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We’re both staring up at the sky. Finally, I ask the question weighing on my mind about him. “Did you have a date in mind for leaving, or are you just winging it? Pun intended.”
He laughs. “Winging it is all I do, friend.” After a couple of seconds, he adds, “I came here for the solitude and ended up finding a second family of brothers better than my own. Leaving, even if I need to spread my wings, is a difficult thing to plan.”
“But then, you’d want to choose before being forced to live somewhere else,” I offer, thinking of my own looming techless life.
“I would, since the choices I’ve made so far have been my own. I can’t imagine losing my freedom to live where and how I want, now that I’ve had several years to do so.” He looks at me. “Want to talk about why you’re up here in your worry spot?”
I chuckle with mixed feelings over being so transparent. “Not really. I’m sure you could hear Jessica and I arguing at the cave entrance. Both meeting her and discovering she’s my bondmate were surprises I never planned for.”
“That’s sort of what surprises do,” Quin teases.
I shake my head, sitting up. “Sure, but you know I don’t like being caught off guard. I haven’t been able to predict anything since she arrived.”
“What surprises me the most is how she and Nilt are friends. He terrified her, yet she adapted quite well. Especially amazing considering how new she is to life outside of her solar system.”
He’s right. Jessica is taking everything in stride. “Maybe too much so. I’ll need to ask after her mental health and coping when we talk next.”
Quin sits up. “Someone told me the authorities know about your retrieving an Earther language. Do they?”
I put one hand over my eyes. “Yeah, I made a mistake in thinking they’d be distracted enough to ignore me. Innovator SearShell has given me a day to accept their terms or be deactivated.”
“Do their terms include execution of you and your entire family?”
“No,” I look over at him, horrified at the corporal punishment. “Who’d do that?”
“Quzi, that’s who. If they’re not executing you or your loved ones, then the terms should be simple.”
“There are worse things than execution.”
“Sure. Forced labor, solitary confinement, abandonment on a deserted planet.”
I frown. “Like we are here?”
Laughing, he playfully punches my shoulder. “Sort of, only you don’t get to pick the planet.”
He has a good point. Actually, several good points. If I wanted to risk whatever punishment the empire gave me, I’d let Noni pick me up. Joining the Gharians would be what Jessica would want. I couldn’t promise we’d ever see each other again, though. The uncertainty of how our separation might not bother her at all hurts my heart.
Quin stands. “A day, huh? Shouldn’t we be packing?”
“Probably,” I admit. I need to contact Noni, begging for more time. While I talked tough about accepting help from the emperor, I selfishly ignored how my refusal would impact the others here. I stare out at the landscape in front of us and get ready to open a channel to Noni when a movement out there stops me. A couple of people looking suspiciously like S’Tou and Jessica walk closer to the Kostan’s wrecked ship.
Jumping to my feet, I holler, “What the pless?” S’Tou, what’s going on? I send to him while telling Quin, “I need to get down there.”
“I’ll meet you there,” he replies and jumps off of the platform, sliding into a glide.
Relax, S’Tou sends back. I’ve intercepted a message from our forces saying this system is cleared. They’re done with the Earther retrieval and evidence gathering.
How can you be sure this isn’t a trick? I send, hurrying down the trail.
I can’t, but Jessica wants to go, see what she can salvage from anything left behind. She’s accepted living out her life here is her fate and she wanted souvenirs from home.
I hop from a higher rock to the softer path below, impatient to get there already. You couldn’t have come alone? Let her stay safely behind?
How would I know what she’d find worthwhile or useless out here? Besides, we’ll look around and go back soon after. The air won’t let her do much more.
I refrain from sending she shouldn’t be out of our cave at all. Yet, I understand she’d want anything from home before the elements destroyed it. Fine. I’m on my way down. Don’t let her loiter and keep your senses open.
Of course, he replies. Quin’s here so we’re good.
