recruiting personnel on a shithole like Kyvos. “You did great, Lamira. Now we have a clue we can follow. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“It’s just that… I don’t like the sound of any of it,” she admits, her voice cracking. Biting on her bottom lip, she tries to remain strong, but it’s getting hard for her to do. “The way these guys were talking… it scares me.”
“I know.” Laying one hand on her shoulder, I do my best to reassure her. “Look, we’ve spent enough time on this colony as it is. If the others are ready, I think it’s time we get back to the ship. Once we’re back, that techie friend of yours—”
“Fiona.”
“Right, Fiona,” I say. “She can help us do some research into Tartus. We’ll know more then. Does that sound like a plan?”
“Yeah,” she replies with a nervous nod. “It does.”
“Then let’s get the hell out of here.”
Chapter Eleven
Lamira
I can’t stop shaking. It’s been several minutes since my harrowing ordeal with the guards, but I still can’t stop the trembles racking my frame.
Even now, with Grantian’s comforting presence looming over me in the back alley, I can’t shake the feeling of imminent danger. My heart pounds relentlessly, my blood rushing so loudly through my veins I can barely hear myself think.
That was the most terrifying moment I’ve experienced yet, easily trumping my panicked awakening in a cryopod on the Frontier. There, I’d been surrounded by people. Perhaps people who were equally frightened and confused, but people nonetheless.
But I had faced the guards on the street all on my own. I know Grantian watched from down the street, and I believe him when he says he’ll see to it I come to no harm. Still, at the moment, it had felt like I had no friends in the entire galaxy. I kept expecting the annoyingly helpful guards to suddenly snatch me off the street and make me disappear.
That hadn’t happened, but the idea it might have is a daunting one and clings to my subconscious like a bad habit.
“Calm yourself, Lamira.” Grantian’s deep baritone rumbles out of his massive chest like thunder. I find it more soothing than fearsome, though I might be a little bit biased. “You’re safe, and those two cretins are none the wiser they’ve let slip vital information.”
“I know, but—jeez, Grantian. I’m not like the rest of you. I don’t just swagger around confident I can kick anyone’s ass like you and Varia. I don’t even know how to throw a decent punch. The one time I tried to hit my older sister I nearly broke my thumb.”
“Hmm. Sounds like you had your opposing digit tucked into your palm. Try folding it over your fingers instead next time.”
I stare at him for a moment and then chuckle. His brow arches under his horn ridge.
“I wasn’t asking for a clarification of proper punching technique, Grantian. I was just saying I’m not like the rest of you. I’m not a warrior, or a doctor, or even a mechanic. I can’t help feeling like I’m just along for the ride, an unwilling stowaway while the rest of you are kicking butt and taking names.”
“I understand, Lamira.”
I stare up into his big, golden-eyed gaze and feel a little weak in the knees. “You do?”
“Quite. Everyone feels vulnerable from time to time, even Hael Hounds.” He flexes his bicep, and I’m mesmerized by the play of muscles dancing catlike under his golden skin. “Yes, I’m strong of arm, but such power of muscle and sinew pales before a fully charged gamma ray emitter. That’s why it’s important to be part of a crew, or a group. The strengths of the many will always trump the strengths of the few.”
“Nice. Did you learn that in the Hael Hounds?”
“No. An Ataxian priestess, actually.” He scratches behind his head. “I had no intention of converting, mind you, but I always liked the singing.”
“Singing?”
“Oh, yes. When I was young on the Kilgari home world, the Ataxians had a temple down the avenue from where my parents and I lived.”
I scrunch up my face in a frown.
“That’s weird, an Ataxian temple outside of Coalition space.”
“Not so. It’s a different denomination from the mainstream worship of Ataxia, with a liberal amount of Precursor mythology. They believe Ataxia herself was one of the Precursors, which would mean she’s not of Grolgath descent.”
“Yeah. Varia told me that Solair is an old schooler who believes in the Precursors as well. I take it from your