Chapter 25

"There it is," Zyair said. "Jorvla."

Layla looked, but there wasn't much to see. It was just a huge, menacing-looking orb.

"What's Lorr like?" she asked.

"What?" Zyair said, surprised. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I've seen pictures, but I've also heard they don't do it justice."

"Okay," Zyair said, thinking. "We don't have the water masses…"

"Oceans?" Layla interrupted.

"Yeah, those. So Lorr is mostly green from space. When you get down closer though, the plants come in every imaginable color. A lot of plants. The air is fresh."

Layla looked back at the monitor at Jorvla. Zyair followed her gaze.

"I wish I could tell you that Jorvla is nice. Maybe it was, once. A long time ago. Part of the reason my father is so protective is that he knows what we have is special. Too many other planets have been lost to greed, when the inhabitants forgot to protect what they were lucky enough to inherit."

"Like Earth?" Layla said softly.

Zyair reached out and squeezed her hand. "It isn't fair to judge anyone by the worst of their group," he said. "One thing I know is that some Terrans fought hard to save endangered species, among other things. We were taught that as children. It's just…"

"What?"

"We were also taught that, for ourselves, failing in that task was not an option. Every Lorr knows they bear responsibility for the well-being of Lorr and every Lorr being. We are all connected in that way, always."

That's not good news for me,Layla thought. Would Zyair's family ever accept her and their baby? She couldn't waste energy worrying about that at the moment, though. Besides, if she helped Zyair recover the Desolation Stone and averted a war, that had to count for something. A lot of somethings, right?

"Zoom in please, Astrid," Zyair said. "Find us somewhere to land to avoid detection."

Layla marveled at the screen and automatic controls. It reminded her of soft landings with her parents, somehow, to defuse their anger. She spent plenty of time as a child evading her parents. When it came to avoiding detection, some things were universal. Be quiet. Lights off. Go far enough away that they will give up looking for you, whatever the reason.

Zyair explained that any Lorr ship landing on Jorvla was taking a big risk. Even in an emergency, any Lorr would prefer to send an SOS and drift until a ship from a friendlier planet could rescue them. Not many Lorr vessels ever came this close to Jorvla's orbit.

We can't get caught,Layla thought.

They continued the surveillance of the planet. Zyair showed her how to use the grid overlay on the map and mark each section although most of the work was done by Astrid. The Lorr keyboard didn't have a question mark, so where she added information manually, she picked a symbol that looked like the English M, for maybe.

After what seemed like many hours—flicks, Layla corrected herself—her stomach rumbled. Really loudly.

"You hungry?" Zyair raised his eyebrows. "Please, go eat."

"What about you?"

"I'm okay."

She went to the galley and had Astrid fix a decent meal for the both of them. The only thing that appealed to Layla was a pasta-like food called cloque. Like humans, the Lorr had a huge variety of toppings for cloque and it took a bit of convincing on Layla's part before Astrid was willing to serve it up plain.

Layla would have sworn the AI was annoyed with her.

"I just don't feel up to any of the sauces," she told the machine. "Please make Zyair something spectacular. Okay? You pick. But for human pregnancy, the system is very delicate. You understand that. Right?"

"Of course," Astrid replied, obviously mollified. "Excellent."

Layla took the food back to the bridge. Zyair smiled and thanked her.

"I knew you'd eat it if I brought it," she said.

"I think I found a place to land," he said. "This one you marked with a kwell?"

He indicated the M-looking symbol.

"It looks like our M," Layla explained. "For maybe."

"Maybe is right," he said. "Good spot, but…" He pointed to the horizon. Layla could see the sun rising.

"Good spot, but bad timing?" she guessed. He nodded.

"It's better for us to land right after nightfall," he said. "Then I can sneak off the ship and find the stone. I'll set us up in an orbit over that spot, so we can get some sleep. The cloaking should work. I'll make us look like some space debris."

Layla was busy shoveling in her cloque as fast as she could. She was ravenous and the more she ate, the more she seemed to want. Then it was gone, and the feeling that filled her was something like despair.

"Ridiculous," she said.

"What?" Zyair asked, busy setting up the coordinates.

"Nothing," she said. "Sorry. I'm going back to the galley. Do you want more?"

"No, I'm good."

"Astrid," she said as she burst into the galley. "More plain cloque, please."

"Yes, Ms. Killingsworth," the AI said, now seemingly less miffed with her. "Would you like to hear some facts about human pregnancy while you wait?"

"Sure," Layla said.

"The placenta performs functions during gestation that fulfill the functions of the lungs, liver, kidneys, and endocrine glands."

"Fascinating, Astrid."

"Thank you, Layla."

Laylawas practically dancing in anticipation. It wasn't until the plate was ready and she had greedily eaten her first four—or five—spoonfuls that a realization hit her brain.

She marched back to the bridge.

"What do you mean you sneak off the ship? You meant we, right?"

"Layla. I thought that was settled already. You're not going."

She shoved another spoonful of cloque in her mouth—dear gods, she was so hungry—and chewed angrily. "We didn't finish talking about it. We got… distracted."

"I assumed that was your way of saying you were fine with it."

"Sex with me means only one thing: I wanna fuck this hot Lorr. But no other messages should be read into it, Zyair. No interpretations."

Zyair looked up from his own plate of food. "Well, I'm done talking about it. You're not going. I control Astrid. I can give Astrid specific instructions not to allow you to leave."

She almost threw her cloque in his face, but she was too hungry. "You should stay on the ship. You said it yourself that you're a high-value prisoner. I'm nothing but a lowly human."

"I never said you were a lowly human." Zyair spoke slowly. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. Especially in your condition."

"My condition?"

"Yes, I want you and our baby to be safe. Is that wrong?"

Layla looked at him. He was staring at her intently, but his eyes were filled with kindness and love. It was maybe the first time in her life she really believed someone actually cared for her. Her parents certainly hadn't been capable of it. She was speechless. He kept talking.

"I will sneak off, find the Desolation Stone, come back, and then we'll go back to… well, I don't know that part. I think the stone may be safer on Lorr. But I'm not sure I can legally keep it from Lady Indorsha. It is her property." He seemed to be talking to himself, so Layla took a few more bites of her food. "I know," he said suddenly. Layla could almost see the lightbulb come on over his head. "You can do some research while I'm getting the stone and figure out the legality of it. Then you'd be helping, see?"

"You're giving me busy work?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Not busy work. Important intelligence-gathering."

"I can also gather intelligence, sir…" Astrid said.

"Shut up, Astrid!" they both yelled.

"Certainly," the AI responded.

"And you," Layla said, pointing her finger at Zyair. He looked alarmed, but also slightly amused, which infuriated her. "If anyone should go by themselves, it should be me—"

"No way."

"So, it's agreed, we go together."

"No one's agreed to anything."

"Including me. Look, I'm pregnant, not an invalid. I'm not going to sit here on the ship alone while you're sneaking around Jorvla like Indiana Jones."

"Indiana what?"

"Ah, this movie, this guy who looks for treasure… never mind. Anyway, I'm going with you."

"Anyway. You're not."

They glared at each other.