“All right. I’ll call you Larm. I have a strange question for you. Your mate, Soria, spent several years on Earth. How much do you know about her life during that time?”
Nikki couldn’t hear Larm’s lengthy response, but Jaron’s reaction made it easy to guess what Larm had said.
“Well, I’m glad you feel that way. Actually, your daughter Nichole is the reason for my com.” Jaron paused and made a quick motion with his hand. “Would you like to meet him?” Jaron asked her.
“Right now?” This was not what she had in mind when she asked Jaron to make the call, but why the hell not? If Larm was interested in her, she would love to establish some sort of connection with her grandmother. “I would.”
Nodding, he made another motion with his fingers. “Larm, Nichole is here with me now. Would you like to speak with her? She prefers to be called Nikki by the way.” After another pause, Jaron smiled and said, “Wonderful.”
Jaron transferred the call to the holo-com station in the middle of the table and Larm’s image gradually appeared. Nikki wasn’t sure what to expect, but this vital male with silver streaked mahogany hair and bright yellow eyes wasn’t it. Had her grandmother mated with a much younger male or did Sarronti age slower than humans? She had expected someone old and frail, like the admiral.
“Are you Nichole Harmon?” Larm asked with some hesitation.
“I am.” She took a deep breath and pushed aside her inhibitions. “I only recently found out about Soria. I wish I could have known her.”
“She thought of you and your brothers all the time,” he insisted with a tearful smile. “Your father insisted that there be no contact and she honored his request, but it broke her heart to do so. She desperately wanted to be part of your life.”
“If you are willing, I would love to get to know her through you.”
“Of course. My children and I would be honored to share her with you.”
“Do your children know about me?”
“Not yet,” he said with a grin. “But they soon will.”
They spoke for a few minutes more, then Nikki promised to com that evening when she would have more time to chat. “That was amazing. Thank you so much for locating him for me.”
Jaron reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Anything for you, my love.”
“I know we’re running out of time, but could you check and see if your aunt is available? I’d really like an update on Selina and Haley before we head over to the detention center.”
His gaze went vacant for just a moment before he said, “Aunt Arpovae said she is with a patient right now but should be available in a few minutes.”
They cleaned up the breakfast mess while they waited. After all the surreal elements that had been added to her life, doing dishes felt blissfully normal.
Arpovae instigated a holo-com a short time later and Nikki was stunned by her beauty. With mauve streaked brown hair and pale pink eyes, Arpovae possessed a noble bearing that reminded Nikki of royalty. Jaron’s mother was lovely, but Arpovae had an exotic quality to her features that Mirra lacked. With a big sister like this, no wonder Mirra left the capital.
“Thank you for taking time to speak with me,” Nikki said after the perfunctory greetings had been exchanged. “I’ve heard a lot about you and it’s nice to finally have a face to put with the name.”
“I agree.” Arpovae bypassed more pleasantries and started listing facts.
Malik must have gotten his directness from his mother.
“The genetic regression was successful with both Selina and Haley. However, Haley is recovering more quickly. This isn’t surprising because the damage to Selina both physical and emotional was more severe.”
“Has either begun to remember what happened while we were on Cretz?”
Arpovae seemed confused by the question. “That was never the intention of these procedures. The trauma they endured during their captivity was a significant contributor to their mental instability. If we had restored their memory in full, we would have risked a similar outcome. What they are told about their captivity is entirely up to their parents.”
“Have you been in contact with Mr. and Mrs. Flack?” Nikki’s mother made it sound like the other set of parents disregarded the cover story entirely.
“Of course. The laws regarding medical procedures in this dimension are similar to those on Earth. When a patient is unable to make medical decisions for themselves, those decisions are made by the next