Page 57 of Xel: Broken Bond
The Ranzor cruiser that set itself down in the back paddock that was rapidly becoming our designated landing sight was a thing of pure beauty. It was sleek and streamlined, making even our most modern transporters look like clanky dumpsters in comparison.
I tried to remind myself to keep breathing as the exit ramp lowered with barely a sound, but inside, I was shaking like a leaf. Fuck Aiden all the way to Drazig and back for dumping this on me while he was busy gallivanting around with the Alliance Parliament. Would it really have mattered if this had waited another day or two until he was available to help us take care of it?
A heavy foot landed on the ramp, with long claws protruding from each toe and thick scales of a muddy green colour shielding the fragile flesh underneath. Xel had scales, but they were small and relatively delicate. The scales on this foot looked brutish by comparison, thick enough that I was willing to bet they could stop a bullet.
After a moment, the foot moved, taking a longer step down the ramp, rapidly followed by the second foot that belonged to that fearsome owner. And then there was a third foot, and a fourth, then five, seven, eleven… Stars, how many of these beasts had they sent?
But then one small detail of the rapidly emerging crew got my attention. One of the feet was… not a foot. Rather, it was a stump, a prosthetic boot filling in the gap between the ramp and his leg. Right. So they really were injured. The scars all up my right side tingled at the realisation, and I wondered – not for the first time – how they would react to my own injuries.
Eight Ranzors exited the ship, seven of them lining up in a row while the eighth stepped forward to meet me. Ranzors had a reptilian look about them, at least by human standards. Their heads were flattened, with an elongated snout. The pupils of their eyes were narrow vertical slits, and both their hands and feet had long claws. They also had thick tails with barbed spikes on the ends.
But as I took a closer look at them, I realised that they all carried evidence of previous injuries, just as Aiden had said. One was missing the end of his tail, another had a pronounced limp, and of course, there was the one with the missing foot.
The Ranzor who came to meet me had a puckered mess of scars where his left eye should have been. He stopped a couple of metres away and lowered his head, tilting it to the side to stare at me out of his good eye. “Hello,” I managed to say, though it came out a little breathless. “I’m Cole. Commander Aiden Hill told me you’d be coming. Welcome to Rendol 4.”
The Ranzor continued to stare at me, his gaze travelling the length of my body, then back up to my face. Then he made a clicking sound in the back of his throat, and my translator let me know that it was a ‘general sound of approval.’ “I should have known that Commander Hill would be sending us to meeta fine warrior,” he said. “It was a pleasure to speak with him about your plans to free the dimari. We have had very mixed experiences with humans, and some of them are disappointingly cowardly. But I can see that you have already proven your worth. I am Borl. My team have been assigned to protect the children of the Vangravians. They are a selfish species,” he said pointedly, turning his attention to Rohinavon. “It will be very satisfying to end their slave trade.”
Holy fuck, what the hell was I supposed to make of that? There were half a dozen serious red flags in just that cluster of sentences, and while I had plenty of questions about what Borl had said about me, I decided to focus on his apparent dislike of Rohinavon. A twenty-year project was going to be a nightmare if I allowed it to start with him showing such disrespect to its founder.
“This is Rohinavon,” I said loudly, so that all of them could hear me. I waved her forward, though she took only a step or two towards me, and I couldn’t say I blamed her. “She’s the Vangravian woman that Aiden would have told you about. She risked her life, and the life of her son, to leave Vangravian society. And she’s willing to dedicate the next twenty years to creating a better future for all Vangravian children.” I wasn’t quite telling the Ranzors to go fuck themselves, but I hoped I’d made the point clearly enough that I expected a fair bit more respect, as far as Rohinavon was concerned. Their opinions about the rest of the Vangravian species might well be justified, but Rohinavon was built from different stuff.
Borl said nothing for a moment, and then he seemed to fall into a half-crouch, his head shaking back and forth. “I have explained myself poorly,” he said, and was it my imagination, or did he seem embarrassed about it? “I have not been trained as a diplomat, so I lack the eloquence of some of my superiors. We are impressed with Rohinavon’s efforts to leave Vangal, and wehave a great deal of respect for her courage in doing so. I did not intend to include her in my remarks about the Vangravians as a whole.”
It wasn’t exactly an apology, but I recalled what Aiden had said about Ranzors and apologising. But nonetheless, Borl was clearly making an effort to explain that he hadn’t meant to offend her, so I shot Rohinavon an encouraging nod, then said, “Thank you for explaining yourself. I also have a great deal of respect for Rohinavon. And I hope that we’ll all be able to work well together to build this colony.”
“Commander Hill said you will need help to prepare the housing for the children. He sent us here in such a hurry to begin protecting Rohinavon and her son, but also so that we can work on the building.”
“Thank you,” I said. “There’s a lot to do, and I really appreciate the help. But how did you get here so quickly? Were you already in the Rendol system?”
“We were in Zharag,” Borl replied, naming a system about eight light years from here. “Your Parliament gave us clearance to use their wormhole.”
I blinked. “That should still have taken you the whole afternoon to get here. You did it in, what, a bit over an hour?”
Borl shrugged. “Our ships are better than yours. We can travel faster.” He didn’t seem to have anything more to say after that.
“Okay, well… How about I show you the barn, and explain what we’ve got planned for it? To begin with, it’s just a case of cleaning it out and replacing any damaged parts. I’ll need to get an electrician out to check all the wiring, and a plumber to quote on piping and a water heater, but we need the structure to be sound before that. Do you need anything else before we start? I don’t have any accommodation for you, but Aiden said…” Aiden had said very little about it beyond what I’d already told them.He’d largely just stated that the Ranzors would figure it out for themselves.
“We will sleep in our ship to begin with,” Borl said. “And then we will build more houses as time goes on. Commander Hill said there will be plans for a small village of sorts later on.”
“Yes. He said he’s going to be handing the project over to someone else fairly soon. He doesn’t have time to plan everything himself, with the rest of the work he’s already doing.”
“I would also like to see the Vangravian’s son,” Borl said, turning his yellow-and-black eye on Vonnie. Again, I waited for some sort of explanation for what was averyblunt demand. But Borl said nothing.
“Why is that important?” I asked. “There are going to be upwards of twenty children here. Maybe as many as forty, in the end. Why do you need to see hers now?”
But once again, the conversation seemed to go sideways, as Borl abandoned his request about the baby and turned his attention on Xel.
“You are Cole’s dimari, is that correct?”
“Yes, I am,” Xel said. “My name is Xel.”
Damn it. With everything else going on, I realised I hadn’t introduced him, and I hoped he didn’t feel too neglected by the oversight.
“Have you been in any battles?” Borl asked him. “Or displayed any particular bravery?”
Xel was clearly taken aback by the question, and I jumped in before he could say anything. “Alliance culture is not based on military prowess or on any need toearnworthiness,” I announced abruptly. “Xel is not required toproveanything. We see value in each other through kindness, and generosity, and cooperation.”
But once again, Borl did that little slump with his head lowered. “I think perhaps we have misunderstood each other,”he explained. “I wish to tell you the story of how I earned my own scars. But I do not want to be seen as boasting in front of one who has not yet won any battles of their own. I realise that Alliance culture does not value these things as we do, but I was attempting to avoid being rude. It seems I have not succeeded.”