Kia's Biehshah Gift

Chapter 28 Rescue To Exile

Ir frowned at J~oie. "My friend, Pirad does not share much of his work with us. Most of our recent interactions consist of 'You should not think of that!'"

I laughed. But Ir was serious.

"Then, how shall we know if he needs help?" His golden eyes filled.

"I think we will know through people with Cubes. Kia, do you feel him?"

For a moment, I tried. Shook my head. "Since we came here, I can't. Not him, or Kirnonos, or Taredias. One of 'em's usually listening to me to warn me not to think, because I asked them to do that." Now that I was listening for them, I heard everyone else in the room, like reflections in a big pond. Seeing myself through their eyes startled me. My silver hair was the exact same shade as Ir's, but both of us had a slight glow. My eyes weren't just blue, but a very bright blue that also glowed. Even my deep pink skin did!

Seems like I'd notice that. Maybe I just can't handle bein' an alien.

Or hearin' all these people's stray thoughts. The ones who didn't get relatives back. Some were adamant their people had to be alive. Others were out in the garden by themselves crying because they believed they died.

I felt terrible! "Ir, what can we do for our people?"

Before he could answer, Dromie popped in! "My people found your missing people!"

"Great! Where are they?"

He described Rentappenen's process for shipping people in stasis. His people were locating ships and porting them to his exile planet deep underground. It isn't in Alb?

J~oie listened carefully. "Can you ne bring them to Alb?"

"Our people are exiled, so we can't."

A man came over. "Is my wife still alive?"

Dromie spread his arms out wide. "They are in stasis. Your wife is on my planet."

"Bring her here!"

"I can't! My people are exiled—"

"You're here! I think you're lying. You didn't find any of them!"

J~oie held his hands up. "Please, Friends, be calm. Perhaps when the War ends—"

"All you people talk about a war, but we haven't seen any evidence of it! I—" His face got a shocked expression. One of his Collective showed him fighting on a world not far from Earth, but the other direction from Alb.

"My friend, this is ne like fighting as you know it, where two countries have a dispute and use weapons in a small area. This war involves all of a world, with troops from many, for short periods. Ne can fight but on one world then another. Intergalactic war is ne like war between star systems, which is the kind of war our level knows. War, and shortages required, are local.

"Areon's government restricted trade and they had many shortages. Our traders had ne many, because they found markets and traveled far to supply us. This happened because Zheien value helping above profit. Other species wish profit, such as Elshars and Areonians, and they had much more hardships than we."

The man frowned at him. "Yeah, and you're royalty! Common people have to work for what they get!"

J~oie showed him telepathically a world with a yellow sky and yellow desert. Kids had to be wrapped up like mummies so the dirt didn't touch them. People lived in stone cubes with one doorway and one square window, covered with a tarp. A dust storm came and people had to stay inside. Dust still got in their houses so they all had to wrap up.