Rentir grabbed Lidan by one of his elbows and pulled him aside so they could carry Pandora past. She retraced her path to the medical room with Rentir following on their heels. He reached past when they approached the door, allowing the scanner to read his palm. The door hissed open, revealing Haerune as he stood before walls of text, stroking his chin. He turned to look at them with obvious annoyance, but his expression shifted to curiosity when he realized they weren’t alone.
He, Rentir, and Lidan went back and forth in another mostly-untranslated conversation as she and Nyx half-carried Pandora over to the open pod. Pandora seemed less bothered by her injuries, her head swiveling back and forth as she observed the medical facility with keen interest.
Cordelia nudged Nyx out of the way.
“Brace yourself, doc,” Cordelia warned, bending to scoop up Pandora’s legs and tuck them up into the pod.
Pandora didn’t lie back immediately. She was braced on her hands, twisting as she tried to study the shifting graphics of alien anatomy behind Haerune.
“Okay, medical attention first, obsession with science second.” Nyx pressed down on Pandora’s shoulder until she lay back.
“Tyrant,” Pandora murmured mildly, shifting to get comfortable on the cushioned surface.
The pod’s lid lowered over her, and a few moments later her eyelids fluttered shut. Cordelia turned to the others. Nyx was scowling in the middle of the room, arms crossed over her chest, while Lyra stood off to the side with her shrewd gaze taking in everything. Haerune stepped around Nyx carefully, his tentacles slithering over his far shoulder to avoid brushing against her. Rentir huffed, his tail flicking.
“Skor istalfemale, Haerune?” Lidan asked in a tone that was clearly mocking.
Haerune’s tentacles coiled. He gestured at Nyx in a way that clearly said ‘be my guest’ and said something that didn’t translate. Lidan snorted. With an expression that spoke of mock fear, he reached out both right hands toward Cordelia.
Between one blink and the next, Rentir had him by the neck of his flight suit, pinned against the wall as he snarled. The tip of his tail had changed shape, the scales shifting impossibly until it ended in a razor-sharp spearhead. The sharpened end whipped toward Lidan’s throat, only to be caught in the snare of the other alien’s tail. They battled inches from Lidan’s throat, grappling for supremacy.
“Rentir,” Lidan rasped. The rest of his words were unintelligible, but the tone was clear:what the fuck?He used all four arms to shove Rentir back, and they both breathed heavily, tension thick in the air between them.
“What was that about?” Nyx asked, hedging closer to Cordelia.
“Uh… I don’t know,” she said. “He’s… protective?”
“Is he?” Lyra chimed in, slanting that catlike green gaze her way. Even battered as she was, she had the bearing of an heiress. “Why is that, do you suppose?”
“Couldn’t say. I’m not the xenobiologist.”
“Fuck. Celeste,” Nyx muttered. “She’s still out there somewhere, isn’t she? What the fuck is going on here, anyway, Commander? Who are these guys? What’s with the big fucking ship in orbit blasting lasers?”
“I don’t know,” Cordelia repeated. “But I’m working on it. Hey, Rentir!”
He looked back at her dazedly, the scales on his tail flattening back into their less threatening shape. She held up her wrist and pointed at the translator, then at the other women.
He said something that she took as understanding, moving toward the door. He hesitated at the threshold, looking back at Lidan. After a moment of indecision, he crossed the room again to grab the other alien, then dragged him out with a warning barked at Haerune.
The pod whirred open, revealing a much less battered Pandora. The darkness under her eyes was less severe, and the small cut on her forehead was healed over. She blinked slowly, her head lolling toward them. A lazy smile stole over her face.
“That was amazing,” Pandora said, clearly still a little out of it.
Haerune gestured to her, clearly not compelled toward any kind of chivalry.
“You’re not a doctor, are you?” Cordelia asked in a mocking tone that she hoped came across to him as she helped Pandora out herself.
“Oh, be nice,” Pandora rolled her shoulders as she sat up with Cordelia’s help. “I’m sure he’s doing his best.”
“You are like, pathologically too nice.” Nyx side-eyed the doctor. “Seriously, I can’t believe you’ve even made it this far.”
“Don’t be rude, Nyx. It doesn’t suit you,” Pandora said as she studied her own unmarred skin with fascination.
“Yeah, I’m known all over for my enchanting personality and shit,” Nyx muttered.
Haerune caught her eye, and she lifted her lip at him in obvious distaste. When his eyes narrowed, Nyx flipped him the bird; he frowned in obvious bafflement at the gesture.
“Nyx,” Cordelia barked, folding the finger back down.
