Fathade took my hands in hers, just as she had with Jamie. “It is an honor to meet you, Queen Katherine of Earth.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Fathade, Leader of Cradus.” Well, I had nothing else to go with since I wasn’t sure what title she actually had. “I prefer that my friends call me Kitty, I’m one of the people you were talking to when we were in space.”
Fathade smiled. “I guessed.”
Laughed. “Good. This is my husband, King Jeffrey.”
Jeff did the handclasp thing and he and Fathade did the formal intro. “I prefer Jeff,” he said when they were done. He nodded to Chuckie. “This is Charles, the other person you were speaking with.”
Chuckie did the intro thing, and so it went down the line. This took what seemed like forever. Was starting to come around to the idea of being really glad that Jamie had jump-started this whole exchange.
In addition to Serion and Fathade we met the C-3PO person, who was named Sciea, identified as having shifting gender, preferred the male pronoun, and was Serion’s sibling, Feoren, who was the male humanoid, emphatically took the male pronouns, and was mated with Fathade, and the Terminator, who was Cavus, identified as asexual, and preferred being referred to by name only.
We also were told that they called their sun Crion and that they’d been around for many millennia. They knew of the Anciannas and the Z’porrah, which was why they’d been relieved that Wruck was with us. They were on the side of the Anciannas, but preferred noninvolvement.
Tito carried an OVS—an Organic Validation Sensor, created due to the plethora of androids we’d discovered once we’d been moved to D.C.—with him at all times. It verified who was and wasn’t human or A-C, as well as what percentage organic someone was. Had no idea how it was managing to work on this world and with us all covered in metal, but he felt confident that none of us were being poisoned by radiation.
“Now,” Jeff said pleasantly, once all the intros and verification of us not being poisoned were concluded, “why don’t you folks tell us why you allowed us to land on your world?”
“You wanted to,” Fathade said.
It was interesting. I’d already known she wasn’t good at lying. But none of them were. They were all looking at their feet, around, anywhere but directly at Jeff. So, they might be mostly metal and wiring, but they were definitely people.
Coughed. “Pull the other one, it has bells on.”
“Excuse me?” Cavus said. “I don’t understand you.”
“So few ever do. Look, you guys were doing everything in your power to scare us into going away. We didn’t scare. You still wanted us gone. Right up until you determined that we were on a rescue mission of some kind. Then, out of the blue, you wanted us to land. It doesn’t take genius to guess that you need help with something.”
The five of them shuffled their feet and tried to look casual. Chuckie laughed. “I wonder if they have A-C blood in them somewhere.”
“Right? It’s so cute.”
Reader chuckled. “True enough. Folks, we’re on a schedule. At least, we think we are. If we can help you, we’d be happy to do so. If we can’t, we need to determine where the people are who do desperately need our help and get to them. So, please stop stalling—the clock’s ticking.”
They still didn’t look like they wanted to answer.
Jeff sighed. “Why are you hesitating? We’re asking you what you need. Now isn’t the time to be coy.”
Still nada. Whatever this was, they were as scared of it as they were of us.
Thought about what Fathade had warned us about when we were landing, and also about Lizzie’s comment about it. “What’s the orange stuff, besides not native to your planet, and why is it dangerous?”
The five of them gaped at me. “How . . . how did you know?” Fathade asked finally.
Shrugged. “I’m a really good guesser.”
CHAPTER 61
“WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS,” Fathade said. “Other than deadly.”
“It’s choking out our world,” Sciea said. “Wherever it goes it thrives. We don’t know how it’s doing this or how it got here.”
“So it’s not the reason you’re trying to keep visitors out?” Chuckie asked.
“No, but it’s another reason for others to avoid our planet,” Cavus said. “Something hit our world. It didn’t come from Spehidon or Crion, but it was like a wave in space. Soon after, this pestilence appeared.”
“Think it’s the same neutron wave that affected Wheatles Kreaving and the solar system he and his ship landed on?” I asked Wruck.
“It’s possible. How long ago did this event occur?” he asked the Cradi.
“Recently,” Feoren replied. “A few of our months, no more.”
Wruck shook his head. “It can’t be from the same event. Well, I shouldn’t say that. It could be. We have no idea where we really are. Or where Kreaving was when his ship was hit.”
“We have star charts,” Serion said. “Would you like to see them?”
“We would, but first, can we get a sample of the orange stuff?” Tito asked.
“We have examined it, so we have samples,” Cavus said. “But it is deadly to the touch.”
“Fantastic,” Jeff muttered.
“Is it dangerous to look at? And by that I mean, can we see it safely or does it have spores that are deadly if breathed in?” Hey, I’d paid attention in school. Often.
“We have some in our lab.” Feoren indicated one of the buildings nearby. “But are you asking to see the growing scourge?”
“Yes. I’d like to take a look at the Orange Scourge.” Hey, I was the Giver of Names.
“Sooner would be better than later,” Jeff said. “Since we have to find that other solar system and we have little to go on. Is it far from here?”
“Sadly, no,” Fathade said. “The Orange Scourge as Kitty has called it has taken over a quarter of our world. Some is quite close by.”
The street we were standing on moved, taking us with it. Again it was like a smooth roller coaster with no dips and was, admittedly, a fun way to travel. We zoomed along, passing Cradi along the way, all of whom stared at us, though some waved back when Jamie waved at them. The rest of us started waving, too, since it seemed friendlier. By the time we reached our destination, my arm was tired.
“How large is your population?” Chuckie asked.
“Several hundred thousand,” Serion replied. “We maintain our population so that we don’t use up our world. As one of us returns to the bosom of Cradus another is born. Not all of us choose to reproduce, but we are able to control when we do so.”
“Do you control the gender choice of the child?” Chuckie was definitely in Academic Mode. It was nice to see him excited about something that didn’t have to do with people trying to destroy us.
“Oh no,” Serion said. “That is the child’s choice, once they are old enough to decide. Until then, they can and do play with their internal and external makeup, becoming what they choose, not what their parents or our society chooses for them.”