Esthi injects him with a little more medicine, bringing him back to us.
“Why help me?” he asks. “Just for information?”
I have the same question.
Esthi sits back, leaving the injector in his chest. She hasn’t depressed the plunger completely. Sathrin reaches for it like he wants to finish the job, but his hands shake violently.
“Yourspecieshas caused us a lot of pain,” she says.
I scan the area for Celathious and any other heat signatures but find nothing more than a few small rodents in the brush.
“Reversion Syndrome,” he wheezes.
“You like humans?”
“I notice when their system is more advanced than ours.”
She rests an elbow on a knee and tilts her head. “Alright, answer two questions. How you respond will determine what I do with that injector. What is the purpose of life?”
Sathrin gazes up at the sky. “Don’t know. Wish I did.”
“Because you don’t want to die?”
His breathing grows labored. “No, I don’t.”
“Why not?”
“That’s more than two.” He curls up onto his bad side.
“Why not?” Esthi challenges.
“One chance.”
She chews a cheek. “One chance to live? One chance to be anything, and you chose to hate, kill, enslave...”
“Born to it.” His eyes plead with her, then drift away, filling with regret like he’s accepting his fate. “I know nothing else.”
Esthi’s anger fades. “Last question.”
He groans with what little air he has left.
“What is sentience?”
Growing uncomfortable, I hang my head and scan behind us, fearing what she considers life doesn’t include us.
“Awareness. Feeling.” He rolls onto his stomach, and a string of bloody drool drips from his mouth.
Esthi depresses the injector, watching him carefully. “Bonus question. Who is capable of sentience?”
Sathrin looks up at me.
A smile decorates her face. She pulls out another injector, a smaller one, and taps it into his shoulder.
“Now, Sathrin...” Esthi gets to her feet, rolls him onto his back with a boot, and tosses the spent booster injector atop his chest. “You get a second chance. Don’t cock it up.”
She slings her bag over her shoulders again and motions me back across the creek. I pick her up, clutch her against me, and bound over it in one jump.
Armor>>Clover:Venom Squadron planning to attack during takeoff. Hydramidium is the only effective shield against acid spray.
