Ethan clasped his gun ever-tighter as the Lii hesitantly shuffled toward him.
"Grej somei swe malsao qeoce. Re aljro Leao!" she said, softly pleading with him. "Ulol gro krayoe ri naole."
He readied himself to have to forcefully push the woman away from the only exit of the building.
"Ulol!" she cried. "Gine teliao readoloz."
Ethan hesitated. She looked very stressed out about something (besides being kidnapped and dragged to an abandoned building).
"There a problem here?" RJ asked, strolling by and dragging Kledao in tow.
"I'm not sure," Ethan replied. "I think she wants something."
"Kledao, tell us what she wants," RJ commanded.
Kledao walked toward the woman and gently spoke to her. "Grej somei swe malsao qeoce!" she sobbed. "Re aljro ye Leao."
"She have sick...um...." Kledao searched for a word. "Person she make child with...."
"Husband?" Ethan offered.
"She have sick husband and want Leao to him."
RJ rolled his eyes. "Before we know it, they'll all be feigning sickness. Kledao, tell her to get back to work setting up the equipment."
"What is word equipment?"
"The things we've been making them put together!" RJ pointed harshly to the jumble of Lii setting up tables for the DNA extraction equipment, the equipment itself, the chambers in which the DNA would be stored....
"Liauo deolao liest locser ye frealaeo."
She pleaded some more and Kledao continued answering. The woman suddenly snapped at him and said something he evidently wasn't expecting because his eyes widened to the size of saucers and his mouth pressed into a thin line. The things on Kledao's head—teayi—began to glow reddish at the tips. Ethan readied himself for a fight. Instead, Kledao slowly turned around and marched back tot RJ.
"She no go. Must make her."
"We can do that," RJ said happily. "Kledao, I may just have to let you off your literal leash if you keep behaving this well."
Ethan caught a bit of smugness in the alien's eyes.
"As for you, Ethan," RJ said, "you were fucking useless. Next time, you point that gun at her and make her go away yourself."
"How about I handle things my way and you handle them yours?" he snapped.
"At-it-ude." RJ wiggled his finger. "Not a good thing to use on a leader."
"How about I shoot you in your goddamn foot? Don't put it past me, I will," Ethan said through clenched teeth.
RJ stared at him for a long while, sizing him up. Then, he smirked, turned, and left, dragging Kledao's "leash" in one hand, and the woman by the arm in the other.
A while longer passed before it was time for door duty to change hands.
"Hey," Kenna said. "Our turn." She gestured to Brook.
"Aren't you supposed to have a partner?" Brook asked him.
Ethan snorted. "Yes. His name is Gregory and he's a lazy arse who's sleeping under that loose floorboard."
Kenna giggled. Brook rolled her eyes.
"Am I missing something?" Ethan asked.
Kenna sobered. "No. Now go away. It's our turn for door duty."
"Yes, ma'am." He mock saluted and walked away from his post. Carefully, Ethan weaved his way through the mass of frightened aliens. Vaguely, he wondered why he didn't feel more regret for doing the things he'd been doing but shook the thought from his mind; it was not the time to become philosophical. Food was what he should be thinking about right now. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and now it was late afternoon, alien time. The Muyl had sacrificed edible plant life for their benefit, claiming it was just as good as a steak. Maybe it was right—after all, the Muyl had never lied.
"Ethan!" a voice called. Banner's voice. Ethan hoped he was coming to apologize on behalf of RJ. He turned to face him. "I need you to do me a favor."
"What would that be?"
"We're preparing to take the first village right now. Gregory is gone, and we need a replacement."
"And you want me."
"Yes."
"I can just show you where he is...."
Banner shook his head politely. "No. No need."
Ethan smirked. "You don't want him to come."
The other man winced. "It's only that this is a very delicate situation. If we make too much of a ruckus—as Gregory is prone to doing—we may very well end our fight for freedom only days after it started."
He smirked again. "Your secret is safe with me. I'll be there in a moment. Just me grab a hearty plate of Muyl Salad first."
"Of course. It really is delicious," Banner said.
"As good as steak?" Ethan joked.
"Better than steak, if steak were a vegetable. I'll see you soon." He turned and left.
Quickly, Ethan swiped food off the long table in the corner (ignoring the Muyl when it tried to make friendly conversation) and headed toward the "Armory." Basically, the Armory was the small second level that hung over the ground level of the old building. It held some of their firepower—the rest being kept in the forest and guarded by the Muyl.
"Put your gun down and grab a knife," Rina demanded as Ethan reached the last pier on the ladder.
"I thought Banner was leading this," Ethan replied but did as she said nevertheless.
"No. Someone needs to look after RJ. Since I'm a better fighter, we decided it won't be me."
"I thought you weren't supposed to mention that your oligarchy is failing," he retorted lightly.
"We're not an oligarchy. We're not even a government," she replied. "Do you have a flashlight? No? I'm not going to tell you what to grab. We've been over this in Basic Combat many times."
Ethan rolled his eyes, grabbed a utility belt (courtesy of the storage facility they robbed) and began to fill it up. Once everyone was done, Rina directed them down the ladder and out the only exit of the building. He tried to ignore the applauding of the few humans left behind, and the sobbing of the tens of thousands of Lii. The Muyl's vines creeped across the walls, reinforcing it while the humans were gone. Ethan pleasantly remembered how useful it was to have an ally that can be in more places at once. Once they destroyed a few Goroea Towers, it could make its way into the village and help.
"You all better have remembered water and food," Rina said as she marched in the front of the group. "If you pass out on this three-day trip, you will be left behind."
"That's not very smart," Martha Jane said. "Loosing one more person is the last thing we need."
"Then you will be dragged back to our building by the Muyl and be publicly shamed until we return."
|If that is how I may assist, I would be pleased to do so.|
Ethan frowned at its sudden arrival. Was there no such thing as telepathic knocking?
|Unfortunately, no| the Muyl said in a private channel.
Ethan sighed, feeling more annoyed. Sadly, he knew he would have to get used to the Muyl being in his head again, because this trip was going to take a lot of quality time and teamwork. He felt a little twinge of fear as he realized that there was a chance of death—a chance of not seeing Char again. But, it was fifteen of them plus the Muyl against 75,000 Lii.
He allowed himself a silent chuckle. What on Earth—Liivat—was he worried about?
This will be easy.
