Page 4 of The Cerulean Sister
"Everything is fine. The commanders I sent have the persons of interest in custody. They will interrogate them there."
I eye him suspiciously at his choice of words. "Interrogatethem?"
I don't even want to think of what that means for a Viathan. I've read books on prisoners of war, how interrogations often lean on the side of torture.
"If they cooperate, that is all it will be." 99 presses a few buttons on the top of his wrist then pauses, realizing what he said.
He only recently started telling details about his duties here. It has been a delicate balance between being honest and not overwhelming me with how different things are. He worries I will think poorly of him now that I see him on his own world and not in the contained bubble of our situation before.
Maybe he forgets how it was on Frith, how the parts he believes will scare me now are what intrigued me originally. Even when we argued on that world and his calls seemed questionable, I could still make sense of them. Violence was only used when it was necessary, no act done without consideration even when his temper flared.
99 reaches over and pulls me against him again, like he caught a glimpse into my memory of us on Frith when he had me in custody, cuffed and annoyed as he interrogated me.
"I was perhaps too easy on you, Priestess." He nuzzles into my neck. "My commanders won't be as easily distracted as I was."
"Oh, thank First Mothertheyare there and not you," I tease.
He barks a laugh and gives my backside a firm squeeze. His happy thoughts gently invade my mind, images of spending the evening together rolling in like an amber fog.
I pull back and stare into his visor, anticipating him explaining what he has casually let trickle into my mind. His gloved hand runs up my back and under my loosely tied hair.
My body jumps a little on reflex, knowing he is about to say his duties are over for the day, the words shooting to the front of his mind.
"Really?" I ask before he can say anything aloud.
I can hear his smile behind his visor. "I have no other meetings this evening. There is a place in the capital I would like to show you."
"Yes, I would love to go!" I'm practically bouncing with excitement at the thought. I’ve barely left the capital building with all of the security protocols and my own mental state before those were in place.
"We are bringing Commander Wesley and Commander Yeva as a precaution though." His voice turns serious, like I will protest.
"I don't mind!" I quickly put place markers in my notebooks and let the thoughts of peculiar books fade to the back of my mind.
"Alright then, Priestess, let's explore your new home."
Chapter
Two
“It's not exactly what I thought a greenhouse would be," I say, watching a strange, metal, jointed arm expertly snip a leaf, one that seemed fine where it was growing.
"There are flowers from Frith here," 99 points out, guiding me down the smooth walkway in the domed glass greenhouse.
"Oh, Calliape would hate this." I laugh.
Calliape hates most things in the capital, so much so that shortly after we arrived on Viathan, she confided in August that she could not stay here. That she needed to be farther away in one of the rural settlements. I miss her, only seeing her when she braves the capital to visit me, but when she does, I can tell she is happier now.
"I doubt August would even suggest showing her," he agrees, knowing how perfect it looks compared to the wildness of the mountain Calliape grew up on.
The Viathan greenhouse is nestled within the courtyard of the capital building and is as large as the grand hall in the Estate. The strange machines retract up into the scaffolding of the ceiling and move around on an almost graceful track, as ifthey can sense when we are getting close and want to maintain the illusion of true nature.
99 guides me by the small of my back to a roped off area protecting a glass case, barely large enough for two people to stand in. There is condensation on the glass that runs down in rivets, the inside kept more humid for fragile plants.
As we place our feet in the blue circle outside the barrier, the steamy fog inside the mini greenhouse dissipates and the contents come into view.
An artificially placed rock wall displays a cluster of beautiful, bright flowers with long, stringy roots. The elegant tentacles sway, and a large, bulbous part of the flower seems snugly fit into the cracks of the rocks.
"99, I think that's the peace plant from Frith. Look at the bulb."
