Bonus Chapter II

Dek-lee

It took years for Dek-lee to create the refugee colony on the planet Ki-joy, but now they stood in the center of an empty town square and regarded everything within sight with a deep sense of satisfaction.

The planet Ki-joy was warm by Delorta standards, but temperate for most other species, and it was located well within the safety of Delorta space. Right now, the planet was nothing but wilderness and one small town named Dek-sen.

Dek-sen had been created from scratch after years of petitioning, bargaining with the Delorta Unified Government, and with the help of a small group of dedicated volunteers.

Named after their sibling, Dek-sen consisted of several large buildings full of domiciles of varying size for individuals or families, a hall for communal meals and gatherings, and empty shops ready for someone to take ownership and make something of them. There was even a dedicated interstellar comms array orbiting the planet so everyone could send and receive messages from distant places. Dek-lee's small home was right next to them in the center of their small town, equal distance for everyone who might need to find them.

If the colony became successful, the Delorta Unified Government even mentioned they'd consider building a space station in the system to bring trade and tourism to the planet. The colony might progress into something self-sustaining in the future.

Hearing an engine, Dek-lee looked up to see a shuttle descending. They galloped to the clearing that was acting as a port for now, but there was potential for it to be built up into a real port with control towers and hangers.

The descending ship should have the first wave of refugees. Dek-lee had dossiers on all of them, including pictures. A few were only children and had everything familiar ripped away due to a civil war between the two species on their planet. It would be hard to start over again, but they hoped to at least give them a safe and welcoming place to call home.

The pilot of the shuttle took a great deal of time to land, probably due to the lack of a control tower and proper landing grid. When the ship finally settled, Dek-lee couldn't keep themself from rushing to the ramp even before it finished deploying. They stomped several times, impatient for the ramp to finish and the hatch to the transport ship to open.

When it finally did, Dek-lee was disappointed to see another Delorta face appear instead of any of the refugees.

"Did they decide not to come?" they asked Kin-low, the pilot and Dek-lee's good friend.

Kin-low jogged down the ramp to speak in low tones to Dek-lee. "They're scared! They spent the entire trip here keening as if I was taking them to their death. I think they believe this is a ruse to take them some place and execute them."

"Expensive ruse," Dek-lee muttered. They understood the refugees' fears. Their civil war was a particularly brutal one, including genocide programs by the dominant species. "Do you think it will help if I talk to them?"

"I don't know," Kin-low admitted. "Your staff is on board trying to talk them off, but none of them are listening. I can stay down here for a full day-cycle before I'm needed somewhere else, and that gives us some time. Why don't you have the staff leave the ship, help you make a big meal, and set it up out here? If we can coax them off the ship, I think we'll be able to convince them everything will be fine."

"Let's try that," Dek-lee agreed.

It didn't take long for everyone to put together a feast with all the food Dek-lee had stocked in the communal kitchen. They used almost every serving and cargo bot to transport platters and tureens full of food to the port.

Thankfully Sin-tan, one of the volunteers, had thought to provide the refugees with nice places to sit by spreading blankets out everywhere. This species didn't use much furniture, so sitting on blankets would be similar to the way they'd dine at home.

Once the food was arranged at the center of various blankets and lights had been strung from the ship to the ground as the sun was starting to set, the first refugee poked her head out of the hatch.

"Kin-low?"

The pilot rushed up to her, eager to talk. Dek-lee was a little jealous that she'd asked for Kin-low, but none of them had met yet, only corresponded via long-range messages.

"Dissana," Kin-low said as he got to the top of the ramp. "We've brought food for all of you to enjoy. It's not far from the ship, so if you don't feel safe you can reboard."

She looked past his shoulder at the food then sounded a chitter of surprise. Her species reminded Dek-lee a little of Nimons, but smaller and far more delicate. They also had wings, although what they did was more like controlled gliding and fluttering than true flying.

Right now her wings were tucked tightly against her body, a sign of fear or nervousness. Reaching up, she tugged an antenna down and stroked it with several long, nimble fingers. That was a thinking gesture and a good sign.

"You have Formani food," she murmured with clear surprise. "You really did intend to house us."

"House, feed, and assist," Kin-low assured her quickly.

"There are apartments ready for all of you also," Sin-tan called up from the base of the ramp. "We can eat and then show you around. I promise you're safe. Here is Dek-lee, the one who arranged everything."

Dek-lee waved a hand and tried to look non-threatening. "Hello, Dissana. It's good to meet you at last."

Dek-lee hoped for her to acknowledge them and maybe even take a few steps down the ramp. They didn't expect her to push past Ken-low and launch herself into the air. She flew down, landing with a little thump next to them, her fluttering wings kicking up some dust.

"Dek-lee!" she cried out and held her wings out wide. "You're here! It's really you, and you're here!"

She stepped close and wrapped both arms and wings around them. Dek-lee went perfectly still, worried that any movement might hurt the delicate Dissana.

"When you weren't on the ship that retrieved us, we thought it had all been a trick. We thought we were traveling to our doom. But here you are, and you look just like the captures and vids we found of you."

Dek-lee jerked a little with surprise. "You found captures and vids of me specifically?"

Dissana pulled away and loosely tucked her wings back. "There were several entries from a unibase on Bathma station then many more from a unibase on a Talin station. You looked so much better in the later captures, and you were caring for a small child not of your species. That's how we knew we could trust you!"

Those must've been captures and vids taken by Iris. The human was obsessed with recording mundane events and had duplicated everything on the Progress's unibase. That unibase would've been shared at any Talin station they docked at.

Never would Dek-lee have thought that Iris's penchant for image captures would help them later. That human had been instrumental in Dek-lee's good fortune in so many ways.

"That was a human child named Mia," Dek-lee explained.

"Human? They are even smaller than us," Dissana said with a little shake of her shoulders to show humor. "I didn't think any species was smaller than us!"

"They are, and someday some humans might come here to live also," Dek-lee explained. "They don't have a homeworld any longer."

When this place had finally become a reality, Dek-lee sent a message to Iris so she knew there was now another safe choice for any of the humans they found. If the humans didn't want to live with the Talins, they could come to Ki-joy. That message made Dek-lee finally feel as if they'd truely paid Iris back for her kindness.

Dissana gave an excited flutter of her wings. "Poor humans. We Formani might as well not have a homeworld for how we've been treated. We could help you keep them safe."

As delighted as Dek-lee was at Dissana's excitement, they needed to get her fellow Formani off the ship. "There are bugs of all kinds on this planet, and they're starting to gather around the food. Do you think you could convince everyone to debark and join us for an evening meal before they finish it all?"

"Bugs? Excellent!" Dissana said with a quick flick of her tongue in the air, as if testing for a stray insect. "Let me tell everyone you're here. I'll be right back."

Assisted by her rapidly beating wings, she jump-hopped up the ramp and back into the shuttle. It wasn't long before Formani streamed out of the ship and started taking up spots on the blankets. Each one made sure to greet Dek-lee before finding a place and starting to eat.

It filled Dek-lee's hearts with joy. They could already tell this place would have a bright future and add weight to the soul of anyone who lived here.

What more could anyone ask for in a home?