Humans are a peculiar species. Some simply aren’t happy unless they have something to be upset about. We house them, feed them, take care of them, and they complain they do not have the freedom they deserve. We take them away from a planet that is slowly being torn apart by their own species, and they want to return to it. We do everything we can to preserve their species and they seem to want to do anything they can to destroy themselves.

  -On The Peculiarities of Humans, The Alliance Intergalactic Library

  “Put the gun away, Electra.” Ux’thu said mildly, without any sign of alarm or anger. “I’m not here to hurt you, unless you are here to hurt me?”

  Maggie looked at her aunt, someone she had never seen raise a hand to anybody, but who now held a strange little pistol aimed directly at Ux’thu. “Aunt Electra?” She took a step back, her eyes widening as she stared at the thing. It looked more like a water pistol than an actual gun, but Maggie could feel a tingle of caution from Te’chik, an alertness that was a bit sharper than normal.

  “I’m here for my niece. Will you stop us from taking her home?” Electra held her finger poised over the trigger, ready to pull it at a moments notice.

  “Only if it puts her in more danger than being here. Which I think you know it would.” Ux’thu leaned lightly on his cane, earning a frown of disapproval from Reshka’i. How Maggie could tell the woman disapproved, she had no idea. Maybe it was just the way she frowned at the old man.

  “You wouldn’t need to use that thing if you spent more time walking properly, instead of waddling around on your hind legs like a human.” Even if it had been just the frown before, Maggie could hear the disapproval and disgust clear as day in the Silvarian’s voice.

  “Now is not the time S’il Vala Reshka’i.” Ux’thu started down the path at a slow, meandering pace, heading for the largest of the buildings on the island. “Have you seen your room yet, Maggie?” He walked slowly past Electra, not sparing her another glance, even as the gun followed him.

  “Not yet.” Maggie said cautiously. Her eyes darted to Electra, and she hesitated before following Ux’thu down the path towards the large building.

  “Well, we should fix that. If you’re here Electra, I imagine Nora is as well? We’ll have to have a nice family dinner tonight. Reshka’i, of course you’re invited. I know you’ll want to see Nora again as well.”

  Reshka’i looked like she had swallowed a lemon. But she gave a short nod. “It has been some time, I’m curious to see how she’s been doing, especially since the dismantling of her ship.”

  “You dismantled her ship?” Electra lowered her gun, hesitating a moment before following Maggie. Even though she lowered her gun though, Maggie noticed that she didn’t put it away.

  “We did. Without it’s Key, what else were we going to do with it? We can use parts of it to repair other ships, or to further our studies into Ancient’s technology.” Reshka’i said, holding her furry head high.

  Electra shot Reshka’i a look that Maggie had never seen from her Aunt before, not even when someone cut her off in traffic. It was a look of hate that sent chills down Maggie’s spine, that made her wonder for a moment if this person really was her Aunt Electra, who was always so kind to everybody. “Anything to further the Silvarian understanding of stolen technology, is that right?”

  “It isn’t stolen, it was lost, and we found it. We research it and disseminate it throughout the galaxy, it is thanks to our efforts that the galaxy has made such large advances in space travel and medicine. Without those advances many people, many humans would be dead, including your niece.” Reshka’i said coldly. “I examined her charts when Ambassador Ux’thu sent word of her, without the Key, without the advanced healing of the vitafluids, she would never have recovered. And, might I add, it was someone from your Freedom Coalition that shot her. In the back, as she was running away, unarmed.”

  Electra shot an icy glare at Reshka’i, sliding her gun into the holster Maggie hadn’t noticed before. Now that the gun was put away, Maggie relaxed slightly. Very slightly. There was still a tension in the air that made her chest tight, an animosity between her aunt and the Silvarians that was hard to miss, and even harder to ignore.

  Maggie watched the group ahead of her, trying to think of anything to say to break the awful silence.

  It was Ux’thu that came to her rescue, pausing to sniff at a flower. “What do you think of these, Maggie? There are some that grow right outside your window.”

  “Uhm, they’re pretty.” Maggie said, trying to shrug off the awkwardness. She leaned over to smell one of the colorful blossoms, blinking when she recognized the scent. It was the same smell as her mother's perfume! Not quite lavender, not quite vanilla, with a sweet scent like sugar.

  “They are. They were always your mother's favorite. Does she still like flowers?”

  “She does.” Maggie took in another deep breath of the flowers scent, and smiled. “She has a perfume that smells like this too.”

  “I’ll have to see about getting her a room set up, I’ll make sure that she has some of these flowers in it for her. Do you think she’ll want to stay in the main house, or one of the smaller houses?” Ux’thu plucked one of the flowers, handing it to Maggie with a smile.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Uhm, maybe the main house? I don’t really know.” Maggie took the flower, sniffing it again as the little group started to move again. “Do you think there’s a way to fix her legs?”

  “What’s wrong with Nora’s legs?” To give the old man credit, Ux’thu sounded genuinely concerned. Reshka’i perked up a little bit, more curious than concerned.

  “Yes, what is wrong with Nora’s legs? Did something happen?” She scoffed then, her head tendrils laying back. “Probably something on that filthy, violent planet.”

  “It was nothing to do with Earth.” Electra said sharply. “It’s something to do with the Key you implanted her with.”

  “An interesting theory. I’ll have to study her to see what might have happened. I wonder if dismantling the ship could have affected her even at such a distance.” Reshka’i ignored Electra’s glare, settling into a contemplative silence.

  “Reshka’i, I believe Earthlings have a saying that goes along the lines of ‘don’t poke the bear’? Perhaps you should heed that warning.” Ux’thu glanced at Electra, the dark woman fuming, so different from what Maggie was used to seeing in her.

  The Silvarian woman smirked, her sharp teeth glinting in the warm light of afternoon. “Of course Ambassador. What a quaint saying.”

  “Indeed.” Ux’thu paused in the entrance hall of the main house, and gestured to a young boy wearing a simple shirt and pants, his feet bare. “Gre’gar, please show S’il Vala Reshka’i to the blue suite, and see if you can have someone find Theodrakis and Nora. I think we’ll prepare the garden suite for her and Electra.”

  The young boy bowed deeply, sleek black hair falling across his face. “Yes Ambassador. Please follow me honored S’il Vala.” Gre’gar straightened with a smile, gesturing to a lift that looked like an ornamental bubble floating on the water.

  Electra was silent as the young boy led Reshka’i away, the bubble sinking beneath the water with the pair in it. Ux’thu let out a soft sigh, looking back at the others. “You must forgive Reshka’i, sometimes her passion for science overrides her compassion for other living beings.”

  “A failing common in your species.” Electra said. “If you expect me or Nora to allow that woman to study Maggie like she did Nora, you are out of your mind.”

  “Things have changed during your time away Electra. Although I’m certain not as fast as you would wish. Maggie is my granddaughter, Theodrakis agrees, and he is her father. Do you think I would let harm come to my granddaughter?”

  Maggie looked at Robin, suppressing a sigh. This was starting to feel like an old argument, and one she didn’t care to sit in on anymore. She trusted Aunt Electra and her mother more than any other person here, except maybe Robin. If Ux’thu could convince them she was safe, she was willing to believe it. But right now Electra seemed to want nothing more than to fight, which made Maggie uneasy. She had never thought of Aunt Electra as a fighter! But here she was, who knew how far across the galaxy and pointing guns at people.

  “I don’t know what your people will do.” Electra said. She looked at Maggie, reaching up to tuck a wild red curl behind her ear. “How have they been treating you Maggie? Have they hurt you?”

  “They’ve been nice Aunt Electra, really. And they’ve been teaching me how to do things with this stupid Key.” That didn’t mean she was going to tell them what she knew about where the ship was.

  Not that she knew a lot.

  Electra nodded, thawing a little bit more. “Good. And they’re feeding you enough? The right kinds of food?”

  “Aunt Electra, you’re beginning to sound like Mom.” Maggie laughed, some of the tension fading as the side of Aunt Electra she knew resurfaced. “I’ve been eating fine, and staying hydrated. I probably eat better out here than I did at home. Although no one can make pizza right out here.”

  “Half the places on Earth can’t make a decent pizza either.” Electra winked at her. “Let’s get you to your room, Nora can meet us there and we’ll have a nice chat.” She glanced towards Ux’thu, a bit of that ice returning. “Away from prying ears and eyes.”

  “Of course. This way please, one of the others will bring Nora to you.” Ux’thu started up a set of stairs that wound around a tube of water big enough for the ornate bubble lift to fit in it. Maggie could only imagine it was a much smaller version of the elevators on Galaux Station. The old man moved slow, each step only a few inches high to accommodate the SIlvarian’s shorter legs. Maggie thought back to what Reshka’i had said about him using a cane, and about how she had seen Jo move around Galaux with Tommy strapped to his back. Most Silvarians, if they wanted to move fast, moved on all fours. It was only when they were talking with taller bipedal races that they stood on their hind legs. And even then they didn’t seem to walk long distances like that.

  “How many people live here?” Maggie asked. She hadn’t seen many people yet, just a handful of others at a distance, and Gre’gar who met them at the door. But it also seemed like a pretty big island.

  “I’m not quite sure.” Ux’thu said thoughtfully. “I stopped keeping track as people had babies and grandbabies. A few dozen I would imagine.”

  Where the heck were they all then? Maggie looked around, spotting another human moving down the hallway as they reached the second floor. A maid perhaps, holding a bundle of linen and hurrying along with the movements of one on a mission. Ux’thu headed down the same hallway, the roof covered in curved glass or crystal to let in the light.

  “When Nora lived here they had enough children for a little school.” Electra said.

  “I imagine we still do.” Ux’thu chuckled. “Every now and then they do ask for new or unique learning modules. I suspect we have a budding pilot amongst our youngsters as a matter of fact.”

  “And you allow it?” Electra asked, frowning at Ux’thu.

  “Of course. Am I not the one who convinced Vala’ni’si’l to accept both Theodrakis and S’il Vala Tomas into their halls? And proved that humans can do more than just sow discord and violence.” Ux’thu beamed with pride, his iridescent eyes sparkling. “They can be captains, s’il vala, pilots, who knows what else!”

  “They always could, they just never had a chance.” Electra said, although she seemed a little bit thrown off guard by Ux’thu’s enthusiasm. Maggie glanced at Robin, who was frowning slightly. Apparently it was a rarity for humans to go to this Valaknee... whatever it was. The word didn’t get an exact translation, but Maggie got the sense that it was some type of college from the context they used it in.

  “Well, now, slowly, they are getting the chance. Here you are, I’ll have some refreshments sent in.” Ux’thu set a paw against a gel plate positioned more for a human than a Silvarian, a door sliding open silently onto a large room with a completely open wall on one side. The warm sea breeze carried the scent of flowers and water, and sunlight flooded the room. “These are your rooms Maggie, please make yourself at home.”