"Can I stay in here with her?" asked He'dtaalh, pointing to where his female had a death grip on his hair. She had grabbed it as soon as he had laid down, and now, there was nothing he could do to pull it out.
Not that he wanted to.
"I assume that you are aware of what could happen to you if you aren't injured and still inside a regen pod," grunted Yuyealth, not bothering to actually look at the male. He was too busy staring at the tiny creature curled up on his chest.
She didn't look to be bigger than a 15-year-old youngling, and he couldn't detect any natural form of self-defense. Her nails were blunted, and her skin didn't seem to have any type of protection. He reached forward, wanting to see just how vulnerable when three deep growls reminded him why that would not be a good idea.
"I am aware," grunted He'dtaalh, trying to get his teeth back to their normal size so he could speak properly. "And I am still willing."
Healer Yuyealth shrugged his shoulders and pressed a single button on his handheld device. A clear, dome-shaped lid slowly rose from He'dtaalh's feet, adjusting its height until it was able to comfortably cover both the Nycteromys and the hirini.
A light blue fog filled the enclosed chamber until the three males standing outside of the regen pod could no longer see what was going on.
Not happy that there was nothing he could physically do at the moment, Ba'dqeel rounded on Zua'the, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the other male. "Why did you send Head Healer Zalena to her chambers? She is the best healer we have on the ship. M—" Ba'dqeel stopped in mid-sentence and collected himself.
"The hirini has been through enough and deserves the best," he continued through gritted teeth. Being a mate was a death sentence for the female, and Ba'dqeel was willing to spill that secret. No matter how much he would have loved to announce it to the universe.
"She knew," grunted Zua'the, not willing to back down from this fight.
"Excuse me?" asked Ba'dqeel, cocking his head to the side, his eyes entirely focused on the shorter male. "What did you say?"
"When you announced the female's species, Head Healer Zalena paused for a second, and her finger trembled when she was imputing the commands for the regen pod," explained Zua'the, his back teeth grounded together as he pushed the words out of his mouth. "She was also adamant that no one could be in the pod with her."
"You think she was planning something?" murmured Ba'dqeel. But how was this possible? The Dryadalis came to the Nycteromys Empire maybe a year ago, seeking sanctuary. How would she know what a human was, let alone try to kill her?"
"I think she could zezena-shit an excuse for accidentally killing an unknown species better than she could if He'dtaalh ended up dead," stated Zua'the.
"I'll go speak to her," nodded Ba'dqeel. "Find out what she knows."
"She was from Sector B0101101," said Zua'the. "She was there when their Alliance fell. She claimed that she was going to be killed just for being in the sector, and since you considered her to be a good healer, you accepted her onto your ship."
While Zua'the was just stating the facts as he knew it, it still felt like a personal attack to Ba'dqeel. The ambassador narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that?" he asked. Honestly, he had completely forgotten about it until the Captain of the Guard had reminded him.
"It's my job to know all the secrets for everyone on board your official ship," sneered Zua'the. "And that wasn't that much of a secret."
"Then tell me, oh wise one, what is Zalena's secret," sneered Ba'dqeel.
"Her secret was that she was working on a classified mission for the Galactic Alliance of Sentient Beings, one that not even I have been able to get information on," stated Zua'the. "I am willing to bet an entire rotation of credits that she knows what the hirini is and is willing to kill to keep the secret."
Ba'dqeel paused and studied his friend. This was getting a lot more complicated than simply finding an unidentified creature that looked like their legends of old.
"I'll find out," he assured the other male before stalking out of the med bay. "Guard well. Do not let anyone inside that Zua'the hasn't vetted," he snapped at the guards on the other side of the door before it hissed shut.
-----
"This had better be good, Nycteromys. I have better things to do than speak to you," sneered the male on the video feed. Ba'dqeel had gone into his chamber and placed an encrypted call to the one male he knew from the same sector as Head Healer Zalena.
He sat behind his desk in a smaller room off of his bed chamber. It was designed to allow for private conversations, ones that could affect worlds if information got out. While Ba'dqeel had used it several times in the hundreds of years he had been an ambassador for his people, this was the most important conversation he had ever had.
"I assure you, Da'kea, the feeling is entirely mutual," replied Ba'dqeel. The Saalistaja ambassador had undergone a change since the last time they had spoken, over a century ago. The male was just under three hundred years younger than himself, but he had more than proven himself to be a worthy adversary.
However, Ba'dqeel didn't know when he had gotten the armor upgrade, his eyes glowing blue through the screen as they stared at him.
"Then why are you calling?" sighed the Saalistaja as he rubbed one of the ridges on his helmet. It was an odd maneuver and one that Ba'dqeel had never seen before.
"I have an issue," grunted Ba'dqeel.
"I assumed. But if you are just going to beat around the bush, then I am hanging up. Like I said, I have enough shit to do," grunted Da'kea.
"I think my head healer is trying to kill my hirini, and I thought you would know the reason," spat out Ba'dqeel.
Da'kea paused, the blue lights where his eyes were narrowing into a thin line. "I have no idea what you are talking about."