Irritation fills me. “I know how to handle myself. You don’t have to protect me.”
“Yes. I do.” He brushes his hand down my cheek and then straightens his shoulders and steps out of the truck.
I nod silently and exit behind him.
As we draw closer, two E’rikon move up to meet us, their kitus glinting in the sunlight. Both are dressed in uniforms similar to the other aliens in the clearing, form-fitting gray pants and high-collared jackets with tall boots. “State your business,” says the shorter one.
Shoulders back and with an arrogant tilt to his head, Lir manages to look every inch the soldier he was when I first met him. “Steliro Vestra reporting in.” Steliro?
A quiver of shock rolls through them. “Vestra?”
“Yes.” Lir’s short simple words manage to convey an authority I didn’t think possible.
They snap to attention and salute with their cuffed arms. “Sir.” They relax with a nod from Lir. What is he, some sort of alien big shot? Does this make my rescue mission more or less difficult? Does he have enough power to just order Jace to be released?
“I need entry and transport immediately. My kitu is not currently functional.”
“Yes Sir.” One of the guards steps forward and through the wall of energy shimmering in the air. He lightly grasps Lir’s upper arm and steps back through.
The three of them turn to walk away. My mouth opens in protest and I’m about to ask Lir what the hell is going on when he speaks. “And the girl. Bring her.”
The other alien steps through the wall, grabs me and yanks me through. Electricity zips along my nerve endings and tingles in my fingers. The sensation isn’t exactly unpleasant, more uncomfortable, but I don’t think my experience is normal. On the other side, the alien pauses, tilts his head and narrows his eyes at me for a second before shaking his head and continuing, never letting go of my arm. When his fingers dig in a little too hard, I inhale sharply.
“Do not get overzealous. She is not to be harmed,” Lir says, without even looking back at me. A brief sense of betrayal fills my belly, but I calm myself. What could I expect? Certainly not that he’d fawn all over me in front of these two after what he just told me. His disregard still stings though.
The walk isn’t long, maybe a hundred yards, before we reach a shining transport vehicle. It’s more of a pod than a car, bright silver with expansive windows. The interior seats face each other and I assume it operates on some kind of autopilot as there’s no steering wheel or anything else that I can recognize. Lir enters the vehicle first and I’m pushed in after him. I don’t slide into the seat next to Lir, instead I sit on the bench seat across from him, huddling as far into the corner as I can get. The two guards pile in, one next to me still holding my arm and the other across from me. When my knees brush his, he sneers a little and adjusts his legs to avoid touching mine.
The air in the vehicle is thick with tension. I keep my eyes downcast and stay silent, but my mind is racing. This is nothing like I expected. Despite the warning— if you could call it that—Lir’s sudden stoicism unnerves me. My heartbeat picks up and I can almost feel the walls of the transport closing in on me. Was this all a horrible mistake? There’s no escape now. My lungs constrict and it’s getting harder to get a proper breath. I have to stay calm. It’s one thing to freak out in private, or even in front of humans, but I can imagine the aliens would not take it well if I started screeching and banging my hands on the walls.
Most important thing right now: breathing. If I get that in line the rest should follow. I focus on my breaths. In and out. In and out. Gradually my racing pulses recedes and I feel normal, or at least as normal as I can feel locked in this tiny space with three aliens, all of whom refuse to even acknowledge my presence.
Riding in the pod thing is much different than riding in the truck. It’s smoother, for one and there’s no engine noise. What makes it run? I distract myself with trying to figure out how it might be powered and directed, staring out the window at the ever approaching city. No conclusions come to me. I might be smart, but this is technology I’m sure no human has seen up close and it’s probably much more advanced than anything we had even before the Collapse.
We… I’m still thinking of myself as a human, but I’m really not, at least not entirely. Of course, if I have to identify with one race, I’ve spent much more time with humans and I’m not even sure which of my characteristics stem from my alien heritage. Besides the weird mental stuff, what sets me apart from humans? I don’t have scales. My blood isn’t green. Would anyone even know unless I told them?
The pressure gets to be too much and I drum my fingers on my thigh, tapping out a rhythm to distract my frazzled brain. Still no one talks. I look up from under my brow, darting my gaze around the vehicle. The aliens, Lir included, look almost bored. Even in human clothes, Lir stands apart from the other two. Taller. Leaner. More…something.
The dirt caked under my nails makes me blush. I didn’t even take the time for a bath at Peter’s. Lir has been traveling just as much as I have, hell he was even a prisoner for a while, but he manages to be clean and put together. How did I not even notice this before? I am not either of those things and it makes me feel even more out of place. The creeping sense of unease returns and I have to go back to looking out the window. I wish I had clothes to change into or even a bath would be nice.
The vehicle stops with a gentle deceleration, barely even a bump in the passenger area. We’re in front of one of the larger buildings, a silver monstrosity that’s at least forty stories high. A ship flies past and docks on the roof. I’m busy staring up at it when one of the aliens grabs my arm and pulls me out. “Come on,” he says gruffly.
Lir stops our two escorts at the door. “I will take her from here,” he says. “Notify my parents that I have returned.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Both aliens salute and Lir pulls me up to the door. He presses his kitu against a metal square to the right of the door and frowns when nothing happens. A quick glance confirms that our escorts have already disappeared into the pod leaving us stranded out on the sidewalk apparently unable to enter the building. The stiffness in his posture relaxes and he lets out a loud huff.
“Didn’t really think this bit through did you?” I ask. My head tilts down and I keep my voice low.
He chuckles under his breath and glances up and down the empty street. “Not exactly. Would you like to give it a shot?”
“What do you mean?”
“In theory, you should be able to open the door by linking into the system.”
“In theory I should be able to do a lot of things.” I snort.
He shrugs. “It shouldn’t be that difficult.”
“Says the guy who can’t even open the door.” A smile works its way across my face.
“Just put your hand on it or something and link in.”
I roll my eyes. “Just like that, huh? Flick a switch and access my mental super powers? I’m sure—”
Lir’s fingers wrap around my arm and squeeze as his whole body tenses. I look up from my toes to see that one of our escorts has returned and he’s looking between us quizzically.
“Is there a problem, Sir?”
Soldier Lir is back again, shoulders back, looking down his nose at the other alien. “I am unable to link in without my kitu. Escort us to my quarters.”
“Yes, Sir.” The alien nods briskly and places his kitu against the pad. A moment later, the door slides open and he leads us into the building.
* * * * * * *
We take an elevator to the top floor and, after opening another door the alien salutes and scurries back down the hall. Lir walks through the door and into an open living room filled with a couple chairs and a couch. All in white. I’m barely through the door behind him when a small form comes bounding across the room and throws itself at him. It’s a little girl with sparkling green and gold hair. He catches her with an oomph.