Not as good as Stron, though. He would fight him regardless of the weapon choice.
Stron shifted his stance, prepared to fight with Dhomhes and remind him exactly which Gol-Vett he was dealing with.
“What do you want?” Stron asked.
“There's so much that I want,” Dhomhes replied.
“This was not your conversation, Dhomhes,” Khalzin said. “You can move along and perform your own workout.”
“Defending your friend? How nice of you,” Dhomhes said.
“He doesn't defend me,” Stron said, snarling.
“I'm not the one you need to be concerned about,” Dhomhes said, smiling that wicked grin of his. “I didn't receive an executive order from the Coalition.”
“What's he going on about?” Stron glanced at Khalzin.
“I intended to speak to you about that.”
Dhomhes crossed his arms. “Go ahead. Tell us.” For a moment, Dhomhes’s gaze shifted to Fiviel, and the two exchanged a knowing glance.
What did they know that he didn’t?
Stron didn’t like being the last one to know anything.
“Why would he tell you anything?” Stron said and shook his head. What did he know? “You seem to think you know what's going on.”
“I always hear whispers.”
They were certainly not the only ones here now, and several combatants in the room were watching.
And listening.
Whatever this was, it must be in the rumor veins already.
“I am working on bringing in a new option for the mating pool,” Khalzin muttered.
Stron studied his friend. Khalzin's father had been in the sciences, and Khalzin also had a mind for it.
Stron considered that the dating pools had just grown thin as of the last few years, that perhaps he was too blocked to meet someone.
But if Khalzin is seeing something similar in his data, then maybe it is not just Stron who feels the pinch.
Fiviel raised his eyebrow, shifting from one foot to the other. The faintest grinding of gears could be heard when Fiviel’s mechanical knee shifted. “Did you find a pool of females in the mountains who were desperate for a fresh group of males to meet?”
“That would be nice,” Stron said. “New faces and all.” They all could use a new pool of mates.
“New faces are part of it,” Khalzin said. “I need volunteers to help me prove a theory for the Coalition.”
“Whatever it is, my friend, I will assist,” Stron said. He knew Khalzin would not ask if he did not truly need the assistance, and Stron would never leave him stranded.
“Thank you, I hoped you would be willing. However, you need to know what it requires before you commit.”
“And it is a commitment,” Dhomhes said.
“Do you want to tell them, since you seem to think you know everything,” Khalzin snapped.
“No, please. You're doing fine.”
