The Avalon Chronicles

Chapter Fourteen

Ryver did not feel comfortable leaving Riian alone with Natania, so she took up post on another overturned crate and sat with her arms crossed, watching the unconscious Sul-ya carefully for any hint of movement.

Even though only a short time had passed, it felt like hours later that Senna lightly tapped the side of the rest bay door to catch the attention of those within. Senna did not even look at Ryver, her purple eyes focused on Riian.

"Meal time," she announced. "Who are you?"

"Riian Black," he answered.

"And what are you doing here?" Senna demanded.

"I am trying to help her," he said, motioning to the unconscious Sul-ya.

Ryver drew in a deep breath, catching her flight engineer's attention.

"He's also a Sul-ya. He's trying to help her."

Senna's eyes went wide as she tore her gaze from Ryver and turned back to Riian.

"How the hell did we manage to find another Sul-ya on this rock?" she gaped. "I thought you guys were rare."

"It seems we were both attacked by the same pirates," Riian elaborated. "We crashed on the other side of the Settlement. I am hoping that we can work together to get both our crews off this planet."

Senna nodded slowly, her expression becoming suspicious. She stared at Riian longer, as though willing him to keep speaking and give her more of a reason to be suspicious of him. He remained quiet, keeping eye contact with her, though his expression was not anxious or confrontational. It was clear he expected the crew of the Avalon to be suspicious and was ready to continue to defend that he was no danger to the small crew.

"Ryver," Senna called, "I need to show you something with the hull pieces." She jerked her head behind her. Ryver stood, though she was not thrilled with the idea of leaving Riian unwatched. Still, she followed Senna out of the rest bay and out of the Avalon entirely, dropping down to the sand with just enough time to straighten before Senna rounded on her.

"Are you insane?"

"What?" she asked, taking a step back.

"What's going on?" Des asked, walking closer with Quinn.

"She found another Sul-ya and brought him right to us," Senna told the other two. Ryver dropped her gaze to avoid the stunned and horrified looks from her crew.

"That guy is a Sul-ya?" Quinn gawked.

"Look," Ryver said, raising her hands and retreating a step from the others, "he saved me from a brawl in town. He then told me that he and his crew crashed here a few cycles ago and he's desperate to get off this planet. Some of the parts from his ship might be usable for the Avalon."

"How can you be sure of that?" Quinn demanded. "Did you see his ship? Maybe he's tracking her!" He motioned abstractly to the ship, though everyone knew what he meant.

"I don't think so," Ryver said. "He was shocked to see her. And I did see his ship, it's in shambles. But the thruster-igniter might work for us. He just asked if we could get him and his surviving crew to the nearest Corrah-friendly planet."

"Why did you agree to that when we have Natania?" Senna asked.

"Because she needs help," Ryver said sharply. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but Natania needs help and we need help with parts. We're going to have to take a few risks."