen.

“Every inch, including her organs, has been altered. What remained human was removed.” He jerked back when he caught a glimpse of her five-fingered hands, so similar to a Qaldreth’s bone structure.

Caah frowned, shifting on his feet. “I do not like this. Some of her enhancements have been stripped from her.” He gripped the edge of the opening.

“The pod has been fitted with an explosive device. I would need to remove it for Gusin to study it.” He spun the holographic representation of the pod shining from his arm.

“If I hazard a guess, once the pod is unsealed, there is a time limit to reseal it before it explodes.”

Drafe stiffened as if preparing for battle. “That makes sense. If they have to open a pod, they need a bypass.”

“They expect these pods to be destroyed upon impact.” Vaen stroked a lock of her brown hair, though he’d feel nothing through the shield. “Why do this? Why not burn or bury the bodies?”

“Burying would require soft soil, a mine, or a cavern.” Nenn captured his conclusions on his arm.

The why was logical to him. The Borven searched for caverns to entomb their dead which often meant expeditions some didn’t return from.

Fire was the simplest solution if they had access to a crematorium.

“They would need immense fuel reserves.”

“This near to Jupiter?” Drafe gestured to the massive planet.

Nenn shrugged and deactivated his arm.

“Hydrogen gas is volatile, and mining it would be hazardous.” Caah ran his forefinger across the human’s skin.

Drafe lunged forward to peer at the female. “What the foq?”

Nenn hoped Drafe would explain his alarm. He didn’t.

“Place the sensors, Caah. Let us have done with this rock.” Vaen peered at the surrounding hills too low for Nenn to bother climbing. “We have an Ivoyan in the open.”

Drafe grimaced. “We wait for Aehort Uz. Spread out.”

Nenn marched to the outskirts of their circle, peering at the moon’s surface.

Massive craters showed much impact from passing asteroids or meteors.

Drafe stayed by Aehort’s side without moving or commenting.

A slight breeze tossed Nenn’s hair across his temple.

What about the female had shocked the arrak?

He studied his findings, noting the thin scars marring her body.

With his gaze on the horizon, he let his mind wander.

Aehort gasped then headed to the shuttle. Nenn kept his back to the pod until he could enter the shuttle.

“Caah Arrak, hurry,” Aehort Uz commanded, snapping Caah to attention. He bolted for the pilot seat and powered up the shuttle.

“What is it, Aehort?” Drafe asked but didn’t receive a response.

No doubt sensing the urgency, Caah pushed the engines to get them to the Aroagni faster.

Into the tense silence came Gusin’s voice through the language implant in Drafe’s neck. Nenn caught every word. “Drafe Arrak, we have a problem.”

Drafe tapped his neck to ask, “What is it, Gusin?”

Aehort’s head dipped from exhaustion, his skin mottling from orange to amber. “It has begun.”

Nenn unbuckled to run the med-dev over the Ivoyan, encouraging his remarkable physiology to self-heal faster. Qaldreths served the Ivoyans even when it was just a headache.

“We have collected a stranded human.” Gusin paused. “Ulvus Sava intends to interrogate.”

Nenn focused on Drafe. A human? Weak, vulnerable, and in Ulvus’s clutches?

“Foq. Caah, get us back now.” Drafe shoved past Nenn to thrust the level, shooting the already straining shuttle forward.

Caah laughed, steering as he ran his fingers over the control, issuing commands to the full-pulse engines. “The bay is prepped for landing. Ulvus Sava has the human trapped near the airlock.” He landed with a solid thump.

“I will return to my quarters.” Aehort rose to his feet with a nod to Nenn then Drafe. “No escort is needed.”

Nenn waited, not sure whether he should follow Drafe, who’d bolted before the ramp had lowered. If a maed was needed, Nenn would be summoned, but for now, he’d deal with the exhaustion aching in his shoulders. First, though, would be to assuage the lesser pain cramping his stomach.

Aware Gusin hovered, Nenn ordered his meal from the replicate in the galley. He took his plate of charred audinna and sank onto the bench. His steaming jar of usturo tisane perfumed the air.

Gusin sat opposite him and pinched a kurrula between forefinger and thumb. “What did you think?”

Nenn popped a strip of mushroom into his mouth. “About?” he asked while he chewed.

“The female in the pod.”

“Caah recorded her. What more do you need to know?” With sticky fingers, Nenn pulled his jar closer for a sip. He smacked his lips when the hot liquid tingled his tongue.

Gusin bit into his meal, the bones crunching. “She seemed young.”

Nenn paused. “Indeed,” he said.

“Any idea how she died?” Gusin licked his fingers clean before gulping his water.

“Heart failure. No other signs of distress, no injuries, just the parts missing from her limbs.”

Gusin slumped, resting his elbows on the edge of the table. “Good. I pray to Osnir that her death was painless.”

Nenn kept silent. Aehort had said she’d suffered.

“Vic, this is Giniiri aac Nenn Maed and Zuphayr aac Gusin Taed.” Drafe smiled at Nenn and Gusin, a human female beside him.

Nenn gawked, his mind reeling at having a human on the Aroagni . A pale-yellow braid draped over a shoulder. Her body was tiny, compact, but rippling with strength. She met his gaze with warriorlike boldness.

With an odd wiggle of her fingers in greeting, she sat next to Nenn, bringing with her a feminine scent so sweet, he longed to inhale it deep into his lungs. “Those are your names?”

Drafe laughed. “Your family name is last; our tribe name is first. Aac means from, and maed, taed, arrak, uz, and sava are ranks.”

Now, that is intriguing. Nenn glanced at Gusin who’d frozen in place, a kurrula hallway to his mouth.

“This is a military ship.” She gestured to their armored pants then chuckled. “You’re so colorful. Is there a significance to your red and blue hair and matching eyes?” She smiled at Drafe when he set water, tulsig cakes, and garak before her.

“Each tribe has a color. None know why.” Nenn grinned, delighted to have met her. He tore another strip off his audinna. “That’s the Giniiri in my name.”

“It also means from which clime we stem.” Gusin finished the last of his kurrula. “Giniiri is the volcano tribe. Zuphayr is where the sky meets the water.”

“And Meorri?” She hesitated to eat a tulsig cake, but when she did, she moaned, her eyelashes fluttering. Thinking her in pain, Nenn almost pulled his med-dev from his pants. “This is so good,” she said, gazing at them, honesty in her expression.

When Drafe didn’t react with any alarm, Nenn released a breath and carried his empty plate to the disposal. “Drafe is from the desert tribe.” He gripped Drafe’s forearm then left, eager to research kissing now that he’d met a living human female.

His room, dark and hot, was reminiscent of his home in Erasril.

His bed was like a rock ledge, but the indoor waterfall instead of a pool he’d had to get used to.

At least he could set its temperature to scorching, which he doubted Caah did.

The ceiling was speckled with fake venai stones, mimicking the formation of stars above his beloved volcano.

He stripped off his pants and boots, setting them in alcoves in the ‘rock-hewn’ walls.

Exhaustion pressed on him. The day had been eventful, rattling his perceptions of the universe he barely knew.

Change and death were life’s constants, yet he hadn’t expected both to be so swift and impactful.

His father had gone from a hug to the fire, forever altering Nenn’s course.

They’d abandoned a dead human on Ceres and returned to a live one in their ship.

He stepped under the water, hissing when it engulfed him in heat. Tilting his face to the spray, his thoughts circled to Vic. He hadn’t expected her softness or her core of controlled strength. Something niggled. He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing his mind. What was it?

His breath caught. Vic had the same hairline scars as the female in the pod.

No wonder Drafe had reacted with shock. Not all humans carried the same scars.

Did that mean she had hidden implants? Nenn itched to scan her and study the results.

How did her body handle the robotic creatures and symbiotes? Was she exhibiting symptoms?

Judging by her and Drafe’s exploits, humans and Qaldreth were compatible, but could she bear children?

Did Aehort know any of this?

Nenn scoffed. An Ivoyan, even an uz, had intelligence far beyond a mere Qaldreth’s understanding. Aehort had steered them well thus far, his insights phenomenal. Nenn deactivated the spray, rubbed his body with a towel, then sprawled on his bed. He tapped his tablet and typed in the word ‘kiss.’

Streams of video footage showed acts of kissing, their varieties, and for the most part, how to do it. His gut tightened when a female swirled her tongue into a male’s mouth. He’d never seen the like.

And as Osnir was his witness, he wanted to try this kissing with every fiber of his being.