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Please be careful! Jace’s love for him was in every pixel.

I will. Do the same! Khoth commanded.

Khoth never took his eyes off the opening. He struck his rahir through the fallen Omull’s body and twisted it. The Khul gave a final gasp and died. Khoth started to run towards the opening. But to his left he heard the rapport of Dr. Davies’ gun. His head shot towards the noise. He saw Khul go down and then there was a familiar voice.

“Fan out! Make sure that none get away!” his mother cried.

Khoth blinked for a moment as his mother came into view. She saw him the moment that he saw her. He stepped towards her but then drew back. He had to get to Jace. Would she care about the Pilot? He couldn’t take the chance she wouldn’t. He turned back towards the opening. How many Khul had gotten inside? How close were they to Jace?

“Khoth!” His mother called.

He hesitated and turned his head. He was shocked to see her jogging over to him. Raw emotions filled her face. She was afraid and then relieved when she saw that he was all right. Khoth was stunned by her reactions and found that keeping him in place a moment longer. She stopped a few feet from him and lifted a hand as if to touch him. But she let it drop. He hated that he felt disappointment.

“High Councillor Voor, I cannot tarry. Khul have entered the Moturin Compound,” he said even as he started to move again. “The Pilot is in danger.”

His mother touched his arm. He stared at her hand. Shock again froze him, especially when she added, “Then I will go with you. We must kill the Khul. We must protect the Pilot.”

Missing

Meanwhile, in the Moturin Compound in Ylore…

Davies gritted his teeth as Typhon led him and Dr. Hayter across the courtyard towards the side of the Compound where the Khul had entered. He liked to lead, but that wasn’t totally the reason why he found following the Thaf’ell aggravating. After all, Typhon knew the Compound better than either he or the doctor did. It made sense that Typhon should go first. Even with the maps on the comms now working, there was nothing better than someone who intimately knew their way around.

It also wasn’t because he feared Typhon was a coward or poor fighter. He’d clearly taken out the pod of Khul he’d been assigned and a jammer. That took guts. He also reminded Davies of a few marines in his day who never cracked a smile, but also never missed a shot. So he didn’t fear that Typhon would lead them into danger and abandon them.

Well, not unintentionally anyways.

The truth was that he didn’t trust the Justiciar farther than he could throw him. It was clear that Typhon and his sister knew more about the Pilot and the Altaeth more than they were saying. Jace had gotten exactly a few moments to see that database before things had gone terribly wrong. He didn’t think the two things were related. But he didn’t like anyone knowing more than he did, especially about his side.

And I am on Jace’s side, he thought.

He’d been sent to spy on Jace and the entirety of the Osiris’ crew, not to mention the Alliance and whoever else they’d encountered. But the moment that he’d set foot on the Osiris, something had changed for him. The moment they’d gone into space, that something was confirmed.

The universe was simply too big and beautiful and dark and dangerous to be held in the hands of the United States. He loved his country. But he saw its strengths and its weaknesses clearly. Humanity as a whole needed to be represented out here. Not just one country. But, at the same time, he knew that things could easily get bogged down in old alliances and enmities. Jace was beyond those. Whether he was an Altaeth or not, he was human, too. He’d been raised human and he saw himself as one of them. He would see to it that humanity was well represented. And Davies would ensure that no one got in the way of that.

Was Typhon in the way? It was unclear. Again, lack of information was killing him here. He hoped not literally. Once things were re-established with the Osiris, he was requesting every single bit of information he could get his hands on through the AI. While the Osiris likely knew his background and who he was supposed to be working for, the truth was that they were in tune with one another. Both were a little ruthless. Which brought him back to the matter at hand.

For even if he trusted the Thaf’ell, Davies hadn’t been lying or exaggerating when he said that anyone infected or even possibly infected by the Khul had to be killed immediately so that the infection couldn’t spread and the hostages couldn’t be used against Jace. While it was hard enough to kill someone in general, these were Typhon’s people, his family. As cold blooded as the Thaf’ell portrayed themselves, Davies did not believe that Typhon wouldn’t hesitate to take out one of his own.

The Alliance never thought that they’d have Khul on Haseon, Davies realized. Maybe on some far flung outer rim world, but not in the heart of the Alliance. They’re not prepared for this mentally or physically.

He glanced over at Dr. Hayter to see if the doctor would back him up on this. The doctor was on the mission as a linguist, but he was both a profiler and an excellent shot. Hayter hadn’t hesitated to take down the Khul. But that was the benefit of the Khul being completely unredeemable. They wanted to use their flesh as food after all. Would the doctor be able to kill Thaf’ell? Would he? He’d killed plenty of people in his day. So he was sure he would.

The doctor was no longer limping from an injured knee as Typhon had earlier tossed the man some kind of stimulant mixed with a powerful steroid. Dr. Hayter had agreed to take it after hearing the ingredients which he did not believe would harm him. In fact, he wasn’t harmed at all. Quite the opposite. The doctor was pretty much floating on air, a smile on his face, and a rather crazed look in his eyes.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have taken that injection, doc,” Davies murmured as he heard the doctor humming a children’s tune.

“Oh, but I feel fine! In fact, I feel wonderful!” Dr. Hayter made an odd, almost girlish giggle at the end as he stroked his hand along his draagves and spun in a circle.

“I can see that, doc. Maybe a little too wonderful,” Davies responded dryly. “I think you should keep behind us and, ah, don’t aim that at anyone not Khul.”

He touched the end of the draagves that had been swinging too near him and pushed it in the opposite direction.

“Of course, of course! I was just wanting to point out the colors in the air!” Dr. Hayter giggled. “Aren’t they lovely? Now that’s a spectacular shade of violet!”

Davies didn’t even have to check if there were any colors dancing in the air--let alone something violet--as he knew there weren’t. The doctor was as high as a kite. He just sighed, moved the draagves away again, and hustled to keep up with the much taller Thaf’ell who had surged ahead of them.

Typhon was already at the west interior wall. He had his back flush against it beside a closed door. He gestured for Davies and the doctor to do the same. Davies made himself flush against the wall on the opposite side of the door. The doctor leaned back beside him, smiling emptily at the air where the “colors” were dancing. Typhon was checking his comm likely for any movement inside the Compound.