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"Sothey won't stop the Crytons from attacking Earth?" a man in his late thirties with close-cropped hair—making me assume he had been former military at some point—asked.
"Cryons," I corrected with a smile, shaking my head regretfully, but before I could elaborate, Garth took over.
"The Cryons are not members of the empire and have not broken any laws by attacking your planet—not according to our rules. Us Pandraxians helping you, fully depends on the emperor, and if he is willing to declare war on the Cryons, whose partnership with us Pandraxians, even though not pleasant, has been very beneficial."
Most of the humans were still too dazed to react, barely holding on to their sanity. I couldn't have empathized more, but there were a few, including the man who had asked the question and looked like a soldier, who appeared disgruntled.
"I'm a soldier. I need to go back and fight those bastards," he said to a few murmured agreements, confirming my assessment of him.
Garth took him in thoughtfully. "As a lord protector I fully understand your desire to fight for your planet. I promise you that at the very least we will make sure that whoever so desires, will be returned to Earth after we discover its location." He rose to his full height. "In themeantime, please rest, recuperate from your ordeal, and consider yourselves our guests."
"Thank you, Lord Protector." Susan still sounded breathless, "How can we repay you?" Her eyes devoured Garth and the discomforting fluttering I experienced earlier returned full force.
"There is no need." Garth waved her off.
Susan looked like she wanted to say something else, but the soldier interrupted her, "Are there any training facilities that we can use to practice and work out?"
"I will have an officer sent to you early tomorrow morning and show them to you," Garth offered. "I trust you have been shown the mess hall and showers?"
"We have, thank you," Susan piped up before anybody else could, beginning to irritate me with her eagerness.
"So what happened to you?" a man in his early twenties asked, pointing at me, unquestionably referring to my altered skin color.
"The Cryons used an unknown substance on her, my medical staff is working on discovering what," Garth said in a tone that implied no other questions regarding this would be tolerated.
Behind me Susan snickered into Kevin's ear, "Zombie," too low for Garth to hear, but Kevin pulled away from her.
My voice wavered when I asked, "Are there any more questions?"
The room remained quiet. The soldier and two other men stood leaning against a wall, arms crossed as they regarded us—not quite hostile, but not friendly either.
"You can reach Silla with your tablets for any questions or get in contact with me through her if you need to," Garth said.
"What ifIneed something?" Susan purred, putting the flat of her hand on Garth's chest, forcing the heat of anger to run through my blood.
With a mystified look Garth removed her hand from his chest. "As I said, if you need me, contact Silla and she will arrange something."
Like an accidental fall through an airlock, I thought savagely, confusing myself. I had never been a vengeful or jealous person, so why was I suddenly becoming so possessive?
Garth wasn't mine, I didn't even know if we had some kind of relationship beyond fucking. Dating him sure wasn't the right word for our relationship either, besides, I dated plenty of men without ever becoming jealous.
This thought was followed by up by,jealous? Was that what was happeninghere?
I wasn't sure. Maybe it was some primal instinct inside of me that demanded of me to be territorial with Garth because he saved me, because he promised continuous safety to me.
I pondered that for a moment and concluded that it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. No matter how far feminism had taken us, it was pretty obvious that whatever it had achieved over the years had gone down the drain within hours after the Cryons' attack. No matter how much of an independent woman I had been, I now faced the sad truth that without Garth's protection I would be lost.
Garth turned to Kevin. "I'll come get you early tomorrow morning for your training, young warrior."
The kid beamed up at him. "I'll be ready."
He turned to the door and I followed, suddenly unsure where my place was. I had asked to see the humans, where they were housed, but now I wasn't sure if I should stay here with them.
"What is it?" he noticed my hesitation.
"Should I stay here?" I asked before I lost my courage.
A dark cloud rushed over his face, but that could have been my wishful thinking.
