Copyright 2024 – Daemon D. Hart
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The Human Bearer
"How's grandpa?" Riordan asked as they walked out of Ferix's med bay. Kyle's presence, by his other side, was reassuring. To anyone looking, they offered a perfectly normal picture: a human bearer, his owner's Xenolite, and a bot. But they were anything save normal if the definition of that word was `average'. Junior was destined for great things and had already proved his mettle in the middle of the latest attack, while Kyle was a heavily weaponized version of his earlier self, besides his propensities for being a lot more than a bot. That might have happened with Xana's and Riordan's intervention in his programming, but nonetheless, he had gone too often beyond the call of duty to be called anything less than a friend.
"He wanted to know why you were so worried, dada," Junior replied. He looked up with his big dark eyes. Riordan saw so much of himself in him that his heart suffered a small jolt at times when looking at his son like that.
"And? What did you tell him?"
"I asked him if he's going to be the Royal Chancellor, and he said `yes'. So you don't have to worry," Junior said, overly conscious of delivering the message exactly the way he had gotten it from the older Xeno. He must have paid a lot of attention during his parents' conversations, and Riordan couldn't hold that against him.
"I believe that does help," he confirmed. "Would you like to see Dario again?"
"Yes," Junior confirmed and beamed at him. "And we can both have ice cream."
"Maybe later," Riordan said with a smile.
They were barely at the end of the corridor on which Cario's quarters were that they were met with a strange display. There were many Xenos there, so many that Riordan couldn't help feeling apprehensive. They communicated between them and he was aware of it. With Ferix's help, just today, he had received another lesson in listening in to this sort of thing, and it was the best way to practice. Instead of asking Junior about it, he focused on trying to get inside on his own.
He frowned as it seemed like his efforts were in vain. It wasn't hard to get into that flux of exchanged ideas, but rather difficult to grasp its sense. It felt like trying to gather water in his palms with the intention of filling a bucket. A tedious and incomplete process.
With one deep breath, he focused again the way Ferix had described to him.
In our midst? We can't have such a thing here.
The greater good...
His Royal Chancellor wouldn't approve of such...
Do you see him anywhere near? It's on us...
Riordan winced and grimaced as his abilities seemed too fresh to deliver a proper result. He got the gist of it, yes, but otherwise, it was quite frustrating to follow the logic of what they were saying. Could it be that they talked about Dario and his abilities as an empath? The crowd didn't appear to be in any murderous state of mind, but a certain degree of belligerence made the Xenos gathered there seem low-key threatening.
Junior had to understand a lot more because he became agitated, pulling at his hand without saying a word.
"Kyle," Riordan whispered, "what do you think it's happening here?"
His faithful friend didn't get a chance to reply because the doors to Cario's quarters opened and Drato appeared, a head taller than everyone else. They did grow bigger with age, Riordan pondered for a moment. He squeezed Junior's hand so that his little one didn't end up slipping away if the situation got hairy.
"Counselor," one of the Xenos asked in a loud voice, "you must offer a proper response."
"And what response is that?" Drato asked in a calm measured voice.
"Since you're guarding your thoughts so closely, you force us to use speech," another Xeno accused. "Your son. Is it true? Is he an empath?"
Riordan felt his legs turning rigid. He felt Kyle moving to stand between him and the crowd. Junior pressed himself against his leg, but he didn't seem frightened, only distressed.
"No, that is not true," Drato replied the same way as before. "Such rumors are baseless."
"Then let us observe the Xenolite," a third one proposed. "We will decide for ourselves."
Drato hissed and pushed himself up on his tail, hovering over the crowd. "I will not hand over my son for you to scare him."
"Xenolites know no fear," a Xeno from the back shouted. "You're putting all of us at risk."
"My son is different, but he is no threat," Drato said, each word leaving his mouth a swinging hammer.
Someone must have spread that rumor. But who? Riordan knew that Cario wouldn't entrust his secret with just anyone, and, at the same time, he had felt like such a secret would be difficult to keep because of the common consciousness all the Xenos shared. Cario would protect his son, and Drato appeared keen on doing the same. However, who was to say that others hadn't noticed that little Dario was so different from the other Xenolites? Some must have put two and two together. Maybe the poor kid had given himself away unwittingly. There were so many ways in which the other Xenos could have guessed the truth.
"Haven't we been through enough?" another Xeno asked. "We have survived so many trials and now, to think that we would be destroyed from within--"
"My son," Drato said, his voice rising, "is not a threat. And His Royal Chancellor made it clear that Xenolites that are different than the rest, regardless of how such differences manifest, are not to be mistreated."
"His Royal Chancellor is not here," the first Xeno pointed out. "Out of the way, Counselor. We must see the Xenolite."
"Then you will have to go through me if that's your decision."
Marn had followed on his promise. However, the moment he had succumbed to his brumation state, it appeared that the others were quick to discard his wisdom and his orders. Riordan looked at Junior who was pulling at his hand hard. His little face was scrunched up in a deep frown, and his nostrils were flaring.
"If that's what you want, Counselor."
The attack was swift and deadly. Riordan felt his blood curdling in his veins as his eyes saw nothing but how the blood gushed out of Drato's abdomen, a large shard of glass sticking through his back.
"Kyle!" he shouted in alarm.
The bot had no need for direct orders. "Masks, Master Rio," he said as a drawer on his side opened, hitting Riordan in the hip.
Riordan grabbed several of them, blindly and put one on Junior's head, as his fingers worked quickly at tying his. The fog erupting from the smoke grenade or whatever that was that Kyle had just thrown at the crowd of Xenos exploded in his face.
He hurried over the falling bodies. Supposedly, the gas wouldn't kill them and Kyle knew his business.
"Drato," he mumbled through the mask.
"I'll carry him out of harm's way. He'll heal," Kyle said promptly. "Secure Cario Hamen and Dario Menor, Master Rio. Have them wear masks."
He didn't have to be told twice. The doors opened in front of him, and he rushed in, two masks in his hand.
He was barely inside when he stopped dead in his tracks. Cario was at the end of the room, in a corner, kneeling on the floor, with Dario pressed against his chest. Nothing wrong with that, given the lynching crowd outside the door.
What was, but wrong wasn't the correct word to use, what was incredible, astonishing, and making Riordan's mind reel was how Dario looked.
He was just like a human child.
"Dario has legs, dada," Junior stated the obvious in an excited voice, muffled by the gas mask.
"Let's get them out of here," Riordan said. "Quick."
He knelt in front of Cario, who appeared to be in shock.
"It's me," Riordan assured him and helped the mask over his head with rapid moves. The fog hadn't crawled after them much, but once they were out in the hallway, they needed to make a run for it.
"Riordan," Cario whispered, his eyes in tears and unfocused.
"Don't say anything. We'll talk later. Let's go now. We must take you to safety."
Riordan had to admit that he didn't know what safety meant given the overall sentiment portrayed by the crowd of Xenos outside, but he'd figure out something. First things first, he had to get them both out and then they'd see. Marn really had bad timing, he thought, frustrated and angered. But His Excellency must have pushed himself to his limit as things stood. No point in crying over spilled milk, anyway.
He grabbed Cario and hiked him up by one arm. Junior had Dario wrapped in his arms, and it seemed so strange to have a kid carrying another kid, but this was his son, stronger than most, and the other Xenolite seemed as light as a feather while being carried away.
Once out of the room, Riordan searched for Kyle with his eyes, although the fog was still thick, and the Xenos unmoving on the floor. With a bit of luck, they'd have no idea who had attacked them, but those were worries for another time.
"Master Rio, this way."
"Good to hear you, Kyle."
They had to be down several floors, and it took Riordan a bit of time to realize where they were. "The prison?" he asked the bot.
"Since they're not holding anyone in here anymore, the cells are sealed. But I know how to open one," Kyle offered calmly. "Also, no one comes here, unless they are searching for answers, the way we were when you wanted to learn about Florent Kasido, Master Rio."
"But, for them," he pointed at Cario and his son, "how will they feel here?"
Cario had taken Dario from Junior's arms at one point, after they had become able to breathe freely again, without a mask.
"Don't worry about our comfort, Riordan," Cario said quickly. "Any place safe for my son is the best we could use right now." He was still shaken, but he wasn't crying anymore. "Drato, what happened to him?" he asked, his voice low and pained.
"He will heal well," Kyle replied. "It would take more than such a wound for him to be truly hurt. The smoke I used incapacitates Xenos only temporary."
Cario nodded, as they hurried down the corridor. They were silent, determined to reach safety.
The sound that suddenly emerged to accompany their rushed steps made Riordan stop. He didn't even recognize it at first, because it seemed so alien in that environment.
It was Dario, crying. Crying the same way a child would cry, a wail so anguished, born from not understanding the world around and the inability to protect himself.
"Oh, baby," Riordan said tenderly and caressed the blond head.
"What is that?" Junior asked, curious to see for himself.
"Dario is just scared, hon," Riordan told him and took his hand. "Let's not scare him more."
"Why do you have legs?" Junior asked in an intimate voice as he took hold of one of Dario's small feet.
Dario only hid his face in his mommy's chest. Riordan touched lightly Junior's shoulder to warn him that it was for the best to let his little friend be at the moment. Curiosity was too strong, however, and Junior paid no heed to his silent hint.
"You have pretty legs," he said and wrapped both hands around Dario's left ankle.
"Junior," Riordan said softly, "Dario is scared. Let's get him and his mommy to a proper room, and later, we will come back to talk to them. What do you say?"
"Why don't I have legs?" Junior tipped his head back and stared at him.
"I have no idea, honey bunny," Riordan said with affection. He ruffled Junior's hair as they continued to walk down the corridor, one of the boy's hand still latched at Dario's tiny ankle. "But it seems to me that you were on to something with that dream of yours."
Kyle hovered protectively above the two kids, who were now sleeping, locked in an embrace, while Riordan pulled Cario to the side so that they could talk about the most urgent things.
"I will return here to check on you as often as I can without drawing suspicions," he promised. "Kyle might be able to sneak in even more often since he looks like all the other bots on the ship. I don't have the faintest idea how many security cameras and what else they have installed here, on this level, but Kyle is working on fiddling with them as we speak. If anyone looks, they'll be served with the same images of empty hallways and rooms."
Cario nodded. He seemed a lot calmer than earlier and more like himself. Even someone who knew how to navigate the treacherous waters of political quagmire had to be shaken after the recent events.
"Now tell me anything you might find important that could help me help you. And not just you. Your boy and your husband, too."
For a moment, Cario pinched the bridge of his nose to focus himself. "It happened overnight. I woke up with Dario in my arms, like usual. After the attack on the ship, he refused to sleep in the water tank. I'm afraid he experienced visions beyond his comprehension. Drato tried to convince him otherwise, the Xeno way, of course, but Dario became so frightened that I had to intervene. And this morning, when I looked at him, I realized that he... transformed into a human child."
"Junior has dreams of getting legs. Maybe this is a normal stage of evolution. Even with their big brains, they don't appear to understand how much influence we have on their species. As for the rest of us, even less."
"I have no idea how others found out," Cario whispered. "I like to think that I'm quite adept of guarding my thoughts of any intervention from the outside, but I had to communicate with Drato. I was careful not to mention the reason or even give the slightest hint why I wanted him back home."
"How did he react when he saw Dario? More important, how did Dario take it?"
"The boy got scared," Cario replied. "He kept crying that his tail was gone. His distress... that must have been felt by the others. I wonder how we will be able to keep our presence here a secret. I cannot convince or force him not to be scared."
"I have a feeling that those Xenos gathered outside your door had no idea about Dario becoming what he is now. They were only concerned that he's an empath. And as much as they like to brag that they don't get scared, it felt to me like they were acting out of fear."
"They call it reason," Cario said with a tired scoff. "They can feel my little Dario," he added and his voice broke. "If anything happens to him, I don't know what to do."
"Don't talk like that. We have plenty of things to put in order, plans to make. You will be fine. Dario, too."
"And Drato? How can anyone protect a Xeno like him, when his brethren are against him?"
"I understand how you must feel. I'll get in touch with Xana, but not while we're here so that we don't give something away by accident. He will be able to protect your husband. I don't suppose that they can go against one of theirs as they see fit."
"If only His Royal Chancellor were here," Cario said softly. "The news of his brumation hit us hard. Drato was worried from the moment he heard of it."
"My family appeared a lot more chill about it," Riordan said. "Supposedly, my father-in-law should become the big bad alien in charge."
"But he's not in a state to do much either, isn't it?"
"He's not, but Xana is. I am. Kyle too. You have people you can count on."
A soft hiss made Riordan's ears perk up.
"Did you hear that?" he asked Cario.
"No, what did you hear?"
Parent.
Riordan shuddered as that sound seemed to go right through him, like a ghost.
"Riordan?" Cario asked tentatively, but his voice seemed to come from somewhere far away.
We protect.
"Can you really?" Riordan asked out loud.
Cario looked over his shoulder with panicked eyes. "Who are you talking to, Riordan?"
Riordan sighed, as his entire body began getting warmer. It was a pleasant sensation, originating in the middle of his chest and spreading throughout his entire body, down to his toes and up the crown of his head.
When he looked at Cario again, he felt more assured than ever. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I think we have even more allies than we thought before. I can leave Kyle with you for a while if you want."
Cario shook his head. "No, that's alright. He'll be more use to you up there. Just in case anyone saw you before your bot put them temporarily to sleep. You need protection, too."
"It seems like I have plenty of that." He hugged Cario briefly. "I will come back with news of your husband, and basic things you'll need."
"Florent Kasido spent a lot of time in here. We'll manage," Cario said, encouraged as he seemed by Riordan's calmness.
"Take care of yourself and the boy. We'll get out of this," Riordan promised.
Xana welcomed him into his arms and gestured for Kyle to guard the door. Riordan was quick to explain everything to him in a soft whisper.
He barely got everything out when the doors opened abruptly. Riordan stared at the guards walking in, followed by Kanto in his commander uniform.
"What the--" Riordan whispered, not knowing whether to feel panicked or not.
But Kanto paid him no mind, his attention trained on Xana. He bowed his head. "I am waiting for your direct orders, Your Excellency."
tbc
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