Her Commanders - M.K. Eidem Page 0,100

told him unapologetically. "I've known her for nearly her entire life span."

"Why didn't she tell us?" Taarig murmured, still kneeling beside the tank.

"That is for Cali to explain." Xanto looked between the two Commanders. "It is going to take some time before she recovers enough to surface."

"Healing me harmed her that badly?" Taarig touched the flexible skin seal the Meddygs had sprayed on his chest. He hated thinking Cali had risked herself for him.

"That combined with being ejected from an airlock," Xanto reminded him.

"She was actually ejected?" Taarig looked to Jamis for confirmation. His mind was fuzzy on a lot of what happened after being shot. He couldn't believe it when Jamis gave him a jerky nod. "I thought… How the ruk was she able to survive that?!"

"Because she's Zagreus." Xanto saw they still didn't fully understand what that meant and decided it was time to educate them.

"The Zagreus are an ancient race. Their lore tells how they were spawned in the deepest, darkest depths of space in the exact instance the universe was born and tied the two irrevocably together, making the Zagreus nearly immortal."

"Nearly?" Taarig questioned, frowning.

"Everything in the universe has a life span, Sub Commander. Beings, planets, stars. It's because of that it’s believed that when the life span of the last Zagreus ends, so will the universe."

"That's all good to know, but it doesn't explain how Cali was able to survive now."

"The same way every species does when faced with a life span ending situation. Her survival instincts kicked in, and she reverted into the form that would ensure her survival, her primal Beast. What I find remarkable is she was able to maintain her evolved consciousness while in that form. It allowed her to re-enter the base and not attack either of you." He let his gaze travel over Cali but quickly looked away when Jamis released an angry growl. "I knew she was special but I never realized just how powerful she truly was. Or how deeply she cares for both of you."

Xanto was quiet for a moment as the ramifications of that sank in. Then he looked at Taarig’s and Jamis’s stained uniforms. "Would you like me to retrieve clean uniforms for you?"

"Are you saying you can get into our secured quarters?" Jamis demanded.

"Of course." Seeing Jamis’s anger, Xanto sighed. "Commander, I've answered directly to the Supreme Chairman for over seven hundred years. I know every Star Base inside and out and can access any part of one I want, but I would never abuse that ability."

"But you did when you entered my quarters," Jamis challenged.

"I did not," Xanto denied. "Someone had already deactivated your code. That's not for me to explain. So, do you want me to obtain clean uniforms for you or not? Cali's going to be concerned if the first thing she sees when she surfaces is both of you covered in blood."

Taarig and Jamis looked at each other and realized Xanto was right. Cali had a lot of explaining to do, but neither of them wanted to upset her unnecessarily. She was their Lalla, after all.

"Thank you, Xanto," Taarig is the one that spoke. "We'd both appreciate that."

Xanto bowed his head slightly. The Commanders didn't realize it yet, but they were now members of the Paramount's family, and Xanto would treat them with the deference he did Caradoc. "Anything for Cali."

Silence reigned for several minutes after Xanto left, Jamis and Taarig both lost in their own thoughts. Taarig spoke, finally voicing the question they both had.

"Why do you think she didn't tell us? It would have made things so much easier."

"Cali doesn't do easy." Jamis looked to Taarig and couldn't help but grin. "If she did, she never would have taken us on."

"Seriously, J? How can you joke about this?" Taarig couldn't believe it. Jamis was always the serious one.

"What do you want me to do, T? Rant and rave? I'd love to, but what would that accomplish? Until Cali wakes up, surfaces, or whatever that," he gestured to the tank, "is called. There's nothing for us to do but wait."

"I know it's just…" he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Just what?"

"She just seems so far away. I mean, I know she's right there." Taarig pointed at the tank where Cali serenely floated. "I can see her, but I can barely feel her in here." He rubbed where the Meddygs had sprayed the skin seal on his chest. "We can't lose her now, J. Not when she just