Zane is as confused as his sister, but I let Lalia snoop around the house and talk to Lex while I figure out the best way to move him into the house. Or perhaps leave him here. I’m not sure if it’s worth it, and now he’s awake, I’d really rather not pick him up again like a baby.
“I hate to take your bed…”Zane offers while I rummage through what supplies we have in the washroom, taking stock of what we could use the most.
“That’s really the literal least of the concerns right now, idiot.”
“Well, yeah, but I feel like you’re extra picky about people sleeping in your bed.”
“I can say you’re the first people I’ve let into my ship for certain. Other than other bounties. But they’re tied up. Feel special.”
“Oh yeah, very special,” he mumbles, then tries to sit up.
“Lay back down. You’re worse than me.”
“That’s insulting.”
“Lay down. You need to heal, stupid. Humans.”
“I maintain you’re worse than me.”
“I’m a cyborg. Vastly different.”
“Uh-huh.”
Ignoring me, he manages to sit all the way up onto his elbows before grimacing, turning a little ill, and dropping back with a groan. “My head has never hurt like this.”
“Next time, don’t get blown up.”
“Next time don’t get blown up…” he mimics. A sheen of sweat glosses his forehead, and his eyes are closed at even that small display of energy. My stomach twists. There’s no reason he should have an infection. All this is most likely from the severity of the injuries, but burns are easily infected and who knows how bad his concussion is, among all the other small injuries. I know it’s been less than twenty-four hours since he got hurt, but it freaks me out seeing him this helpless.
I touch his forehead again. He doesn’t feel too hot, maybe a little more than usual, but with the airlock open for the last thirty minutes, it’s warmer in here.
“Do you want the cold back on?” I ask. “I can close the bunk door and turn it on in here.”
He waves his hand limply. “No, it’s fine. I like it. Smells nice outside.”
I nod though he isn’t looking at me. I wander back to the airlock, watching Bat have a standoff with one of the smaller dogs about his size, both of them frozen, eyeballing one another. The little brown dog has its hair up but its tail is wagging. They sniff noses and Bat hisses. Lex watches him from the doorway of her house, expression somewhere between amused and fascinated. She may have a cyborg sleeping in her house, but Bat’s a whole other oddity.
Lalia edges around the odd human, stepping over Bat and heading back to me. Frowning, she unbraids her hair and stands under the airlock, looking up at me. I sit so I’m not standing so high above her.
“What do you think?” I ask, trying not to think too hard about how little I would’ve cared for her opinion mere weeks ago. I suppose I should be accustomed to it by now.
“She’s a bit odd, isn’t she?” Lalia murmurs.
“A bit is an understatement,” I whisper back. “But then again, I have two humans in my ship who decided to go hunting around for their cyborg brother, so who am I to judge.”
She levels a stare at me, but it takes some of the worry from her expression. “You seem to trust her.”
“I don’t trust her. But she’s in a situation where she definitely hasn’t overpowered that number, which means she’s been kind toward him. And if she’s correct about the way this planet treats numbers, she’s putting herself in danger by harboring him. There’s very little she could try to get out of this situation without endangering herself.”
“Do you think it’s true? About cyborgs being so illegal here.”
I hold up my tablet. I’d been searching for things other than the planet files while she was snooping around the house—another thing Lex didn’t seem to mind. “I don’t know why it isn’t on the planet files, maybe they want people to get caught, but I found some official documentation from Neyla Ve about the status of cyborgs. It doesn’t outright say they’re illegal here, probably because Captain would never allow it, but it heavily hints that there’s no presence of us here because it’s more trouble than it’s worth. I don’t think she’s lying. If nothing else, we can ask that cyborg when he wakes up what’s going on. If he’s in trouble I’m sure he’ll tell me. We seem to be in a similar situation as far as our status goes.”
Lalia is nodding, chewing on her lower lip. “Makes sense.”
There’s a pause. My eyes find Yvonne’s where she’s wandering around from the back of the house with Anya. She gives me a shrug and a half smile. I don’t know what to do. But on Lee’s ship, we were surrounded by enemies in an enclosed space, and we made the stupid decision to wander around and look at the supernova, even if Lee had no plans of anything going wrong. Here, there’s me, Bat, Lalia, and Yvonne fully able-bodied, and one human and what seems to be a rather harmless cyborg. We have my ship and empty space to head to if anything feels remotely fishy.
We came here because though Zane will probably pull through on his own, we want to help him the most we can. This is incredibly lucky. After yesterday, I want to soak up all the good luck I can.
“Do you have any room for our friend inside?” I ask. “I don’t want to intrude on your space.”
Lex shakes her head. “We have an extra bedroom, this used to be my parent’s house before mine. It’s small, but there’s space.”
I nod, looking to Lalia again, but she only nods, shrugging a little.
“I suppose I’ll carry him,” I mutter, managing not to groan as I get to my feet. It’ll be nice to get some better sleep tonight. My chairs are comfortable, but not exactly perfect to stretch out on.
I punch the button letting the gangplank out, hearing Lalia follow me in. Zane looks asleep but blinks like a kitten when I readjust the blankets around him.
“What are we doing?” he grumbles.
“The lady here has supplies and an extra room. Seems trustworthy.”
“Hmm,” he slurs, then says, “I’m perfectly capable of getting up, just give me a hand.”
He does the same attempt at sitting up before I roll my eyes and take the opportunity to loop my arm around his shoulders before he falls back down.
“Idiot,” I mutter when he makes it no further than the last time.
Wrapped in blankets like a baby—I’m gonna harass him about this when he solidly pulls through—I carry him back out, wincing a little at the various injuries his weight rubs against. He’s not heavy to my muscles, but I’m feeling every step to begin with, and it doesn’t help to carry someone as tall and a little broader than I am.
Lex’s eyes are sympathetic when she gets sight of the bandages. “How bad is it?”
“He’ll pull through, but we’re cautious.”
“What happened?”
“Ship blew up. Had to drag him out.”
She nods, leading me in and across the room—the cyborg is still crashed—to one of the other doors. I’m hesitant, but it’s nothing more than a small bedroom with another tiny fireplace. It must get cold here at some time of the year. A simple bed looks quite comfortable.
“Here,” Lex says, dragging back the single quilt on the bed. “I’ll find him some more blankets. I have lots packed away somewhere.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, awkward at the easy display of kindness. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise me, not when I’ve met a gaggle of odd humans in the last few weeks, but at least Lalia and Zane have an excuse, and Yvonne took a while to get used to me.
Zane mumbles something unintelligible, but he’s about ready to crash for another few hours. Good. I’ll give him something extra for the pain and Bat and I can take another look at him. I’m not opposed to Lex helping so long as I’m keeping a very, very close eye on her.
“Is that cyborg out there okay?” Anya whispers. She’s standing in the doorway, watching Zane sadly as I tuck him into the bed.
“Yes dear, he’s just sleeping,” Lex says, leaning around me to smile at her.
I wonder if she has any concept of who the two girls are. Other than the purple eyes, in the situation they’re in, there’s no way to tell they’re the two princesses. If there’s recognition in the woman’s eyes, it doesn’t show.
“We’re making a lot of noise,” Anya says.
“Yeah,” Lex says. “He sleeps very deep, always has. Surprised me when I first met him. I would think cyborgs would wake up on the drop of a pin.”
“We do,” I mutter, perhaps not loud enough for her to hear. Whatever injuries that number sustained, it must have changed something in him. I can’t think of a single number who wouldn’t wake up with people walking close and talking, even quietly.
Bat’s little toenails announce his presence as he leaps onto the bed to take up the same watchfulness he was keeping up in our ship. I scratch his ears. Lex stares openly but with no hostility, offering her hand and mumbling “sorry” when Bat snarls at it.
A soft set of footsteps joins us from the doorway. Not Yvonne’s. I’ve come to know the sound of hers, and she’s the only one missing from the room.
I glance over my shoulder at the number.
Zane is as confused as his sister, but I let Lalia snoop around the house and talk to Lex while I figure out the best way to move him into the house. Or perhaps leave him here. I’m not sure if it’s worth it, and now he’s awake, I’d really rather not pick him up again like a baby.
“I hate to take your bed…”Zane offers while I rummage through what supplies we have in the washroom, taking stock of what we could use the most.
“That’s really the literal least of the concerns right now, idiot.”
“Well, yeah, but I feel like you’re extra picky about people sleeping in your bed.”
“I can say you’re the first people I’ve let into my ship for certain. Other than other bounties. But they’re tied up. Feel special.”
“Oh yeah, very special,” he mumbles, then tries to sit up.
“Lay back down. You’re worse than me.”
“That’s insulting.”
“Lay down. You need to heal, stupid. Humans.”
“I maintain you’re worse than me.”
“I’m a cyborg. Vastly different.”
“Uh-huh.”
Ignoring me, he manages to sit all the way up onto his elbows before grimacing, turning a little ill, and dropping back with a groan. “My head has never hurt like this.”
“Next time, don’t get blown up.”
“Next time don’t get blown up…” he mimics. A sheen of sweat glosses his forehead, and his eyes are closed at even that small display of energy. My stomach twists. There’s no reason he should have an infection. All this is most likely from the severity of the injuries, but burns are easily infected and who knows how bad his concussion is, among all the other small injuries. I know it’s been less than twenty-four hours since he got hurt, but it freaks me out seeing him this helpless.
I touch his forehead again. He doesn’t feel too hot, maybe a little more than usual, but with the airlock open for the last thirty minutes, it’s warmer in here.
“Do you want the cold back on?” I ask. “I can close the bunk door and turn it on in here.”
He waves his hand limply. “No, it’s fine. I like it. Smells nice outside.”
I nod though he isn’t looking at me. I wander back to the airlock, watching Bat have a standoff with one of the smaller dogs about his size, both of them frozen, eyeballing one another. The little brown dog has its hair up but its tail is wagging. They sniff noses and Bat hisses. Lex watches him from the doorway of her house, expression somewhere between amused and fascinated. She may have a cyborg sleeping in her house, but Bat’s a whole other oddity.
Lalia edges around the odd human, stepping over Bat and heading back to me. Frowning, she unbraids her hair and stands under the airlock, looking up at me. I sit so I’m not standing so high above her.
“What do you think?” I ask, trying not to think too hard about how little I would’ve cared for her opinion mere weeks ago. I suppose I should be accustomed to it by now.
“She’s a bit odd, isn’t she?” Lalia murmurs.
“A bit is an understatement,” I whisper back. “But then again, I have two humans in my ship who decided to go hunting around for their cyborg brother, so who am I to judge.”
She levels a stare at me, but it takes some of the worry from her expression. “You seem to trust her.”
“I don’t trust her. But she’s in a situation where she definitely hasn’t overpowered that number, which means she’s been kind toward him. And if she’s correct about the way this planet treats numbers, she’s putting herself in danger by harboring him. There’s very little she could try to get out of this situation without endangering herself.”
“Do you think it’s true? About cyborgs being so illegal here.”
I hold up my tablet. I’d been searching for things other than the planet files while she was snooping around the house—another thing Lex didn’t seem to mind. “I don’t know why it isn’t on the planet files, maybe they want people to get caught, but I found some official documentation from Neyla Ve about the status of cyborgs. It doesn’t outright say they’re illegal here, probably because Captain would never allow it, but it heavily hints that there’s no presence of us here because it’s more trouble than it’s worth. I don’t think she’s lying. If nothing else, we can ask that cyborg when he wakes up what’s going on. If he’s in trouble I’m sure he’ll tell me. We seem to be in a similar situation as far as our status goes.”
Lalia is nodding, chewing on her lower lip. “Makes sense.”
There’s a pause. My eyes find Yvonne’s where she’s wandering around from the back of the house with Anya. She gives me a shrug and a half smile. I don’t know what to do. But on Lee’s ship, we were surrounded by enemies in an enclosed space, and we made the stupid decision to wander around and look at the supernova, even if Lee had no plans of anything going wrong. Here, there’s me, Bat, Lalia, and Yvonne fully able-bodied, and one human and what seems to be a rather harmless cyborg. We have my ship and empty space to head to if anything feels remotely fishy.
We came here because though Zane will probably pull through on his own, we want to help him the most we can. This is incredibly lucky. After yesterday, I want to soak up all the good luck I can.
“Do you have any room for our friend inside?” I ask. “I don’t want to intrude on your space.”
Lex shakes her head. “We have an extra bedroom, this used to be my parent’s house before mine. It’s small, but there’s space.”
I nod, looking to Lalia again, but she only nods, shrugging a little.
“I suppose I’ll carry him,” I mutter, managing not to groan as I get to my feet. It’ll be nice to get some better sleep tonight. My chairs are comfortable, but not exactly perfect to stretch out on.
I punch the button letting the gangplank out, hearing Lalia follow me in. Zane looks asleep but blinks like a kitten when I readjust the blankets around him.
“What are we doing?” he grumbles.
“The lady here has supplies and an extra room. Seems trustworthy.”
“Hmm,” he slurs, then says, “I’m perfectly capable of getting up, just give me a hand.”
He does the same attempt at sitting up before I roll my eyes and take the opportunity to loop my arm around his shoulders before he falls back down.
“Idiot,” I mutter when he makes it no further than the last time.
Wrapped in blankets like a baby—I’m gonna harass him about this when he solidly pulls through—I carry him back out, wincing a little at the various injuries his weight rubs against. He’s not heavy to my muscles, but I’m feeling every step to begin with, and it doesn’t help to carry someone as tall and a little broader than I am.
Lex’s eyes are sympathetic when she gets sight of the bandages. “How bad is it?”
“He’ll pull through, but we’re cautious.”
“What happened?”
“Ship blew up. Had to drag him out.”
She nods, leading me in and across the room—the cyborg is still crashed—to one of the other doors. I’m hesitant, but it’s nothing more than a small bedroom with another tiny fireplace. It must get cold here at some time of the year. A simple bed looks quite comfortable.
“Here,” Lex says, dragging back the single quilt on the bed. “I’ll find him some more blankets. I have lots packed away somewhere.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, awkward at the easy display of kindness. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise me, not when I’ve met a gaggle of odd humans in the last few weeks, but at least Lalia and Zane have an excuse, and Yvonne took a while to get used to me.
Zane mumbles something unintelligible, but he’s about ready to crash for another few hours. Good. I’ll give him something extra for the pain and Bat and I can take another look at him. I’m not opposed to Lex helping so long as I’m keeping a very, very close eye on her.
“Is that cyborg out there okay?” Anya whispers. She’s standing in the doorway, watching Zane sadly as I tuck him into the bed.
“Yes dear, he’s just sleeping,” Lex says, leaning around me to smile at her.
I wonder if she has any concept of who the two girls are. Other than the purple eyes, in the situation they’re in, there’s no way to tell they’re the two princesses. If there’s recognition in the woman’s eyes, it doesn’t show.
“We’re making a lot of noise,” Anya says.
“Yeah,” Lex says. “He sleeps very deep, always has. Surprised me when I first met him. I would think cyborgs would wake up on the drop of a pin.”
“We do,” I mutter, perhaps not loud enough for her to hear. Whatever injuries that number sustained, it must have changed something in him. I can’t think of a single number who wouldn’t wake up with people walking close and talking, even quietly.
Bat’s little toenails announce his presence as he leaps onto the bed to take up the same watchfulness he was keeping up in our ship. I scratch his ears. Lex stares openly but with no hostility, offering her hand and mumbling “sorry” when Bat snarls at it.
A soft set of footsteps joins us from the doorway. Not Yvonne’s. I’ve come to know the sound of hers, and she’s the only one missing from the room.
I glance over my shoulder at the number.
