CHAPTER 12
A Terran week later, Tarkos waited alone in Captain Shirazi’s office. He waited in the dark nearly an hour, before the door slid open and Captain Shirazi swung into the room, feet first.
The door had closed behind her, and she was half way to her desk, before she saw him. She floated across the room, arms frozen in surprise, her eyes fixed on Tarkos’s face. Then her gaze shifted to the thin black figure behind Tarkos: Tiklik’al’Takas, waiting silently, soft blue light pulsing like a heartbeat from its vents.
The captain grabbed the corner of her desk and stopped herself. “Get out of my office,” she said. The command was a reflex, given immediately. But after she righted herself, orienting in the same direction as Tarkos, she added with deliberate fury, “Do you realize
