Page 38 of Einar

“Theyleft right after we did.Ikept us cloaked once we departedNavale, and now we are following behind them just out of their scanner’s range.Atthis speed, we will overtake them in a few tics.”

Slavicshoots a hard look over atMurgulbefore he says. “Murgul, looks like we are going to have to do this alone.Suitup.Iwill be down momentarily.Bikar, hold back untilIreturn to the helm.”

Murgulnods his understanding and straightens from his nonchalant slouch against the wall as we all watchSlavicturn on his heel and stalk out of the helm room before any of us can say anything else.Glancingacross the room,Ibegin implementingSlavic’sorders. “Falon, meet me at your rooms with the translators for the females.Ineed to stop by the med bay for some supplies.BikarandSlavicboth reminded me that the other humans are in rough shape with wounds that are in need of medical attention.”

Withoutwaiting for his reply,Istomp out of the room, my mind occupied with all the thingsIneed to retrieve to assist the other humans.Makingmy way down the hall,Iam at the med bay beforeIknow it.Tomy surprise,Slavic’smate is here, and she is softly singing to my mate as she strokes her hair.Myabrupt arrival makes the other female jump before she glares at me.

Puttingboth hands out,Ishow herImean no harm.Ido not have the time to engage in any sort of altercation with her right now and ifIknow my oldest brother, he has reached his quarters and discovered his female missing.Slavicwill be here shortly, and both our females will have supervision whileIam attending the rest of the humans.Peeringaround her,Isee that my mate is still in the same positionIleft her in, but her sister seemed to figure out how the heated cover works because my mate’s frail form is obscured from sight.

Grabbingmy travel bag,Ihurriedly shove a variety of tools, medicines, and items in it before glancing back at my female one last time asIwalk out the door.

Thesethree coweringhuman females really know how to make a male feel like a pile of excrement.Ihave not even entered the room, and all three of them are huddled on the far side of the room, trying to stay as far away from me andFalonas possible.Icannot imagine what the two of us look like to them.

“Weare going to have to do this slow and steady.Theyare already terrified and do not understand what we are trying to do.RememberwhatMurgulsaid.Betterfor them to be scared and in pain for a short time than for them to remain ignorant.”

“Iunderstand,Einar.”

Easinginto the room, we move toward the females with deliberate exaggerated motions, stopping at the table in the middle of the room.Whenthey see what we are doing, and that we halted midway across the room from them, their body language changes from outright terror to apprehension.Takingthe travel med bag off my shoulder,Iplace it on the flat surface next to me, and start taking things out one by one, ensuring that all three of them can see whatIam doing.

Theshortest of the three has curly hair the color of rich soil and must recognize at least one of my medical devices because she pushes herself up from the floor, using the wall as leverage before inching her way toward me, holding one of her arms close to her body with each tentative step.Hersoft voice ends with an upward lilt, indicating a question.

“Littlefemale,Ido not know what you said, butIam here to help you if you will allow it.”

Ikeep my deep voice as gentle asIam capable of, motioning at the chair and medical suppliesIhave assembled on the table before her.Sheglances back at the other two before she climbs up in the chair.Itis then thatIrealize just how small these females are in comparison to us.Shelooks like a youngling perched on the edge of the chair as her eyes dart back and forth betweenFalonandI.

Whenthe remaining two humans see that no harm has come to their friend, they both ease forward; one taking the other chair, and the final one sits on the floor next to the curly haired female.Runningmy eyes over the three of them,Iassess their condition, and what a sorry sight they make.Theone with spiraled, soil-colored hair has what appears to be a dislocated wrist, is missing several of her tiny claws, and one of her eyes is swollen completely shut.Examiningthe female in the other chair,Inote that she has hair the color of the sun and is thinner than the others.Eventhough they are all emaciated, this one is nothing but skin draped over bone.Ihave never seen a being so thin that still took a breath and functioned.

Goldenhair, aside from being dangerously underweight, has minor scrapes, bruises, and a few cuts that will require sutures.Thelast female sitting on the floor has a dazed look in her eyes and a dark purple swelling on the side of her head, indicating some sort of head trauma.Continuingmy observation of her,Inote that one of her miniscule hands has several digits pointed in irregular directions, and that one of her knees is twice the size of the other one.

Keepingmy voice low to keep from alarming the females,ItellFalonmy plan.

“Iam going to treat all of their wounds first.Thatway they will not suspect anything when we go to apply the translators.Theinsertion is going to be extremely painful; you will have to hold them and hold them firmly.Doyou understand?”

Outof the corner of my eye,Isee him nod in agreement.

Oneby one,Itreat the females and their varying maladies.Oncethey all figured outIwas trying to help them, they relaxed considerably, even though some of the thingsIhad to do were quite painful.Thatincluded setting broken fingers and a dislocated wrist.Bythe timeIgot to the smaller wounds that needed the stitching unit or just some antiseptic along with bandages, they were all chatting quietly amongst themselves.

Flickingmy spines,IgetFalon’sattention and signal to him thatIam ready to implant the translators.Reachinginto my bag,Ipull out all three of the delicate pieces of equipment, being very careful not to contaminate them.Faloneases up behind the curly-haired one and gently grasps her by the shoulders, holding her in the chair.Usingtweezers,Iget the first translator, sweep her hair behind her ear, and in the blink of an eye, insert it into her ear.Lessthan a nano-tic later, her piercing screams rend the air in the room.

Curlypasses out in the chair and before the one on the floor can get up,Falonsnatches her up whileIsnag the second translator with my surgical tweezers and insert the translator in her ear only to be met with the same pain filled, tortured screams.Goldenhair, seeing thatFalonis tenderly laying the second female down on the bed, jumps down from her chair and darts toward the door thatFalonandIstupidly left wide open.

Shegets as far as the hallway when she runs intoMurgul’sscowling countenance as he exits the armory, her pale form a stark contrast to his hulking, dark bulk.Bighands snap up, wrapping around her withered arms.Thesecond their skin makes contact, her head snaps up andIwatch his face go slack in astonishment for a split second before she passes out in his arms.Murgul’sface resumes its normal scowl as he tenderly scoops the golden-haired female up and brings her back into the room before laying her down on the bed next to whereFalondeposited the other two females.Falonshoots a glance at me from where he is hovering next to the bed, uncertain what our youngest brother is doing, and unwilling to provoke him.

Murgulstands there for a nano-tic, almost glaring down at her before he steps back away from the bed and stalks across the room, taking up his normal slouch against the wall.Shruggingoff his abnormal behavior,Iget the final translator and insert it intoGoldie’sear.Tomy relief, her only response is a faint whimper.Whatdoes shock me is the fact thatMurgulsnarls at me in response.

“Well, that is done.Falon,Iwill leave you andMurgulhere.Isee that you brought at least one of the crates for the females.Theyare in desperate need of additional attire.Itis on my schedule to come by periodically to check on their wounds and to see how they are healing.Iam off to the med bay to install translators for mine andSlavic’smate.Falon, please make sure that you deliver one of those crates toSlavic’sroom for his mate and one of them to my quarters for mine.”

“Iwill make sure the crates are delivered to both of your quarters,Einar.”

Grinningat him in thanks,Iglance over atMurgul, whose eyes are locked on the frail figure laying upon the bed, in speculation before exiting the room.

Andthe plot thickens…

ChapterTwenty-Six

EINAR

Dreadfillsme and builds with each step that brings me closer to my med bay.Walkingthrough the sliding door,Isee that not only isSlavic’smate still here, but so isSlavic.Raisingmy hand,Ishow him the remaining two translators. “Slavic, you may have to hold her.Iwill forever hear the screams of the others whileIinserted theirs.Falonhad to physically hold each of them, and the last one ran when she heard the screams of the others.Ofcourse, she ran right intoMurgulas he was coming out of the armory, then passed out the second his large hands grabbed hold of her.Hepromptly handed her over toFalon, butIwas shocked that he stayed whileIinserted the translator.Heeven snarled at me when she whimpered slightly from the pain before waking back up.Falonwas distributing the clothing and a few other items he found on theNavalewhenIleft.Ihad a crate delivered to your quarters as well.”

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