Mother of Stars

Redemption - Connor

Kyrom spoke from behind me. "I hope I am not interrupting something important."

My head snapped around to him, my eyes wide with embarrassment. "Um, n-no. Well, I mean..."

I turned halfway to show him Neila still clinging onto my neck and torso. "Kinda."

Neila lifted her head off my neck, fluttering her eyes open to look at Kyrom. He eyed her curiously, then gazed at me. "I see. You have my condolences, Connor. We have arrived back at Soruvis, and we intend to return the two Saekross you saved to their home planet. You do not need to come with us, but you will need to wait anyway before—"

"I'll go." I looked at him hard. "I need something to do."

I gazed down at Neila and resumed petting the back of her neck, eliciting more of her purring. "We need something to do."

Kyrom was too late to hide his shocked expression from me, but he straightened his face and acted as if he hadn't seen anything. "Follow me, then."

We walked to the end of the hallway, where the doors to the last assembly chamber opened and revealed the two frightened velociraptors. They scrambled against the back wall, hissing their dismay at us.

<- Monsters. Don't eat us. ->

Neila pushed herself away from my chest and I let her down. She padded gently into the chamber, holding her hands up and making calming gestures. "Soros syanas sinas, solos."

<- You must calm down, please. ->

They both hesitated in their movements, tilting their heads at her.

My jaw dropped. "You can speak—"

She silenced me with a finger, keeping her attention fixed on the Saekross. She spoke again in the hissing, snake-like language. It seemed like every word began and ended with the letter s.

<- We are your friends. We have come to take you home. ->

The two looked at each other skeptically. The male stared at me as he uttered his inquisitive response.

<- Friends. Not monsters. You will take us home. ->

I backed away partially behind the frame of the doorway as to not frighten them further. Neila lowered her hands.

<- Yes. The war is over. Let us help. ->

Their panicked breathing began to slow as their eyes scanned us back and forth. Neila shuffled over to me and climbed up my side, peeking her head over my shoulder at the Saekross. "Sariyanas."

<- Friends. ->

The female took a step forward, prompting a concerned glance from the male. She gestured with her head toward us and took another step. The male followed reluctantly, keeping his distance from me.

Kyrom led us to the hangar with the Defect's ships. As we waited for the nearest one to lower its ramp, I eyed Neila's head on my shoulder. "How do you know how to speak their language? I thought it was archived."

She gazed forward emptily. "Many years ago, I got bored once, so I decided to decode and learn every single language, dead or not, in the archives."

I rolled my eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

It took some convincing to get the Saekross to board the ship, but eventually they caved. They hid in a corner of the cabin, not quite as frightened as before.