Eluni is used to guarding diplomatic transports, which I haven’t been on since I found Allele.
Rogues protect the fleet locally and abroad from intergalactic threats. Royals don’t matter if there’s no fleet left.
“Ooh.” Blaize cringes playfully beside me. I didn’t hear whatever Eluni said. “She is going to regret that if she ever finds out who you really are.”
What did she say?I ask Allele.
Allele replies in a neutral feminine voice in my thoughts through the implant she offered to me when I found her.Bite me.
Did I upset you?I ask.
Eluni said, “Bite me,”Allele clarifies.
I chuckle, trying to cover my mating cravings with a different emotion.I got it. I was teasing you.
Resting a hand on the nearby pearlescent wall, knowing Allele senses my touch, I ask her about the repairs I’ve made since she took a hit on Vinym.
I study the sixty-five ships in our current patrol that form a barrier around our colony while Allele’s dash lights up with scans and readouts. We have had centuries to perfect our guard rotations, shields, engines, and portal capabilities. But I fear we have lost ourselves in the process. We have stopped valuing our genetic affinities and our ancestors, like Allele. She is the only functioning Orillium left. Most don’t even know what she is. Only Rogues accept her. None of the Royals like her.
My father’s words ring in my mind.You’re only out there in that relic because I let you. You rejected the last pairing. I told you I don’t want to see you again. But I have half a mind to banish you forever.
Functioning within optimal parameters, Aura.
Allele speaks freely to me as I’ve asked her to. Sometimes, she is the only one who will truly listen.The elders of my generation would’ve called your father a Fade.
He’s a bag of dicks, for sure.
I do not understand this reference, Aura.
He’s a jerk,I clarify.
Allele ignores my remark.Your father disregards his Storm for other forms of power. He has forgotten that nature always wins.
And he’s forgotten that he can’t control me. I will always fight for my people. Allele is mine. He cannot take my Storm, my spirit, or my ship. No one can operate Allele without me or at least my approval because of how I found her, how she healed me, and how I fixed her. We are an inseparable team.
Blaize gives me a knowing look. “What’s Allele saying now?”
I chuckle. “That the wild animal on your face makes you look like a Thorian.”
Blaize’s lighter skin takes on a darker shade of blue-violet, reminiscent of the aliens of Alpha Prime. Rumors spread when he was young that he wasn’t pure Amphir, but testing proved he was. It was something about his mother spending time on their planet during negotiations that changed his skin before he was born. No other Amphirans can blush. So he’s a bit of an outcast like me. But we’ve all picked up a few things from the different places we’ve visited. It’s just how mutation and adaptation work.
Blaize scratches his short beard and glances at me with a knowing squint. “Allele didn’t say that. You’re just jealous that mine’s so thick because you know a lot of human females like them.”
“You going to mop the ship with it?” I jeer. It’s not to code.
I do not want Blaize’s face cleaning me,Allele protests in my thoughts.
It’s a joke, Allele.
Most of what you have said over the years is a joke. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell when you are serious,she replies.
You can sense my energy. Am I producing alpha or beta waves?I ask her.
Alpha.
I am chill, Allele.That’s mostly a lie. But in terms of the mop comment, I’m laughing in my head.
Beta…when you think about the race,Allele adds.Which is about every other thought.
