The Lereni Trade by Melanie Nilles

together.
    "How is the Seres ?" Karik asked.
    "Sad. Lonely."
    An amused scoff from the captain
sparked outrage inside, but Torik restrained the urge to lash out
in a challenge to Karik's authority. He could not win in a
fight.
    Instead, he spoke in a calm voice:
"She wishes to help us."
    The air around Karik thickened as he
turned, a scowl on his face and his ears lowering in threat. "What
have you told her?"
    "Nothing about herself. She asked
about our world. I told her the Tah'Na are cruel. She understands
injustice."
    "She is Seres —manipulative and deceptive. She is working her power over
you, Torik."
    "No, sir."
    Karik straightened and stepped around
the stations to confront him, several inches taller and many inches
thicker in the bulk of ready muscles.
    "Are we not worse than the Tah'Na for
keeping the truth from her?" Torik prompted.
    "This is different. She could threaten
our safety if she understood."
    " Could , sir. She volunteers to support us."
    "A trick. She would say anything to
get what she wants. She recognizes that you are soft and is using
that—"
    "No, sir. I understand the dangers of the Seres , but she was not raised among the Onduun. Is not an
individual the sum of genetics and culture? She doesn't know what she is. Perhaps, if
we gained her sympathy…"
    Karik snorted. "Sympathy? Where were
the Onduun when the Tah'Na conquered our world? They have no
sympathy for Lereni."
    "She was not raised
Onduun."
    "She is still one of them! And the
animals of that primitive world are no better!" The fury on Karik's
face chased out the rest of his objections. The captain would not
be convinced. But he was right about that world—the pair of males
attacking her had proven that they had reached her in
time.
    "It's clear to me that you are far too
close to her. Her words have poisoned you."
    "No. She's a sentient being, an
individual like you or me, not an object."
    In a flash of anger, Karik stepped
threateningly close, his eyes gleaming with hatred. "I don't care
what she is! The Tah'Na have sworn to release our world if we bring
them the daughter of Naperi. That is all that matters. Keep that in
your head, Lieutenant." He stormed out in a huff.
    After a second to recover his courage,
Torik pursued. Karik was wrong about Krissa. She wasn't dangerous,
nor was their world the only concern. One planet for one
individual. There must have been more to the trade than the Tah'Na
had indicated. That was a small price for the resources they gained
from Leisil. There must have been much more than anyone was telling
him.
    Realization struck him—this was what
Krissa felt.
    When the second door opened, he
faltered.
    "Let me go!" Krissa pleaded in Lereni.
"Please…"
    Karik dragged her to one of the
storage bins on the side of the hold, her attempts to pry his iron
fingers from her arm futile.
    She was his friend, and he was hers.
"Karik—" Torik took a step towards him, intent on protecting her
from the captain's rage, but halted at the threat in those
eyes.
    "Her treachery must be ended. That
tongue is poison. I do this for all of us."
    "Do what? What are you doing to me?"
Fear carried her words. "What did I do?"
    "Nothing," Torik assured her while
hurrying to prevent whatever punishment Karik intended. "He's
afraid."
    "So am I." Tears glinted from her
hairless cheeks.
    She was his friend, and he was
hers.
    Torik swallowed his fear of
challenging Karik. No more could this go on. He stepped between
them and the open bin, his palms out to stop Karik from finding
whatever he sought. "Let her go, Karik. She's not hurting
anyone."
    "She's turned you into her mouth on my
crew. That is mutiny against your world."
    "No." Or maybe he was right, but she
wasn't the threat that Karik imagined.
    Torik paused at the appearance of
Theen and Korr approaching. If he could convince them…
    "You're being irrational," he said.
"We've all lost loved ones to the Tah'Na. She had nothing to do
with the conquest and domination of Leisil. Let her