“You did the same thing at the dance,” the Envoy reminded him.
What would blow first? The vein that throbbed in his temple or his cool?
“It was just a kiss,” he hissed. He belatedly remembered to add, “sir.”
“A small but beautiful gesture that has changed many lives and, indeed, a planet.”
A steam-like pressure built behind his eyes. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t think. He was about to choke and about to kick some ass.
Doctor David broke into the upcoming storm. “Take this out of the recovery room, you two. Otherwise, end it.”
The Envoy glanced away from Mike and gave a cultured nod.
He wrapped himself in his own thoughts and went quiet.
Doctor David focused on the patient in the bed. No one said anything for moments. Mike fought an impressive battle to rein in his indignation. When the doctor folded the blanket out of his way and applied a sensor to the left side of Liam’s chest, Mike had to chain the urge to deliver a right hook to the guy’s face.
“I appreciate your restraint.” A smile twitched the doctor’s lips.
His jaw protested the strength he used to shut his mouth.
::What else can you tell me, Doctor?::
“Mr. Sinclair has shown, from the moment of his arrival, a vibrant awareness to mind-link communication. Now, however, mind-link nearby makes the volunteers nauseous, which is why we’re using verbal speech on the ward. I expect full immersion will be painless once he adapts to the changes in his body.”
Such a simple statement, yet so loaded at the same time. The chemical adjustment of the human volunteers hadn’t come without a price. According to the report, four had been felled from his flight detachment, twelve from the vehicle group, and three from Steve’s liquid teams. The volunteers who hadn’t been affected had, for all intents and purposes, failed the one and only test.
As for full immersion, it approached like an oncoming landslide. Would the volunteers accept that world-changing shift?
Or would entrenched teaching hold them back? If the human volunteers refused the final, necessary step, then a chemical vaccination would be necessary and all memories of their time on the base irretrievably wiped.
That was never an enjoyable task, not for the wiper or the wiped.
What would Liam do? If he stayed, he’d have to bond. That meant Mike would see Liam link with another, watch Liam live and love with another Urilqii. That was what he wanted…wasn’t it?
“I’ll be reassigning Mr. Sinclair to the motor pool, specifically to the tankers,” Mike stated.
“What?” He’d succeeded in shocking the Envoy. He’d also succeeded in disgusting both Doctor David and Steve. Fuck them both.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but the most important thing we need to do, other than saving this planet, is to give the native species a way to protect themselves from the Targolt.”
“Well, yes, but—” the Envoy began.
“Liam is not comfortable airborne. I had warning of this before we went aloft, but”—guilt surged inside him like a toxic tide—”I missed the obvious. It would be cruel to put him up there again, and unnecessary.”
“What?” the Envoy tried again.
“The determined way he clings to his ground is telling.” How could it be so obvious, yet so overlooked by these two esteemed members of his cabal? “Not all of these humans will be comfortable in three-dimensional fluidity regardless of their ability to mind-speak and bond. This one is not.”
::His name is Liam,:: Steve reminded him, a bite to his mental voice.
Liam twitched and groaned.
::Be silent, :: he snapped back. ::Mind-speak hurts the volunteers right now.::
Steve went quiet, but he couldn’t conceal his shock.
Mike was a trainer of men. He knew how to locate the strengths of his command and to utilize them for maximum effectiveness. The doctor healed men and the Envoy tried hard to keep men from becoming injured in the first place. So, it wouldn’t kill him to explain.
“We don’t understand humanity’s dependency on the left and right directional levels. Most go up or down, but only face first,” he said. “We don’t have this plane of reference and neither do the Targolt.
“Humanity’s affinity with their planet’s surface, their innate understanding of that hard boundary, does puzzle us somewhat but I guarantee it will frustrate the enemy. The Targolts’ malleable bodies are not equipped to handle the strength of rock and that will be the road to humanity’s victory.”
“Ah.” The Envoy nodded. “The Targolt will attempt to bring battle in a more familiar arena. Using the three-dimensionality of air or water.”
‘That’s true,” said Doctor David. “I’ve never seen a human simply drop down. Not by choice anyway. On the cross-shaped paradigm of direction, they don’t appear to have any affinity with the Y axis.”
Mike nodded. The doctor got it. “Also, I’ve no doubt humanity doesn’t need to be aloft or submerged to maximize their innate affinity with stone.”
He glanced at Liam, whose hand still clung to the unmoving bed rail.
“This inborn connection between these people and the rock beneath their hands and feet is deep and strong. I doubt it can be easily broken and shouldn’t be ignored. The tankers won’t let that happen. In their hands, it will be a weapon.”
He could almost see the thoughts that flew through the air inside the room. But since Liam showed no sign of agitation, Mike knew his audience was deep in individual deliberation. The doctor had the first question.
“How will this affinity offer victory?”
Mike twitched the blanket back into place, covering the area the doctor had revealed. Then he caressed Liam’s cheek with a gentle, respectful gesture.
“Unfortunately, sirs, we’ll have to wait and see.”
CHAPTER 10
Liam awoke to the undeniable sensation that something was wrong. His head felt like he was still in the middle of a bad ecstasy trip. That feeling didn’t make a lot of sense, especially since, if he was right, he was in the infirmary.
A bed,
