Adak sighed.“I’ll talk to Uriish.Male to male, the sytos don’t stand a chance, but they have weapons we don’t.”
Penny cleared her throat and wrote something down.Adak shot her a look and his tail twitched.
“I am aware of your friend’s thoughts on the matter, mate.”
She lowered her notebook.“Then listen to her.The guns aren’t really tech, and using the tools you have isn’t a moral issue.The sytos aren’t evil because they have ships and ranged weapons.They’re evilandthey have the technology to be a threat.”
Adak’s tail lashed and I wondered if the pair would notice if I crept out to find Jessa.
“At least arm the humans and Gigi,” Penny said.“Or do you really want us completely helpless if something goes wrong?”
“Do you need anything more from me?”I interjected.
“You can go,” Adak said, still staring at his mate.“Your syto is resting in the back of the big store.”
I retreated, leaving the section of the building Adak had claimed for planning and making my way to the larger store that most of the mated pairs lived in.The large metal shelves that had filled the space had been pushed to the walls and arranged to create small rooms and afford the females some privacy.Curtains hung in place of doors, and there were several couches and large chairs arranged in the middle of the building for relaxing away from the ever-present chaos outside.
Amy sat in one of the chairs, a bottle of water trembling in her hand, her eyes fixed blankly on the far wall.
“Amy?”I paused beside her, noting the labored way she was breathing and the white knuckles of the hand she had clamped to the arm of the chair.She blinked up at me, and grimaced.
“Hey, Tovis,” she said in a pinched voice.“Looking for Jiith?He’s back-” she stopped with a harsh inhale and closed her eyes.“Back in the corner,” she finished belatedly.
“Should I get Kes?”I asked warily.
“Nope,” Amy gasped out, the open bottle fell from her hand and splashed across the blue rug under the furniture, but Amy didn’t appear to notice or care.“I’m good, it’s just cramps and back pain, and I’m a little-” she sucked in a breath and her skin paled.“-a little nauseous.”
“I’m getting Kes,” I decided.Everyone in camp was protective of the pregnant females, and Amy was clearly in some kind of distress.
“No,” she insisted.“I’m fine.I swore I wouldn’t get everyone excited until I was one hundred percent sure something was happening, and I’m-” she bent over and groaned out the next words.“-not...sure...yet.”
When I didn’t reply, she shot me a glare and waved at the back of the building.“Go check on your friend, if I’m still feeling like this in a few minutes, you can get Kes.”
“A few minutes,” I reluctantly agreed, backing away from the panting female.
I strode toward the back corner where a thin curtain had been hung up and pulled it aside.Jiith lay on a thin cot, a jug of water beside him, and a blanket covering his body.
He opened his eyes when I approached.
“You’re alive,” I said, striving to sound cheerful and not think too hard about Amy struggling on the other side of the curtain.
“I’m alive,” he confirmed, his voice barely a croak.“Your band has been surprisingly hospitable.”
“I told you they would be,” I said, looking him over.The blanket hid most of his injuries and it was dark this far from the open doors, but his color looked better, and his tentacles were more active than the last time I'd seen him.
“Hearing it and believing it are two different things,” he muttered.
“Has Gigi or Uriish visited you?”I asked, wondering how our two sytos felt about another of their race joining us.They didn’t spend much time together, but it was hard to tell if that was simply because their personalities differed so much or a natural wariness that came from both being defectors.
“Idjiij did,” Jiith said, reaching for the water jug.“He’s more turoch than syto now.”
“He is,” I agreed.Gigi had taken to our customs with enthusiasm, if he were a different color it would be impossible to distinguish him from one of us.
“How is your mate?’
“Tired,” I said.“But happy to be safe and near other humans.”
I forced myself to linger for a few minutes, helping Jiith sit up so he could eat and noting the injuries he wasn’t hiding anymore.He’d done an admirable job of forcing his damaged body to keep moving but it was clear that any more travel would have killed him.
