He must have felt her gaze because he looked down at her and arched a brow.
“You look very pleased with yourself.”
He grinned. “I am.”
She winked playfully. “I am, too.” Glancing around, she lowered her voice. “Chasa is my new favorite word. Any other titillating Segonian terms you’d like to teach me? Or demonstrate?”
Leaning down, he whispered in her ear. “I’ll make a list.”
“Srul yes, you will.”
He laughed.
Heads turned as they entered the cafeteria. Soldiers and crewmen occupied almost every chair, enjoying first meal before they began their shifts.
Eliana waved. “Hi, guys!”
“Eliana!” they called cheerfully, delighting her as always.
Still smiling, Dagon shook his head.
No one waited in line at the counter, thanks to Dagon and Eliana’s tardy entry.
“Morning, Kusgan,” she trilled when the elder Segonian stepped up to the counter.
Kusgan greeted her with a wide smile. “And how are you today, ni’má?”
“Hungry,” she declared. “What do you have for me? Something spicy, I hope?”
“Indeed.” When Kusgan turned his attention to Dagon, his eyes sparkled with amusement as though he had guessed just how and with whom she had worked up an appetite. “And for you, Commander?”
“The usual.”
His lips twitched. “A larger portion perhaps?”
Dagon laughed. “I would appreciate that, yes.”
Heat crept up her neck to her cheeks. As Kusgan turned away and headed into the kitchen, she leaned closer to Dagon and whispered, “Am I blushing? Because I feel like he’s guessed why I’m so hungry and you’re all smiles this morning.”
He regarded her cheeks with a grin. “Yes, you’re blushing.”
Groaning, she brought her hands up to cover her face. “Curse my pale skin,” she grumbled. “It won’t let me hide anything.”
“Would it make you feel better if I blushed?”
She peeked up at him through her fingers. And as she watched, his cheeks flushed a vivid pink, demonstrating anew his ability to change his coloring at will.
Laughing in delight, she dropped her hands. “Yes!” Then she poked him in the chest as the heat in her own cheeks faded. “I dare you to walk around like that all day.”
Grinning, he abandoned the pink camouflage and let his face return to its natural color. “If I did, the men would get no work done because they’d all be too busy wondering what the srul you did in bed that left me blushing for hours afterward.”
Eyes widening, she laughed. “You’re right. Don’t do it.”
Kusgan returned, proffering two trays heaped with food.
Eliana drew in a deep breath as she took hers. “Ooooh. That smells delicious. And spicy. What is it?”
“Legreraa.”
Dagon shook his head as he took the other tray. “We’ll be needing another pitcher of naga juice.”
“Yes, Commander.” Kusgan fetched two glasses and the pitcher.
Eliana followed Dagon as he wended through the crowded tables, the two of them responding to countless greetings along the way.
Adaos waited at the opposite end of the mess hall, just outside the entrance to a private dining room she’d never noticed before. Nodding to them both, he stepped aside while they entered, then joined them and closed the door.
The three of them settled at a long, gleaming table carved from a fascinating wood that was almost white with black grain and burls that reminded her of a zebra’s stripes.
Dagon motioned to the data pad that rested beside Adaos’s tray. “You said you have the results of Ziv’ri’s med scans?”
“I do.” Adaos pushed his half-eaten meal aside and activated his tablet.
Eliana’s stomach growled. When Adaos sent her a look of amusement, she narrowed her eyes. “Don’t say it.”
The chief medical officer wisely remained silent as she dug into her meal.
Dagon did the same when his stomach rumbled even louder.
Shaking his head, Adaos tapped the tablet’s screen several times. Then a three-dimensional image of Ziv’ri rose up and hovered above the tablet. The Purveli was bare save for a strip of white that circled his hips and concealed his groin.
Eliana motioned to the strip, her eyes already starting to water from the scrumptious legreraa. “Is that for me?”
“No,” Adaos mumbled, “it’s for me.” He consumed a quick bite from his tray. “I have no interest in staring at another man’s insisas while I eat.”
Laughing, she reached for the naga juice.
When Adaos drew his finger across the tablet’s surface, the Purveli’s image became translucent, allowing them to see his organs, muscles, and the bones beneath. Multiple white patches littered the image as though someone had plucked some pebbles and blades of grass and tossed them into it.
Eliana pointed her fork-like utensil at the hologram. “What are those white things?”
“Scars,” Adaos said.
She frowned. They marred every organ and many of Ziv’ri’s muscles and bones. And the pattern of scarring suggested it had not resulted from injury or battle.
Adaos pointed to several white marks on one of the Purveli’s arms, then in his hand. “These indicate his bones were broken. This one and these in his fingers were broken more than once.”
Dagon’s chewing slowed as he stared.
Eliana set down her glass. “What are the black marks?” There were a lot of those, too.
Adaos’s expression grew grimmer. “Places where tissue has been removed.”
“Drek,” Dagon murmured. “He spoke the truth. The Gathendiens tortured him.”
“Yes.”
Eliana nodded toward the hologram. “His lungs and rib cage area are different, but other than that his organs and systems look very similar to that of Earthlings.” She pointed to a larger dark splotch. “What happened there? That’s where one of our kidneys would be. Did they remove his or did he only have one to begin with?”
“They removed one of his.”
Her appetite shriveling, she sat back and abandoned her meal. “Why would they do that?”
Adaos consulted his tablet. “Based on the immune response the scans showed and the information Ziv’ri gave me, I assume they wished to see if one of the viruses they injected him with had damaged the organ.”
Dagon’s face darkened with anger. “Then they’re creating a bioweapon to unleash on Purvel.”
Just as they had done on Lasara and on Earth.
“Yes.” Adaos met his eyes. “With your permission, I will begin growing him a replacement.”
“Do it.”
Dumbfounded, Eliana looked back and forth between them. “You can do that? If one of your organs is damaged or fails, you can just grow a new one?”
“Yes,” both answered.
She thought of all the men, women, and children back home who were on waiting lists for organ transplants and wished Earth had such technology.
Grim silence encapsulated them as they stared at the hologram.
After a long moment, Eliana spoke. “If they’re searching for a virus that will kill his people, why did they do so much damage to his wrists and hands?”