Page 53 of Taken to Heimo
“What? Centare!” Svera scoots up until she’s in between Deena and I. We lay on our stomachs shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder.
Deena grits her teeth and points through the opening into the well-lit room beneath us. Huge doorways are marked by glowing Meero symbols demarcating which pods are stocked, fueled and operational.
“I’ll take the first pod. You need to be ready in that one there,” she says, pointing to another. “When you feel the ship start to accelerate and give chase, detach. Don’t activate power though until the Niahhorru are out of range. I’m hoping that they’ll be so distracted chasing me that they won’t go after y’all — even if they realize another pod detached, maybe they’ll assume it was me creating a diversion.”
I nod. It isn’t a foolproof plan, but it’s the one I would have come up with. I feel a strange color touch my ridges as I look at the human called Deena. “Are you a battle strategist?”
Deena gives me a strange look in return and opens her mouth. It is Svera however, who says, “Ontte, she is.” She’s grinning at the female, even as she shakes her head and places her hand on Deena’s shoulder. “Deena, it is a good plan, but I can’t let you do this for us.”
“I’m not asking, Svera.”
“Rhorkanterannu will catch up to you and what will he do when he realizes you don’t have the coordinates? He will take you in shekurr…”
Deena tightens. Her eyes close and her lips purse. “Centare, he won’t. He said so already. I’m defective.” She gestures at her left leg. Defective? Strange. Like Voraxians, the Niahhorru view scars as marks of pride. It shows she has suffered and survived. “He won’t perform shekurr.” Svera’s still shaking her head, but Deena grabs her arm with force enough to make my hackles rise.
“Svera! Listen to me. Get into the pod. Go back to the colony andcrushMathilda. She can’t be allowed to get away with all the crap she’s done. Who knows what she has planned next.”
That does seem to sway Svera somewhat. She tries again to protest, but Deena shakes her even harder. “Svera, I can’t fight her! Nobody would listen to me. Mathilda’s painted me as some spoiled colony brat. I mean, look at me.”
She points down to her body and I don’t understand, then grabs the flesh of her belly and gives it a strange tug.
“She made me like this so everyone would think I was a spoiled, rotten princess. Why do you think she didn’t care if I ran back to alert the colony? She knows that no one will listen to me. Please. I’m begging you.
“If you knew half the shit she did to me, I’d…you’d…Ican’tknow that she’s out there.Iwant her crushed.I don’t care if you have to kill her. I don’t care if you have to shoot her into space. I just want to know that she can’t hurt anybody anymore and I can’t make that happen. I need you to do that. I can do this. I can handle Rhork.”
Svera stares at Deena. Tension threads the darkness. It is not in Svera’s nature to leave her humans behind. Nox, it is not in Svera’s nature to leaveanyonebehind, human, Voraxian or otherwise. She offered to be rutted by a dozen Niahhorru to save the lives of humans who she has never met, who she may not even be able to find.
“Take the coordinates,” she says finally.
“Centare. That’s not gonna happen.” She starts to move down into the room, but Svera holds her back.
“If you’re caught, you need a backup. You don’t know what could happen. What if Rhorkanterannu changes his mind? What if hedoesn’tchange his mind, decides you are defective and instead of keeping you or releasing you, decides to sell you? He could sell you to the Sky where they’d cut you open and graft bio-mechanical parts to your body to try to turn you into a soldier or an assassin. You could be sold to the Oosa who would use you for pleasure and possibly kill you in the process. You don’t know what would happen and you need to have some form of backup. For all we know, the humans are well equipped and capable of defending themselves against Rhorkanterannu should he try to attack.”
Deena scoffs. “You’d have given him the coordinates yourself if you really thought that.”
“Deena,please.”
“Both of you,pulayeez.We’re wasting time.”
“I agree,” Deena huffs, dragging her body towards the hole.
Svera grabs her arm. “I’m not getting into that pod without giving you the coordinates.”
“Augh! You are so annoying.”
I huff, “Tell me about it.”
“Deena,” Svera says, voice cold and unwavering. And then she beings to repeat the coordinates over and over until Deena is able to recite them back to her from memory.
“Satisfied?” Deena says.
Svera smiles and in Human answers, “Yes.”
“Give Mathilda hell,” Deena replies just before entering into the first escape pod.
“Use the coordinates if you have to,” Svera reminds her.
“I won’t, but whatever.” Deena starts into her pod with lopsided gait, but I don’t doubt for a moment as she retreats that the Niahhorru pirates have finally met a worthy adversary.
