“Welcome, honored guests. I am Supreme Executive Lashra Damaal.” Her voice was as lacking in inflection as the other xana, but somehow mild and warm. “Watchers, please accept my thanks for conveying them to me safely.”
“The pleasure is ours, Prime,” Watcher Rakyra replied, unblinking but vastly more psychically reverent than he had been to Eva and the others. “Do you require our continued presence or any other service?”
“You may return to your previous assignments unburdened by further obligations at the present time. May the Light embrace you.”
The phrasing sounded a little extra to Eva, but she made a note to ramp up her own levels of flowery and polite to keep up with the local customs. After everything else, it would suck to get kicked out for being rude.
Damaal returned her attention to the crew of La Sirena Negra as the Watchers and their Attuned left the room, closing that single solitary door behind them. It felt like being in a spotlight, but instead of visual glare it was psychic.
“It is my great privilege to meet the Hero of Garilia, about whom I have heard many tales,” Damaal said. “I hope you can forgive my extreme impertinence in requesting your presence so soon after your arrival, when you have not yet been afforded the opportunity to conduct the business that brought you to our bright city.”
Eva sensed a few unspoken questions buried in all that bullshit, but despite the psychic pressure to kneel like she was talking to the Virgin herself, she looked straight into Damaal’s huge black eyes and smiled.
“I’ve heard about you as well, Prime,” Eva said, figuring the title the Watcher used was her safest bet. “All good things.”
Damaal began to walk serenely toward her, so fluidly that she seemed to be hovering. Her psychic tone lost a shade of its intensity, replacing it with gratitude that somehow managed not to suggest any indebtedness whatsoever. “I was not present for the People’s Glorious Revolution myself, but your actions will live forever in the hearts and minds of those who soared bravely in the Light that day.”
“I appreciate the kind words,” Eva said, hoping she didn’t sound too sarcastic.
“They are freely given,” Damaal replied. “May I impose on you further by extending an invitation to share in an imminent gathering of my fellows, namely a celebratory gathering to be followed by an exciting Tournament?” Her slow drift took her in front of Pink, who regarded the woman coolly, her face impassive, as if Damaal were the kind of troublesome patient who asked if there weren’t a more experienced doctor available for a second opinion.
“I think my doctor wanted me to get some more rest,” Eva said, pleased that she could be entirely sincere in saying so. Damaal was still fishing for information, trying to get Eva to give her a foothold where she could be more direct in her questioning. Eva wasn’t the best at this game, but she could hold her own. Mostly.
But how to find out anything about Josh without giving away their entire mission?
“Perhaps at the time of your next expected hunger interval,” Damaal replied, now radiating warmth along with authority. “I would be delighted beyond measure to send transport to retrieve you from your future location.”
And I’m not telling you where that is, Eva thought. Climb your own building and take a dive.
“That would be extremely generous of you,” Eva said aloud. “I hope it’s not rude to assume you can accommodate human and quennian dietary needs?”
“Not at all,” Damaal said. She glided past Vakar, whose scents were once again being suppressed. His palps twitched as her psychic emanations targeted him directly. “The expansion of our numerous facilities in Spectrum City has permitted us to obtain the latest in food-replication technology, as well as training and recruiting some of the finest chefs in the universe to extend every possible hospitality to our many honored guests.”
She continued her slow walk, but now she stopped in front of Sue, and Eva mentally slapped herself in the forehead. “If there is anything I can do to aid you in your business here, please do not hesitate to ask,” Damaal said. The wave of encouragement and goodwill she sent out was subtle but strong, like the scent of baked goods being blown out of a bakery by an industrial fan to lure in passersby.
((Stay quiet,)) Eva pinged at Sue, a moment too late.
“We’re trying to find my brother,” Sue blurted out, then covered her mouth with her hands and looked at Eva, eyes wide with an unspoken apology.
“Your brother,” Damaal said, still warm and encouraging, but Eva caught a hint of something else—surprise? Anger? It was so subtle she wasn’t sure it was real. Why had she thought Eva was there?
Sue nodded, but didn’t say anything else.
“I understand,” Damaal continued. “It must be painful to be separated from your—” Her words translated as “broodmate” and “rest companion” with some minor disagreement as to whether xana placed strong emphasis on either. “Perhaps if you provide more information, I might request that my Watchers assist you in locating him?”
“We wouldn’t want to impose,” Eva said. “We’re not even sure he’s here, honestly.” That was also true, so she was still in safe territory.
“May I inquire as to the reason you believe he would be on our excellent planet?” Damaal asked. Her tone was politely curious, keen to help, with enough empathy to clog an exhaust port. “We are far from major trade routes, and surely you would not trouble yourself to seek him out so cautiously if you expected him to be merely enjoying the fruits of our many delightful attractions.”
Eva weighed how much was worth keeping to herself now that Sue had let the proverbial cat out of the bag. What did Damaal already know, and what did she suspect? La Sirena Negra had faked credentials and they were all wearing biometric signature dupers, so she didn’t know who Sue was yet, theoretically, but once she did then she’d easily be able to figure out who Josh was. Probably not the Fridge connection, but anything else that was common knowledge on the q-net was fair game.
And all of this assumed that Damaal didn’t already know exactly who they all were, and hadn’t already been in contact with Josh for reasons of her own. She was certainly acting as if she hadn’t, and if she weren’t lying, that strongly suggested he really wasn’t on Garilia after all.
After everything Eva had been through so far, that would be quite a kick in the teeth. But again: why did she think Eva was there in the first place? Why bring her in for questioning instead of having Watchers follow her and wait to see what she would do?
Unless Damaal had something to hide, and had no intention of letting Eva and her crew leave if she wasn’t satisfied that her secrets were safe.
“He was kidnapped,” Eva said, choosing her words carefully. “We’ve been tracking him for some time, and found circumstantial evidence to suggest he might be here.”
Damaal continued to broadcast her sympathy and willingness to help toward Sue, whose hands hadn’t left her mouth, despite her eyes watering from the effort of containing herself.
“It would bring me great satisfaction to contribute as many resources as I might feasibly manage, to facilitate your success in this endeavor,” Damaal said. “If you would provide me with sufficient details to identify your lost brother, I would convey them to my Watchers and see that they were distributed to all Communal Centers for—”