«...no one was left alive.»
Losker fidgeted in his seat, feeling small beside all these people who outranked him. Around him sat leaders of the army, the Fre, and the Galida Freix himself. They looked at him from the corners of their eyes with a bit of curiosity. Some threw repulsion into the mix. He was an anthropologist, barely an adult, and hardly qualified to even be in this room.
General Yoeala continued speaking about the village that was attacked. «Nothing seems to have been stolen. They only took captives. Here» —he pointed to a picture onscreen— «you can see tracks leading into the forest. Some of my men suited up with portable Goroeas, but the tracks were lost in a stream.»
«Do we know why they took these people?» the Freix asked.
«Kle. We do not.» The General sat.
«Doctor Huloe, are you sure our human prisoners have no idea as to what their plan is?» Freix Bril inquired.
Losker nodded. «Kle. I am sure.»
The Freix leaned back in his seat and rubbed his chin. «Then...I'm afraid the only thing we can do is pour all non-essential personnel of the Special Task Force into looking for the captives. Yeheo, please get back to STF immediately and do so.»
The CEO of the Force stood, bowed his head to the Freix, and hurried from the room. Yeheo did not mess around when something needed to get done.
«Doctor, I want you to personally monitor the humans at all times. Understood?». Freix Bril said.
«Kle. Yes, sir.»
«General Yoeala, prep the military for any threat. They must be waiting in anticipation, or else we may not have the opportunity to catch the humans when they again surface. Toulor, we must schedule a meeting with the Neda Freix and Fre. They may help us stop the humans.» The Freix continued around the room until everyone had a job. Then, he adjourned the meeting, stood, and briskly left the room.
Losker gathered up his lightweight tablet and made his way to the door. An obscure person of importance shoved him a bit roughly out of the way, but he was otherwise ignored as he made his way to his dingy rover.
At this late hour, the subtunnels were nearly empty. Losker basked in the quiet, but before long was looking for parking in the storage facility where humans were held.
«Hurry up, long-ears!» a Galida filled with road rage yelled hind him.
Losker grimaced. He thought he was coasting through the lot at a perfectly acceptable pace. As for the jab at his Neda-esque ears, he ignored it. He wished people would come up with clever insults, but the only things people could think of were long-ears, short-fingers, flimsy-flippers, flat-nose, and freak. And every once in a while he was gifted with "abomination."
He ignored the driver behind him as he finally found a parking spot, thinking that maybe he should invest in tinted windows.
At least Ro was happy to see him. Or, at least that's what he assumed when he entered the conference room and she barreled into him, giving him a human-strength hug. His stomach did flip flops as he clumsily (goddamnit, couldn't he just act natural?) put his arms around her.
She sniffled sadly and Losker froze. Maybe she wasn't happy.
"What is wrong?"
"I don't think I want to be human anymore," she muttered into his lightweight jacket, face completely buried.
"What makes you say that?" he asked and tried to rub her back soothingly. He couldn't tell if he was doing it right.
Ro sighed and Losker felt her warm breath seep onto his skin. She replied without letting go, "I was watching television and I saw what they did and I feel so guilty—" abruptly, Ro stopped speaking and squeezed him a bit tighter. Losker hoped his torso would be the same shape at the end of this hug.
"You should not. There was nothing you could have done to make this happen any differently. You did not know what they were planning."
Ro stiffened even more. Losker panicked. What was wrong? Oh no, he said something wrong didn't he? Crap. He was always messing up. He couldn't even talk to the girl he loved. Maybe his accent made something he said would weird. So embarrassing.
"I just.... I feel like I should have done something."
"What could you have done?" Losker asked quietly. He pried her off him so he could look at her. "Nothing is your fault."
After a second, Ro smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks. Now, our previous embracement was shit. I want some bear hug action."
Losker frowned. "In what way would hugging you as if I were a bear comfort you? Bears, as I know from my limited knowledge of Earth zoology, do not typically hug humans."
Ro snorted. "I mean, give me a big, warm hug. It's how you'd imagine a friendly bear would greet you."
"I will try, though my strength will not be equal to yours, thus possibly causing a slightly less-satisfactory 'bear hug.'"
"Okay." Ro leaned back in and wrapped her arms around him, gentler than before, but still tight. Losker put an arm around her shoulders and one around her waist. "Now you lean in and snuggle," Ro directed, face once again smushed into his jacket. Slowly, Losker leaned his head down and put it on her shoulder. Once he became used to the hug, it was actually very comfortable and comforting.
For the first time since he entered the room, he looked at Laura, who was watching them with an inexplicably smug expression on her face. She glanced away and down at Sonya when she caught his eye, but the look stayed.
After a few minutes (AKA, all too soon) Ro let her hands drop to her sides and moved away from Losker. He was upset that she let him go. He liked feeling her heart beat against his chest—a deep, slow, powerful human heartbeat, but bleeding all things Roseanne. He wondered what the quick, light pulse of a Lii heart was like to a human, because his was beating so light at the moment that he could barely feel it. Such a thing was equivalent to the heavy thud a human feels after encountering someone or something that made them nervous.
"Thanks, Los," Ro said.
His heart fluttered faster and lighter than the wings of a hummingbird. "And thank you, Ro."
"No, really. I needed that."
"As did I," he replied.
She formed a smile that looked more than a grimace. "Rough day too, then?"
Losker copied her look and nodded.
"That sucks."
"I must agree."
"You wanna talk about it?"
"That is very kind of you, Ro, but I will be able to handle it. After all, it was only the usual things."
Ro frowned. "What usual things?"
Hurriedly, Losker waved away the question. "Have you eaten lunch yet?" Laura's stomach gurgled louder than he would have thought possible. He laughed. "Very well, I will tell the guards."
