“Somehow I do not think so.”
“Gehenna is down there. Further down than the elevator goes. But we have to go through here,” Jace said. “There’s no other access point.”
“I can get us past the soldiers and the security protocols,” Khoth stated as his alarm at Jace’s deteriorating condition increased.
“How?” Jace stared at him out of glassy eyes that he struggled to focus.
“I can--”
“Funny seeing you here, Commander,” Flight-Commander Thammah Pyrrhus’ voice rose up behind them.
Khoth whipped around to see the other Thaf’ell pilot standing there. Unlike most Thaf’ell she had shorn her white hair close to her skull on the sides and top. Because of this she had no selchilite to show her family’s station. This could have meant that she was the last of her line and that she had no family living or that she had been cut off.
The closely shorn hair also revealed several raised, ropey scars visible along the right side of her head that crawled over her temple and transected her eyebrow. That these scars had not been able to be fully excised told him that the original wounds must have been quite serious, maybe even life threatening. Considering how she flew with wild abandon as if she had no Xa at all, he was not surprised. But he also guessed that they indicated that she was brave.
She had on a very worn black and blue exo-suit that had seen better days. But she wore it like a second skin. One of her hands was on her left hip while the other hung loosely at her side. A half smile curled her lips, but that smile changed as she took in his demeanor.
Her blue eyes narrowed. “You look very guilty there, Commander Khoth Voor. What are you up to with that young human in your arms? Are you about to take him aboard your ship and probe him?”
Jace let out a strangled laugh. Khoth stared at her in confusion.
“Flight-Commander Thammah, I have no idea what you mean by that, but I can assure you that I--”
“It’s a human joke, Commander. Aliens and probing.” She waved one of her hands through the air. “I see your very ill friend understands.” Her eyes narrowed further. “Who are you, young man?”
“I’m Jace Parker. And you are?” Jace asked.
“Call me Thammah,” she said even as her eyebrows lifted at the revelation of who he was. “Jace Parker? So you are Jack and Diane’s son? Well, the plot thickens. Why are you acting like a damsel in distress here?”
“It’s a long story, but Khoth is helping me. But we’ve hit a snag. Ah!” Jace cried out and curled forward. His lips no longer even had color. He was a mask of gray death. “Khoth--Khoth, we need to hurry.”
“We need to get him to the Osiris,” Khoth told her. “His illness can only be treated aboard the ship.”
He feared she would ask twenty questions about why they needed to get there, about how an ancient vessel that had defied human and Alliance tinkering to bring it back online could help Jace, and the many other issues his statement likely raised. But he should have known better. Thammah was not only an incredible pilot, which meant she needed to make split-second decisions without full information, he already knew that she was quite the risk taker.
“All right,” she said. “But neither of you have clearance yet to be near the Osiris. Hence, you spying on the soldiers instead of simply walking up to them.”
“Something like that,” Khoth answered stiffly.
“Something like that? I’m betting you were going to knock those two soldiers out and override the elevator’s security systems?” she asked, but treated it as a rhetorical question. “You really are exciting, Commander.”
“I am not exciting. I am merely doing what must be done,” he said flatly. She did not know about Gehenna. She did not understand the stakes.
“Of course, you are. Which makes you utterly exciting,” Thammah laughed. “Come on. I can get you two down without knocking out poor duty-bound soldiers and endangering the Alliance pact with Earth.”
Khoth squared his soldiers. He had been running that risk, hadn’t he? But a Precursor AI was surely something worthwhile doing that for. And, if he were honest, one look down at Jace’s pale face had him feeling the need to do it anyways.
Thammah led them down the hallway. She had a spring in her step and that ironic half-smile on her lips. The soldiers saw them approaching and came more to attention.
“We can’t let them call my parents and keep me up here,” Jace gasped out. He slightly uncurled in Khoth’s. “Can’t let them stop us. I think I’ll only have one shot at this before I pass out again. Won’t have the strength to convince them of what needs to happen… if I wake up..”
Again, Thammah showed her trust in Jace and him, he supposed, as she said, “Do not worry. You will get down to the Osiris. I’ll make sure of it.”
They stopped just short of the soldiers, who appeared familiar with Thammah, but were uncertain about him and Jace.
“Hello, Flight-Commander, what brings you and your friends here today?” the soldier on the right asked. She was a human female with red hair and brown eyes along with a faint scar through her upper lip.
“Private Norris, good to see you. I am bringing Commander Khoth Voor and Jace Parker down to the Osiris,” she stated.
