In Search of Home

Chapter 88

Nothing happened. 

There were no exciting kidnappings that took place, no attempts on his or Vok'Rul's life. They ate breakfast in peace - as much peace as he could get with a crowd around him and an Ezekiel that had no manners - and went about the rest of their day with little trouble. 

Viktor waited for the other shoe to drop the entire day. He was tense and uncomfortable. Vok'Rul picked up on it as soon as he had sat down with the rest of them to eat. Though, he was worried about something else entirely. 

"Is this about Thruul and I?" he asked in a whisper. "I am sorry I did not tell you, my little Kohgrash. It completely slipped my mind." 

"No," he whispered back heatedly, reaching out to steal some of Vok'Rul's meat kebabs. He made a small noise of protest and despair but didn't retaliate. "I'm happy for you guys. Really." 

"What are we whispering about?" Ezekiel whispered loudly, leaning over Viktor to shove himself into the conversation.

"Where we should drop you off. Neptune is pretty nice this time of year." 

"Hey!" 

After breakfast, and after reassuring Vok'Rul some more that Viktor really didn't mind about not being told, the group went to the plaza. According to the itinerary, there was going to be an information session for those who wanted to attend. With nothing else to do, Viktor convinced the others to tag along with him. 

"But we already know stuff," Ezekiel complained while shuffling his feet. "Your alien is literally the big boss. You probably know stuff that his people don't know about." 

"Be real, Zeke," Viktor scoffed, wondering if that was even true. They didn't really talk about political stuff. Though, if he did take the alien up on his offer of ambassador, that would surely change. Maybe he should start learning some politics. Like how to react when someone called him lord. 

"Welcome to The Conquest's first informational panel," a pale purple alien spoke. They stood in the middle of the plaza on top of a raised platform. Viktor wondered if they just rise out of the floor. The way there always seemed to be platforms appearing out of nowhere was sort of comical.

The alien looked along the crowd, and their eyes seemed to lock right with Viktor's. "I am Turrkn, and I'll make you scream much louder than that!" 

Viktor tore his eyes away, fingers trembling around the bars of his walker. His breathing was shallow. He leaned in closer to his dad, trying, desperately, to ignore the way his voice shook when he asked, "What, uh, w-what did they say their name was?" 

Oskar shrugged, looking at him oddly. "They said something like Turquoise. I couldn't pronounce it." 

"Turshkah," Pedro supplied helpfully. "Aren't you listening?" 

"Lost in thought," Viktor wheezed out. Turshkah wasn't any better. 

Thankfully, a human stepped up as well and basically took over. They were reading from a script, and whatever questions the crowd had left them floundering, but it was leagues better than a Vokkrus giving out information. Viktor felt a bit bad that he was so distrustful of them. They hadn't done anything wrong.

Ezekiel was right, though; the information session wasn't all that helpful. It just explained what had happened the other day with the Drive. Most humans hadn't sustained any lasting injury with their leap through space, but some had been a little worse for wear, especially those that had already been injured. The session then explained how their stomach acid was particularly fatal to Vokkrus, and to take great care if they felt like throwing up.