The Defiant
Chapter Thirty Four

Two days out from Byth, Four called us up to the bridge.

I was apprehensive on the trip updeck. The last time we’d been called to the bridge like this, we’d been attacked by the Kryllians and nearly destroyed.

Four sat at the back computer station, where the scanner console was located. A tiny, annoying beep emanated from somewhere, which quickly got into my head and played my nerves like a fiddle.

“SOS call,” Four explained as we crowded onto the bridge. “A ship nearby has a mechanical problem and they’re requesting help.”

“What do they need?” I asked.

“Their primary engines are blown out,” Four said, typing at the keyboard and reading the screen. “They’re requesting a lift to Byth.” She turned to face me. “What should we do?”

Everyone else turned to look at me, too. When did I become the surrogate mother of this ragtag bunch?

“We can’t possibly let them aboard. How do we explain the fact that we’re all so young? How do we explain our passenger? Where would they even stay?” Eight asked skeptically.

“We could put them up in the cargo bay. The prison cell is passcoded; it shouldn’t be a problem. And we can just dodge any questions they have. We can just tell them to stay on Deck Six,” Two proposed.

“Or we could just wait until we reach Byth and tell the police there to send a cruiser out to retrieve them. We wouldn’t have to take any risks,” Five said.

“We can’t just leave them out here. What if they have a food shortage, or blow a power cell? They could die out here, and we could stop it,” Seven pointed out.

“I agree with Seven. It won’t be much of a trouble to have them aboard, and we could save their lives,” Six contributed.

“Take a vote?” I asked. “Who thinks we should let them aboard?” I counted hands. Two, Three, Six, Seven, and myself for, and Four, Five and Eight against.

“Okay. Four, tell them we’ll come to get them.”

She grudgingly typed into the computer, then made the course corrections at the pilot’s console.

We reached their coordinates just a few minutes. They docked their small ship in the shuttle bay, and we went down to Deck Six to receive them.

As the shuttle bay door rushed open, I had a second to think. Why hadn’t I asked more questions of Four? How many of them were there? What was their story? I couldn’t help wondering if I’d just made a huge mistake, allowing them onto the Defiant.

The first to exit the shuttle bay was a Sedha, well over seven feet in height and covered in green scaly skin. It blinked its disturbing black eyes and opened its mouth, showing far too many teeth.

“I am Rae’Julea’Luaj’Baqo. Thank you for allowing my crew to stay aboard your ship until we reach Byth,” it said in perfect English. “Do you have medical supplies? One of my crew members was injured in the attack.”

“Of course. What kind of injury?” Seven stepped in, craning her head back to meet the Sedha’s eyes.

“Burns from a loose wire. Here they are now.” Two more Sedha entered, supporting a third, which was slumped over, seemingly unconscious, a large area of its chest sunken in and inflamed purple. Seven directed them to carry it to the lift.

Rae’Julea’Luaj’Baqo watched them go, seemingly concerned.

“Would you like to attend to your injured crewmember?” I asked.

“No thank you. I’m sure Ille’Ola’Kuns’Reiji and Wro’Pasn’Vel’Baqo have it well in hand, along with your doctor.”

“May I ask what caused the damage to your ship? You said ‘attack’ earlier. Did something happen?” I asked, motioning for the Sedha to follow us to the cargo bay, where Two and Three had set up makeshift beds, which I realized now would be much too short for such an improbably tall species.

“Yes. We were fired at by Sorhnan security as we were fleeing our planet. The shot damaged our engine. Eres’Julea’Luaj’Baqo managed to prevent it from shutting down until now, but it burned out a circuit and injured him before we could reach a station to affect repairs.”

“You were fleeing Sorhna? Why?” Four asked.

“The political atmosphere there is not excellent right now. There are many laws that have been instituted since the human occupation that I do not agree with, one of which prevents interclan Joining. Ille’Reiji and I intend to Join, which we cannot do on Sorhna, so we decided to escape to Albahala. My brother Eres’Baqo and his friend Wro’Baqo desired to accompany us.”

“Is Joining like marriage?” Two asked.

“In a way, but not the same. Both are a ceremony to bind two adults together for breeding, but Joinings are for life. Human marriages are also generally between men and women, yes? Sedhan Joinings have traditionally had no restrictions. We have only one gender, which is generally accepted as being close to the human male physiology. Interclan Joinings are unusual, but not unheard of, but the human law that has been put into place does not allow for them.”

“Is the last syllable in your name your clan name?” I asked.

“That’s correct. The first is the individual’s name, the second two are the parent’s names, and the fourth is the clan. Individuals who are the product of interclan Joining have a fifth name as well. You may call me Rae’Baqo.”

“Why won’t the humans let you Join?”

“We are easier to control as a population if they do not allow us to leave our lands. We have been denied other rights, as well, such as the right to self-government.”

“I’m sorry. That’s terrible,” I said. The Sedha really were being mistreated by humans.

“The fault is not yours. Now it is time for your story. You are very young. Why do you have no adults aboard with you?”

“Um…”

Just at that moment, the two uninjured members of Rae’Baqo’s crew returned to the cargo bay, saving me the necessity of answering.

“The young happy female says that Eres’Baqo will be all right before we reach Byth,” the shorter of them told Rae’Baqo.

“You mean Seven?” I asked with a laugh.

“Your names are numbers?” asked the other arrival in a sharp voice. “How very strange.”

“Long story. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce us. I’m One,” I said.

“Two,” Two introduced himself. The others followed suit.

“I am Ille’Reiji. This is Wro’Baqo, and I’m sure Rae’Baqo has introduced himself as well,” said the sharp-voiced Sedha.

“Nice to meet you. We’ll leave you alone for now.”

We got up to leave, but Six hung back. From the hallway, I heard him ask the Sedha whether they had any special dietary requirements.

We headed up to the med bay, where we found Seven administering to a heavily-bandaged and unconscious Eres’Baqo, whose webbed feet stuck out comically from the end of the bed.

“A fascinating species,” Seven babbled when we arrived. “Amphibious, fully functioning underwater and on land. Only one gender. I’ll have to question them about their biology. Fascinating! How does procreation work with just one gender? And the organs! Double of everything, so there’s always a backup. It’s a wonder it all fits…”

“Earth to Seven,” Two said. She shook her head as if waking up, then joined us by the door.

“How’s he doing?” I asked.

“Just fine. Sedhan biology is very efficient. He’s already healing. Why do you guys look like someone just died?”

“You should hear Rae’Baqo’s stories about Sorhna. They’re cooped up like animals. Don’t you see we need to deliver out passenger to the Aerzhu so we can free these people?” Eight said, and I have to admit her argument was looking pretty convincing.

“What, so they can kill thousands of civilians? Please, let’s just wait until we reach Byth so we can have the information to make the proper decision,” Three wheedled, glaring at Eight.

“That’s what we decided on, and that’s what we’ll do,” Four said decisively.

It was back to the waiting game.

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