Sang the Stray (Completed)

43. On the Flip-Side

Second Squad and I were all green-lighted, and I tried to steel myself for the fall-out.  Tsee Toma turned to me as we waited, that confidence wilting when I saw his face.

"For future reference," he said, his voice not angry, but his mouth a flat line as he continued, "If anything approaches while in the Ena, no matter what it looks like, warn someone immediately.  We can't judge by appearances out there."  My gaze dropped, but he cleared his throat to regain my attention.  Then he gave me a worn smile.  "You made a big difference to that space's difficulty.  If it wasn't for the population increase, we would have easily set a record completion pace."

Marc gave a comforting pat on my shoulder and said, "There are Ionoth which can disguise their shape, and Ionoth with appearances entirely innocuous and intentions which are not.  The problem with that one was that we did not detect it.  There are very few things that can get anywhere near as close as that to anyone with Combat Sight without notice, threat or not.  We were very much taken by surprise."

"Don't worry, Sang.  Everything will be alright," Corey added, flashing a goofy smile.  I felt better then, more confident to face North's wrath.  I stood straighter, squaring my shoulders when the doorway opened.

I was right.  He must have read the report already and was livid, red-faced with arms crossed over his chest. I stepped forward, clinging to my invisible armor and then noticed Victor leaning back against the wall, also wearing a subdued expression.  He must have joined North at some point while I was with Second Squad. 

He came forward with a beseeching hand extended to me.  "Princess, you..."

North cut him off, even putting an arm out to block Victor from coming closer.  "No, I want to hear from her why she with absolute idiocy reached out to touch a Muina-forsaken Ionoth!"  His voice rising with each subsequent word.

"North, you can't speak like that to her," Victor said, his baritone turning low and hard. 

"Fuck off, I'm talking to her," yelled North.

I decided to just walk away for now, not wanting to deal with conflict between me and the guys, let alone amongst themselves. 

"Sang, come back here," North commanded.  I continued on, not allowing myself to cower on my knees as I would have around my step-mother during one of her tirades.

"North, don't..." I heard Victor call out a warning as hands gripped my arms to stop me.  I am not sure why or how, but a defensive move Nathan had taught me in our training just clicked into place and suddenly North was laying at my feet, eyes wide and coughing to regain his breath.

"Shit!" I heard Victor uncharacteristically curse from behind me. 

I stared down at North a little dumbfounded.  He recovered somewhat and sat up.  "Sang, don't walk away from me," he still was able to bark.

"I no want talk, done," I shot back, my grammar deteriorating with stress. Then I turned on my heel and bypassed a still-stunned Victor.

"Vic, don't let her leave," North's strangled voice entreated, but I kept walking.

***later****

Tsee Blackbourne found me outside, up on the MedBay roof.  Not a difficult feat considering the GPS quality of the Interface.  I was shocked none of them had sought me out before this.  It had taken me all of five den in my escape to realize I had nowhere of my own to run to.  That had been sobering. 

"I have a few reports to discuss with you," Tsee Blackbourne said calmly, his voice as even and smooth as ever as he sat down next to me. 

Great.  Here we go.

"Tsur Buble passed on a notice from human resources that you were still receiving the stipend for displaced persons," he said.

I blinked and finally glanced up at him.  That was out of the blue. "Huh?" I responded.

He kept his gaze on the waters below us and continued, "Your status has since been updated.  Due to the significant contribution your ability provides you'll be given the designation of Tsen, and appropriate salary."

Wow. That was the same as Kota and North.  I would have a three-stripe chevron and outrank most Setari.

"So, Tsen Sorenson..." he started to say.

"Miss," I softly cut him off.  His eyes lifted to meet mine. "I prefer Miss Sorenson."

His grey-eyes softened.  "Alright.  Miss Sorenson, I also received Tsee Toma's report on Maze Rotation.  He commented positively on how your enhancement ability helped them to complete the mission."

He didn't say anything else, so I asked, "That all?"

He looked back out towards Unara in the distance.  "I trust you will exercise more caution in the future.  You have a good sense of discernment, normally." The millimeter lift to his lips further softened the chastisement.

"How is North?" I finally asked.

"Ah, well that brings me to the third report I received from a frantic tanz operator.  Seems his ship's propulsion engine is in pieces.  When North has free time, he helps down in Engineering and Maintenance repairing KOTIS space transports." I blinked in surprise at his use of North's first name.  Tsee Blackbourne continued,  "I believe he went on a bit of a rampage when you said you wouldn't talk to him."

"If he is angry, then shouldn't I wait until he calms down before talking to him?" I wondered aloud.

He turned back to me again.  "No, just listen to his perspective, loud though it might be. Then share your side, even if you have to argue back a bit loudly.  North yells because he cares.  If he didn't he wouldn't talk to you.  I would greatly appreciate your addressing him before he dismantles any other ships.  Nathan's father is a deep-space pilot and we don't want to delay his departure."

"Oh, because he's family," I reasoned aloud.

"Not exactly," he answered cryptically.  "The boys might not have shared much of their pasts outside of KOTIS, but our squad shares the commonality of tragically broken families.  Shortly after you were first assigned to us, it was clear that you were just as lonely and desperate as we all have been at some point."

I pressed my finger to my lip.  I had known they had a different sort of childhood, being challenged at every turn by training as Setari.  I hadn't really thought about their family life outside of the separation to become Kalrani.  According to Tsee Blackbourne there was more to their stories.

"The boys just weren't quite prepared for how they would change with you on the squad.  We haven't had girl member before.  I don't think I was prepared," he said.  "You should know, KOTIS makes assignments based on various factors, but ultimately you still have a choice.  I hope you'll choose to stay with our squad.  You'll have missions with other squads, but we want you fighting the rest of life's battles by our sides."

"I do," I replied earnestly.  "I want to be with Fourth Squad."

"Good," he nodded, "then let's get you down to Engineering and Maintenance so we can start pulling this squad, this family back together."