He had no words. He simply stared at the screen in disbelief, never having seen such idiocy in his long lifetime. Just when he began to wonder who had ordered the military into action, the broadcast switched to a press conference at the White House.
A senior politician held down the podium, fielding questions from reporters. Whelon did not know much about human politics, but he had never seen this male before.
“I do not know much about this—is that the President of the United States?”
“No,” Grace scoffed. “He’s a patsy.”
“What?” Whelon honestly wasn’t sure if he had heard correctly.
“She means he’s being set up to take a fall,” Carla explained darkly. “He probably got promoted from a basic position into some department head this morning. The only official statement is that authorities are investigating the situation and that while that is being done, the military has the power to move on any Preor and their equipment until a final solution has been reached. They have announced there will be a proper political meeting of both sides—a fair hearing.”
“Why would they promote him specifically to take him down?” Whelon was truly confused by humans.
“Because whoever held the job before him values their ass,” Grace told him. “They put in a guy like this, who takes the job thinking he can handle things and come out on top. Then he gets up and sways to whatever opinion is popular at the time, so afterward they can throw him to the dogs and say he was confused, misguided, uninformed, acting without authority… blah, blah, blah.” She shrugged.
Whelon was lost for words once more. He could not believe humans used their intelligence and skills for such horrible ends.
The news flashed to a scene in the city, near Preor Tower. Sasha’s mother stood in front of a small crowd and Whelon shuddered at the sight of the hateful female.
“You all know the horrors that have befallen our beloved Sasha.” Jenna shook her head mournfully. “She is still in bed, recovering from this horrible Knowing sickness the Preor use to bend innocent women to their will.”
She is not recovering, he thought furiously. She is dying!
Whelon sensed his own body growing colder by the moment. He was losing touch with the throb of his heart and the flow of air through his body. Until he claimed Sasha, the Knowing would keep stripping him of vitality. At least he had energy to spare, vast reserves that came from the other half of him being a ten-ton dragon.
Sasha has nothing, no one, he thought desperately. She’s dying on the surface while her mother uses the situation to exploit her further!
Before he could think about it anymore, the speakers buzzed and crackled in a way that made him think of someone clearing their throat.
“Penelope,” he murmured dully.
“Whelon, it looks like Melissa is going into labor. She is only having mild contractions, but Chashan is worried.”
“I can’t get there,” he answered helplessly.
“I didn’t want to tell you… Chashan said…”
“Spill it, Penelope!”
“All right. I think it’s only going to piss you off further, but here we go… Ellie is having complications and Charlie won’t let anyone near her. Dawn is capable of calming the little rat, but right now he and Ivoth are in such a state they won’t let anyone in the room.”
“Curse him for his stupidity!” Whelon growled. “Ivoth should know better!”
“He and the Quasti have melded or something, I’m afraid. They bonded over their protective instincts for Ellie and now are working themselves into a highly agitated state. Dawn can’t handle them both. If she distracts Charlie for a second, Chashan can drop Ivoth with a sedative. Then, hopefully, Dawn can calm Charlie…”
“Hopefully?”
“They can’t do this without another healing master, Whelon.”
Grace and Carla both sat quietly, feeling Whelon’s mounting frustration at the situation. They could say nothing that would help him now.
“I have to go down there, military orders be damned to the stars,” he whispered to no one in particular.
When Penelope didn’t answer, he realized she might be hatching one of her famous plans. She had been known to teleport people randomly… without permission and secretly. He found himself hoping she could come up with a decent escape plan. Every devious little trick she had ever pulled now took on a new light.
“Don’t encourage me,” Penelope whispered. “The military have tapped into our system, but they don’t know me… No one can fucking know me!”
“Penelope, be careful,” Carla spoke up, alarm and worry etched into her features. “They will use a program to evaluate you and maybe even give you a virus to disable you.”
Penelope blew one of her famous raspberries, making the lights blink along with the sound. “They tried. I’ve created a complex shadow system entirely cut off from my mainframe. The virus is happily chewing up dead files right now. Essentially, I’ve filed it in the trash bin and it will be eradicated on the next disk cleanup.”
Grace laughed and even Whelon smiled. He didn’t know why, but the fact that Penelope still fought made him want to fight, too. If anyone could help them now, it was Penelope. Whelon had seen enough of what she could do to have real faith in her—and hope she could get them out of this situation.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sasha watched the hours drifting past, and it felt as if days trudged by. Not long after she had turned on the TV, she began feeling ill. Just like she had when she was little, she found her blankets and pillows and arranged them around the sofa like a small fort.
She had to gulp back tears as memories flooded her. She had done this as a child because her mother never wanted anything to do with her when she wasn’t feeling well. If her illness lasted more than a few days, she would always take her to a hospital or, in extreme situations, hire a live-in nurse.
Sasha had put up her little pillow and blanket fort so she could feel safe. When she was very sick with a fever or severe dehydration, something in her knew her mother would not save her. The fort was for protection when she was terrified. Tears ran down her cheeks as she realized… she had been scared every single day of her life.
Stretching out on the couch under her blankets, she watched the news. It didn’t matter which channel she selected, footage of the Preor was splayed across every single one. It was almost as if the media had been waiting for this since the first moment the Preor arrived on the planet.
Finally, something has pushed it from a quiet rumble to an Earth-shattering roar, she thought. The term earthshaking was not even an exaggeration. The entire planet could be torn apart by this conflict.
Pain stabbed into her belly and she pulled her knees up to her chest, dragging the covers over her head. The sun moved across the room far too slowly and the pain increased by the second. Even though her throat was dry and her lips cracked, she couldn’t force anything down her throat.
After a few hours had passed, her pain continuing to worsen, Sasha’s thoughts turned dark. Her optimism and lust for life was one of the things that drew fans to her, but Sasha was beginning to understand the persona wearing that face was her defense against the cruel prison she occupied daily.