Chapter Twenty-Two

R egi waited until they were alone in an isolated corner of the temple park before he spoke to his mother. "Thank you for arguing in support of my position."

"I will always support you."

A year ago, Regi would've assumed she would put her goddess first, but since learning the truth of his birth, he wondered if he knew his mother at all. "Surely you wouldn't support me in every circumstance."

"I might not agree with you, but I would always make my decision based on what I believed served you best. You are my child. And I'm sorry that you ever doubted the depth of my love."

Regi wasn't sure what to say. Growing up, he had felt irrelevant to his mother's life. Even though he knew better now, the truth didn't sit easily in his brain.

Minait puffed out her cheeks. "Your fathers always understood. Even when both of them were hungry for a child to bring home, they never made demands. And when I did choose to defy my goddess and keep you, they knew I would have to earn back my goddess's favor unless I wished to suffer an excess of her first blessing."

Regi could imagine his fathers mourning the loss of every child Minait turned over to other families. From a young age, he'd known they wanted more children, and both had leapt at any chance to care for the offspring of those adults too distracted by a difficult pregnancy to care for older children.

She continued, "Those first few years after your birth, I worried that my need to serve an angry goddess would undermine my marriage and one or both of your fathers would seek another wife. But to my shame, it never occurred to me that you would feel neglected. I suppose I thought the depth of my feelings would be communicated without words. That is proof that even exalteds can be great fools."

"Being named an exalted has not made me any wiser," Regi agreed.

His mother offered him a gentle smile. "That is true of all of us. Do you have any idea why the other ship may be entering such isolated space?"

"None. I only know as much as you do, but I would assume the hand of Divashi has forced them onto the path."

The silence that followed was heavy and awkward, and Regi studied the pebafri herd. It was small–only a half dozen adults and two foals. He wondered what Ter would say if the exalteds on the other ship allowed him to see such a large area he would judge as useless. He would find many creative insults, and then the exalted would question the wisdom of punishing him as one would a Kowri.

His mother spoke again. "Can you explain the relationship you have with the oddly shaped female who followed you?"

"Vk? She is a member of my security team. Of everyone who works for me, she is the one I trust the most."

"Excellent," his mother said. "I am happy that you have a partner you can trust."

Regi gaped at her choice of words. "‘Partner'?" Regi's ears tucked back, and he told himself to avoid taking offense on Vk's behalf.

Minait stood taller. "I'm not bothered that you have chosen companionship from amongst those you spend time with. In fact, I am very impressed with Vk's loyalty. Over the years, I have learned that is the most valuable trait in a partner."

"She is not a partner."

Minait's ears dipped, a sure sign of her frustration. "I understand that she is physically displeasing in a way your huuman is not, but she is still worthy of that title."

"Of course she's worthy," Regi said, "but she is not my partner. Dante and I have begun to negotiate any potential partnerships, but I would not dishonor Vk with that term."

She tilted her head to the side. "Why do you object to the idea of Vk as a partner?"

This was the oddest parental conversation Regi had ever suffered through, and he had a long history of difficult discussions with all three of his parents. "We've only been speaking for weeks after years of estrangement. Must we discuss this?" He did not want to get into an analysis of different species and their various cultures, needs, and expectations.

"If you believe that I would disapprove of a partnership because she is not Kowri, then yes, we must discuss this."

"I do not believe that," Regi said. "However, Vk abandoned her home world because among her people partnerships are mandatory and she did not wish to enter one. I would never dishonor her by even having a discussion about the subject."

Minait relaxed. "So it is respect for her rather than distress over her form." She nodded. "I apologize for the misunderstanding. Yet I find myself grateful that we are able to have it. I have missed you and have worried about you for many years, my son."

Regi's feelings are more complex than just missing his parents. He had missed them. With a deep and aching pain, he had missed them. But he'd also wanted to escape their judgment, and he had hated that he'd always felt as though he was not a priority, and now he felt guilty that he had misunderstood his mother in such a fundamental way. He offered the only truth he possessed. "I'm glad we're back in touch."

His mother smiled.

A temple exalted ran across the uneven ground, almost tripping over a tuft of grass before calling, "Exalteds, you must come."

Minait's voice was sharp when she demanded, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but all the exalteds are asked for. There is something wrong with the ship we pursue. The captain has ordered silence on the comms for fear of panic. Some whisper treachery and others of the gods' blessings. Come quickly."

Regi bolted toward the debating rooms. Minait followed, and other exalteds rushed in the same direction.

Unsurprisingly, the largest room—other than the one reserved for voting—rang with voices, and Regi hurried inside. He knew very few of these exalteds and liked none he knew by name so he asked a random Kowri standing near a viewscreen, "What's happening?"

The Kowri gestured to the viewscreen with the unfamiliar Kowri equations. It took Regi several minutes to realize Bekdi's ship had slowed to a dead stop and several of the readings suggested massive energy expenditures.

Jeheni a'Gavd charged up to him, his hair standing on end. "Did you say that your goddess navigated you toward a black hole?"

The question sent a spike of fear through Regi. He studied the equations floating atop a chart with symbols for various planets and asteroids and magnetic fields, but he could see no black holes. The fear eased enough for him to answer, "I did. That is where we found the ship that the Coalition crew navigated to the Kowri world. Our original ship was pulled into the black hole and utterly destroyed."

"She is the goddess of poisons. Death is her domain," one of the other Kowri said.

Jeheni whirled around, and Regi thought he might yell at the one who had said that, but he charged out of the room with the demeanor of a freio, albeit a rather old and lame one.

Minait came to Regi's side. She whispered to him, "Some of the others are speaking of a terrible danger, but I cannot read star charts. What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Regi admitted. Ter would be much more competent when it came to reading an unfamiliar star chart using uncommon scientific notations. Regi barely remembered his star navigation classes during his Temple years, despite being diligent in his studies because he planned to serve Gavd. "It's as if they are shunting energy the way one might shunt heat if the engines were overproducing." Regi froze. He studied the numbers again and then reached for his communicator before he remembered that Vk had been denied a communicator because she was not Kowri.

He grabbed the first Kowri who lacked the sacred animal insignia to mark them as an exalted and ordered him to get the outsider with the very large nose and bring her.

The Kowri, barely old enough to be out of his Temple years, looked at him in shock. "An outsider? Here?"

"Divashi is involved, and Kowri lives are in danger. Get her. Now." Regi gave the messenger a push toward the door, and the young male sprinted out. Regi had to hope he would follow orders because Regi had no time to fetch Vk. He had to get to the captain, and he needed his mother's assistance to convince the captain they were all in grave danger.

"Who is in charge of operations?" Regi asked his mother.

"Jeheni," Minait answered.

Regi winced. But wishing did not change the nature of the universe. He had to move forward with the reality in front of him.

"Where would he be during this crisis?" The numbers from the ship suggested they had very little time, and it appeared this ship had increased its velocity, meaning they would soon be in the same danger.

His mother took one look at his face and pulled him through the crowd of Kowri studying the various screens and debating what madness might inspire the captain of Bekdi's ship to engage in such behavior.

Sprinting, Minait headed down the corridor leading to various temple offices to the end where an orange door marked a critical section with limited access. She pressed her hand against the scanner and said, "Minait a'Otutha de Rioa a'Setir qee Qinqa e Cinkegu with critical information regarding the will of the gods. I am demanding access."

She didn't request access; she demanded it. Regi knew enough about etiquette on Kowri ships to know that would be an abiding insult if her suit was judged less than vital. Hopefully Jeheni would not choose to take offense.

The door clicked open revealing a bridge not dissimilar to one might find on a Coalition ship. The duty stations were smaller because they did not have to accommodate the massive size of some aliens, and there were far more stations, but that was the only functional difference. However, the room was, like most of the ship, decorated with carvings of sacred animals and vines. In the center of the room was the central common station with holographic displays tracking equations and charts.

"Why are you here?" Jeheni demanded from the command station. He kept his gaze on the central display which appeared to show the declining energy readings for Bekdi's ship.

"We believe we know what has happened to the other ship," Minait said, and then she ceded the floor to Regi.

Regi squared his shoulders. "There is an enemy of the Coalition known as the Belfin Realm."

"Outsider politics is uninteresting and irrelevant," Jeheni snapped.

"No, it is not," Regi snapped back in the same tone. "What you're seeing are the results from a Belfin mine attack. The mines attach to the hull of the ship and drain energy. But rather than store it, they release the energy into space. If enough mines attach to an individual ship, the ship's reserve power can be drained within hours, leaving the ship a flying coffin full of dead bodies." Regi worded it in the harshest way possible to break through the xenophobic shell Jeheni embraced with such fervor.

A hush filled every corner of the room and every face reflected Regi's horror.

"Illogical. Why would these weapons appear in Kowri space?"

Five seconds ago, Regi would not have had the answer to that. But the moment Jeheni asked the question, Regi knew why there were Belfin weapons in Kowri space.

"The Belfin trade with pirates. Pirates have been poaching dops for their poison, and dops are only found in Kowri space. How many habitable planets are in this sector?"

Jeheni stared at him for a moment before he turned to another Kowri.

"Six," the Kowri said in a tremulous voice.

"Do we know how many have dops?"

Jeheni continued to stare at the same officer, but he ducked his head in a negative and touched his thumbs to his temple to call for the gods blessings, although Regi wasn't sure who he was praying for. Perhaps all of them since Divashi had chosen to bless them with new opportunities to die.

"They must have mined the corridor they use to get into our space so that they would have warning if we sent ships after them," Regi mused. It made sense. It all made sense.

"They will regret harming our sacred animals and entering our territory," Jeheni said with a growl. "How do we defeat this weapon?" Despite his fervent hatred for all outsiders and Regi as their ally, he moved to finding a solution.

"A targeted electrical burst can usually overload the electronics, but it has to come from close range. We either need a ship I can pilot or some sort of drone we can send in."

Jeheni turned to another officer. She stood so she could look over the tallest of the consoles. "We have single Kowri fighters capable of that sort of attack, but we will need to know how to calibrate the weapons."

"We'll need a rotating series of frequencies. The mines are designed to shield themselves, but if the frequencies change often enough, the shielding will fail. I also need Vk here radioing me navigational information."

"Absolutely not," Jeheni barked.

Regi growled and allowed his ears to flatten to his skull. He would not play nice while lives were in danger. "She is the only one I have trained with. She knows Belfin mines and their defenses, so she can give me better information than any of your people."

"I will not have an outsider in here."

Regi stepped forward, trembling in his rage. "Being an exalted of Divashi means I must do the impossible. I rushed into an area soaked with radiation because that was what was required. I am now telling you that having Vk on a monitoring station is required. You either accept the challenge Divashi has put in front of you or all opportunity will be lost and all souls on that ship will die."

Jeheni stood, his fur bristling as he glared at Regi, but Regi did not back down. He could not back down. If he did, Dante and Ter and every Kowri on that ship would die because the number of energy readings bleeding from the ship suggested they were covered in Belfin mines.

After an impossible length of time where not even a junior technician dared breathe, Jeheni growled, "Fine. But a Kowri will sit with your outsider."

"Sit with, yes. But they will not interfere with her." Regi turned to his mother and touched his thumbs to his temple in supplication. "I ask you to guard her back and speak for me," he said in formal tones.

She touched her thumbs to her temples. "I shall speak for you and guard what you find of value and seek the answers you would have known."

Regi turned to the officer who had spoken of Kowri fighters. "Show me your ships and give me instruction on the controls. The mines will target me with energy blasts, so I must be able to navigate quickly."

The officer looked at Jeheni before giving Regi a nod. "I must suggest that one of our pilots would be better able to handle the controls."

"I have trained extensively on countering Belfin weapons. Your pilots cannot match my proficiency in battle, even if they know the ships better."

"That arrogance may get you killed." Surprisingly, Jeheni sounded thoughtful rather than angry.

Regi gave a rough laugh. "If it were not for my goddess, I would have died months ago as my ship fell into a black hole. That scared me. However, I remember being a child obsessed with all that Gavd touched, including his ships, and I have years of training in Belfin weapons. Those gods-forsaken villains will not kill me." He would not die, and he would not lose Dante and Ter. He would not allow that to happen.