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Mieshorum was silent for a moment, then sounded a rumble of agreement. “Yes, you’re right. I'm being selfish.”

“You're being protective,” Narmuna said. “I would be also.”

I noticed how filthy Sloane was. “You might want to take her into the cleaning room and run a sterilization cycle. That will eliminate any parasites on her skin or clothes.”

Mieshorum straightened back up with a rumble of agreement. “You make a good point. It will rid her of anything undesirable, and the sonic cycle will clean the dirt off without the need to remove her clothing. I don't want to strip her. Humans don't like to be naked around strangers.”

“Her clothes are barely better than rags,” Narmuna said.

“When she wakes up, I'll ask Opal if Sloane can have some of her clothes,” I said.

“That would be kind,” Mieshorum said, carrying Sloane into the cleansing room. When the door shut behind them, Narmuna and I turned to leave the cabin.

Once we were in the hall, I could smell food. I didn't think we had any broth suitable for humans, so Lexarit was probably having to create something from some raw ingredient packets.

“I'm going to send a message and data packets to Ortheema Station with all of Opal's medical records that Twin Star Station's medical team gave us,” he said, turning to go back to the command room.

I put a hand on Narmuna to keep him from walking off. He swung around to face me and sounded a questioning rumble.

“You aren't jealous of Mieshorum?” I asked. “Or that I have Opal?”

“No, not at all,” he said.

I sounded a questioning rumble at his confidence. “Not even a slight amount?”

He hesitated a moment before speaking. “I can't explain it, but I know there's a human waiting for me. Remember when we talked about how having one human might make it easier to acquire more? Opal's been on board our ship for less than ten rotations, and now we have a second human. Opal chose you. I don’t think Sloane has the ability to pick, but if Mieshorum feels a pull, then I won't fight him. I know, deep inside me, that there is another human out there for me.”

“What about Lexarit?” I asked. “Will we defy all odds and find a fourth human for him?”

“Yes,” Narmuna said. “I'm sure. It might not be exactly in the way we want. I don't like that Opal was selling her body and risking injury or that we've found Sloane traumatized and sickly. But we will find more humans.”

His conviction was so strong that I found myself sounding a rumble of agreement. “Let the ancestors hear you.”

Chapter 17

Opal

By the time I woke up, I was in pain again and starving. The moment I made a sound, the body laying next to me sat up and spoke quickly.

“What do you need?” Tolly asked, then didn't give me a chance to answer. “What can I do? Should I—”

I held up a hand, and he stopped talking.

“Medication,” I croaked out, keeping my eyes closed. Not only did my foot hurt, but the pain had spread up my leg all the way to my knee. I was too scared to look.

Tolly moved, and soon I felt something press against my lips. I opened my mouth and swallowed down the small amount of liquid from the vial.

“You feel hot,” Tolly said. He sounded as worried as I felt. It wasn't until he commented that I noticed I felt feverish.

Great, I probably had an infection or some weird complication.

I heard the familiar soft chime of Tolly's Ident. He shifted a little, and I heard him unclip it from his belt before speaking. “We'll be docking soon.”

“Docking where?” I asked. I knew we'd talked about it, but I couldn't remember if he said we were going back to Twin Star Station. I hoped so; they had my records and knew how to treat humans.

“It's a Talin station within the empire,” he said.

I was in enough pain that I wasn't going to argue, but I did give him a quick, hard stare. “I'm not wearing a damn collar.”