Leila of the Rogue [Book Four]

Ally

  Standing next to Ro as the door opened, I was met with a cloud of dust and wind whipping my clothes and whistling through the gaps in my arm. Stepping down on the ground, the soil felt soft beneath my boots, and Ro started walking ahead without saying a word. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the gauntlet on my arm and opened a display to lock and secure the ship. Walking backward to make sure it was working, I even activated the craft's cloaking and watched as it quickly began to blend into the surrounding trees towering around the corner of the clearing we landed in.

  Looking at the sky, I wasn't sure I liked the dark grey and black clouds rolling overhead. Ro didn't mention a storm, so I wasn't sure if this was normal weather for this planet or if he just didn't bother telling me it could get nasty out here.

  Turning back around, I caught up to the large alien pushing through the wind that was picking up even more, throwing dust and grit into us. A pebble knocked against the corner of my Bio-helmet, sending a short, low ringing to my ears.

  Ro suddenly stopped and raised his hand in front of me while looking around. Glancing through the dirty wind myself, I saw nothing that could have caused him to go on the alert. Switching the spectrum display from color to heat, I spotted a moving mass slinking through the trees. The blob-ish shape gained better shape the closer it got, but with the lack of Ro going on the defense, I assumed whatever this was, it wasn't a threat.

  He lowered his hand, and the heat signature stepped into the clearing and called out with a familiar language the helmet translated.

  It was another Yautja.

  Switching the Bio-Helmet back to a color display, I saw a dark brown alien with a sandy-colored stomach approaching Ro. The stranger was a few inches shorter than Ro but still massive in its own right.

  "It's been a long time-" My helmet translated before giving a series of sounds that I vaguely recognized to be Ro's name.

  "It has."

  "This the human?" Their attention turned to me, having to look down before they reached for my arm. I reflexively jerked back, but Ro placed a hand on my back to keep me still. The other Yautja chuckled and wrapped a hand around my wrist to lift my arm. I could tell even with the Bio-Helmet on that he was looking at the tech hashed together.

  "I don't think out in the open is the best place to view this."

  "Right." The alien dropped my arm. "This way." He walked back into the trees, and Ro pushed me along to follow.

~

  "And this is all that's left?" The brown Yautja glanced at Ro while holding my arm again. We were in a cave now, away from the wind and dust while Ro was packing what looked to be food into some crates.

  "She blew up what was still at the facility." He replied, and the alien holding my arm laughed before turning my arm over to look at my palm.

  "You're certain the human made this? Our tech is well beyond their primitive comprehension. I will admit, how it's put together is rather crude in itself, but still more complex than any human tech."

  "The human has proven to be rather intelligent....for her species." Ro grumbled, and I rolled my eyes. "It's the only reason I've kept her alive this long."

  "Oh? Sounds like the human has been useful."

  "Repairs in tight spots, reworking wiring, duplicating cloaking devices- Surprisingly very useful to have around the ship." Ro set a crate on top of another one before going to fill a third. "She's learned our language, written at least, rather quickly, too." He then paused to look at the brown alien. "Don't be mistaken, though. The human is shockingly dull-minded as well."