“My apologies, I’ll owe you…”
Treto only waves away my apology, his eyes never leaving the missive in his hand.
“What is that?” I ask.
His thin lips press together, and then he hands the paper to me.
It’s an intercepted comm between the Xar’ads and an unknown recipient. Volethos perhaps? I scan the letters and fall back into my chair with a long sigh.
“This is Earth, isn’t it?” I ask, holding the page up. “They are going back for more.”
“I’m going after them,” Treto announces.
“Yes. Yes, I’ll set a course—”
“No, just me. Alone.”
My head snaps up. I’ve never seen such a fierce look on Treto’s face. “What about Sone?”
“I’ll need your help.” Treto looks away. “He won’t understand.”
“I don’t understand either.”
Silence stretches between us for a long, long time. Until I’m certain he won’t say anything more on the subject.
“Ineedto do this on my own,” he finally says. “I can’t explain it.”
“Okay,” I tell him. “Okay. If that’s what you need, we’ll back you the best we can.”
Treto nods and some of the tension seems to leave his shoulders.
“I’ll… intercept them when they reach Earth.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Intercepting them alone would be a suicide mission. When they reach Earth, send back the coordinates. Then follow them until we can arrive as back up.”
Treto frowns, the scaly ridges over his eyes dipping low as he thinks about it. Then, slowly, he nods. “Yes. That will work.”
The End
Epilogue
Treto
* * *
It’s been more than a rotation since I snuck away from theShadein the battered shuttle Rovos stole. Is it really sneaking, though, if you’re only hiding from one person?
Sone is my brother in all ways, except for blood. Although, considering how much we’ve spilt together, maybe that’s not true either. It guts me to go behind his back, but he won’t understand.I don’t even understand.
I must give our crew credit. It took him an entire rotation before my comm lit up. Then half of the next rotation for him to hack into the shuttle and comm me there, knowing I couldn’t ignore him.
It’s not so easy to reason with an irate Markatti. It’s even harder when you do not speak.
“Stop right where you are. I’m setting a course for the nearest station where I can get a shuttle, then I’m coming with you,” Sone growls at me through the screen.
I shake my head, which elicits a ferocious scream from Sone. “Why?” He leans in so his face takes up my entire screen. His eyes are glassy, and my heart lurches in my chest. “Why are you doing this?”
Even if my words came readily, I still wouldn’t know what to say. Because I don’t know. All I have is a feeling,a strong one, telling me I need to do this. And I need to do this alone.
