Chapter 18:

"I am sorry you are not well."

Wiping her mouth with the back of her good hand as she slowly straightened up, Zarabeth tried to ignore the metallic taste left in her mouth as she gratefully accepted the water-skin Nomie offered to her. "I've been like this since I got here. I'm not sure, but I don't think this moon agrees with me very well."

Nervous anticipation had kept Zara from sleeping more than a few hours the night before, her perpetual state of fatigue not helping with the upset stomach she'd been battling the past few days. She didn't know exactly how she felt about the plans to be had ahead. She wanted nothing more than to see Jim, but what she really wanted was to see him as safe and sound as she hoped he would be. She couldn't help but think of everything that could possibly go wrong today, after all, they were going up against the Aberdeen. Though small compared to some naval ships, she was heavily loaded when it came to artillery and laser-power. They were going to have to sneak aboard if they hoped to get anything but capture or worse out of their attempts.

"How much longer till everyone shows up?"

"Soon."

Zarabeth tipped her head back to join Nomie in gazing up into the Etherium above them, clearly able to see Inyang close by, and Rhitan a ways further. Flying there alone was going to take a few hours, precious time Zara didn't necessarily think they had.

"Nomie, I'm curious." Waiting till she'd gotten the girl's full attention, she continued with her thought. "You and the others are from different clans, you live separate lives. How did you all become such close friends?"

The girl's smile was soft as she moved to sit on the uneven ground, her back leaning comfortably against the cliff-side behind her as she patted the empty space beside her invitingly. "We are of different clans and living, but we grew up together. The clans, separated by what makes them different, are still together of all they do. We are many, but still one. Many of our group are known to each other by arranged marriage. Me and Gungeth, Soreshta and Homald. Tristaf is youngest sister of Homald. We are connected by tradition and blood. We cannot be taken apart. This place is ours. These caves we have made to be our hiding place from the time we were smaller. We are the future of our clans and we love our people. We will make stronger leaders if we stay as one."

Leaning back to let her head rest against the surface of the rock wall behind her, Zarabeth simply nodded in understanding as she closed her eyes, smiling softly at the feeling of the afternoon light warming her face, her wandering thoughts brought back into reality as Nomie spoke up once more.

"Your husband, he is captain of the highest seats in Rhitan, yes? How did you meet? Do you fly for them as well?"

"In a way. I was working as a sort of maidservant to the captain of a ship when I was eighteen. Jim was the cabin boy for the cook on that same ship. He wasn't much older than I when we met. We were in the Etherium for quite a while, so we grew to be friends and somehow slowly became more. That was a crazy trip. Pirates, exploding stars, lost treasure, the slave girl fell in love with the cabin boy. After that trip, I went to school with Jim. He became a naval captain, I became his wife and the rest is history."

Her gaze had been concentrated on the stardust clouds above, but a thought brought Zara's eyes back down to the alien girl sitting beside her. "You and Gungeth are an arranged marriage, but it's clear you love each other. Was that always how it was?"

"Oh yes. We have been closest of friends since we were small children. We did not know for many years of the plans of us. But when we were told, it was more happy than sad. We could not be more good for each other. We were like you, friends who become more. I am very excited to be his wife."

"That's the way it should be." Smiling to herself, Zarabeth played distractedly with the strips of the bandage surrounding her arm, not even noticing how the alien girl's attention was focused on her till she began to undo the knot.

"Let me. I wish to see its look."

Managing to hold up her injured arm for her, Zara did her best to read the expression in Nomie's eyes as she carefully unwound the cloth piece by piece.

"It was not easy, healing your arm of the pieces inside. I am afraid that it looked more bad after we finished than what it was before."

This was the first Zara had seen of her arm since her attempt to use Morph to remove the shards of glass herself. The skin from her lower shoulder all the way down to her wrist was littered with hairline cuts, obviously from their attempts to remove the glass entirely. From what she could tell, there wasn't even a single shard left. They'd done their job and they'd done it well. Now all that was left was for her body to heal itself of the aftermath, her arm currently sorer than anything, the pain, when it was there, mere twinges and stings in comparison what it was a few days prior.

Helping Nomie to replace the old bandages with new ones torn from one of the shirts she'd brought, Zarabeth let her smile and the thankfulness in her eyes show the girl how much it meant to her. "I never got a chance to thank you for this. I wasn't able to do very much on my own, but this is far better than I was capable of. Also considering I was your prisoner, you treated me far more kindly than anyone else might have. Thank you."

"You are welcome. If you had not come to us, we would be blind to the fight close now. So I also thank you."

"Well, I kinda crash landed here on mistake. And being captured wasn't exactly on my to-do list either. But it's strange how these unplanned things work for the best. After all, I got to meet you."

This time, Zarabeth was the one to give her hand to the girl, palm facing up as she waited for her reply with a soft smile. "You are going to make a great leader, Nomie. You already are one. You shall always have my deepest respect."

Surprised by the gesture, the look in Nomie's eyes brightened as she gently laid her hand over Zara's. "You have courage, Zarabeth. You make me want to be more brave. Do not stop fighting. Ever. I am glad of your crashing. I will always remember you being here."

"I will always remember my time here. Oh, and uh, thanks for the clothes." Pulling her hand back to try adjusting her skirt for the hundredth time.

"Of course. They look well on you."

"I'm just not quite used to them, but I can see where they'd be comfortable every day. But I don't really feel right, pretending to be one of you."

It was true, Zarabeth now felt more like a true native of their clan, her hair and ears being the only things to ever give her away as anything but one of the aliens around her. Nomie had seen fit to replace what was left of her old torn clothes with some of her own. The texture of the variegated deep green fabric was rough to the touch, but not enough to irritate. Large strips of it were wound from her waste up to her collarbone, held up by a strap over her shoulder on one side. The skirt was all made up of one piece of the same color green but a lighter fabric, tied up higher on one side than the other to help with keeping her movements free. Even the shoes were strange to her, nearly nothing but leather soles tied onto her feet with thin straps of tanned animal skins, the lengths tying up over her legs just until below her knees.

Nomie took Zara's hand to stop her from feeling over the streaks of paint she'd put on her face and arm, nodding in satisfaction as she looked her work over. "Today you are a warrior of us. It is right that you should be dressed this way."

About to say something in reply, Zarabeth's thoughts abandoned her as the sound of voices and the low hum of engines began to make themselves heard in the stillness of the quiet afternoon. "Here they come."

Both girls stood as they watched the group of a couple dozen small skiffs make their way to the clearing, each craft filled with two or three clan members, all young, around Zarabeth's age.

Once the skiffs had landed safely, a few aliens got out here and there, but most stayed seated, all eyes on Nomie as she began calling out to them what Zara could only assume were plans or orders, unable to understand anything of their language. To keep from feeling completely out of place, she kept her mind busy as she searched the changing expressions from face to face of the people who were surrounding them, their looks determined and almost frightful, but somehow excited with the small smiles evident on almost every one of them.

After what felt like much longer than it was, Nomie turned back to face Zarabeth, her smirk only softened by the anticipation in her eyes as she took hold of her hand.

"We go."