The Alien Commander's Surrogate

Episode 69

Episode 69

Salex

Bayes had to be one of the most unwelcoming males I'd ever had the pleasure of working with. And even as we all hovered around his suite's entrance, I could almost hear the grinding of his teeth.

"If you wouldn't mind letting us inside?"

"I'd rather us wait outside," Bayes responded, his face dark, "With all respect due, Commander, Captain."

Kahyne dark brow rose, a mirror of my own. "Something you won't want us to see in your quarters, Engineer Bayes?" I stepped up closer to him, making sure he understood my tone. I had just learned of a traitor and now one of my most trusted crewman was acting incredibly suspicious. I could've been wrong to assume that he was just as interested in keeping his surrogate as Kahyne.
Bayes bristled, buta after a moment his gaze oftened and his hsoulders slowly relaxed. "I do not open my home very often. It is...difficult for me."

"I would not ask, Bayes, but the information I have to share is very delicate."

Bayes looked from me to Kahyne and back again. "Understood. Please, won't you come in?" With a quick jerk of his wrist, the door opened and we stepped into his suite. As the head of engineering Bayes was offered a larger suite, complete with a small kitchenette, bedroom, office and meeting room. When the council had arrived, he had beeen their host, and now knowing how hard it had been for him to open his doors, I was even more grateful.

"Thank you Bayes," I said passing him as I stepped inside. Kahyne followed silently, again reminding me just how easily he'd gotten the jump on me in the hallway. For such a large Trenzian, he was very stealthy.

"What is this about?" Bayes said, the whoosh of the door behind him reminding me the three of us were now alone.

I turned, facing both of my crewman. "I have reason to believe we have a trailer on board."

"A traitor?" Kahyne's head tilted, observing me carefully. "You're sure?"

I shook my head, "I'm not. But seeing all of the change we are experiencing, something about this tells me that I need to treat it with care."

"Do you know for sure about the omegas and the surrogates?" Bayess asked, his hands curling and uncurling at his side. "Maybe there are other politics at play?"

"There could be, I guess. But the other politics would be my siding with Oren on the same matter. Which means that I'm afraid we will have to assume that any traitor we have is in relationship to the omega's."
Both males looked at each other and then at me, finally nodding.

I pushed on, reciting the message again, word for word. When I'm done, Bayes was already ducking away to move through into the small kitchenette. "If the threat was to the Losskee, then there could be damages hidden in several spaces. When the council was here, they were granted complete access." That last comment ended in a grow as Byes reappeared, shrugging into his uniformed jacket. "I will need to walk the ship's primary engine rooms. Make sure everything is as it is supposed to. I can check the life support as I go."

I nodded, relieved that he knew what I was going to ask. "And I suppose you would like me to make sure of my connections among the crew?" Kahyne's voice was quick, rushed. I could feel the tension curling around the room now.

"I would," I stared past him for a moment, at the wall of things pinned to the wall behind Bayes' entryway seeing for the first time the holoscreen that was flashing through a grouping of photos. One of them, the one I stared at, was a detailed ultrasound picture of a youngling. The next, a grouping of photos of what looked like traditional Trenzian housing units.

Bayes sulk back in, his boots heavy against the metallic floors. Following my gaze, his frown deepened. "I have been looking for housing on Trenzia, near Capital city. I had not expected to gain two individuals during this assignment, only one."

This male, he was prideful, and it appeared afraid of my judgment. "I'm sure your youngling and you will be very happy with whichever residence you select."

Bayes shrugged, his eyes downcast, "Things are different now. And it's not like I wanted to leave the sky. I just thought it was what had to happen."

I tilted my head, "You would stay on board if you were allowed to bring your family?" I tried to ignore the foreign way family felt on my tongue.

"If, and that's a big if, Commander, I manage to have a family after this whole thing is over, then I would go anywhere to stay with them." Bayes' eyes snap to mine, "Home is a who, not a where."

"I agree," Kahyne said. Shifting on his feet, he pressed a hand over his chest, "I will report back in four horas. If there is discourse in the barracks, I know where to find it."

He clapped his boots together, offering me a small bow. Then turning to Bayes, he observed the other male closely, then slowly extended an arm. "We do not know each other well, but we have the same interests at heart I believe," his head jerked to the digital screen showing off the youngling Gianna, Bayes' surrogate, was carrying for him.

Bayes eyed him critically, then gripped his forearm in his own. "For their future, then."

"For their future," I echoed alongside Kahyne. "Everyone be careful. I will be on the bridge until further notice. Come directly to me with any developments. Kahyne, it would be best for you to linger and then leave after I've already gone."

The two males nodded and then with a nod, I backed out of the room. We may have a traitor on board, but I would be ahead of them this time. As soon as I was back in the main corridors, I pressed my communicator, waiting for Ghantlan to pick up. "Commander?"

"I'd like you and my mate to be on the bridge with me for the next few hours. Understood?"

"Of course, I'll bring her down in a moment."

"And Ghantlan," I said, quieting the volume of my communicator, "Move quietly."

***

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