Page 27 of Hainn

“That bad?” he asked, studying her face. “Never had this happen before.”

“We’re not under attack,” she hastened to add. “It’s all precautionary at this point.”

“Nerve wracking though,” was his answer. “Of course you can count on me. I’m ex-military in my former life but too old to join up here after I was rescued by your people. Besides they needed my help in the gardens more than as another footsoldier.” He patted her hand. “We’ll be fine—Aydarr takes good care of everyone, not just his own people.”

She couldn’t argue but in this case the problem might be beyond even the Supreme Alpha’s abilities to fix.

After another hour, the lights flickered on, went off as the group gasped and grew to full illumination gradually, becoming bright and steady.

All clear, Jezari heard in her ear.Bring your humans out. The workers can have the rest of the day off if they want it, per Aydarr.

Climbing on the rock, she gestured for silence and soon had a small sea of faces turned upward to stare at her. “We’ve gotten the all clear so we’ll march out of the cave the way we came in. Aydarr’s given all residents the rest of the day off to recover from this event.”

Peters jumped up beside her. “Regardless the viro beans won’t harvest themselves and by tomorrow they’ll be mildewing, so if any of my crew is willing to work today, I’d be grateful. Extra work credits in the account for the overtime.”

Jezari was heartened by how many people raised their hands and called out their agreement to volunteer despite the Supreme Alpha’s gesture.

As soon as she’d escorted them through the deep tunnels and into the fresh air, her group scattered, most going off with their team lead toward the fields. Realizing how tense she’d been through the entire time, she sank onto the nearest log and rested her head in her hands, taking deep breaths. Her inner predator had not liked being cooped up in a cave all day with a group of humans. Several other Badari and a few claimed mates joined her and they began comparing notes on how the day had gone and who had heard what scraps of news.

Jezari?The subaural com crackled in her ear with Keshara’s voice. Her Alpha sounded as stressed as she felt herself.Canyou meet me at the admin building right away? Aydarr’s called a meeting to discuss next steps after today and Gabe is still out on extended patrol. I don’t want to go without at least one person to support me and you’re cleared for the highest level. All the other Alphas will have their enforcers and their healers there.

Of course, be right there.Jezari jumped to her feet. “Gotta go, my Alpha calls,” she said to the people around her before she took off at a dead run through the forest. There were paths but she took the most direct route since the matter was so urgent and she didn’t want to miss any of the meeting. When she arrived at the admin building, the guards were even more serious than usual but let her pass without challenge.

She ran to the big conference room, took a deep breath and slid inside. Keshara was already seated at the table, and there was a chair empty behind her. Pulse pounding Jezari slid into the seat as Keshara turned to thank her for coming so promptly. “Of course, sister, anything you need. I’ll take notes.”

“Action items for us only,” Keshara cautioned as Jezari dug out her handheld. “Aydarr won’t want anything to get out about this meeting.”

Having caught her breath she paid attention to who was in the room and saw Hainn across from her, seated with the South Seas enforcers. Daegan and his mate Flo were at the table, along with Jamokan. His mate Rosemari was also in attendance, which Jezari knew was rare. Rosemari was a sweet, artistic person with no military background and usually didn’t get involved in the ruling council of the valley, although she was active with the other Alpha mates. She was surprised to see Yonn and Ronin seated in the far corner. The two were the only other alphaborn Badari and their presence told her how deadly serious Aydarr was going to be today.

Glad you’re here,Hainn said over their telepathic link.Guess we won’t be having our picnic dinner after all. Perhaps another night.

Jezari swallowed her disappointment. She’d been looking forward to their date with great anticipation but of course he was right and the trouble the valley was in overtook any other concern, personal or public.

Aydarr’s three enforcers were present, along with Timtur the Senior Healer. Rayce, currently stationed in the valley as the representative of the Tzibir Alpha, sat next to a holo of the man himself. A holo of Tratus’s mate was in the next chair over. The gravity of the situation struck Jezari again. The valley didn’t usually link to the Tzibir sanctuary often or for long, for fear of the Khagrish picking up the com with their scanners.

She saw Nicolle, mate of Darik and Cinnthea, mate of Rokhan, the admins for Ayadrr and Daegan respectively and was surprised at their presence.

The door opened and Aydarr strode in, face set in grim lines, golden eyes glowing hot already. Jill followed, with MARL, who wasn’t flashing his usual colors but was a dull gray tone all over. Jezari stifled a gasp when she realized he was riding an antigrav tray, not floating under his own power. Taking his chair, Aydarr waited for Jill to take her seat at his right hand and the antigrav tray to be positioned above the table in front of her.

Drumming his talons on the table, he said, “We’re here to discuss today’s complete outage and the potential evacuation and abandonment of Sanctuary Valley.” He held up a hand as murmurs of disbelief broke out in the room. “First we’re going to hear from Elianna, mate to Kierce.”

The door opened and Elianna came in, taking a spot at the foot of the table. She nodded to Aydarr and launched into her report with no preamble. “Today was the worst episode yet. The power and the shields were off for nearly seven hoursand it’s only by the grace of the goddess the Khagrish didn’t stumble over us. When MARL regained functionality he had no memory of going down and denied losing consciousness. I’ve seen this pattern of behavior before, in several of his manifested miniMARL’s, when I was stationed at the island refurbishing the captured ship for Reede to take to the Sectors. The units also denied the episode’s occurrence.”

“And there was no way for us to back up the power or the protection we lost?” Aydarr said, although it was clear he already knew the answer.

“We can rig more emergency generators for the basic power issues,” she said with a shrug, “But we have no idea how the protective shields work. Only MARL himself can generate and control them and as demonstrated today, when he goes dark, so do they.”

Glancing around the table, Aydarr said, “We had to show MARL holos of himself lying on the ground inert to persuade him of the truth. Thank you for your report, I’ll call you if we need anything else tonight. Please remain in the building.”

She hesitated. “I would recommend keeping power usage to a minimum, sir. The less drain on MARL’s resources the better right now.”

“Good point. Arrange it with Nicolle after this meeting.”

There was silence while Elianna left the room.

MARL spoke, his voice thin and weak. Dark black splotches roamed across his dull carapace. “I’ve failed my authority and left her vulnerable today.”

Jill rubbed her hand across the top of his shell as one would do for a beloved pet. “You can’t help what happened. We appreciate everything you’ve done for us up to this day.” Jezari heard a break in her voice and was astonished. Jill was tough as nails, as imperturbable as a Badari Warrior. The situation must be dire.

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