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Dani wasn’t ready. She simply wanted to say goodbye. She did not mind that the Korthan took C’hase, wanted him to, but she had hoped to have a chance to say goodbye to the pup.
Staring at the Korthan ship, she waited for it to lift off the ground. Emotions warred within her; she had hoped to say goodbye to K’vyn as well—
There was a popping sound at the hatch, opening as the stairs seemed to magically appear again. Warmth spread through her body at the sight of C’hase in the opening, his antennae twirling as he spotted her.
But there was something else entirely at the sight of the tall, black uniform-clad Korthan standing next to the mogha. Her stomach fluttered as he began climbing down the steps.
“Take C’hase,” she said. “Warn the moghas.”
His eyes met hers, an intensity behind those mesmerizing silver eyes sending goosebumps across her skin.
“I’m not leaving without you.” His husky tone made her toes flex.
And then he was at the bottom of the steps, pulling her into a strong embrace, the feel of his abdomen against her breasts making her knees weak.
You are mine, the otherness said in her mind, feeling the words deep in her soul.
And then his lips were upon hers, soft touch beckoning her mouth open, tongue swiping against hers as the kiss deepened. She felt weightless as a tingling surge spread from the point of contact throughout her entire body.
Pulling back, he broke the connection. The words echoed in the back of her mind as he gazed at her, that same affection shown to C’hase directed at her, a promise behind those piercing silver eyes.
And she knew the voice was his—
“It was you,” she said. “It was you the whole time.”
The warmth that made her heart swell, the voice that wasn’t C’hase, the otherness, the call that he was coming during the hellbat attack, the calls to his mogha—
The last thought made her grin. “You thought I was your mogha.”
“If I had known it was so much better than that, I’d have arrived sooner.” He returned the grin.
Will you come with me? His voice sounded in her mind and she could hear it perfectly, no doubt that it was K’vyn’s voice.
Yes, she answered.
***
MOLLY CLUCKED IN DANI’S arms while she and K’vyn stood below the hatch of his ship, crate of chickens in his hands. The stairs dissipated as they approached, hatch snapping shut.
What the?
“L’iza, we don’t have time for this,” K’vyn said, chickens voicing their unhappiness with being trapped in the crate.
L’iza? Who in the stars was that?
The hologram of a Korthan woman suddenly appeared next to them. Dressed in a yellow synth suit the same yellow as the highlights along the wings and hull of the ship, she crossed her arms.
“You do not have permission to bring those avians onboard,” the hologram said. Her voice had an electronic lilt.
Permission? Wasn’t this K’vyn’s ship?
“These creatures are useful,” K’vyn said. “We mustn’t abandon them to the hellbats.”
The hologram bent at the waist, leaning to study the birds, their heads turning in jerky movements.
“Don’t look very useful to me,” she said, standing upright again.
Was this hologram a projection of someone on the ship? Or was L’iza some advanced form of artificial intelligence? Humans would kill for that technology—
C’hase trotted up at that moment, Hedge sitting at his regular perch on the mogha’s head.
The hologram scooted backwards two steps. “I will take the chickens, your mate, and your mate’s mogha. But the molk stays.”
Dani blinked. The AI called her his mate—
“I have a plan for the molk,” K’vyn said.
“If the plan is to eject it out the airlock into space, then I’m onboard,” L’iza retorted.
Dani placed herself between the hologram and her mogha.
Don’t worry, K’vyn’s voice said in her mind. Nobody is ejecting Hedge out an airlock.
You called him by his name, she said. Does that mean you’re starting to like C’hase’s pet?
“This molk has proven useful,” he said out loud, as much to Dani as to L’iza.
“But still a molk,” L’iza said. “I cannot detect his movements until it is too late.”
Of course, because a molk will crash a ship. Looking at her freighter, Dani understood L’iza’s stance. Still, though, she did not think C’hase would allow them to abandon the little guy. Molly let out a soft cluck.
And Molly would miss him too.
Setting the crate of chickens on the ground, K’vyn disappeared beneath the ship. L’iza leveled a measuring gaze on her.
“He wanted confirmation and now, standing next to you both, you are definitely K’vyn’s life mate,” the hologram said.
Dani blinked, the Korthan reappearing with a transparent box, the right size to contain a small troublesome pest.
Recognizing the contraption, Dani remembered the Korthan building it at the fire.
Without a word, he grabbed Hedge from C’hase’s head and placed the squeaking creature in the enclosure, closing a lid with holes at the top.
The mogha jumped to his feet in alarm. Oh, no, Hedge does not like cages.
Don’t worry, Little One, Dani said. This is not like the lab.
Running circles around the cage, Hedge squeaked, alarm obvious, as he scratched at the walls and corners.
“A molk cannot burrow through glass,” K’vyn said, peering into the cage as he held it up.
It dawned on Dani why Hedge didn’t escape from the lab. She simply didn’t think about it before, but he was in a glass enclosure.
Put something in there for him, C’hase said, handing her an iridescent lizard scale.
Brow furrowing, she lifted the lid and did as the mogha asked.
The little molk stopped his frantic movements, taking the scale, hugging it to his chest.
“Huh,” K’vyn sounded.
He needs more, C’hase said, taking off towards the freighter.
“What is he doing?” K’vyn said.
“I think he’s going to get more stuff for Hedge.” There wasn’t anything in the cage with Hedge in the lab.
The hologram projection snorted, a curl in her lip. “You only think you’ve contained it.”
“If it gets out, you may disavow me,” K’vyn said.
“Oh, I will.” There was promise in her tone.
Dani was under the impression that a disavowal was serious, K’vyn putting a lot on the line.
The hologram disappeared and the hatch popped, opening as the stairs became available again.
“Does your AI stay on the ship?” she asked. The movements were so lifelike, but the voice— Had to be AI.
“She is not AI,” K’vyn said as he picked up the crate of chickens.
“Oh, you have a co-pilot.” It made sense. Dani usually needed a co-pilot to help fly the freighter, but she didn’t want to involve him in rescuing the hellhound. Then, he’d be going to jail with her once the Human Colony Alliance caught up to them.
Although, it was odd that K’vyn’s co-pilot never left the ship.
“Is the hologram like a projection?” she asked. “Like the one you sent to my ship?
“It is not a projection,” he said as he reached the top of the stairs. “L’iza is the ship.”
Is the ship? She gazed over the hull, filled with wonderment over the magnificent AI.
“It is not AI,” K’vyn repeated. “L’iza is sentient.”
Dani’s jaw dropped, mouth hanging open as she climbed the stairs, gaze affixed to the yellow and black hull. Sentient. Wow.
Turning when she got to the top of the stairs, she looked across the landscape, orange flowers flapping in a gentle breeze, deep blue ocean winking in the light of the planet’s closest star.
Gaze resting on her wrecked freighter, a giant lizard slowly climbing the ramp, she was filled with trepidation. Would she ever go back to the Human Colony Alliance?
Molly let out a bawk and Dani jumped. Right. Time to get to Mogha.
Turning back to the ship, her jaw dropped again as she entered a world of beauty. The most pristine ship she’d ever seen, there was not a seam to be found in the shiny black walls or floor, so dark they mirrored the blackness of space and seemed just as deep.
Yellow streams of light traced through the depths of the walls in intermittent bursts. She was in a sentient ship. Were the streams akin to blood rushing through veins? Or more like synapses firing in the brain?
There were no corners, the hallway curving into another, doorways oblong ovals to pass through. Walking through one of the ovals, the Korthan plucked Molly from her arms, who squawked with a flap of wings before settling with K’vyn.
“Keep following the bend,” he said. “You will reach the cockpit at the end.”
Having no reason to believe Hedge and the chickens weren’t safe, she did as instructed, resisting the urge to touch the walls as she walked, mesmerized by their fluidity.
Entering the cockpit was a marvel to behold. Like the rest of the ship, it was round, but transparent in its entirety. Dani could see the surface of the planet with all its orange flowers beneath her feet, the sky above her head, and across the landscape at the trees on the port side and ocean on the starboard side through the walls.
Looking as if he were hovering above the ground, C’hase sat on the floor, clearly having returned from his mission, getting by without her noticing. Standing as he made eye contact with her, he twirled in circles.
Alpha, we’re going home, he said, followed by a happy yap.
Finally, she would be finding Mogha.