Page 66 of Hope Forged
Instead, he faced a display vid, ready to learn what he could about his lost homeworld and why Maloid had seen fit to destroy it.
ZiameehuffedwhenSebascampered off the moment Ulta sent them to theHaile. She’d asked for this—time alone to come to terms with…everything. Except now, her feelings were inconsequential under the weight of Brac’s discovery.
Still, she couldn’t turn off her thumping heart or the way her skin rippled with bumps when Illan kissed her. At least they were staying on Vora for a while. She’d dreaded going back on her promise to him to leave her home.
She’d spoken in anger, wanting to hurt her father as he had her.
“Greetings, Ziamee,” Oz said.
“Lady Ziamee.” Brac smiled at her.
His unexpected appearance made her squeak.
“I did not mean to alarm you. Illan asked me to relocate Oz for you.”
She blinked at the male. “What?”
“He said you would like it secured. I had not considered it; having artificial intelligence to assist the pilot is not unheard of, though. Our ancestors made use of such technology before the birthrate decline of our females. Now we have too many males and not enough work to occupy them.”
“Can he be in two places at once?” she asked, gripping the worn edge of what was once a jagged piece of metal.
“He?” Brac activated his O.D.I as if to check something. “Yes, I can link him to this ship, but he will be housed on theCeleeri.”
“And if theCeleeri’s destroyed?”
Brac frowned. “That is a slim possibility, but yes, we have…hadno known enemies. Your ship does not have the power for Oz to thrive. Moving him to the scimitar will allow him to grow, to access our vast datasets.”
The decision weighed heavy on her. It was sweet of Illan to organize this, but if she agreed, it would mean that she accepted him in her life…for good. “Oz, what do you think?”
“The Etterian is correct that I am limited in my ability to best serve you.”
She raised her gaze to the ceiling. “You’re happy with this change?”
“As much as I can be under the circumstances.”
“Very well, Brac, but please let him speak to me here, as well. The nights…can be lonely.” She bit her lip. What a revealing thing to say. Poor Brac might be obligated to stay and keep her company. No, she’d wanted this…time alone and had spent many a night by herself.
But now, she didn’t have to. Doing so would be because she chose to. And besides, it was only one night. She had the blaster, dagger, and O.D.I.
“I will set up such a device,” he said, dragging her out of her thoughts. He waved a black box at her. “I have Oz and will comm you with frequent status updates as I add his code to our ship’s mainframe. Ulta, one to port.”
The silence was deafening after he was gone. Made worse by her gurgling stomach. Just like that, the last bastion of the only world she’d known had been removed. There was no turning back. She grabbed her makeshift bucket and marched to thelake’s shore. The climb didn’t make her thigh ache. And the fragrant air filling her lungs was so familiar that it summoned a smile.
She was home.
Stripping was easier with new garments. She waded into the water and checked each trap until she had a good number of ceaza, assuming Seba would come home.
With the amount of food he’d gorged himself on, she wasn’t sure she should bother. The chore kept her hands busy, but her thoughts centered around the past days, running through all that had happened. She twisted each event, analyzed it from every angle, decided how she felt about it, then moved on.
When she strolled home, her bucket heavy, once again in the garments Illan had ordered for her, she paused to stroke a wasay leaf she’d normally have swatted aside. For a second, the awe she’d experienced when she’d first touched a leaf returned.
But so much had changed since that day. What her father had hidden from her was easy to spot in hindsight. A twinge of guilt slashed across her conscience. She shook her head. Nothing she’d done had made him do that to her. She wasn’t to blame.
Illan’s support had been unwavering. He’d descended like an Elorach guardian, helped find her father and mother, healed her and Seba. She chuckled. The male didn’t have a halo, but he deserved one.
“Oz?” she said, then slumped when no response came. “We’ll meet again, my friend,” she muttered.
While she cleaned the ceaza, she took her time, not wanting to cut off a finger. Illan had been determined to convey how lethal the blade was, and during the ucdeas’ attack, she’d discovered just how sharp it was. The deep grooves in the stone slab only confirmed it. With the fire started, she settled beside it, her meal sizzling above the flames. The sky was an unfinished tapestry,the gaps solid swaths of nothing amid flickering stars. One of those had once been Durn.
