Regi ran into Wayi just outside medical. “You’re walking. Should you be walking?” she asked as she fell in beside him.
“Bevit simply told me to avoid breaking anything else,” he said. “Has Ter gotten control of the pirate ship?”
“No.” Wayi lowered her voice, although she was still speaking too loudly for privacy. “Worse, he never could have repaired this ship. The crystals inside the primary control rod cracked.” Her youth made her excitable.
“We have spares.”
“Those were the spares. The first set shattered during our first engine failure.”
Regi studied her. Wayi was not the sort to joke about issues of science, but that could not be right. Now Poque had not only broken their engines... twice... but she had also made it impossible for Regi to leave his crewmates behind while he went to the temple. He knew she was a cold season god, and they were inherently dangerous, but he had never thought of her as a vicious god. He’d been wrong. She was as unforgiving as the frim that symbolized her. Anyone who believed the bird to be one of the less dangerous of the cold season sacred animals had never walked too near a frim nest. They were spiteful and deadly creatures.
“Then Ter will need to get control of the pirate ship’s systems.” He started toward their captive again. Preferably, Ter would succeed before the pirates appeared to reclaim the ship. If they had remote access through command codes, they could cause significant trouble.
“Ter and the captain have exchanged words about the speed with which Ter is not succeeding,” Wayi said. From her tone, she hoped Regi would add to the gossip; however, he’d been unconscious. He had nothing to share.
“The pirate has been quiet. The captain tried to talk to him, and he just stared at him. Some of the crew wonders if he can speak. He doesn’t look like any species any of us know. Do you recognize him?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Wayi did a quick step to keep up with Regi. “We thought maybe he was from one of the planets in the Empire, since none of us recognize him.”
“Only Kowri live in the Empire.”
She made a disbelieving noise. That was unsurprising given that other parts of space were more diverse. The Coalition had hundreds of species and sprawled across the galaxy. In terms of size, the Kowri Empire lay between the Coalition and Befin Realm, but the Befin had two allied species and at least six subordinate ones in their territories while the Kowri had only Kowri. Outside the Empire, undiverse sectors of space were all two and three star-systems controlled by races so young they were little more than vernal species still clinging to their original star system. However, she had no right to suggest that Regi would lie about his people or their worlds.
Regi reined in his temper. “I will speak to the pirate. Tell Ter I will work on getting command codes, but he should not count on the pirate confessing. Bevit says that he is medically fragile, so I can’t put him under too much stress.”
“But he nearly overpowered you.” Wayi appeared impressed.
“I was lying on the ground with broken ribs. A child could have overpowered me,” Regi said. “Go tell Ter I’ll do my best.”
She hesitated. If Ter was still in a bad mood, she probably didn’t want to get close enough to deliver a message. However, Regi didn’t want to speak to the engineer, either. If Poque was blessing Regi, he would best serve the crew by avoiding any sensitive areas. And if Ter had any idea that the engine problems were Regi’s fault, Regi’s life would not be worth a handful of copper coins.
“Go,” Regi repeated.
“You shouldn’t question him alone. I was supposed to ask him science questions.”
If the pirate was not speaking, Regi wasn’t sure how she was supposed to ask him questions, and she was so young that he didn’t trust her near a prisoner. Most prisoners who escaped did so by suborning a guard. Wayi was vulnerable because of her youth.
“If I determine that he has scientific information, I will call you,” which was not the same as promising to allow her into the room.
She wrinkled her nose before turning on her heel. That was one problem temporarily solved. Regi hurried to the medical detainment cells before any other disaster could interrupt him. He might not know what Poque wanted from him, but he knew he had a limited time to provide it before she felt the need to move another clue into his path, and Regi’s ribs might not survive.
Only one cell had an active display, and Regi took a moment to check on the prisoner. He sat in the corner on the floor, eschewing the bunk and even leaving it folded into the wall. Maybe he had a religious objection. Regi had never met another space-faring species with strong religious beliefs, but he’d never seen one with an odd number of digits, either.
Like most species, his skin was a single color, unlike Regi’s gray and black stripes, and he appeared hairless except for tangled strands on his head. His feet were bare, displaying the unusual digits. No wonder Bevit had fallen into intellectual lust with this pirate’s biology.
Regi checked and found that several people had been in the room, and the pirate had not reacted to any of them. When Captain Cota had quietly threatened him in disturbing detail, the pirate had tucked his head under his arms, which was a childlike gesture. However, he generally sat in his corner and, according to the log entries from those who had entered the cell, stank.
If Poque had led him in this direction, he had to figure out why. He tapped for access and the door slid open.
Stank was the appropriate word. The odor overwhelmed Regi, but he thought about a flock of frim and forced himself forward. He couldn’t afford to tempt the goddess of those feathered monsters.
“I am Regi.” He hesitated before giving his full name. “Regi a’Poque de Minait a’Otutha qee Pertin e Rel.” He watched. If this male knew any Kowri, he might react to the names of the gods. He didn’t. Regi wasn’t going to sit on the floor with a criminal who smelled like he’d fallen into the dung heap behind a temple. He touched the release for the bunk, and the edge popped open and promptly got stuck. Regi smothered a curse before jerking the blessed bed open.
In the scant second he was distracted, the pirate surged forward and a long arm with an odd number of digits slammed into Regi’s side, pinning Regi between the wall and a stinking and faintly moist body.
“Let me out of here or I’ll kill you.”
