That didn’t calm the man’s fury. “He has a duty to report his findings in a prompt manner,” he ground out through his teeth. “He shouldn’t be making adoctordo his job for him. And where the hell is Paz? I’ve been calling him nonstop since this morning!”
Levi’s face screwed up in confusion, but he didn’t interrupt. He went out of his way to avoid being in the angry man’s field of vision. I squeezed his shoulder to remind him I was there for support.
“I was unaware, sir,” Jaeyoung replied. His calm responses contrasted starkly with the admiral’s overreaction. “I’ll find him and report back.”
“You’d better. I can’t have two-thirds of the team going AWOL on me.”
“I assure you we are all working hard on our mission,” Jaeyoung said.
Even the hotheaded admiral couldn’t complain in the face of such a confident statement. He huffed. “Fine. See to it that you do.”
When the grumpy man disappeared, Jaeyoung sighed and rubbed his temples. “Good grief. What a hassle.” Noticing Levi’s slumped posture, he asked, “Are you all right?”
“Can we talk outside? I need some air,” Levi replied.
We exited the den. I kept close to Levi, who seemed nervous, but I didn’t know why. That brutish man was gone now. Still, Levi’s anxiety pulled me in. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and slid a tentacle around his waist for support.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Paz approaching. Neither of the humans noticed, and I didn’t want to interrupt, so I said nothing.
Levi took a deep breath and faced his friend. “I’m not going back to Earth. Ever.”
Closer now, Paz stopped mid-step. “Did I choose a bad time to show up?”
Nobody spoke. Jaeyoung’s brows rose, yet his placid expression implied that he wasn’t entirely surprised.
Levi took their silence as invitation to continue. “Talking to the admiral is like pulling teeth. I’ll be glad if I never talk to him again. Besides, he doesn’t evenwantpeace. The last time I spoke with him, he ‘accidentally’ called non-human people our enemies. And he was terrified about everyone seducing us. He’s a misguided, ignorant fool.”
Jaeyoung and Paz exchanged a glance.
“Are you aware that the admiral has been buzzing your UniCom all morning?” Jaeyoung asked mildly.
Paz shrugged. “Yeah. It got annoying after the first couple times so I turned it off.”
“So, you deliberately ignored him.”
“Pretty much.”
“And I assume you never once thought to answer it,” Jaeyoung said, knowing it was true.
“No, ‘cause all he does is talkatyou until he’s red in the face. Levi’s right, it gets old.”
Levi’s tense shoulders relaxed. He looked like he’d been ready for an argument, but Paz’s comment disarmed him.
“Wait,” Levi said. “You guys aren’t mad?”
“Why would we be mad?” Paz asked, brow furrowed in confusion.
“Because... I don’t want to return to Earth,” Levi admitted. “I’m a horrible captain. I refused direct orders, and I’m abandoning our mission.”
Paz flashed a lopsided grin. “Well, you’re not the mostcompetentcaptain, Mr. Flashing-Red-Light, but you’re wrong about the other part.”
“Huh?”
“Our true mission, regardless of the admiral’s beliefs, was to make peace with life on other planets,” Jaeyoung pointed out. “And that is exactly what you’ve done. Look around.”
Levi blinked, then followed Jaeyoung’s sweeping gesture. Surrounding us were my fellow Maeleons going about their days. Each one paused to smile and wave at Levi as they passed. It was clear from their sparkling, curious eyes that they were eagerly awaiting the birth of our baby.
Levi turned back to his friend. After a moment, he asked, “But what about the ship?”
