Page 57 of Krin

“How did you get here?”

“Wormhole technology we created. The Voletti stole it from us. We tracked them down in every Universe they entered. Our crew tracked some of their ships here.”

I realized these creatures were even more advanced than us.

It was still unclear if they were friend or foe. If he was an enemy of the Voletti, I was willing to hear him out.

Before I could speak again, his eyes moved to Riley. Two of his arms beckoned, and I noticed he had three broad fingers and a claw for a thumb.

Instead of ears he had four holes on each side of his head.

“Bring the being to our ship. We can save it.”

“Captain, we don’t know if we can trust them,” advised Ezan who was suddenly at my side.

Rauki’s head spikes tilted toward Riley as if assessing her. “The creature is frail. It is bleeding internally. It will die without our assistance,” stated the Thrala.

How he knew she was bleeding internally I did not know.

Humans were easily injured which was why I was worried about allowing Riley to work on the ship.

I’d never expected anything like this to happen, however.

“Sheis a human female. And my mate,” I stated with irritation.

Staring at Rauki, I tuned into his emotions. There appeared to be no deception coming from him.

“Where is your ship?” I asked.

“My shuttle is nearby. Our healing pods are on our main vessel above the planet. We will take your hoo-mun female to the ship.”

Riley’s body was growing cooler by the minute. Even with a blanket around her, I could feel the cold radiating. If I did not do something, I was going to lose her.

“Is it far to your main ship?”

“No. However, we must hurry. Follow me.” He turned away, moving quickly.

“Wait. I will bring her, and a security team will accompany me.”

The creature turned and gave a tiny bow of his head. “If it makes you feel safe, you may bring others with you. I assure you we are not here to harm anyone. Only our enemy, the Voletti.”

THE INSIDE OF THE THRALAshuttle was completely foreign to me. Though I had been on other Protectorate ships belonging to our allies, I never expected to see something like this.

The vessel was sleek on the outside. Shiny black and the shape of a horizontal tear drop, much like their main ship. It was dimly lit with yellow lights that lined the floor and ceiling. There were no chairs in the cockpit as we entered the shuttle.

Rauki must have seen my puzzled expression because he spoke. “We remain upright when we are piloting. There are places for you to repose on our home ship, in the healing area.”

I nodded, and we continued to follow him further inside the shuttle.

When the ship lifted into the air, it was in complete silence. Not so much as a whisper emitted from their engines.

Quickly we approached what they referred to as their home ship. It was a massive version of the shuttle we were on.

Instead of entering a docking bay, the vessel seemed to be absorbed into the main ship and become part of it.

The two armed warriors that accompanied me were looking around, just as amazed as I was.

Once inside, the wall disappeared and we were staring into a larger space with white walls, a stark contrast to the black outside of the ship.

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