Page 32 of Zalis
“Right now?”
“Yeah, right now.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
The stare again.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Gemma tapped her comm unit, bringing the screen to life. Comm units were so convenient, so connected, so useful. Hardly anyone ever thought about how trackable they were. “Computer, locate Zalis Layneno.”
It only took a few seconds for the computer to return a floor and room number.
There she had it, where her alien husband had been hiding all day.
ZALIS
“Where is the female?” Lyresh asked.
The older female’s face filled the screen, as if she could fold the distance between them and reach through. Or because her eyesight had degraded and she needed to be close to the screen to read the buttons. Likely the latter.
“Mother, this is unexpected,” Zalis said, setting down the tools on his workbench. He did not ask who had gossiped about him to his mother. The answer was the usual source of mischief: Thalia.
Sleep had remained elusive. There was too much to consider. The project on Val Mori and the coordination of many tasks. He would bring Ren with him. As much as the male was a liar, he was a skilled mechanic. And his smaller frame allowed him into tight spaces that would not admit Zalis. Where Ren went, Havik followed.
Then there was Gemma.
Rather than entertain all his worrying thoughts, he distracted himself by working on a drone modification. The work kept his hands busy while his mind churned through the multitude ofproblems. Time escaped him. It was well into the following day when his mother called.
“Why can’t I see you?” She tapped the screen.
Zalis sighed and enabled the camera. He might have been annoyed but this was exactly how every call with his mother started. “My quarters are a mess. I attempted to spare you from delivering a lecture.”
“Don’t be silly. I love a good lecture.” Lyresh peered into the screen and noticed Zalis’ undressed state. “Did I disturb you?”
“No, Mother. I could not sleep,” he said.
“So it is true. You have a mate,” she said, sounding delighted. “Well, I suspect you’ll be too busy to get much sleep.”
It took everything in him not to blush. He clinched his fists, ignoring the tingle in his tattoos which wanted to burn. “Mother, no.”
Lyresh pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes. “You look nervous. You shouldn’t be. I’m sure you’re naturally talented like your father.”
Now he blushed. This was unbearable. “Mother, I wish you would not say such things.”
“Put on a shirt before answering my call and I wouldn’t think such things.”
“I answered in audio.”
“What is that? What do you have there? Where is my new daughter?”
“Move back or the camera will not focus properly.” Zalis held up the tiny drone he had been working on.
His mother complied, stepping back. “Another one of your fancies,” she said, sounding thoroughly unsurprised.
Zalis set the drone aside, not bothering to explain the steps required to achieve the iridescent shimmer on the wings. It pleased him and that was enough. “I assume this is about Gemma. Who told you?”
“Ah, so the female does have a name. Gemma.” Lyresh repeated the name until it became nonsense. “Odd sounding, though. Do all humans speak as if they have a mouth full of glue?”
“Our language sounds absurd to humans.” Sangrin tradition favored two syllable names. A syllable from each parent’s name was considered lucky but resulted in families with similar sounding names. His father was Zamos. Following this structure, his child with Gemma would be Zemma, Zilma, Gelis, or Gezil.
