“Over a scar?” She thought of the map of scars she had. Then thought of Dug, whose marks were also a death sentence.
“You wished to know, once, about the cultural implications of our carvings.”
She hardly cared, now. It seemed a silly thing when The Divine Alchemists’ plan was to blow the aliens’ starship out of the sky. “I thought talking about it was taboo.”
“It does not matter. I am Yu’Nyun no longer.”
Xist posture had changed, she realized, from the creature who had been welcomed aboard Wind Sabre. A slight shift, she thought due to the injury. But she had to admit xe seemed more relaxed. As though who xe had been was a burden that xe was now free of. A freedom that would come with the deathblow xe requested.
She considered her options.
Kill xin, and sort out the aliens the old-fashioned way. Or…
‘Sneak,’ xe had said. And xe seemed willing to divulge the alien secrets now. Maybe she could use xin against xist own kind, as they’d used her.
“What if I want you to live?”
Scrimshaw tilted xist head and was quiet a long moment. Then, “Do you have a purpose I can live for?”
“Same thing I have. Freedom.”
Scrimshaw turned xist head, reached out a hand and pushed back the curtain of the litter. Green light highlighted the contours of xist pale face. Traced the lines of the arching forehead, xist carvings, xist mandible, xist long slender neck. Swirls of warm and cool breezes danced through the small compartment, and a wash of sand scrubbed the stagnant air.
She waited. If xe didn’t agree to help, xe would have to die. Which it seemed would happen anyway, if xe chose to return to xist ship. So did xe want to die alone among xist own people or with purpose as a useful agent of hers?
No doubt, though, that the Yu’Nyun would retract their boarding ramp the moment they suspected something was amiss. She’d have precious little time to get out of the litter and somehow get aboard. And no way to signal her crew before she arrived. The litter couldn’t sit at dock, its passengers hidden behind the curtains, for very long before the aliens would expect their captain to emerge.
The communication pad. For all she knew, a report was already late in coming. They may have already sealed up tight back at dock, on high alert.
She was no closer to having a reasonable plan when Scrimshaw looked back at her and let the curtain fall back into place. The litter’s interior was immediately stuffy again in the absence of the breeze.
“You want the ring back.”
She nodded, anxiety playing havoc with her stomach. Or it might have been the smell of the dead aliens that had filled the space again.
“I can tell you where it is kept. But they would not let me board any more readily than they would you and your crew.”
Talis was hoping for a guide, not a map.
“What if we cover the wound?”
“Recall your Yu’keem lessons. The uniform cannot be modified. An anomalous draping would raise more suspicion than the captain not emerging from the transport when we arrive back at the dock.”
Her mind raced. The last of Illiya’s drugs gave her a heightened awareness, though the courage she felt was her own. “Is your communicator still working? Could you send a message? Say that the captain has decided to stay another night, in the hospitality of the temple, to await Onaya Bone’s reply, but that I’m returning to my ship?”
“You would like me to instruct them, on the captain’s behalf, to pay you the remaining balance on the contract.”
That sounded a little judgmental. Xe had a lot to learn about her.
“I would, but largely for the purpose of distraction. To make sure that access ramp is open. If we get the money we were promised in the exchange, so much the better.”
Xe was silent a moment. Then, with effort, xe retrieved the tablet from xist pouch. The screen was cracked.
“Oh, sucking winds, is it broken?”
Xe played xist fingers across the screen, activating it.
“Only the surface,” xe reported. “It is functional and will still transmit.”
Talis peeked out the curtain of the litter. Talonpoint was still a thin dark line in the distance.
“Do it,” she said.
She helped xin get seated in a dignified position, wiped the blood off xist face. Xe held the tablet up above xist chest level to conceal xist wound and keep the alien bodies out of sight. The blueish light of the tablet lit xin with its watery glow.
Before xe placed the call, she put a hand on xist arm. “Don’t you dare cross me again.”
“I told you, Captain. I am Yu’Nyun no more. What can I gain by warning them?”
“Vengeance, for one.”
“Vengeance.” Xe seemed to taste the word. “For what? These corpses are no longer my people. They are dead and ruined. I am ruined, and only death awaits me if I return to the ship.”
“For being orphaned, then.”
Scrimshaw considered her for a moment. Xe blinked at her, xist thoughts unreadable.
All she could do was trust xin. The whole world was upside down, and her instincts were reeling. She removed her hand and nodded.
Xe placed the call. Spoke xist alien language while she silently watched, from the other side of the litter, for signs of betrayal. Of course, if it had been her in xist place, the first thing she’d have said was, “Don’t react, but…” and she knew little enough of Yu’keem that it would be simple to send a warning she could not understand.
But the alien on the other end of the call did most of the talking, to which Scrimshaw made quick, sharp replies. Talis understood only a word here and there, and wasn’t even certain of them at the speed the exchange was happening. Something was wrong. The aliens spoke in even tones, but her gut was sending her warning signals
