7. Shana

7

SHANA

" W e cannot keep this from everyone," Nyanna says.

Angota leans against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Riley is close to his side watching Nyanna, Dan, and me with curious eyes but saying nothing. Kosh stands on my left and Dan is on my right. Shukach is a step behind Nyanna, silently watching.

"No one is saying keep it from them," I say, and Nyanna opens her mouth to jump on that, but I get my hand up in time to stop her from speaking before I finish. "Only for the moment. We don't know if this idea will even work. Honestly, it's insane."

"It's dangerous," Nyanna agrees. "But Angota feels it will work and Shukach agrees."

"They can't know that," Dan says, throwing his hands up. "All they told us was how dangerous this Order is. How much of a threat they are. Now we're supposed to ignore all that and go knocking on their door?"

"The Pertinaxians are the bigger threat, the Order will recognize this," Angota says, not moving from the wall.

"You think," I amend his statement.

"The Pertax-uh, what?" Dan asks.

"Invaders is easier word," Shukach says with a helpful smile.

"Yeah," Dan agrees. "Let's stick to that."

My stomach roils and for a moment I'm sure I'm going to hurl. It comes so fast that the room spins, and I quickly wrap my arms around my belly, bending over and focusing on breathing. Kosh puts his arm around and crouches down.

"Shana?" he asks.

"Fine," I huff, breathing through the wave of nausea. Sweat cools on my brow as I stand upright. Everyone is looking at me with obvious concern on their faces. Embarrassment causes a flush that makes me angry. "I'm fine. This is more important. You can't tell everyone Nyanna. Not yet."

"We don't have the right to hold this back," Nyanna says. "We haven't been elected. We lead by default by being the ones who were willing to take charge in the chaos after the crash. We don't have the right to hold this back."

"We don't have the right to tell them!" Dan yells.

"Stop," I say, putting a hand on Dan's arm to try and calm him. "Nyanna, I get it, but I'm sorry, you're wrong. If we make this known and we don't have a backup plan in place, one we know will work, then we're only asking for trouble. They're just as likely to riot as they are anything else."

"No…" Nyanna says, but she trails off uncertainly.

"You know I'm right," I say. "I don't know anything about these Invaders, but Kosh says they're bad. And he uses ‘bad' in that way which means it's fucking catastrophic."

"He's right," Riley says, speaking for the first time. "The Invaders were the shock forces that helped destroy the planet in the war."

"That's why we have to tell everyone," Nyanna says.

"And we will, when we have a plan," I say.

"We have a plan," Nyanna says.

"No, you have an idea. One that is so incredibly dangerous that it might only result in us losing our delegation," I counter.

"Who do you plan to send anyway?" Dan asks.

"I am going," Kosh says, and my stomach hits the floor.

I turn my head and glare at him. He meets my glare with a steady gaze of his own, the only admission to my anger with him is a subtle shrug.

"We talked about this," I say, voice low, almost a hiss.

"No, we no talk," he says.

The simplicity of it is, he's right. I don't want him to go, and I have all the reasons in the world, but not a one of them have I told him. If anything, I've pushed him away since I figured out that his ‘accident' caught.

"We can pull everyone together," Nyanna says, inserting her words between the silent conversation happening with Kosh and me. "But I really feel I'm right."

"Nyanna," Dan says, exasperation in his voice. "You're one of the smartest people I know. You're the leader not only by default but because we all respect and admire you. But on this, you're out of your damn mind."

"I have to agree with Dan," I say, jerking my attention away from Kosh. "I think we should find out if this… idea… is going to work first."

Nyanna chews on her lip then looks at Shukach who frowns, scratches his head, then nods.

"Fine," Nyanna says. "But we don't know how long we have. If they're already at the other part of the wreckage scavenging or worse, looking for us, then we don't have a lot of time. The delegation needs to go, now."

"I am ready," Kosh says.

"You're going alone?" I ask my throat so tight that it comes out with a squeak.

"Yes," he says simply as if it is the most natural thing in the world.

"No. No way. You're not going alone."

Kosh frowns and the tension in the room ratchets up as everyone prepares to put their own opinions into the matter, but Angota speaks first.

"We cannot risk more," Angota says.

"Then I'm going," I counter.

"Now who's lost their mind?" Nyanna asks. "You know how hard the desert is."

"That alone is dangerous, but to go to the Order when they have specific directions to capture human women?" Riley says. "We fought them in the Jungle and were lucky to escape."

"Then it's the perfect test," I say. "If they try to capture me instead of working with us, we'll know without sending everyone there. It will make it harder for them to be deceptive in their dealings with us."

"No—" Kosh says.

"Yes," Angota cuts him off. I can feel Kosh's rage surging at my side. It radiates off of him like heat, but his mouth snaps shut with a loud click. "Her words are wise. If they see her, their directions from the Eye will be to capture on sight. If they are to be convinced to not follow the Eye, it will be because they see her."

"Fine," Nyanna says.

Her voice is reluctant, but her agreement is there. Dan shrugs, then shakes his head.

"Good, then let's pack and get this over with," I say.

Kosh gestures towards the door and I lead the way.