Myrum pulled out of the Ossisos’ grip and reached for Amina. Without the support, his legs weren’t able to keep him standing. He went to his knees with a loud thud that didn’t hurt at all.
That was strange.
Amina turned around with a gasp. “Myrum!” She looked at the Ossisos who’d been holding him. “What happened?”
“He jerked away from us,” one of them said, grabbing hold under his arm. He rattled with annoyance and tried to pull away.
“Myrum, easy there,” Amina said, crouching down in front of him. “We’re among friends.”
An Ossiso he recognized as Gilush, the medic, took a knee next to Amina. “The counteragent I gave him must be working.”
“Counteragent?” Myrum asked, blinking hard to make the faces in front of him stop wavering.
“Lorse drugged you,” Amina explained. He focused solely on her. It was easier with one person.
Should he be more alarmed by that information? All he could summon was vague annoyance. He was much more concerned with getting to his feet.
“Need to leave,” he said.
Amina gave a nervous laugh. “That’s what we were trying to do before you got all feisty. Gilush and Sar are going to help you stand and walk, okay? No more falling down.”
This time when hands grabbed under his arms, he didn’t fight them. Everything went crooked when they lifted him to his feet, but the hallway and everyone righted themselves quickly.
After a few steps, he was even able to move his legs correctly without dragging them at all. It felt like a huge accomplishment.
Gis and Amina went back to talking as they walked. He concentrated on staying behind Amina, which helped keep his brain from feeling like it was sloshing around in his head. The focus was so complete, when she came to a stop, halting everyone else, he didn’t understand why until he heard Lorse.
“I expect bad behavior from the human, but Gis? You came with high recommendations. Gilush and Sar, how could you betray me like this? Especially you, Sar. I sent most of your family to the white planet for disobedience, but I spared you. This is poor repayment.”
Myrum looked up to find Lorse and three of his security staff standing in front of an old, battered shuttle. That’s right, there had been a plan. They were going to board a shuttle and meet with Helmen.
But why was Lorse here? That wasn’t part of the plan.
“Wrong,” Myrum said. “Wrong place.”
“I know, my soul’s match,” Lorse said. “You’re in the wrong place. You should still be sitting at the banquet table or relaxing in my bed. Don’t worry, I’ll fix that. Although it seems we won't have staff for a while.”
“We can hold them in subfloor storage until they can be collected by the authorities,” one of the guards said. “If they don’t survive down there, then the cold will preserve the bodies for shipping.”
“Where is Ifor? She wouldn’t have left her station,” Ilmed asked. “What did you do to her?”
“She’s, um,” Sar said, her voice shaking. “She had to, uh, use the elimination room.”
Even Myrum heard the lie in her voice. When he looked over at Sar, he noticed the rest of the outpost staff huddled together with Isal, watching them.
“You’re all going to the white planet,” Lorse said, running his gaze over the rest of the staff then back to Sar. “This is going to be so very inconvenient for me.”
Gis spoke up quickly, pulling Lorse’s attention away from the quaking staff. “Sir, I think there’s been a horrible misunderstanding. I know this isn’t protocol, but you must let us return this Talin to his ship. He doesn’t want to stay, and we are only trying to save you from an interspecies political incident.”
“Of course he wants to stay with me,” Lorse snapped. “We are soul matched and formally bound. He can never leave me.”
“Almost none of the normal ceremonies were done,” Gis said. “You never gave him any lineage documents or letter of family acceptance from your parents.”
“He’s Talin, not Ossiso,” Lorse said. “That means I don’t have to do any of those things.”
Gis opened his mouth to speak again but was cut off when Lorse made a loud, aggravated sound.
“Why am I justifying myself to you? You’re obviously an Annexer who was looking for an excuse to turn all my staff against me. I was going to send you off to be tried and executed, but I don’t think I’ll bother. You’re too dangerous to remain alive.”
