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Sitting and enjoying the appetizers while the food was under a heater nearby was peculiar. Generally, Ula ate as soon as her food was hot.

“So, what do you think of our little facility?”

Darthuun munched at one of the vegetable and cheesy appetizers.

“It looks well organized, and I can hardly wait to play with some of the designs that I came up with today.”

Deniir blinked. “Damn. I forgot. Just a moment.”

He disappeared into his quarters and emerged with a flat screen. He slid a stylus out of the side and settled next to her on the backless couch she was sitting on.

He ran through a quick tutorial, and when she started to make notes, he nodded with approval. “You catch on quickly.”

“Well, I am reading this in Gaian, so it makes it easier.”

She bent her head and made a few more notes.

When Darthuun’s laughter reached her, she looked up and blinked.

“I don’t understand. What was funny?”

Deniir’s cheeks took on a darker colour. “Nothing. My father is simply very old and rather insane.”

She looked back to the data pad and flicked through until she saw what she was looking for. A Gaian Guide to the Nine.

She flicked past the other members until she found the mating habits of the People of the Light.

Her hands tightened on the data pad, and she heard it protest her grip. “I see. So, I am not reading this in Gaian. I am reading it in Nine Common.”

Darthuun was still amused. “Apparently. I have been speaking our tongue to you since you arrived this evening. My son seems to have invaded your mind.”

“My speech centre, certainly. I did wonder why all the engineers were so easy to understand when Deniir had made it clear that they hadn’t learned Gaian yet.”

“It is understandable. I didn’t know, nor did he, that a bonding could happen with casual contact.”

Ula frowned. “We haven’t had any contact. Not even a handshake.”

Darthuun blinked. “Really?”

Deniir nodded. “Really. Ula made it very clear that she was aware of the dangers of contact with our kind, and we maintained a circumspect distance.”

Darthuun frowned. “That is unusual, but her ability to use your linguistic skills is proof that there is a bond.”

“But, the bond will be broken when I return home, correct?”

Ula’s voice was firm. She wasn’t leaving room for anyone to disagree.

Darthuun shrugged. “I do not know. I have never heard of a spontaneous link in the last five generations.”

Deniir rubbed the back of his neck. “This is going to require some research.”

Ula frowned. “Should I stay somewhere else?”

Both men said, “No!”

She jerked back at their vehemence. “Um, okay.”

Deniir spoke more calmly. “I mean, it would be awkward for you to be in the home of a mated couple, and that is the only safe place for you right now.”

Ula was about to say something, but Darthuun got to his feet. “Dinner is ready. You have to let it rest or all the juice runs out when you cut into it.”

Ula shrugged and rose to her feet, lifting the hem of her gown as she crossed to the dining table.

Deniir held her chair out, and she settled carefully on the narrow-backed seat. When Deniir took a seat to one side of her and Darthuun took the other side, she had the feeling that she was the guest of honour.

Dinner passed as each food was described and a small portion was put on her plate. She used the eating prongs in the method that Deniir showed her, and soon, she was making inroads into the food that Darthuun had so carefully prepared.

“So, Ula. How long have you been a designer of the useful and fascinating?”

She blinked. “Since the Tokkel raids. When the first scout landed, a friend of mine was injured and that was when my mind sort of split and the images started to appear.”

Darthuun blinked. “Not before then?”

“There were a few small creations before then but nothing on a truly useful scale.”

Deniir spoke quietly, “You mentioned that your parents had passed on.”

Ula focussed on her meal. “They were taken in one of the first Tokkel ships, along with twenty others that we can pinpoint. They are presumed dead.”

The two men with her paused. Deniir asked, “Didn’t any of your people go looking for them?”

She snorted. “We don’t have space technology yet. There was no way for us to find them, and by then, the other attacks started and they were simply casualties of the Tokkel.”

Deniir winced. “Of course.”

Silence fell and Ula took pity on them. “Don’t fret about it. It isn’t something that most people know. Even on Gaia, everyone forgets the first few to disappear.”

“Do you think that they could still be alive?”

Darthuun’s tone was soothing.

“I doubt it, but anything is possible. If there were a way to find them, I would be on it immediately.”

She blinked. “Do you have gene trackers?”

Deniir blinked. “Only for short distances.”

She lifted the data pad and scribbled more notes for the morning before she tucked it back under her chair. “I apologise, but I wanted to make a note to look into the gene trackers.”

Deniir nodded with a smile. “As long as it doesn’t involve fire suppression, I will help where I can.”

She snorted. “I don’t think fire suppression will be needed, but there may be some propulsion required.”

He chuckled and inclined his head. “May I add that you look lovely this evening. That gown suits you.”

“Thank you. The ways of buying clothing amongst the Nine are peculiar, but I am sure I will adapt. Dinner is wonderful by the way.”

Darthuun blushed and his feathers fluffed up. “Thank you. Your compliment is well received.”

She sipped some of her beverage and nibbled on a few more morsels from her plate. It was a good meal, but then, any meal she didn’t have to make for herself counted in the plus column.

She asked Deniir, “How is it that your wing can be used as a weapon? It looks so soft.”

Darthuun looked at his son, “Yes, how are they used as weapons?”

“Well, there are tendon struts that stiffen when we need to defend our . . . friends or family. We can spike an opponent to the wall, using the tip of the wing as a stabbing weapon and the flexibility inherent in the rest of the wing makes it a multi-directional weapon.”

“Ah, that would explain it.”

She smiled, and she placed her eating prongs carefully on the edge of the plate. A yawn was inside her, trying to get out. She blinked furiously trying to stay awake.

Deniir suddenly noticed. “You are tired. I am so sorry. I am a horrible host. Please, get some rest.”

“Is it all right? I mean, I could help with dishes.”

“Go and rest. Tomorrow, we intend to work you until you fall asleep at your workstation.”

He winked at her and inclined his head.

She rose to her feet. “Thank you for a lovely meal and interesting conversation, Darthuun, Deniir. I am going to do some homework and then get some rest.”

Ula slipped past them and headed for her room with the data pad in her hand. She had some research on the bonding of the People of the Light to do. Finding out that mates shared a mind across distances was something that scared her. No wonder Darthuun was so calm at leaving his wife. They were still inseparable.

Ula rubbed her forehead. She didn’t feel different, but then, she hadn’t felt first contact with Deniir either.

She shook her head and made notes on a gene tracker coupled with a Tokkel tracer. If she could find the parts, she might be able to locate the retreating Tokkel who might still have some Gaians on board. It had been years, but there was still a chance that there were marks in space that would allow the lost to be found. It was so thin a chance as to be ephemeral, but she had to take it.

Ula was going to make a tracking beacon, and if there were any of her people out in space, she would know. She would finally know.