“I don’t remember.”
“Then you will eat now.” It wasn’t a request.
She sighed and nodded. His expression didn’t change, but something in the set of his shoulders relaxed. He disappeared into the galley, returning a few moments later with what looked like soup in a covered bowl, along with some sort of bread. Her mouth watered, but she cast an uncertain glance at Anya.
“I believe sleep is more important right now,” he said softly, clearly reading her hesitation. “Now eat. Please.”
The “please” did it and she reached for the bowl. She took a small sip and sighed with pleasure. He watched her, an odd look on his face, then gave her an oddly formal bow before returning to the cockpit. The door slid shut behind him, giving her privacy.
The soup was some kind of broth, mild and warm, and the bread was dense and filling. She ate slowly, savoring each spoonful. Through the small viewport, stars wheeled past. Beautiful and cold and utterly indifferent to human suffering. Or Cire suffering. Or any kind of suffering at all.
Her husband David used to say the universe was neither cruel nor kind, just vast and uncaring. She’d argued with him, preferring to believe in some kind of cosmic justice. But then David had died and the Vedeckians had taken them. He was right. The universe didn’t care.
Which meant the only thing standing between her children and oblivion was her own determination to keep fighting. And possibly, a haunted Cire commander who looked at Mikoz like he was seeing a ghost and who looked at her as if she were precious.
A short time after she finished eating, theRelentlessappeared through the viewport like a small moon. Huge and dark, bristling with weapons ports and sensor arrays, it was clearly a military vessel, and her hands went cold.
“It’s okay,” she murmured to Mikoz, more to comfort herself than him. “We’re okay.”
The shuttle slid into the docking bay like a key into a lock, and Selik emerged from the cockpit as the engines powered down. “We have arrived. The medic is waiting.”
Panic spiked through her, but she bit back her immediate protest. Anya was burning with fever and Mikoz needed to be checked. Medical attention was necessary, even if the thought of strange hands on her children made her want to scream.
“I stay with them at all times.”
“No one will separate you. You have my word.”
The hatch opened to a vast, empty hangar. A male with skin like burnished copper scales smiled warmly at her as he entered the ship, his eyes scanning her with professional efficiency.
“I am Bombaya. I am a medic, and I’m going to take care of you and your children.”Your children.The acceptance in his words reassured her and she managed a smile.
“I am Corinne and this is my son Mikoz. My daughter Anya is running a fever.”
He nodded and moved over to the bench, and Selik came to stand next to her as she watched anxiously. The doctor ran the scanner over the sleeping girl, his expression carefully neutral.
“The girl has a respiratory infection and moderate dehydration. Both are easily treatable.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and felt Selik’s tail tighten around her waist. She hadn’t even realized it was there. Before she could say something, Dr. Bombaya came to join them.
“May I examine the baby now? I promise I won’t take him from you.”
The promise was probably meant to be reassuring, but it highlighted exactly what she feared most. They could take him if they wanted to. She was one human woman on a ship full of trained soldiers. What could she possibly do to stop them?
Whatever it took,she thought fiercely.
But she nodded, keeping Mikoz cradled in her arms as the medic moved closer. The scanner hummed softly as it passed over his small body and numbers appeared on the datapad.
“He is slightly dehydrated, but otherwise healthy,” he reported, and Selik’s tail tightened again. “As for you…”
Bombaya turned the scanner towards her, and the humming took on a different pitch. “Exhaustion, borderline malnutrition, and some minor contusions. When did you last eat?”
“Just now. On the shuttle.”
“Right. All three of you are coming to the med bay. We’ll get you fed, hydrated, and properly treated.” Bombaya’s voice held thekind of authority that didn’t allow for argument. A commander in his own right, just with a different battlefield.
She nodded, swaying slightly, and Selik immediately steadied her. She looked up at him and managed a shaky smile.
“Thank you.” The words felt inadequate. “For helping us.”
