"To our main city.We have--"
His voice cut out.
"What?What is it?"She started trying to see, or at least get the pod's sensors to show her whatever he'd alerted on.Her hands danced over the controls, looking for answers.
"No.We're going to another secure location."
"But you wanted me to come here."Now she was annoyed.He specifically wanted her to come to this moon, and now that she was here, he was taking her someplace else?She was going to have to travel in the stars like this?Even with his wings around her pod, it wasn't enough to keep her protected, especially with the number of Terran ships out there.
"No.We head to a different location.A safer one."
"Like a safe house?"
She rubbed her arms and pulled into herself, feeling strange that he'd wrapped his wings around her in such an encompassing way.As the wings enveloped her, they blocked her out from seeing outside anywhere.
In any other situation, she might think it was a kind of hug.
Right now, she just wanted to land and make sure the rest of her party was safe.
Was Eleanor okay?She had been pretty upset on the ship.Freya?She'd been holding it together well.Bianca was okay as well.Veta was, well, Veta.
But Eleanor was her sister.She had to take care of her all of her life.That's what big sisters did.
Bahran pulled her out of thoughts."I do not know why one house is safer than another, but this is not a house by any definition."
She blinked, feeling her emotions snapping back as she answered his question.It was a silly, benign question, but it was enough to bring her back down."A safe house is a Terran term for a secure location that is not publicly known.A place that humanoids can go to, and no one will tell that they are there."
"That is similar to where we are going.So yes, we are heading to a safe house.A place that is very secure and will keep you protected until this is resolved."
They flew for a little longer, and she just listened to the hum of his ship and her pod and how the two engines sounded different.She tried not to let her mind dip into the worry for her sister and the others.She stared at the dash of the escape pod and the telemetry.Counting the bolts on the panels.The seal lines.Anything that would distract her worry.
Like wondering why he stopped and changed his plans."Why did you change your mind?"
"I didn't change my mind.It is the same one I had before."
Now that did amuse her."No, I mean, why did you decide to take me to a different location than your initial intention?"
"Master System insisted."
"Your neural net told you what to do?"
"It is more than a network.It is our collective consciousness."
"Is it alive, then?"
"Not by humanoid definition of alive.Though it does think and understand and process data to draw the conclusions we use in our protocols."
"Do you have a lot of protocols?"
"As many as we need."
"What are your current protocols?"
"To protect you.That is my top priority.As is the rest of my unit."
"To protect me?"
"To protect all of the ambassadors."
