CHAPTER 1
Cassie
“Have you met Cassowary?” The Aviarist placed a cold hand on her shoulder. Cassie hated the subtle clack of metallic joints whenever he touched her. “Pretty little thing, isn’t she? We’ll be demoing her as a companion soon.”
As if it wasn’t enough to be spat out of a luxportal at full speed, the life vest on her Intergalactic Alliance-issued jumpsuit deployed after she found herself waist-deep in floodwater. Water swirled around her, soaking her through and filling her whole body with cold. There was nowhere for her to go until someone came to get her. Even with the life vest, she couldn’t swim, and the water was too high for effective wading. The bag of her belongings was clutched to her chest as she tried to squint through the pelting water dripping down her head and into her eyes.
A beam of light cut through the darkness of the rain, and a boat cut through the water in her direction. Cassie’s teeth chattered as the fabric of her jumpsuit clung to her in tight discomfort from being soaked.
“I’m here on time, small human Cassie.” A huge yellow-brown scaled latil’e male stared down at her from aboard the boat. “My mate is also a human. She told me she was tall for her species, but I didn’t believe her.”
The male offered a hand, and Cassie accepted it with reluctance. This planet was safe. This town was safe. No one was going to harm her. The IA counselor had promised her that much before sending her off. The latil’e’s movements were brusque and uninterested as he hoisted her up into the boat.
“I’m supposed to offer you this and then take you to the clinic.” He handed her a metallic blanket. “It’s for wearing.”
Cassie nodded, her hands trembling as she unfolded it and wrapped it around herself. Without waiting for her reply, the male revved the boat’s engine.
“We’re leaving now. Hold on to the handles. My mate won’t forgive me if I lose you in the water.”
Her stomach churned with the effects of portal sickness they’d warned her about before she entered the luxportal. Luckily, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten anything substantial. It was her own fault for staying the extra three weeks at the resettlement facility instead of leaving on the earlier flight, which would have brought her here before the rain.
Mist sprayed around them as they maneuvered through the wake surrounding the main town center. It wasn’t long before they pulled up in front of a building with the Universal symbol for medicine. There were words as well, but Cassie had never learned to read. The latil’e male dismounted and splashed up to his knees in the water. He offered his hands again and carriedher over to the entrance of the building before setting her down inside.
“You were there on time?” A female voice called out from deeper inside the clinic.
“I was on time. Tell my mate about my timeliness, small human Cassie.”
Cassie shrank. Her voicelock database didn’t have the words required to say something so complex, and she doubted anyone here would understand the hand signs developed by her fellow passeri.
“Give her time to get used to being here before you start bothering her.” A tall blonde woman appeared from around the corner, holding an older datapad model. “Hi there, I’m Eleri. I’m one of the healers here in Laurus. You must be Cassie.”
“Hi, I’m Cassie. How can I be of assistance?” Her voice chirped an upbeat response, but she was certain her facial expression didn’t match. The manufactured words used her vocal cords, not her ideas.
“I’m here to help you, don’t worry about me.” Eleri laughed. Cassie’s fingers tapped idly at the silver implant just below her jawline.
“Thank you!” Her voice oozed enthusiasm even as frustrated tears welled in the corners of her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Eleri moved closer and ran a hand along the hem of her pale blue uniform shirt. “I didn’t mean to offend you. It must be so hard coming here after everything. There’s only a bit of information about your history in your medical file. We can just talk for a few minutes. No need to jump into scans if you’re not ready.”
“This service is not available.” She started to bawl, realizing her words wouldn’t mean anything to Eleri.
“What service?” Her voice was gentle.
“Her face is leaking. Should I get some hydropods?” The latil’e male moved toward Cassie, which caused Eleri’s lips to thin in a tight line.
“You’re not being helpful. Go wait upstairs while I talk to Cassie.”
The latil’e looked like he had something else to say but decided better of it and stomped up the stairs per Eleri’s request.
“Don’t mind S’samph. He means well, but sometimes he doesn’t understand when to keep his thoughts to himself. If it’s ok with you, I’m going to ask our senior healer to come say hello to you.”
“Thank you!” Cassie exclaimed through full-body sobs. Eleri stood and placed a single pat on her shoulder before leaving her alone in the chair. When she returned, there was another being like Cassie had never seen before, and she’d seen almost every sentient species in IA space.
“Cassie, this is Aglao. Do you mind if they take a look at you?”
“My role is to help you have a positive experience.” Cassie spat the words out through snot. The unfamiliar species approached, pale green limbs floating around a central body.
“Can you tell me your favorite color, Cassie?” The being asked.
