Page 47 of Leviathan

For a moment, I didn't want to.

But I was in his center, and he was vulnerable.

So I let go of my defenses.

There was a soft sigh of relief from the body that lay prone on the table as he pulled my weapon away from me.

He was afraid of me, afraid of what I might choose to do with my weapon. Even though I had freed him, that wouldn't be enough to heal him from the fear.

One wall of the room opened up, a corridor of white glowing strands appearing, sliding on top of the peach ones, a tunnel within a tunnel.

"Go back to Lyrien now," the Vaurelcar said. "Thank you, but please leave."

I stepped out onto Lyrien's filaments, walking away from the center of him without another word. As soon as I was fully inside, the wall closed up behind me, blocking my access to his main vulnerability. Part of me had wanted to stay, to introduce myself, to learn his name. He owed me a thank you at the very least. But my needs weren't more important than his. I had no idea how long this creature had been kept in captivity, forced to do things against his will by the small parasites that had invaded his system. The best thing I could do for both of us in this moment was to respect his wishes and take myself back to the ship, which would find a way to take me home.

The leviathan who had become my home.

As I walked, the corridor began to move under my feet. Lyrien didn't grab me, a fact I was grateful for. I had had enough grabbing for the moment. After being crushed and prodded by the other Vaurelcar, the thought of any filament holding onto me made me shudder. I would need a hot bath and some care before I could handle that again. Instead, Lyrien made himself into a moving walkway that carried me faster than if I had moved myself.

"I'd like to take you to my medical bay," Lyrien said, his voice suddenly appearing out of the air. I must have finally reached a place where he had audio and visual sensors. "I need to know how badly you're hurt."

"I don't think I am," I said. I rubbed my wrist gently. "Maybe my wrist, but other than that, I think I'm fine."

"I'd like to scan you, just in case," he said. "He grabbed you very roughly, and smaller species can incur invisible injuries inside of them from rough treatment that can lead to sudden death. He removed your helmet. Did he put pressure on your neck? Blunt force to the neck can cause tears in the lining of the arteries leading to the neck, which can result in clots that travel to the brain. I need to make sure you're okay. Please let me scan you."

My heart ached for the panic in his voice. He was frightened, more frightened than me.

This massive leviathan, this monstrous space whale who was able to rearrange his insides and create an entire world for me to enjoy, was afraid for me. I reached out and put my bare hand on the wall, and his filaments immediately reached out and entwined with my fingers. I continued walking, and those filaments slid along the wall with me, holding my hand.

"I'm okay," I told him. "I'll go to medical to get checked out, but you don't have to worry. I'm okay. Are you okay? Is it over?"

"I took minor damage," he said. "The Calicium were not prepared at all for us to charge and grapple them like that. The other Vaurelcar is mainly equipped with long-range weapons, and none of its short-range weapons hit us. Their tactic is usually to chase my kind down, repeatedly damage it, and then board. They were unable to do more than minor damage in their attempts to fight back against me. The other Vaurelcar is finishing up cleaning out the ones in his system. At least he won't have to worry about the contamination. The Calicium wouldn't allow that substance on a controlled Vaurelcar."

"What is his name?" I asked. "The other Vaurelcar?"

"He doesn't know," Lyrien said. "The control collar does more and more damage to long-term memories the longer it is in control. It may come back to him, it may not. I'm providing him with directions to safe spaces. My kind offers rehabilitation programs and support for recently freed members, but they may not wish to take advantage of them. The most important thing is that he can choose where he goes and what he does."

"Has he at least said thank you?" I asked.

"I did a lot of damage to him, and he is in shock," Lyrien said. "He's not the most talkative right now, especially since I haven't disengaged yet."

"Why not?" I asked him.

"I'm making sure all of the Calicium are dead first," Lyrien said. "Recently freed ships have a risk of keeping a few of their captors alive because of a desire for revenge. They think torturing them will make them feel better, but that puts them at a high risk for recapture. I'm not going to allow that risk. Once I'm done, I'll disengage, and then he can do whatever he wants, and we'll be on our way.... except... hold on...."

"What is it?" I asked.

"There are humans on board," he said. "I don't have sensors in all of my intrusion points, but during my attack, several humans touched my filaments."

He went silent for a long moment.

"Lyrien," I said, stopping suddenly as a thought occurred to me, sending anxiety spiking through me even as the words rushed free from my lips. "Is there a woman who looks like my species, similar height, with much darker skin and hair?"

"The other Vaurelcar has confirmed that there was," Lyrien said. "She made it into the deployment shuttle and fled during the attack. We can go recapture it after I disengage."

Fear and rage spiked through me, overwhelming everything else.

"You can track the shuttle?" I asked.