Lero pursed his lips. “From what I heard there were only a handful of females there. Most are mated or getting on in years.”
Darren wasn’t discouraged. “There’s always an outside chance for life to play a wild card. I can’t speak for Blayze, but we can ask him.”
They reached the elevator.
“May the luck of Yithir go with you, brother,” said Lero, as Darren slapped his palm against the panel and the doors slid open. His brother didn’t sound hopeful as Darren steppedinside.
The Pioneer touched down on Drypso and Darren got that sinking feeling he’d suffered when they first arrived. He had hoped never to see thegrackingplanet again.
Within the day, the humans and their bags were aboard. Commander Trot was anxious for the girls and the visiting crew to leave. He didn’t need extra mouths to feed, and guests using precious resources: he had a planet to defend. With the collapse of the experiment, he couldn’t wait to be rid of them.
That was the unofficial view given to Darren by one of the Ohirin frigate crew, but he noticed something strange. As the brothers were escorting Pilot Joel from the commander’s office to the ship, they spied two Drypsonian Ohirin warriors with Drek females. Laughing and giggling together, the pairs passed them in the yard between the ship’s landing bay and the command building. An Ohirin saluted the pilot’s group as they passed by. Joel nodded his acknowledgement.
“See that?” the pilot growled as they approached the ramp. “What are Ohirins doing with Drek females?”
“I don’t know, but it’s strange. Something doesn’t add up,” commented Darren as they boarded.
Darren soon put it out of his mind. He had other things to worry about, and they were taking off in the early evening.
He couldn’t avoid Aelanna when she boarded. The pilot sent him and Lero to collect the females from reception where they waited, take them to the ship and see them safely to their cabins. That was Darren’s job. Those were his orders, issued by Crukugs himself. He couldn’t refuse; it would be tantamount to treason, since the emperor had been kind enough to grant Dheltans asylum on Ohiri.
When he and Lero arrived at reception, Aelanna’s eyes shone with tears and her chin trembled. Her face was whiter than normal, though her red hair shone. She’d put it into a tight braid over the ivory gown he’d given her. She’d had a traumatic time, he would guess.
He held back the urge to comfort her. The Ohirins no doubt had plans for the females when they returned to Ohiri and he kept his distance.
For the evening meal, his orders were to escort the girls to the diner, including Aelanna, which meant they had to go through the emotional turmoil over again: her, confused and hurting, him, holding back and hurting.
Thereafter, he switched shifts to avoid her. That way he spent a painful two weeks full of longing, confusion and unanswered questions, and he was sure she had too, but at last it was over, and the ship touched down on Ohiri.
He watched Aelanna go into the army building under the care of a female officer. He would never see her again. As the doors closed after the female group had gone in, he reminded himself it was better that way.
Chapter 24
A Favorite Bar
After the rosy ambience of the Dheltan ship, the Pioneer, Ohiri was too bright in general. Darren, Lero and Blayze were back in their favorite dim bar.
“Now that we’ve reached the other side, the trips seem like a bad dream. I feel like I’ve woken up and am trying to ground myself,” Darren said. He and Lero laid claim to a table while Blayze went to the bar for ale.
Lero wasn’t really listening. “Bless the dimming, I’ve missed this. Come to Daddy,” he murmured as he reached for one of the chilled glasses of brew that Blayze slid on the table. He took a sip, smacked his lips, and relaxed in his chair from relief, then surprised Darren by replying, “I, for one, am glad it’s all over.”
“You are?”
“What are your plans, brothers?” asked Blayze as he pulled up a chair and sat down.
“We don’t haveplans. The army has plans. We carry out orders,” snapped Lero.
“Don’t speak to me like that. You’re just in a mood because you miss Kora. We all miss our females,” Blayze retorted.
Darren nodded in approval. He was glad Blayze stuck up for himself. Lero was in the habit of bullying him when life wasn’t going Lero’s way, only because Blayze was the youngest by an hour. Nayli inspired Blayze to have more self-confidence.
Lero frowned. “I don’t miss her,” he groused.
Blayze refused to acknowledge him and eyed Darren. “You, Darren?”
Darren took a healthy gulp of his ale and savored the taste before swallowing. The amber nectar slid down his throat and settled in his stomach, spreading warmth and satisfaction from inside. He set the glass carefully down.
By Yithir, he’d missed this, too.
