Chapter Eleven

Bright blue blood ran down a familiar, slate blue chest in front of me. I watched, horrified, as Rel staggered back from me, landing on his rump. He held his hand over a hole the size of my fist, his brilliant eyes locked with mine. Searching, confused, pained, betrayed.

“W-why did you…”

I awoke retching and managed to scramble my way to the bathroom, dry heaving into the toilet. It wasn’t until I managed to regain a fragment of calmness that I noticed my face was soaked with tears and I had tiny currents of electricity arcing over my entire body.

Stop…just stop. I buried my head in my arms. That criminal deserved to die. Why am I picturing Rel in his place now?! Do I really deserve to be punished?

At least half an hour passed before I managed to get myself back under control. My pulse remained a tad elevated, and I didn’t want to think of food, but I could at least stand up and wander around my room.

Weeks had passed since Citomy’s prisoner ship dumped its contents on Creshe, and the encounter I’d had because of it. The nightmares had finally subsided…I’d thought. If my mind was going to replace the attacker with Rel, I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to sleep again.

My alarm buzzed as I paced back and forth across my room, making me grimace. So much for questioning Zafir before the workday began. I hadn’t gotten to speak with him after last night’s mission due to increasing developments, and now… What is my schedule, again?

I pulled up my schedule on the side of the shower as I stepped into it. Apparently, I was originally supposed to have been going on patrol immediately. Instead, the time had been pushed back a few hours. I vaguely recalled Zafir saying he’d do that…but this was signed by General Crowe, not Zafir. Unsure what to expect, I hurried through my shower and then dressed in a Syldrari bodysuit that was marked ‘casualwear’ in my wardrobe module manifest.

Doing my best to push away lingering thoughts of my nightmare and my desire to check in on Rel at his cafe, I strolled down the hallway outside my room and over to the common area. A broad variety of voices caught my attention, leading me to discover Crowe and Zafir escorting a group of four Syldrari men.

“Thank the ancestors! Finally, an iri!” One of the men exclaimed the moment he spotted me. The purple-skinned white-haired man approached me and did an odd little bow-thing. “It is an honor to meet you, Thyp-cylk. These two, they are your Lun’iri, yes?”

That was a new one. I hurriedly translated the word while mulling over my response. Ah, there it is. ‘Thyp-cylk—a respectful form of address…for a woman in charge? Oh dear.

“They…are my boss, and my boss’s boss,” I answered truthfully, earning a perplexed stare in response. “My name is Elara, and you are…?”

“Suisuni R’selkti, First Lun’ithero of the Jalan-ki Citomy.” He bowed to me again, then straightened. “We have come to work with the Creshe government in her stead. It is our duty to be her interface with other cultures.”

“Interface?” I echoed, glancing behind Suisuni to see Zafir rubbing his temples. Poor bastard looked like he needed some coffee. “Why don’t we settle in one of the conference rooms to discuss your purpose here? My colleagues appear to need coffee.”

“How very considerate.” A different Syldrari raised his hands, creating a vaguely triangular shape in front of his chest with his fingers and bowing with his hands like that. “We will gladly accept your hospitality. There is much we must discuss regarding our Nys’raelyr’s behavior.”

Suisuni nodded his agreement as I led the group down the hallway and toward the nearest conference room. “It is us, a Nys-tarene—a queen’s court—that is meant to take care of her interests. People die when a Nys’raelyr must interfere. It is our duty to keep matters from coming to that.

“It is us whom you and your government should have been working with from the start. Our Jalan-ki acted on her emotions, distraught as she was to hear of her son’s threats to Creshe.”

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Zafir opened the door for me and waited for me and the others to enter the room before joining us. I took a seat at the head of the table after both Zafir and Crowe motioned for me to do so.

Once everyone was seated, Suisani turned to address me again, “We wish to formally apologize for Jalan-ki Citomy’s behavior and offer our services—free of charge—to find the loose criminals. Furthermore, we are willing to offer you individual craft for transportation around the city and assist in replacing the communication systems, flight systems, and weapons systems with something more understandable for humans.”

“Citomy still wants to give her sons to you, but we—her court—are not prepared to go to such extremes,” a gruffer sounding man with blue-black skin stated. “If those boys keep misbehaving, though…”

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it.” Suisuni shook his head.

“So…you’re her court. This is the second time in 24hrs I’ve heard that term. What is a ‘court’ in your culture?” I frowned at the group of Syldrari, studying them again. Perhaps I was going crazy, but I would have sworn two of them had a baby bump. If I wasn’t crazy, then I had to assume that only some of them were Lun’iri.

Suisani frowned as he answered, “A Nys-tarene is made up of a queen’s closest advisors, strongest warriors, and favorite creators. The people who manage and shape the clan in whatever way the Nys’raelyr desires. Should we fail our duties…then she would personally involve herself.”

“When Nys’raeloi involve themselves, people die and systems burn,” another one spoke up, his voice surprisingly soft. He glanced my way bashfully. “Which is another reason we’re here… To implore Nys’raelyr Elara not to involve herself unless necessary. You humans have…I believe you call them ‘reserves?’”

Wait. Now they’re calling me a queen? Why did they call me a Thyp-cylk, if they already know I’m… I silenced my thoughts when I saw Crowe’s grumpy expression.

“The Creshe Empire doesn’t recognize Elara as a queen,” Crowe informed them, earning murderous looks from the group, their glows shifting to a dark, almost black, blood red. “She is the glue for her team. I can’t put her in the reserves without permission from Imperator Julien.”

“From a man?” Suisuni scoffed.

“That is how things are done here,” I stated calmly, uncertain why my tone made them all freeze in place. “Zafir and Crowe are who you will need to coordinate with, and possibly Ambassador Nomusa. I will be needing to leave for work soon… Zafir, if I could have a word with you privately?”

“Our apologies for keeping you, but please, think on what we said,” Suisuni implored me as I rose to my feet. “Nys’raeloi should be the last resort. The power you hold…”

“I will think about it.” I nodded, then moved past him and out the door. An empty promise…but I’ll never get to work otherwise. What a mess.

Zafir hastily followed me, keeping his voice low, “I sensed your distress. Nightmares again?”

“Yes, but that isn’t what I wanted to talk about. I want you to unlock my access to the rest of my chip’s functions.” I gave him a sharp look when he fell into step with me. “I can’t message anyone with it, let alone browse the internet. Both are becoming increasingly troublesome.”

“Some of the features…” Zafir hesitated. “I will keep a few locked for your safety. Internet and messaging should both be able to detect which language to use. You want recreational applications unlocked, including books and films?”

“Please.” I nodded. “I’m surprised you’re cooperating.”

“I’d intended to unlock these ages ago. We’ve both been so busy it slipped my mind.” Zafir motioned for me to follow him into his office. “Here, stand by my desk for a moment. This won’t take long.

“Are you sure you’re alright? If you’re still having nightmares, I may be able to recommend someone to talk to in the Syldrari Sector. Or, at the very least, prescribe some tea that will influence your dreams toward something better.”

“Let’s go with the tea first.” I nodded. “The other seems…risky, at best. I’d rather not put anyone in danger unnecessarily. It’s bad enough that I’ve made connections there…right?”

“It’s good you’ve made connections. Crowe and I have been able to leverage that development to keep the inner circle from voting to assault the sector.” Zafir scowled, his eyes flashing with anger. “They believe Jysel is hiding in the Syldrari Sector and want to root him out by force. Until he appears elsewhere on the planet…”

“Point taken,” I mused. Zafir waved a spherical device near my head and I felt a faint click. Then, a waterfall of Syldran streamed down the right side of my vision. “Done?”

“Once the text vanishes, yes. It’s initializing and updating,” Zafir answered, returning the device to a drawer. “It would be for the best if you didn’t delve too deeply into more serious Syldrari topics or encyclopedias quite yet, but I won’t outright ban you from the sites themselves. However, I do ask that you don’t use any of the entertainment options during work. If something happens to you because you were distracted…”

“You wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself. I get it, and I promise.” I nodded to him, even though he’d turned to look away from me. “And I’ll attempt to stay away from ‘heavy’ topics, as you suggest; for now. While I’m admittedly curious, I get the sense you have valid concerns—we can discuss those later when we both have the time.

“I should go, and you should probably see what you can do about those… What is their official title, if they’re part of her court?”

“Lun’mosurl,” Zafir stated. “It doesn’t translate well. ‘Lun’ is for ‘Lun’iri,’ of course. Mosurl, however…”

“It’s fine, Zafir.” I patted his arm and smiled. “Knowing their title is enough. Thank you.”

Zafir returned the gesture with a tired smile of his own. “I will contact you if any important information is revealed during this meeting.”

“And I will contact you if I run into any trouble.”