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The commander came online a few puffs later.
"Greetings, team leader Aru. Is everything well with you and your teammates?"
"It is, commander. Thank you for asking. Is everything well on board?"
"It is. Do you have anything to report?"
"Unfortunately, not yet." Aru hated lying to the male. It was one thing to omit information and another to lie outright. "We are still searching for the Kra-ell from the compound."
"Are you sure that they were not thrown overboard? The Kra-ell are not good swimmers, and you said the water was freezing in that area. They would have died, and their transmitters would have stopped broadcasting."
The scenario the commander suggested was plausible, and Aru should use it, but he just couldn't bring himself to do that.
"It occurred to me that someone might have used the threat of throwing the Kra-ell overboard to get them to talk, but I don't know what they hoped to learn. Humans would want to examine the aliens and wouldn't have disposed of them so quickly. They would have taken them to a research facility, and that's the lead we are following. Even if the abductors were Kra-ell, I can't believe they would have killed everyone unless they had a vendetta against them. It also occurred to me that they might have killed the original settlers and taken those born on Earth with them. In short, I feel compelled to continue the investigation."
He'd listed all the things he'd suspected before discovering that none of those scenarios was what had really happened. He had told the commander some of them before. Eventually, he would have to settle on one and ensure he had some supporting evidence he could show the commander.
"The high command seems to share your opinion because I have just gotten instructions to leave you and your team on Earth and not pick you up on our way back unless all the pods are found and all the Kra-ell are accounted for." The commander sounded apologetic. "Was there something you or one of your teammates did before this tour of duty to earn a punishment?"
Aru did his best to contain his joy and keep it from seeping into his voice. "Not that I know of, but you never know, right? Perhaps I said something offensive to someone."
The Supreme worked faster than Aru had expected.
"That is possible, and it is also a shame. I do not like losing you, Dagor, and Negal." There was a short silence, and Aru imagined the commander stifling a sigh. "We can drop more supplies for you when we pass by, but once we cross the barrier, you will lose communication with Anumati. The human satellite technology is in its infancy. You can't use it to communicate with home."
The commander was downplaying what humans had achieved in the last six hundred years on purpose, but it wouldn't work long-term.
"I know. I'm comforted by the knowledge that I will still have the ability to communicate with home for the next three hundred Earth years or so. Perhaps by then, we will be forgiven and allowed to return. Would you come back for us?"
"Of course, provided that the high command allows it and wakes me up from stasis."
"Naturally."
Dagor
Dagor had heard Aru leaving the penthouse, and he'd also known why. The commander had pinged all three of them last night, but Aru was responsible for responding. Dagor or Negal were to respond only if Aru was compromised.
Dagor had woken up, put the coffeemaker to work, and prepared a simple breakfast of eggs and toast for him, Negal, and Gabriella if she chose to join them.
Food on Earth tasted better than it did back home, probably because the ingredients were still mostly natural, but it wasn't reason enough to want to stay. He wasn't enthused about going home to Anumati either. Still, there were several colonies he was planning to check out after his tour of duty was over.
He'd heard that Peronia was beautiful and peaceful. It was an old and well-established colony with advanced technology and most of the comforts of Anumati, but it wasn't as stifling, and the class divide was less sharp. Nenillia was another good choice. It wasn't as well developed, and it had several species of dangerous predators, but it was also rumored to be a hub of burgeoning technology, where commoners like him could get the kind of education that only nobility could afford on Anumati.
When the door opened, and Aru walked in with a tray of coffees and a bag of pastries, Dagor lifted his coffee mug in salute. "You shouldn't have. I've also made eggs and toast for breakfast."
"We can have both." Aru smiled, but his expression was tense, and Dagor wondered what news he'd heard from the commander. "Is Gabi up?"
"Not as far as I can tell. She hasn't emerged from your room yet."
The newly transitioned immortal required longer sleep than the three of them, and she usually wasn't up before eight in the morning.
"Good." Aru put the tray and the paper bag on the counter. "I need to talk to you and Negal."
Dagor's gut twisted. "Is everything okay back home?"
Negal put his fork down and wiped his mouth with a paper towel.
"Nothing bad happened to anyone we love, or at least nothing that the commander was aware of. This has to do with the three of us."
