Tabitha Chirrick - Overshadowed

“H-how is this okay? ” he groaned. “How are you okay?”

“I’m not okay. I’m worried about you.”

“About me ? What about my family ? What about all these people waiting for their loved ones to come?”

And there was the truth of it. None of this was Otto’s fault. Otto didn’t promise something to all these miserable people. It wasn’t anyone’s fault except the raiders. It was them she was angry at. They did all of this. They took her home away, her mom away, Jace’s family away, and everyone’s peace away.

Tayel clamped her mouth shut as Jace hid his face again. She glowered at the constant motion, the to and fro of guards and refugees. Someone stopped among the processions, and she lifted her head to see him better. Fehn. He beelined toward her.

“Hey,” he said. “You two alright?”

She shook her head.

His feet shifted before he sat down — like he’d almost considered leaving. He winced at Jace’s crying and sighed. “Bad news, then?”

“There aren’t any more shuttles coming from Deltic City,” she said. “The station was destroyed.”

“Oh.” Fehn scratched his head. “That is bad news.”

Tayel bit her tongue to hold back a less than kind remark about his sensitivity. The urge to say something snide bubbled up, and she would have popped had Shy not caught her gaze from the dock entrance. Her anger with Fehn deflated as the woman sauntered up. Jace didn’t need her antics right now.

“Is this the best time?” Tayel snapped.

“I heard what happened,” Shy said. “I’m guessing by the looks of things, whoever you’re waiting for is from Delta. I’m sorry.”

Jace sobbed.

“What do you want?” Fehn asked.

“To re-extend my offer from yesterday.” She crouched down, looking around like she expected to be caught for some sort of crime. “The last shuttle diverted to Modnik, right? Maybe the people you’re waiting for were on that shuttle, and maybe that’s where they’re headed now. Which means if you want to see them, that’s where you’ll need to go. Turns out, that’s where I need to go, too.”

“They could be anywhere,” Tayel said. “They could all be dead.”

“Dead, Modnik, or still on Delta — you’re right. I can’t take you to the afterlife, but if they’re not on Modnik, I’ll drop you off on Delta when I’m done with what I need to accomplish.”

“Out of the kindness of your heart?” Fehn asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “No. I’m not running a charity. Listen, you don’t know the half of it yet, but you do not want to be stuck in this camp forever.” She waited for a guard to pass. “I can help you get out. Even if you can’t find your families, I’m offering you an opportunity to escape before it’s too late.”

Tayel leaned back a bit, stunned by the word escape . She hadn’t seen anything worth escaping from. There was food, water, shelter. But despite her oddities, Shy didn’t sound crazy. She sounded genuine.

“What do you mean?” Tayel asked.

Shy shook her head. She wouldn’t say anything here.

“Okay. Let’s say we did decide to help,” Tayel said, “What do you need from us?”

“You’re going to trust her?” Fehn asked.

“That you’re insinuating I can’t be trusted is priceless,” Shy told him.

Tayel frowned, confused, but their familiarity was a question for a different time.

“I can explain everything, but not here,” Shy said. “If you’re willing to skip a meal, we can meet at my tent during dinner hour to talk. All my bunkmates will be out to eat.”

Fehn said nothing. Jace didn’t say anything either. He’d hardly moved the whole time. Tayel just wanted him to feel better, and if there was any chance he could be reunited with his family, she would take it for him.

“Okay,” she said, “Let’s talk.”

Iselglith stepped out of the portal and into the sterile, white labs of the Floating Isle. It had been ages since he’d been back to the Rokkir’s base of operations, but the newly built labs — with their impossibly high ceilings and thousands of empty stasis tubes built into the walls — were entirely unfamiliar to him. Fortunately, he didn’t need to search hard for Ruxbane.

The leader of his people stood by a nearby workstation, arguing with another Rokkir councilmember. Iselglith blinked. He didn’t budge as the portal closed behind him. It was Ruxbane himself who emphasized the importance of remaining in Castle Aishan once the operation began, and two councilmembers gone from Elsha for even a brief period seemed like a big risk. Whatever Iselglith had been called for, it was important. Urgent. He swallowed.

Ruxbane caught sight of him, and glared back at the other councilmember. “You see, now Iselglith is here. That means there are two of you gone from Castle Aishan. What if an assembly is called? What if a servant stops by your room and discovers you’re missing? Not everyone working under you is Rokkir, Adonna, you best remember that.”

“You think I don’t know the risk?” Adonna, shaped as the council representative from Delta, snapped back.

Even as a relatively short Argel, she was intimidating. Her bright yellow chest feathers puffed out the neck of her elegant council robes as her talons clenched.

“I had to come here, Ruxbane,” she hissed. “The raiders are out of control. I have more than enough reports to prove they knew what they were doing when they attacked Deltic City’s fuel depository.”

Iselglith squirmed. The destroyed station and the diverted Delta shuttle had been real errors. Not only would the shuttle survivors likely attempt to make contact about the abduction of the Varg on Modnik, but now survivors in Deltic City would have little chance to get to Elsha. The other ports in the city lacked ships properly equipped for the trip to the council planet. And less people on Elsha meant less… Even the unfinished thought frightened him.

Ruxbane held up a hand. “The raiders are simply following orders to terrorize. They haven’t gone rogue. If the station’s destruction is such an upset to you, then I suggest you do what a good Delta councilmember would do, and help your planetary government provide alternate routes of escape.”

Adonna made a gravely noise from deep in her throat. “And if the survivors try to make contact about the Varg?” she asked.

“We’ve been blocking communications from Modnik for two weeks now. I’m confident we can handle transmissions from a few more people.”

Adonna went rigid. Her beak parted, but only a huff of air came out. She shook her head, mumbling expletives under her breath as she turned on her heels and stomped away. Iselglith rose his paw in greeting, but took the motion back, trying to pretend it never happened as she walked by without even sparing him a glance.

It was silent for a long moment after she disappeared through another portal behind him. He wasn’t sure whether to initiate conversation or not, so he let his gaze wander about the massive room, occasionally taking a glimpse at Ruxbane, who stood still with his eyes closed, chest rising and falling evenly. It was a while before he finally spoke.

“Thank you for your patience, Iselglith. Adonna has a peculiar way of overreacting.”

“It was no trouble…” Iselglith halted on the word “sir,” remembering being told not to speak so formally. It was hard to help.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. Just… adjusting.”

Ruxbane seemed to be giving him the time to do whatever adjusting he needed in quiet, though all Iselglith wanted was for there to be conversation. Any conversation. He was no good with these things.