The Gender End (The Gender Game #7)

It wasn’t a question, but I replied for us both. “I would do the same thing if our positions were reversed.”

She gave me a considering look, then began moving down the stairs. “Never fear, Miss Bates, Mr. Croft—we will return you to your ship whole and in one piece.”

I was tempted to say “We shall see,” just to test their honesty, but there was no reason for it, and judging by her expressive body language, I was inclined to believe her. We moved in silence after that, with Violet taking the lead. Devon put himself in the rear—something that didn’t make me entirely comfortable. Raevyn seemed to have taken up our cause. With him, I wasn’t so sure.

Going down the stairs was much better than going up. As much as my adrenaline was holding me up, it didn’t mean I didn’t feel the aches and pains from the night before. My ribs were still sore, and I was still out of shape from the surgery I had undergone—not long ago, although it felt like lifetimes. I did my best not to let the effort show, keeping a careful eye on Violet. Her injuries were more recent than most of mine, but she seemed to be holding her own just fine.

Violet stopped on a landing about halfway down, turned and looked at the door. “This one, right?”

Raevyn moved past her. “Indeed,” she said dryly, pulling the door open and stepping through. The passage was short, and in under a minute, we were back outside. The heat was stifling—I was certain the sweat that had instantly formed all over my body was immediately evaporating under the dry heat.

We made our way across the glass surface—as bizarre as that was—heading toward the damaged heloship. I could make out CS Sage standing by the open cargo bay, tending to the brown-haired woman wearing an olive green Matrian uniform. The tall, broad-shouldered blonde wearing a sky-blue version of the same uniform stood next to her, watching him with her arms crossed.

As we neared, CS Sage looked up, and then patted the dark-haired woman on the shoulder, giving her an encouraging nod. She was holding up her hand, clearly marveling at the plastic now surrounding her fingers.

“That’s it?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“That’s it,” he said with a broad smile. “Just leave it on for a day, and the bones will be completely healed. These”—he extended a hand with a packet of pills inside—“are for your internal injuries. Take one of each, twice a day, with food.”

The blonde woman accepted the packet, moving with a swiftness that belied her size. “Thank you, Mr. Sage,” she said begrudgingly, and he patted her on the shoulder. Not for long, as she took an alarmed step back, her hand going for a gun at her waist and then stopping halfway when she realized he wasn’t actually attempting to hurt her.

“Ah! The alien girl and her alien fiancé have returned,” CS Sage announced, seemingly oblivious to the blonde woman’s alarm. “Have you told them?”

“Not yet,” replied Raevyn from behind me, at the same time that Violet asked, “Told us what?”

“The council has decided not to meet with you after all,” Devon drawled, hooking his thumbs through the belt around his waist. “In fact, we have been asked to relay to you that you leave immediately, and never return.” He looked at the rest of the group, muttering, “Waste of resources, if you ask me,” and Raevyn frowned deeply at him, shaking her head, while Jathem and MacGillus stayed silent but seemed distinctly uncomfortable.

Warning bells went off in my head, but I was still blinking at his declaration—an abrupt departure from what they’d said just moments earlier. What could have changed their minds so suddenly? If their council had such an immediate influence on their minds, it must be a very controlling system. And the idea of such absolute control had never struck me as safe.

“Wait,” I tested, unable to really comprehend the decision, “never return? Why? Surely our two cultures could help each other in some way. Even establish a trade of some sort?”

It was Raevyn who answered. “Our system is perfect as it is. We lack the resources to support outsiders. What’s more, the council feels that even the knowledge of a society that exists outside of the tower could jeopardize everything, which is why we are going to eradicate all knowledge of your existence. If people learned there was another place they could survive in, they might panic or even try to leave.”

“Surely they should have that choice,” Violet started to say, and Devon gave her a look so derisive that she dropped the sentence, confirming my hunch—control issues in this society ran mile-deep.

The Knight Commander said archly, “Everyone in the tower has a function, a duty, a service that is essential to the operation of the tower. Ours is a delicate balance, one we cannot compromise on. If people decided to leave, our entire way of life would dissolve. The council has decided that, as advantageous as your technology might be to us, your very existence is a risk, and we cannot excuse your continued presence just because you want to make friends. We’ve already put ourselves out in order to heal you… I suggest you not waste any more of our time.”

Condescension and disdain were thick in his voice, and I fought off the urge to deck him, reminding myself that we were on their turf—and we did want to leave, after all. I also knew KC Devon wanted the heloships. For all I knew, he was trying to provoke one of us into violence so that he could be justified in acting in self-defense in an attempt to secure our technology. His eyes blazed in open challenge. It was probably better for his sake that I wasn’t a man who lost his head easily, and I met his gaze with a hard one of my own.

CS Sage looked from me to Devon and back again, the slow swivel of his head catching my attention from the corner of my eye. “Men,” he sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “Am I right, ladies?”

His delivery was as surprising as it was humorous, and I heard Violet struggling to keep a laugh from spilling from her throat. I turned away from Devon first to see her hand over her mouth, her eyes sparkling. Raevyn was not as amused: a dour frown hovered on her lips, and her eyes were troubled more than anything, sending additional warning signals to the base of my brain. Maybe it was just because she was used to CS Sage’s quirky sense of humor, but I got the feeling that something more was definitely up. But I had no way of knowing what, exactly. For all I knew, she didn’t agree with them asking us to leave, but couldn’t say anything at this point.

“Anywho, goodbye, little alien girl,” CS Sage continued, moving over to Violet and dropping a chaste kiss on her forehead. “If you come back, we’re going to blow you out of the sky!”

He held up his hand, his index finger and thumb held up so that they formed two guns, and then he made a pew pew sound as he mimicked shooting. Violet’s gaze moved up over his shoulder to find mine, alarm filling her gray eyes, and then CS Sage was moving away, Devon and Raevyn moving past us to head toward the door with him.