“No.” After talking to Eliana, he had scoured the Sectas’ Earthling anatomy database and had found no reports of glowing eyes.
“My king asks that you comply with Seth’s wishes and make haste to her location. Once you recover her body, have your healer run the scans requested to confirm her death. Then prepare her body for cryo storage so the Lasarans may provide a ceremonial burial and honor her for her bravery.”
Prepare her body. “Tell King Dasheon I will do as requested.” The Lasarans had aided the Segonians several times in the past, so Dagon’s sovereign wanted to do whatever they could to help.
Tiran nodded but didn’t end the transmission. He tilted his head to one side. “You spoke with the Earth woman twice.”
“Yes.” Dagon released a long sigh. “And she deserves to be honored for her bravery. She is not what the Sectas have led us to believe all Earthlings are.”
“Then we will mourn for her as though she were one of our own.”
“As will I,” Dagon admitted.
He didn’t want to mourn for her though. He wanted to save her.
Ending the communication, he headed back to the bridge.
“Commander on the bridge,” Barus announced, again vacating Dagon’s chair.
Dagon nodded to him, then turned to his tactical officer. “Rahmik, how much speed would we gain if we diverted power from shields?”
Rahmik’s eyes widened for a moment before he consulted his screen. “Enough to shave three or four days off our journey.”
Barus frowned. “The Yona believe the Gathendiens may be lying in wait, ready to attack rescue ships.”
“And the Lasarans believe the Gathendiens attacked their vessel in an attempt to get to the Earth women.”
“To kill or to capture them?”
Dagon shook his head. “They don’t know. But if the Earth women were their true targets, the Gathendiens will search for them. And Eliana is alone and unprotected.”
“You don’t know that she even still lives,” Barus protested.
“And you don’t know that she’s dead,” Dagon snapped, anger rising. “What if she’s still alive when the Gathendiens find her? The Lasarans are our closest allies. Their sovereign has asked us to make reaching her as swiftly as we can our top priority.”
“No matter how fast we travel, she’ll die before we reach her. She’s probably already dead!”
“You can’t be sure of that! You—”
“What’s wrong?” a female voice murmured.
Dagon and Barus ceased arguing.
Quiet fell as Dagon looked at Janek.
Janek nodded, eyes wide. “It’s Eliana.”
“Dagon?” she called. “What’s wrong?” Her words came slowly, as though she were still trying to awaken from a deep sleep. “You sound pissed.”
His heart began to pound as relief flooded him. “What does pissed mean?”
“Angry.”
“It’s nothing,” he said, unwilling to tell her that some of his crew questioned the logic of diverting power from shields and reducing their own safety so they could reach a dead woman faster. “Just a minor disagreement.”
A rusty chuckle carried over the line. “Sure it is.” She started to yawn but cut it off with a now-familiar grunt of pain.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Honestly?” She sighed. “I’ve been better.”
“Your wounds?”
“The same, I think. My temperature seems to be running a little hot. I’m not sure if it’s from fever or dehydration though. I’m really thirsty.”
She must be starving, too.
“How long was I out this time?”
“Four days.”
“How much oxygen do I have left?”
A female voice announced in Lasaran, “Two hours and thirty-seven minutes of oxygen remaining.”
“Two hours and thirty-seven minutes,” he repeated in English.
“Well,” Eliana said, “I used a little less oxygen this time, but… Crap. That still isn’t going to cut it. You’re—what—three weeks away?”
“Yes. I believe if we divert power from the ship’s shields, we may be able to reduce that by three or four days.”
“So… two and a half weeks,” she murmured.
“Yes.”
“Have you come upon any survivors yet?”
“No.”
“Any casualties?”
He fought the urge to swear. He hadn’t planned to mention that.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Were they human?”
“No. All three were Lasaran.”
“Were they in escape pods?”
“No.”
A pause followed. “Do you know if Ganix was one of them?”
Dagon couldn’t remember. “One moment.” He tapped his earpiece. “Adaos?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Did any of the Lasaran casualties you identified bear the name Ganix?”
“No.”
He tapped his earpiece again. “No, Eliana. Ganix was not among those we retrieved.”
“Okay.”
Barus frowned. “Who is Ganix?”
Eliana answered before Dagon could. “I’m pretty sure he’s the one who saved my life by stuffing me into this suit. I’m really hoping he makes it. What about the others who are out searching for survivors? Have they found any?”
Dagon crossed to his seat and sank down. “They’ve found both survivors and casualties. Those in the pods have survived. Those who didn’t make it into pods lost their lives.”
“I’m guessing you would’ve told me by now if they’d found any of my friends from Earth.”
“There has been no sign of them yet.”
“Damn.”
Dagon debated whether to tell her more and decided she deserved to know all of it. “Eliana…”
“Uh-oh.”
He frowned. “What?”
“You’re about to give me bad news.”
His eyebrows rose. “How did you know?”
“I can hear it in your voice. Did they… Did your superiors tell you to call off the search? Did they tell you not to come for me?”
The dread in her voice pierced his chest. “No. They confirmed that finding you is our top priority.”
“Ah hell. They told Seth, didn’t they?”
“Yes.”
“Damn. I really wish they hadn’t done that.”
There was nothing he could do about it. “The Lasarans have asked the entire Aldebarian Alliance to make retrieving Earthlings a primary directive.”
“Why? Did Seth threaten to rain fire and brimstone on them if they didn’t?”
“No.” Dagon actually only understood part of that. “They believe your presence on the Kandovar was the reason the Gathendiens attacked it.”
“Motherfuckers! What the hell?” she blurted, fury lending her voice strength.
Eyes widened around the bridge. A few lips twitched.
Women in their culture were counseled not to use harsh language. Men were, too, but tended to get away with it more than their female counterparts.