“I understand. I would need to know where it is though if I am to keep an eye on it,” he mentioned.
Sedom hesitated, her eyes drifting to her open window. She could have sworn she closed it the previous night. “It’s in the Nevet system,” she began with a sigh as she closed the window again. “My… grandmother placed it under Relgid’s care,” she said, almost as if she was uncertain of her own words. She snapped her fingers, remembering what she wanted to ask Garric. “Ah, also, I'm going to need you to do some research.” She removed a diagram from one of her books, handing it to Garric. “It's called a Hagon. It's like a map… a star chart, I guess you could say.”
Garric nodded, uncertain if she knew what it would involve. “To do so I will need access to the library.”
Sedom stared blankly at Garric. Did she risk letting Garric have access to the wealth of her people's knowledge? Regardless if he was her slave, he was still her enemy. “I'll arrange for Cidele to assist you. You can start in the morning.”
“Cidele won’t have anything to do with me, you know that,” Garric grumbled. “She can barely stand being in the same room with me,” he mentioned.
“I'll see what I can do. The orbs won't let any Clove into the library by themselves. My grandmother established the protocols. It's taking me time to figure out how to override them and reestablish them under my authorization. Maybe Noral can help? Do what you can until I can figure something out.”
“It’s difficult to do anything when the entire city, people and technology are fighting against me,” Garric mentioned.
Sedom searched her unit for her jacket. She was surprised to find it hanging next to the food replicator. She couldn't remember why she hung it there, but there had to be a reason. Then she remembered why, quickly ordering a small meal bar from the food replicator.
“I’ve been so busy lately, I keep forgetting to eat,” she mentioned to Garric, noticing his questioning stare. She stuck her food bar in her mouth to hold as she slipped on her jacket. “I need to speak with Zion,” she said with her mouth full. She removed the meal bar, swallowing down a chunk. “We'll continue this conversation later.” She continued out of her unit, nibbling her meal bar in route.
Inside the near-empty cafeteria, Sedom found Zion, Dranium, and Lolum sitting at one of the metal tables eating mid-meal. Zion glanced to Sedom, his mouth full of ziza roots.
“We've got company,” Zion mentioned low to the men on either side of him. He waved her over to the group.
Lolum watched Sedom as she approached the table. “You honor us with your presence. I thought you'd never come down from that lookout tower.”
“Is that where you thought I was?” she called back. She wandered over to the table, resting her hands on Dranium's tense shoulders. The Mandicien man was hunched over his food, almost as if he was protecting it from anyone taking it from him. His body trembled beneath her hands. He moved away from her grasp. “Doing better? I'm glad to see you out of bed,” she whispered into Dranium's ear.
The dark haired Mandicien man nodded a jerking nod as he picked at his roots. “I’m still having my good and bad days. Knowing that there’s an army of orbs outside my door rests my mind at ease. Hasapoi is also helping.”
Sedom had rescued Dranium, Zion and a nurse named Evolanc from a group of Marisheio. They were all being transported to a holding facility where they were going to be interrogated, tortured and then killed. Although the other two in the group were just captured when Sedom found them, Dranium had been held by the Marisheio for over two years. He was in bad shape when she found him after years of being brutally tortured.
Hasapoi? It was a name Sedom heard before, but she couldn’t remember who he was. “Hasapoi?” she questioned.
“Noral's friend,” Lolum spoke up. “He arrived during the attack on Ortees. I thought Cidele mention him to you.”
Sedom nodded several times. Of course she remembered. The orbs told her there was an eighth person in Gathow. “Yes, she mentioned he arrived. In all the chaos, I kind of forgot,” Sedom thought out loud. Noral mentioned he asked his Windrit friend to help Dranium get passed his mental issues. “Well, when I get a chance I'll stop in and introduce myself. And...” She paused, running through the list of items she had to do in her mind. “I'll make certain he has security clearance so the orbs won’t bother him. As long as he's helping and you know he is trustworthy.”
Dranium nodded. “He's helping. Lolum also sent me to work on the computer systems. It's keeping my mind focused,” he admitted. “It’s a needed diversion from staring at the infirmary's walls. I have to admit, these systems are a bit unusual.”
“Narkoy technology,” she smirked. “Thanks. We need all the help we can get.” Sedom patted his shoulder as she sat between him and Zion.
“She’s staying? This is dangerous, isn’t it?” Zion asked Lolum as his locks of curly hair bounced against his high cheekbones.
“Depends on why she’s staying,” Lolum smirked back.
She turned to Lolum and then back to Zion. “Was I interrupting an important conversation?” she asked seriously.
“Hardly,” Lolum smirked back. “It’s just unusual to see you. You’ve been up in that lookout tower so much lately, we were starting to forget what you looked like,” Lolum mentioned.
“Oh, well, as you can see I’m still cute and still blue,” Sedom joked back, causing Zion to chuckle. “And still can get a rise out of you. So, Zion,” she
