Starborne

Chapter 34

ALYX begrudgingly agreed to help with everything. Thanking my lucky stars, I scurried out of the command center and hoped no one had recognized my face. 

My next unsanctioned trip was up to the prison wing, where I breezed by security with passive familiarity. 

"Working hard or hardly working, Harves?"

Harvey gave me an uninterested grunt, he was staring longingly at the door while other mercenaries ran past the opening, preparing for their roles in the invasion.

Normally I would have poked the bear, teased him a bit for being left guarding the girls, but time was of the essence and the last thing I needed was my visiting privileges to be revoked.

Uneasy, I noticed when I walked in that all of the individual cells were empty. The male Pilots had been moved out of this prison wing, to who knows where. I made a mental note to have ALYX check the ship's manifest so we had an accurate account of where all prisoners were detained. 

Luckily the women had not yet been moved, and they sat around the cell as if nothing were amiss, picking at their cuticles and doing an excellent job of appearing bored. A low murmur started up as they saw me round the corner. My little lookalike, Sara, popped up with an excited smile. 

"Sir, we did it. We made contact, and we have your friends on the line."

"Oh, thank gods, were you able to explain?" 

"Human, your friends have some severe linguistic impairments."

The tinny voice through the radio receiver didn't jog my memory, and I was confused. 

"Akara?"

"Oh, thank goodness, no."

I paused. Something in the snide cadence was familiar. 

"Melora."

"Excellent job, Sir." The sarcasm was apparent, and I felt dread set in. 

"Oh hey, lady, so good to hear from you!" I tried to sound casual, but miscalculated and instead came off like someone with brain damage.

"Is it?" She didn't buy the good will. "I wish I could say the same, but instead I've been inundated with constant calls from you and your little friends."

I glared daggers at the sheepish girls, even though they couldn't have known any better. 

"Well, did they convey the urgency of this situation?"

"Oh yes, very. Unfortunately for you, everyone knows Stefin is off gallivanting in the jungle somewhere finding himself. Instead, oh boy, I get to hear these wild stories of how he is with Holly." She said my name like it was a curse, "trapped aboard a space pirate ship." 

She laughed rudely.

"If you wanted information on your one true love, you should have just asked me straight instead of making prank calls. He still hates you, by the way."

"Melora." I sighed, migraine forming already. "This isn't about Stefin and I. That's a premise which doesn't even exist anymore. Quite frankly, you can have your man back."

"Wrong again, human. But I'm growing bored of this." She staged a yawn, and then I could practically hear her droll expression change quickly to one of derision. "And anyway, Stefin wasn't just a man to me. Our relationship guaranteed my life, my future," her voice rose into a shriek, "you took that away from me, human. So I took everything away from you."

I rolled my eyes, embarrassed to be airing our grievances with the Pilots staring at me with their wide eyes. Granted, I had no idea whether or not they spoke Cynabarrian, but the tone was enough.