Pop-ex (Population Exchange)

Answers and Questions

Tiger's View

I step into the bathroom. It only takes a few moments to set the tub and put in my authorization for the large amount of water, and the high temperature.

I turn to step back out when I hear Arkner say, "You're the one who knows what's going on."

I realize they never turned off their translators for this private conversation.

Vlon replies, "As soon as I win tomorrow, I'll explain it. I already promised him I would."

Arkner knows what I don't know. They're all working together to keep something from me.

"Make sure he leaves before you take your soak." Arkner states firmly, "Or you won't make it through the night without ruining everything. I don't need to become an empath to know that."

I can sit here and refuse to leave, but then Vlon might refuse to take the soak, and I'll be in trouble for wasting water. Or, I can leave with Arkner, and maybe get some answers out of him.

"I will." Vlon replies as I open the door.

I promptly ask, "Will what?"

Arkner answers, "Ask you to walk me out, before you go watch after the brothers, so Vlon can soak in peace and quiet."

"No problem." I answer. We walk into the corridor together.

I wait a little bit before I ask Arkner, "How long have you known Vlon?"

Arkner thinks for a moment before answering, "I met the mother of Vlon when she joined the population of the Phennox. I had just been approved to get transferred, but when she walked past me I could sense the child she carried was fathered by a Warvian, and would need me for guidance in the Warvian ways."

"So, you revoked your transfer?" I guess.

"Right then and there." Arkner says with a smile, "Best decision I ever made."

"Did you and Vlon's mom?"

Arkner shakes his head before I can finish my sentence. "I knew immediately that it was the child drawing me in, not the mother. Vlon's Nyrarian abilities were strong well before birth."

I notice he's choosing his words carefully.

"I kept my distance at first, only helping the mom in ways that she couldn't trace back to me." Arkner continues, "When Vlon turned six, the age we start training our warriors, I approached Vlon and offered to provide the training."

I chuckle a bit. "I bet Vlon jumped right on that."

Arkner shakes his head. "Vlon was always a good child." He pauses for a bit, maybe recalling the memory, maybe something else. "Vlon knew the mother would object, and Vlon was already looking after Skit and Celka, so Vlon politely refused."

"Then how were you able to convince Vlon to be trained?" I ask in amazement.

"I paid for others to watch the younger ones, and convinced their mom to let me take them all while she worked. I told her that Vlon was too young for so much responsibility." Arkner replies while looking off, as if there's something to see in the distance.

"Why didn't their mom want Vlon to be trained, if this situation was always a possibility?" I inquire.

Arkner snaps, "The mom was foolish, and thought Vlon could hide on the Phennox forever, join the crew, and remain unclaimed by the dad, until it was too late. She never once took her child's desires into account in her plan."

I take a deep breath as a realization hits me. "That's why she kept Vlon from participating in the population exchange?!"

Arkner gives a brief nod. "When Jorman was born there were complications. Her uterus was removed. That kept her from her plan to keep having children to need Vlon to take care of. Soon as Skit was old enough to make money she started acting invalid, and saying she needed Vlon to care for her."

"She was going to make Vlon take care of her, as she let the others go if they wanted?" I gasp as I wonder how she could be so cruel.

"To her all that mattered was keeping Vlon on the Phennox." Arkner sighs. "It was the mom who originally pushed for Vlon to learn from the Phennox crew. She thought that Vlon would find a job that Vlon liked enough to join the crew, and that would keep Vlon on the Phennox."

I stare at him.

"Skit warned me this would be difficult." He mutters, "I didn't realize how much. I just knew Vlon needed me."

"How do we know that?" I ask, hoping he'll give me the answer.

Arkner smiles, the weak, worn-out smile of a man who has seen too much. "Vlon's Nyrarian blood is as strong as the Warvian. Maybe it's the combination that makes Vlon so strong. Nyrarian empathic abilities rely on reading the vibrations of the universe. The stronger ones can also send vibrations, particularly to those they are close to."

I exclaim, "But I only met Vlon today!"

"Vlon wasn't close to being born yet when the mom passed me in the corridor." Arkner replies with a slap to my back. "Somehow Vlon can tell when someone is meant to be part of the future, and the bond is almost instantaneous."

I shake my head. "Vlon doesn't act like..."

Arkner slaps my back again, cutting off my sentence.

I look at him.

"Do you want Vlon to stay a member of your crew?" He asks.

"Of course." I answer without hesitation.

"Do you think Jorman needs Vlon?"

"Definitely." I reply just as quickly.

"Then, what you need to do is go back to your quarters. If you think of Vlon, think of the fight in the market space." Arkner instructs me, "When Vlon shuts the connection off, know that Vlon has to, to prepare for the fight. Whatever you do: don't go to Vlon until after the fight. And remember to keep your own feelings in check as you watch the fight."

I stare at him, trying to grasp everything he's said.

"Do I need to send Captain Zerrva here, to make it a compulsion?" Arkner asks when I don't immediately respond.

I shake my head. "I can't feel Vlon." I whisper, "I didn't realize until now what Vlon felt like. But, right now I know that's what is missing."

"I know. I'm feeling the lack of Vlon as well." Arkner informs me, "That means Jorman is too."

"Jorman!" I exclaim, and suddenly I know exactly where they are in my quarters.

"Don't worry about making sense of things. Just go be with Jorman and Valor." Arkner advises before stepping off the Explorer, and onto the space dock.