Regi tapped a quick note to himself to make an entry in the official translator. They needed a team to work on English before making the language available for the public databases. Archaic or academic words needed to be removed before other huumans were judged for their ignorance of their own language.
“Had your species been identified by the Coalition, a team of translators would have worked with your government to ensure that no one individual exerted too much influence. The slavers had no such safeguards in place.”
“Either way, your captain deserves some scatological language thrown at him for leaving you in the dark.” He ran his finger across Peaches’ quills. She circled before settling in for a nap on his thigh.
Regi did not want to defend the captain or Ter—not now. Later he would approach the situation with logic, but it had beena long time since he had been made to feel so separate from the crew.
“How bad is our situation?” Dante asked in a hushed voice.
“I shall plod my way to success. Gimi believes the gods bless us, so she will not allow Bekdi a’Gavd to push the exalteds to move quickly, and if the others think as logically as she, they will not believe his more outrageous claims.”
“And his less outrageous ones?”
Regi sighed. That was the problem. “I will handle the temple.”
Dante rubbed his face with enough vigor to shift his skin, which appeared uncomfortable. “For most of my life, people moved around me. They left me out of important decisions and hid information. Whether my father was trying to be kind by hiding the details of my mother’s murder or manipulating me for campaign publicity, he made me feel stupid. I don’t care how bad the truth is. I don’t care if there’s a ninety-seven percent chance that we’re all going to be dead inside a week. I would rather know. Besides, I’ve beat odds worse than this.”
“True,” Regi admitted. Dante’s rescue from the slavers was so unlikely that only the gods made it possible. “By deleting the files, Ter has ensured his guilt. There is a chance the temple may decide to execute the engineering staff or the entire crew other than the two of us.”
“Because we’re Divashi’s favorites,” Dante guessed.
“Yes. Exalteds cannot be killed. However, we can be confined to the temple to minimize any harm we may pose. We would live the rest of our lives watched by acolytes and exalteds.”
“Fun,” Dante said.
Regi was almost sure that was an incorrect translation.
Dante propped one ankle up so it rested on the knee of his opposite leg. “Gimi believes her Goddess of Logic would favor us. Would her goddess’s favor extend to our crew?”
“Perhaps. The situation is difficult, but at the very least, she would counsel the others to move slowly to avoid traps of illogic, and Nawr would likely side with her. So if Bekdi hopes for a decisive victory by morning, he will be disappointed.”
“What is the likelihood that your people will allow Ter to get away with a slap on the wrist?”
“Slapping is not a potential outcome.”
Dante huffed. “That’s a saying for minimal punishment.”
Other than Ter, Regi had never seen a species with such colorful language, both in terms of profanity and metaphor. If huumans and fudlahralahs ever met, the two species would either forge an alliance no one could break, or they would loathe each other.
“I think it unlikely my people will allow Ter to escape significant punishment, and death is the most likely sentence. However, the captain will do anything to protect Ter, including putting the rest of us at risk.”
“And the temple won’t allow Captain Cota to do that, so they would be more likely to take us into custody and then kill the rest of the crew.”
Regi tilted his head in affirmation.
“Lovely,” Dante said, and again, Regi assumed he did not mean that literally. “What other punishments are available?”
“Pain. Imprisonment in the temple. Revocation of adult authority. Stripping of all titles and competencies. The last is unlikely given that Ter has not earned any professional competencies through the Kowri schooling or apprentice system.” Regi had never thought about how his people and the Coalition compared, but the options to pay fines or go on scheduled arrest were not available in the Kowri Empire. As a member of the Coalition military, he was required to keep certain hours and present himself at his duty station at specific times, so the exalteds would not see scheduled arrest aspunishment, and the use of money to repay for crimes against society would translate into bribery. He could not suggest it.
“He would complain if he was sentenced to pain, but it sounds like that would be the best option.”
“Yes, although I do not expect him to accept that, and I will not be able to convince my people to accept the sort of punishment Ter and the captain would expect.”
Dante stroked Regi’s arm. His hand with its one opposable thumb had become familiar at some point in the last month. “I can always tell you’re upset when your hair stands on end.” He smoothed Regi’s fur, sending shivers along Regi’s nerves.
“I should caution you against touching.”
Dante jerked his hand away. “I apologize. That was rude. I won’t touch you again.” The words tumbled out and Dante stood so quickly that the chair screeched against the decking and he scooped up Peaches and deposited her on his shoulder in one movement.
