6. Chapter 6

The meal Ava ate energized her.

She figured she would get her first visit out of the way before sleep, so she put the heat suit back on. With any luck it would silence her mind to not have the first visit looming. Hopefully then I can relax. When she took the stupid suit off after going up into the vents for the second time in one cycle, she wanted a good period of time before she had to put it back on again.

With that in mind, she made it a two-part journey in the vents and checked out the cargo hold before heading to the animal cells. That way there would be no pressure for her to get back in the vents if she just did it all now.

Besides, after she got around to showing Ebel the fruit picture, they spent some time while she was eating looking it up and finding out it was edible. And supposed to be delicious. Well worth the detour.

Now in the cargo hold, in the still-pressurized side panels containing the trees, Ava held the small red fruit in her hands and sniffed it. Ebel said it was something called a yavi fruit. The database came up with similar fruits, and one was called a cherry on the planet her mother originally came from. Her mother never liked to talk about Earth, the planet she was from, so Ava never heard of a cherry before.

The Phor had more information on the plants from Earth than they did on the Humans that started there. It was kind of strange. It wasn’t the first time that she wondered if it was by design, like the Humans were purposely being hidden on the records.

Ebel also asked her to bring some of the yavi fruit back for their queen to placate her. She was apparently still angry and was taking it out on her drones. There was a chance that with something brought back by Ava that was different, she might reconsider how much observing Ava had to do. Maybe she could just be continually sent back to pick the fruit the entire trip instead.

That would be nice.

She stepped into the canopy and breathed deep, pretending she was in a forest full of the trees. They smelled delicious.

Ava tried to spread out her picking so her pilfering wouldn’t be noticed, and even then was still able to fill her bag almost to the top with tons to spare, as there were berries on almost every branch. After the bag was full, she cinched it down so none would spill out on the way back.

The fruit was delicious like the logs said, and she felt a pang in her heart as she ate it, thinking of what her mother would have thought of the berries. Would they have reminded her of Earth?

She shook her head to clear the thoughts and munched on one, wiping away the juice as it dribbled down her chin as she climbed back into the vents. She ate four more while she moved around the side walls to see the payloads in the containers and what was possible to grab.

Ava took a break after she climbed back into the main part of the ship and out of the cargo hold. She sat back in the vents in an area that opened up wider due to the filtration unit housed there and snacked on a fifth fruit. It was amazing having something actually grown and not from the food processor.

Maybe if I keep one of these pits I could try growing one of the trees myself in the solarium.She held the pit under her flashlight and tried to see how the seed was constructed, turning it around in the narrow beam of light.

A soft squeaking drew her eyes to one of the ninety-degree bends in the vent in front of her. Ava sat quietly as she saw a pom stick its head out, not daring to move an inch and startle it. A smile curled on her mouth. She rarely got to see one in person; they were so skittish. Their sense of smell was apparently fantastic though, as it clearly wanted a better sniff of the yavi fruit.

Ava let out a soft, “Hey you,” once its entire small fuzzy body came forward, its beady eyes reflecting in the little light her flashlight gave off. It looked like a fuzzy ball on legs. It squeaked and ran away once it heard her, its long tail the last to disappear around the corner.

Ava sighed in disappointment, the hand holding the fruit out dropping to the floor of the vent. They were a nuisance on every ship, but Ava couldn’t bring herself to hate the little creatures just trying to survive.

She put the pit back in the bag with the rest of the fruit. Then she took another out and put it in the middle of the vent for the poms. Ava was determined to be friends with at least one of them. She cinched her bag shut again, wiped her hands on the suit, and made her way back to the engine room vents.

There she lowered the bag down into the engine room shaft with some rope and banged on the sides to alert Ebel that she”d dropped something if he was still in the control room.

Ava sat a second, twiddling her thumbs. She knew she was stalling; she didn’t need to come back to drop the goods off.

She shook her head and forced herself to move without waiting to see if Ebel got the fruits. The trip over to the animal corridor was not as long as it was to the transport area. Not near as much climbing either, thankfully.

The breeze had cooled her off while she sat to eat the fruits earlier, but she still felt ripe underneath the suit from all the sweating. She’d need to take a shower first thing when she got back down. She tugged at the suit, feeling it constrict around her, and felt disgusting.

The six animal cells were all large in diameter, each a ten-by-ten square, with a row of smaller crates on the north end of the space. There were also a few tanks that could hold aquatic animals, but Ava had never seen them used before. All the lights were on, briefly blinding her as she looked out of the first grate in the area to see the layout.

Ava lay flat—it was too narrow in the vent to sit up—and rubbed her eyes until they adjusted.

Then, looking down, she saw that the four Vorbax were each in a separate cell. There were no beds to speak of, but someone had thrown a pallet and mattress to sleep on in each one. There was a hole in the back with a grate that served as a toilet and for cleaning whatever creature was on board. The remaining two cells were filled with Tuxa napping. Only those cell doors were wide open.

Ava watched the sleeping Tuxa rhythmically breathe for a moment, hoping they wouldn’t be allowed anywhere else on the ship. She never directly talked with one before and really never wanted to. Her body shuddered involuntarily. They gave off a bad vibe.

If the Tuxa did venture out from this area, it would make everyone on board on edge. Ava was glad she had her own place down in the engine hall away from all the chaos. It was the first time she was grateful about being so closed away. It was enough that she would probably need to be around them some when she shared in helping out with the prisoners like the queen requested.

Ava got on her belly to slide along the vent that pumped air into each of the cells and traveled the entire length to peer into the warehouse room next to the animal holding area. She moved slowly to make sure she didn’t make any noise and carefully peeked through the grate. More Tuxa were there, looking like they were still just setting up. There was a lot of activity in that room, so Ava quickly turned around and left, feeling anxious from their pacing. She would have to come back to observe more later. Or not.

The Vorbax are more interesting anyways.

Now that Ava had scoped out the entire area, she turned around and came back to hover over the Vorbax, stopping and pushing into the grate to get the best view she could. The video logs of them were fresh on her mind, but it was different seeing them in person. They looked huge, or maybe it was the angle. Or maybe it was just her perception from being on the smaller side herself. She shifted her eyes side to side to compare them as best she could from her vantage point.

I was right, they definitely are all male. And even more handsome in person.Ava felt warm all over with the thought.

The information packet on the Vorbax noted that they didn’t allow any photos taken of their females. There was one in the file, but the image was blurred out. From it, though, Ava was able to infer that that the females were small, slight creatures.

Not at all like the ones below Ava now, with their vast expanses of muscle that Ava could see under their sleek lines. Even their colors were more vibrant in real life than what showed on the screen. They were a luminescent blue, and it was fascinating to look at them because they seemed to almost change colors as she watched, shifting from a blue to a lighter shade. And glowing? Yes, there definitely is a glow.

She moved back and forth between the cells noting the differences between the four. They all looked similar.

The one on the far left, nearest where she could enter the room from above, looked to be asleep.

The next appeared to be in a meditative state—he was sitting still with a peaceful expression on his face, and, yes, glowing.

The third appeared to be checking every corner for a weakness, prowling the cage restlessly. Ava clenched her teeth watching him, seeing his unease.

The last was tossing some soap in the air and repeatedly catching it while lying back on his mattress.

Ava quickly decided to settle down over the head of the one in the meditative state to observe. This one had a glow of energy that surrounded him like a current. As she watched, his colors shifted across the entire spectrum, giving different undertones that blended with his blue body underneath. His face was blank and peaceful, making her feel at ease watching him, which in turn made her curiosity about his luminescence grow.

She matched his breathing while settling in the vent so it was as comfortable as possible. He was beautiful. She could admit that as she watched him breathe in and out rhythmically. His muscles flexed with every inhale. Through the cell bars, she saw the others begin glowing like he did after a moment, all except the one still sleeping.

“What are you?”She heard the question in her mind.

It startled her so badly she jumped and made a small ding that echoed in the vents.

Ava breathed out slowly and hoped no one noticed. By the time her heart rate stilled, she was wondering if she had imagined the words. She must have dreamed them up, because the feeling of calm and silence returned. In fact, it was stronger than before.

She shook herself mentally. I probably need more sleep.

Ava sat there, watching, almost dozing off herself, until the intercom blared again noting the start of the next rotation.

The announcement shook her back into action, making her aware of the time she’d just spent watching. With stiff muscles, she slowly started to move back out of the area. The three of them were still glowing, though the one she was above was a bit brighter than the rest.

Why are they all shining now?She frowned, unable to piece anything more together. The one on the left was still asleep.

The Tuxa, who had ignored the prisoners the entire time she was watching, burst through the door before she exited the area.

Ava startled, pausing her exit to watch their interaction. Two Tuxa had some food and water. They roughly shoved it through the cells toward the Vorbax, growling the entire time about having to do the menial task.

Two of the Vorbax stopped shining and moved to take the food. The one who was asleep the entire time still didn’t move. The last one, the one Ava had watched from above, continued glowing.

Ava shook her head to clear her mind. With that intercom signal, she knew it was time to get back to the control room. As she started moving away, she could have sworn she heard again, in her head, “Goodbye trapped bird.”

Shaking her head, she thought back, “I’m not the bird, that’s Nuor,” with a mental image of Nuor in her mind. She could have sworn she heard a ghostly chuckle, but the next minute the feeling of calm reappeared.

She really needed some more sleep.

“What do you make of that?”Vox’s brother, Erox, asked regarding the tiny creature that had observed them for more than two candle marks from above.

“It felt like one of our females almost,”Lirell offered, jumping into the conversation. He soon fell back out when he let his meditative state drop to eat his food. He was the youngest of the four and could not hold it nearly as well when he was distracted.

“It was different. But similar. I was not expecting anything similar on board when we made our initial plans,”Vox answered. He breathed deeply, remembering the feel of her mind. It was intriguing.

“Does it change anything?”Erox mused. “I did not probe deeply to see its intentions.”

“It is not malicious. It. No, it is a female. She. She is a servant more than anything else.”He shook his head, thinking hard. “It changes nothing. We do not alter course.” The trapped bird would just have to remain trapped in the vents. Intriguing had no place in their plans.

Vox reached out to his fourth companion to see if he had any input but met a thick wall. Rhutg was able to connect but didn’t want to say anything. Vox knew he was in agreement from the suppressed rage he conveyed across the meditative state. He tried to extend his calm to him but Rhutg refused it, feigning sleep. Rhutg’s mate, one he had shared home and body with for many years, was taken from him several suns ago. He was not up for speculation or idle chatter. Rhutg’s humor had died the moment Violie was kidnapped from their home planet by the Tuxa.

“We will find her, Rhutg,”Vox thought to him. Rhutg was not receptive, but Vox still projected his calm.

Vox sighed and disconnected his meditative state before he reached forward to grab the food. He would need his energy, after all.