Page 16 of Trusting Warik (Hissa Warrior #9)

Chapter 16

Warik

Although there were tasks he should be doing, Warik couldn’t leave Nisha’s side as she slept. When Shift first demanded they shove Nisha in the grow tank, he’d agreed because any hope was better than no chance. Then the hours passed with Shift only giving minimal answers. He’d sat staring at the tank absolutely sure he’d be pulling out Nisha’s lifeless corpse.

“How did that work?” he muttered, kissing the back of Nisha’s hand again. All the burns were healed. The only evidence left of her near-death experience was a faint darkening where the fatal wounds had been and most of the hair at the front of her head was singed short.

“How did what work?” Shift asked. One of the droids had never left the tank while all the other ones moved around the rest of the ship. Shift and her droids had done basic repairs and clean up after the accident, did food runs, and guarded the Diniki while Warik remained at Nisha’s side. Without the AI, the entire ship might’ve crumbled around him, and he would’ve never noticed.

Or if he noticed, he probably wouldn’t have cared.

“Warik?” Shift said as her droid nudged him.

“What?” he asked, never taking his eyes off Nisha.

“You asked ‘How did that work,’” Shift repeated. “What were you talking about?”

“You saved her with a grow vat,” he said, pressing Nisha’s palm to his cheek. “I didn’t think that would work. I’ve never heard of it being done.”

“Oh, that,” Shift said. “This is the first time it’s been applied, but the theory Mom developed was sound. I wish I could tell her it worked.”

“Would it work for diseases too?” Warik asked, thinking about the future. Natural born humans were prone to all kinds of diseases. He needed to know the vats could protect Nisha from them too.

“Maybe,” Shift said. “But I can’t think of any disease that would affect Nisha.”

That comment finally brought him out of his daze. “What?”

“Decanted humans almost never get diseases, and Mom took a lot of time developing Nisha’s DNA. She should live a long and very healthy life.”

Warik bolted up from the hunched potion he’d been in and turned his entire body in his seat to look at Shift. “Nisha is not Decanted.”

“Yes she is,” Shift argued.

Warik pointed to her neck. “There’s no Decanting scar.”

Shift managed to make a derisive snort sound through the droid. “By the time Mom grew Nisha, she figured out how to do it without the implants that make the scar. It turns out, the implants aren’t needed unless you want to accelerate the growth. Mom let Nisha cook for the whole nine months and Decanted her as an infant. No programing implants means no scar.”

So many emotions hit Warik at the same time that he wasn’t able to form a cohesive thought right away.

“How could you think Nisha was naturally born?” Shift asked with a static laugh through the droid's speakers. “Mom was in her nineties when Nisha was born. I mean, humans live a lot longer now but that’s still awfully old to be having a live birth.”

“I hadn’t thought it through,” Warik admitted in a mumbled voice as he hunched back down over Nisha. “Her birthdate was in the records we got from Earth Government. Knowing that, it would be obvious that any child Nisha’s age had to be Decanted.”

They remained silent as he processed this new information.

“She’s Decanted,” he repeated as he gazed at her face.

This changed everything and nothing at the same time. If she wanted, they could have kids together, but did he want children? Could he handle being responsible for such a fragile life?

Could he risk becoming attached to more than one person and survive?

What if other Hissa found out she was Decanted? They would all vie for her attention. What if she picked someone else? They’d been having sex regularly since Valkavin station and there were no mating marks. What if she wanted to have kids, but he wasn’t the Hissa her body was compatible with?

Should he even tell his fellow Hissa that she was Decanted? They’d never know, and perhaps he could keep her to himself. It would be selfish, but he’d spent his life working for his species. Didn’t he deserve a little happiness?

Or did he deserve nothing because he was the reason she almost died?

So many questions and no answers.

***

Nisha

This time, waking up was much more pleasant. She was breathing air, there was nothing attached to her face, and she could sit up with no trouble. Drawing her covers off, she put her feet on the floor and looked around the cot. Both Warik and Malk were asleep on either side of her. Malk was lying on the floor, and Warik was hunched over in a chair.

The position looked so uncomfortable she worried he’d wake up in pain. Standing up slowly, she checked herself for any dizziness or pain but felt fine.

“Hey, you need to lay down,” she murmured, nudging his shoulder.

Warik’s eyes popped open, and he grabbed her with both arms. Jumping to his feet and holding her tightly to his chest, he pivoted in place as if looking for a threat. Nisha’s face was squished against his chest, making it impossible to talk. Breathing wasn’t easy either! Her arms were pinned to her sides, so she couldn’t smack at him. All she could do was kick her feet, but her bare toes were no match for Warik’s tough body.

“Calm down, warrior,” Shift said. She could hear the sound of a droid rolling close. “There’s no threat. Maybe you should let go of Nisha so we can check her over?”

At Shift’s words, Warik jerked and suddenly released her. She wasn’t ready for it and started falling to the floor. Warik was quick to catch her but this time when he lifted her up, he cradled her against his chest instead of squishing her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, staring at her with a frantic expression. “Why are you up?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she assured him and patted his chest. “I woke up and saw you asleep in a weird position. I wanted to see if I could coax you into laying down without entirely waking you up.”

“Tonight you’re both sleeping in one of the bunk rooms,” Shift declared. “No more camping out in the Decanting room. There’s not enough space even without all of you in my way.”

“I love you too, Shift,” Nisha said with a chuckle.

Warik sat heavily in the nearby chair and settled her on his lap. “How do you feel?”

“Completely fine,” she said. “You can go find a bed and get some real sleep. I want to check the grow vats and look at our orbit.”

Closing his eyes, he shuddered and hugged her against him. “Give me a moment, then we can get to work.”

She snuggled into him. “Take all the time you need, as long as it's not longer than five minutes.”

Warik didn’t laugh at her bad joke. “I never thought I’d see you alive.”

It was probably a blessing that Nisha didn’t remember what happened. She had no memories of any pain or fear, only waking up in the grow tank. Warik, Shift, and Malk were no doubt far more traumatized by what happened.

“How long was I in the tank?” she asked.

“Two days,” Shift answered. “Two very long, stressful days.”

How did you respond to that? “Thank you for saving my life.”

“Don’t do it again,” Warik commanded. If he were human, she’d say he sounded on the verge of tears. “I couldn’t live through that again.”

“I’ll try very hard not to get engulfed in a fireball,” she agreed.

“I’m going to buy a military grade biosuit for you,” Warik said. “You’re going to wear it all day and night, every day.”

“That might get in the way of things,” Nisha teased. “What about when we want to, uh, be intimate?”

“You can only take it off then,” he said, a bit of humor coming back to his voice. “But you have to put it on right after.”

“That’ll kill the afterglow,” she joked and this time Warik managed a small chuckle. It wasn’t much more than a huff of air, but it was better than his serious voice.

“Nisha?”

Warik loosened his arms so she could twist a little. On the other side of the cot, Malk was sitting up and stretching all four arms out. He looked worn out, but his ears were bright and perky.

“Good morning, Malk,” Nisha greeted. “Or is it afternoon? Evening?”

“It’s very early morning,” Shift said. “Go to the galley and get some food, then get back here. There’s a lot we need to do, and my droids can’t accomplish some of it.”

“I can skip the meal,” Nisha said and tried to get off Warik’s lap.

“No.” Both Warik and Shift said at the same time.

“Your body needs more fuel right now,” Shift said. “Eat at least one calorie dense nutra pack or I’ll lock you out of here.” The droid pivoted in place and pointed a grabber arm at Malk. “You have to eat too. You’re young and definitely not consuming enough calories.”

“Yes, Shift,” Malk said as he got to his feet and yawned.

“Warik, it’s your job to make sure they do as they’re told. I can’t have any of you keeling over because of low blood sugar or malnutrition, got it?”

“She reminds me of a commander I once had,” Warik said as he stood up with Nisha still in his arms. “Only Shift is more strict.”

“I’d like to walk,” she said as he headed for the door.

“But I want to carry you,” he answered.

“I promise you can carry me later, but I’d like to stretch my legs out,” she said. “My muscles feel tight.”

Malk was right behind them when Warik stopped in the middle of the hall and the Hakmin ran into his back, pushing him a little forward.

“Oh, sorry!” Malk said as he scrambled back and almost fell to the floor.

Warik carefully set Nisha down before turning to address Malk. “What have I said in the past?”

“Don’t apologize,” Malk answered promptly. “Mistakes are only bad if they happen twice.”

Warik nodded. “And?”

“The lesson I learned here is not to follow too closely and be more aware of the people around me,” Malk responded, looking quite pleased with himself.

The interaction between the adult warrior and the young male was adorable. It seemed the men had bonded while she’d been healing, and Malk was looking to Warik as a father figure.

“Good,” Warik said, then turned back to her and placed a hand on the small of her back. “Come on, let’s get some food.”

Malk moved to walk on her other side and chatted with Warik about all the tasks they needed to do now that Nisha was better. It struck her that it wasn’t only Shift and herself any longer. Somehow, she’d ended up adding Warik and Malk to her little family because she couldn’t imagine her life without them.

A warm happy feeling spread through her chest, chasing away the last of the discomfort from her injury and healing. The warm happy feeling lasted until she caught her reflection on a shiny surface in the galley.

“What happened to my hair?” she cried. She tugged at the finger length strands, then turned to look at Warik.

For the first time, he looked uncertain. “It was singed so badly in the front, we cut all of it to the same length.”

“This is why Shift told us not to touch it,” Malk said, backing away from her a little.

Nisha pulled in a deep breath and pointed a finger at Warik and then her hair. “Never. Touch. My. Hair. Again.”

“I’ve learned and won’t make that mistake a second time,” he agreed, then gestured at the re-heater. “Will you sit and let me feed you? I found some chocolate flavored dessert. Shift said that you’d like it. And there’s your baked holish dish here too.”

Nisha glared at him for a moment, then gave up. “I want the chocolate first, and I’m not sharing.”

“Anything you want,” Warik said at the same time he and Malk rushed to dig the re-heater packs out of a cabinet.

“I guess even you make mistakes sometimes,” Malk whispered.

“Even me,” Warik agreed, and she caught the sound of humor in his voice. “But remember, I survived and learned.”

“We’ll see,” she muttered as she sat down at one of the tables. “You have to sleep sometime.”

“I found two packs of chocolate!” Warik announced. “I’ll prepare both of them!”