A scuffle broke the silence, and I paused, looking over my shoulder, but I didn’t see anything in the dim light. Something scraped along the wall down the tunnel from me, and my soul picked up speed, which was ridiculous. While theAdmiral Venwasn’t completely free of crime, access to the tunnels was restricted to personnel. No one who wasn’t in the Planetary Navy or a civilian contractor could enter.
Besides, the ship was no longer haunted. I smiled at the thought of Caleb. He’d used to be a ghost who haunted theAdmiral Ven, and I’d chased him as a phase variance I couldn’t fix. Now, he was mated to Prince Zoltilvoxfyn and was in a drakcol body.
A slap followed by a snarl sounded, making my head cock. I looked around, trying to ascertain which direction the noise came from. An intersection was behind me, and a shaft lay in front of me. Another loud growl plus the sharp screech of claws on metal broke the silence.In front of me, I thought. I crawled down the tunnel as fast as I could.
When I reached the end of the tunnel, I peered down the vertical shaft that allowed people to traverse the different decks of the ship. A drakcol with dark gray scales and space-black hair was caught half in the shaft and half in a tunnel. It seemed their wings had popped, and now the talon midway down the appendage was caught on a rung. Their feet kicked and scraped on the tunnel below them, but it appeared as if they couldn’t get enough leverage to unhook their talon.
“Do you need assistance?” I asked.
They looked up, and silver eyes met mine. That was a rare color, not to mention lovely, though their thin lips and harsh features made them otherwise ordinary in appearance. Theirstern expression was eerily familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen it before.
“Yes,” they said shortly.
I swung over the edge and shifted down. When I got close, I crawled into another tunnel, turned around, then hung over the edge so I could reach where the wing was trapped.
Hands above the dark gray wing, I asked, “Do I have your permission to touch you?”
Drakcol tried not to touch each other without permission, unless it was life threatening, which this situation hardly was. Also, wings and tails were highly personal. Better to ask for permission than regret it. Our history had too much stealing, taking, and forcing when we were warring clans. To gain trust and overcome our instincts to snatch whatever we desired when we became unified, we started to ask. Permissions became the standard.
“Yes.”
I grasped the thick bone on the top of the wing and tried to maneuver the appendage to unhook the sharp talon without hurting either of us. They grunted, face scrunching in obvious pain, and I instantly stopped. Frowning, I stared at the situation. It was unlikely I would be able to free them without pain or possibly even damaging their wing, which was something I couldn’t risk. I would have to take more drastic measures.
Warmth along with a pull started in my gut as I thought about the laser in the pouch I wore. My inner fire latched onto it, and the laser floated smoothly toward me. I grabbed it out of the air. While my inner fire wasn’t particularly strong, it could be helpful at random times. If I was stronger, though, I could’ve lifted this drakcol and maneuvered them however I liked to free them. Alas, it wasn’t within my skill set.
“I’m going to cut the rung.” I would repair it, after I filed an incident report, followed by a repair ticket, and received clearance to do so. Regulations were important.
“Fine.”
Flicking the burning hot laser on, I warned, “Do not move. I don’t want to harm you.”
They grunted again. Not much of a talker.
As I began to slowly cut the metal, I asked, “Do you mind telling me how you got trapped like this…”
“Seeker Noxlyn. I’m studying humans.”
“Ah, yes. I believe I’ve seen you sit in on some of Seth’s talks with Edith.”
“Indeed.”
Edith showed more independent thought and expressed more personality when she was with Seth, which made sense—they were best friends. Seekers from many different walks of study wished to observe Edith as well as her dynamic with Seth, so the two of them would talk about whatever they wanted to in front of a room of seekers who took notes and also inspected Edith’s coding.
“Pronouns?” I much preferred the human way of asking or giving pronouns right away, which Seth had introduced me to. It saved confusion and respected everyone’s identity. Such practice was growing in popularity among drakcol.
“He/him. Rank?”
“Lieutenant. My name is Wyn. I also use he/him pronouns.”
“Thank you for your assistance, Lieutenant Wyn.”
“It’s no inconvenience, but how again did you do this?” He groaned when the laser got closer to his wing. I wasn’t burning him, but it was hot and probably more than a little nerve-wracking. One wrong move and I might damage his wings, which were highly valued in Drakcon culture.
“I have been conscripted to help while on board, and I must confess, this is my first space voyage. I slipped, and instinct made me open my wings, which was the worst possible decision.”
“It happens.” That particular instinct was hard to overcome, but in the academy, we had training to help. I didn’t have that particular problem, though, as one of my wings was harnessed to my back, and the other couldn’t open without the lashed one.
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” he muttered.
