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“Not in hundreds of years.”
She let out a dry chuckle. “So you’re due for one, then, huh?”
Her attempt at humor took a moment to sink in. Amber’s nerves seemed in control of her, and I struggled to find something to say that would ease them.
“Amber, I would never risk your life like that. If I didn’t have complete and total faith in our Xalanite technology, I would not even consider taking you to my home world.” It saddened my hearts that she still did not fully trust my words, despite my repeated reassurance.
Finally, after many more questions on her part, Amber squared her shoulders and set her jaw. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. We’ll go to Xalan.But—” she raised a hand to halt me before I ran to tell the others “—I have some stipulations. Some conditions before we leave.”
I raised a brow, my curiosity piqued.
“First off, I want these nanites reversed or reprogrammed or whatever so I can understand the Xalanite language. It’s not fair to me that I don’t know what you guys are talking about unless you speak English. Not only unfair, but it’s also really rude.”
She wants to learn our language? I’d have to discuss it with Hunir and the others, but I suppose it could be done. I hadn’t considered that she might want to learn how to communicate with us in our own tongue. It made me happy that she wanted to immerse herself in our world to that degree. I would have been content to translate for her once we got there, but this was admittedly more efficient.
She held up two fingers. “Number two: I want some of my own stuff. Books and clothes from the cabin. It was nice of you guys to loan me these, but they’re not cut for someone with my build, and I can barely breathe in this shirt. So, I’d like to pack my clothes. I’d like some books to take with me. Can we go back there before we leave and do that?”
Another reasonable request. I nodded my agreement.
“Lastly—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—we really should bust Ryan and Evan out of that compound.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
“Think about it: It’s our fault they’re stuck there. If we hadn’t taken them hostage and held them in the shed, the AARO wouldn’t have brought them in. Agent Wilson acted like they were being treated well, but I’d bet anything they’re victims of unauthorized testing, just like we were. The two of them are jerks and assholes, but we shouldn’t leave them like that.”
“You … want to rescue thoseyifs?”
“Yeah. I mean, we’ll dump them off on the side of the road somewhere after, make them hitchhike their happy asses home, but we should at least get them out of there.”
Almost every instinct I had screamed at me to let them rot in the compound, but one part of me, a much stronger part, wanted to please Amber. If freeing them would make her happy, then I would help get them out.
On one condition, though.
“Fine. I will take J’meer, Liffal, and Gi’kar, and we will rescue theyifs. You will stay here with Hunir until we return.”
“But—”
I held up a hand to stop her. “No. You will not risk yourself for them. I will not allow it. You will stay on the ship with Hunir.”
Amber scowled and crossed her arms over her chest in defiant protest, but I would not budge on the matter. She was staying safely on the ship, or the two would remain with the AARO until they rotted in custody.
The rescue operation, such that it was, began after sundown. Since my kind are darker in color, it made more sense to infiltrate under cover of darkness rather than march into the compound while the sun blazed overhead.
We armed ourselves with nonlethal weaponry upon Amber’s request. Darts that would incapacitate but not poison, electroshock units that would scramble the nervous system but not interrupt the heartbeat or brain function, and various types of restraints accompanied us on our mission, each approved by Amber after a brief demonstration onboard the ship. Despite all she had been through, she seemed strangely averse to harming other humans. Admirable, I supposed, though pointless. I doubted any of these humans would grant her the same courtesy.
Gi’kar set the ship to stealth mode and programmed it to hover just outside the compound. We watched through the viewscreens as the guards stationed outside scrambled to find the source of the sudden gale force winds tearing through the area. When sufficient chaos had broken their lines of defense, the four of us exited the ship and slipped onto the grounds of the compound.
The razor wire proved no threat to us as we scaled the fence. I silently thanked the Xalanite gods for our thick skin that protected us. Within seconds we were inside, darting from shadow to shadow as we did our best to dodge guards and avoid detection. I’d promised Amber that we would only attack if spotted, that we wouldn’t harm any humans unless they took the first hostile actions, so it was in our best interest to remain hidden for as long as possible.
According to our thermal scans of the buildings in the compound, we wagered that Amber’s ex and his friend were being held in a building to the east of center. It was easy enough to surmise from the readings; two spots radiated heat more than any other place in the facility, a testament to their weak nerves and fear response.
Taking out the guards as we were discovered proved tedious and time-consuming. We managed to silence most of them before they could raise a proper alarm, but just before we entered the building where Ryan and Evan were held, one guard dodged Liffal’s stunning shot and pressed a button, after which a blaring siren began to resound throughout the facility grounds.
More guards streamed out from the surrounding buildings, and we ducked behind some stacked crates. Bright lights flared to life as the guards searched, both handheld and mounted high on poles at regular intervals around the perimeter.
