"The bastard is not right in the head."
"He doesn't take from the planet; he takes from those that wish to use the planet. That is one of the lessons. The lengths he goes to strike fear into those that would oppose him is but a method of controlling how much is taken. When you're older, you'll understand that the slaves that follow him don't stay because of any fear they have of him, but an understanding of what he is building."
"Okay, fucker. What am I supposed to learn from this, then? That we sacrifice some slaves for the lives of others? And when am I going to be the next sacrifice? What then, Genbi? What then? I'm nobody's sacrifice! And what right did Lord Zorn have to decide on who gets used and who doesn't?"
I felt a twinge of familiarity with his words. Was I nothing more than another sacrifice?
"Vareo," Genbi said with a chuckle. "Why would he teach any lessons to someone he plans to sacrifice?"
My lip curled up in distaste as Genbi's image in my mind warped from savior, from a life as a slave, to that of a male that couldn't be trusted even temporarily. Whatever kindness he showed me was to meet his own ends, and I might simply be another lesson for someone he did care about. I tried to reach the release button on the straps that held me down, but it was near my feet, and the metal latches were facing the opposite direction that required more of a push than a pull action, even if I touched it.
"Plans change, Genbi," Vareo said with a growl.
They certainly did, I thought, while smiling fondly at Yueril. He was in this mess because of me, and I'd find a way to get us both out of it. Somehow. I tried to melt the metal at my feet, my teeth gnashing at the pain of even trying to use my loh when my largest ones were torn from my flesh. It was no use. I whimpered as I felt moisture drip down my heels from fresh blood where my wounds were reopened from my efforts. It hurt, but it was tolerable with the numbing oil from Yueril's tail wrapped around my leg, seeping into my skin. I had to wonder if he knew I'd need it, and that's why he curled his tail around me before his eyes closed. I closed my eyes and groaned at the way my consciousness was fading to join him. We would be at the mercy of two outlaws that were at odds about their opinions towards Lord Zorn, and inevitably towards whether they would risk their lives for ours if it came down to it.
"Then what's your plan?" Genbi sighed. "It won't take long for the crew to know something happened to Lord Zorn. Now's your chance to escape this life, if that's what you're looking to do."
"You won't come with me." Vareo understood what he didn't say.
"No one truly leaves Lord Zorn. The experience buries itself inside your very en. One cannot live in the light without a bit of darkness."
"My en died the rising my planet was destroyed."
But if he was shol, then he wasn't alone. There was a whole colony of shol beneath the surface of Delta Fal. His planet may be gone, but his clan was not. I'd tell him as much, but I couldn't be sure of his loyalties. I wouldn't be responsible for exposing the last of a species to the largest outlaw organization in the system. The tincture oil from Yueril was no longer being burned off by my radiation, and I felt the numbness travel up my limbs.
The intercom across the small ship crackled to life. A woman spoke, "Vareo, I know it's you. You're the only bastard stupid enough to take a ship for a joyride the moment Lord Zorn is busy."
"You going to tell Lord Zorn?" Vareo snarked back.
"No need," the woman replied flippantly. "He already knew you would. Why do you think it was so easy for you to leave?" She waited a heartbeat before haughtily continuing, "What? You thought he didn't notice when a ship was decommissioned after being repaired? Why he favors you, I don't know, but now that you're back and the hangar is closed, I'll connect you with his comm. Like he requested."
I struggled to stay awake to hear what was happening, when the last words I heard were, "Vareo, my son, did you recover my lost moon flea?"
Lord Zorn…
Tapping rang through my ears, waking me with a startled gasp that I choked on through a mask forcing air into my lungs.
"There she is," Lord Zorn's voice was muffled, but distinctly his. "Did you know that fleas aren't that much different from any other species? They survive off of another's life force, the blood of another."
I struggled at the sound of his voice, but found my shoulders bumped into warm metal and it felt like I was floating. With a blow of air out my nose, there was something suctioned around my face, but I couldn't open my eyes yet.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, little moon flea. Being as we are the same species, being a flea doesn't have to mean you spread disease wherever you go, like those that follow the one you call Almder. Fleas may not be able to fly, but they can jump one-hundred and fifty times their own height. To their fellow grounded fleas, they are gods that soar the skies. They also have an endurance stronger than many others, able to sustain activity for thousands of jumps without rest, if they tried. Are you a disease or a god, little moon flea?"
My voice was garbled behind the mask, but it was there as I replied hoarsely, "You're the only one spreading disease across the universe."
He chuckled like I was being cute. "A disease, or freedom? Depends on who you ask. I was prepared to pluck your flesh while you slept, but my son told me something curious enough to change my mind."
His son, that was the second time he said that, and the last time he was referring to Vareo. Was the young shol part estreld?
"You see, the healing pod you're in was designed for me, and only me. My DNA. And seeing as you are now awake, and healing nicely, we both know the implications of such a thing."
"How are you still alive?" I changed the subject before he tried to say something ridiculous, like he was my spawn maker. My mother told me that we lived separated from the clan because of her love for my father, and wanting to raise me herself instead of with the clan caretakers. Lord Zorn was a god of myth that hadn't been seen in the clan for many rotations before I could have possibly been spawned. It was logistically impossible with him running his slave empire to have visited Estreldez during that time.
"Now, or back when my mate betrayed me?"
I didn't have the words to respond, so he continued without them. "We'll start from the beginning, my progeny. You see how your color is so pale compared to the vibrant colors of your peers? I didn't think much of it before, but when I was a youngling, I too had such a pale complexion. It fades more as you age, until your hair is white, and your green skin is no better off. The blue of your oxygenated blood will seep through the layers and become a blue-yellow tinge until you look like the ice of the southern mountain range, farthest from the moon's rays. Your mother's green eyes will stay, though. My eyes were always golden."
My mother didn't have green eyes…
