Anxiety was a lead weight in my stomach, settling itself down like it paid rent. I spared only a second of consideration for the immaculate uniform that the Comm team had gifted to me the other day. It will have to wait.

The Comm bay was a hive of activity when we arrived. Males were clustered around in small groups some of them unfamiliar to me. I waded through the sea of people until I stopped at a small group that stood circled around one of the display screens in the back of the room. Vailen was among them. Where we'd slipped through the crowd unnoticed for the most part until now, Vailen did a double-take when his attention landed on us, his quicksilver eyes skittering between Esayr and me for only a moment before he regained his hard-won composure.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," he spoke to our little group of three, momentarily focusing on Cece almost as an afterthought before he returned to the screen, "There are a few things worth addressing. The first is the issue of the girl, though I'm assuming you're now aware of the circumstance of her situation."

"She's disappeared, correct? Have we had news of whether it was her own volition?" Esayr's smooth voice calmed the sharper edges of the room.

"None yet. Her government at the very least seems equally surprised by her disappearance, however." Vailen's fangs were out in full force, long angry slashes in his mouth. As he spoke he'd bare them at even the slightest grimace.

It struck me, then, why he might have such a carefully calculated presence that he kept under lock and key. I turned my attention to the rest of the room, trying to remember if there were any other Sumase Val'Dornn that claimed the Comm Bay as their professional workspace, but none came to mind.

"We're hoping it was her own decision to flee or that of her family." Vailen's anger quieted into a simmering boil that radiated in the space around him.

"Any reason why?"

"At least then it was motivated by safety. The event that she might have been taken for her connection to us, puts a more dangerous spin on her position."

"How is Callin?" Esayr's hand trailed up my back to grip my shoulder and tug me back against his chest lightly.

"He is--" Vailen's voice drifted for a moment while he considered his answer, "--he would benefit from your visit," was what he eventually settled on and I wasn't sure if it was because of our bond or simply because Esayr held sway as some kind of counselor on this ship.

I felt Esayr nod against the top of my head.

"There is another issue. Vailen pinned me with his gaze, attention shifting to all the spots that Esayr held me, where we both touched. The sharpened lines of stress faded just a little right before he turned back to the screen, "Your government has hailed us again in response to the worldwide panic this has caused. They refuse to speak with us, insisting the reason is that they want to check on your welfare." He glanced at Cece for only a moment before returning to me.

"Anything I should know before I speak to them?"

"Whatever you think is best in your dealings with your government, we will abide by. We trust your intuition." I almost wished they had hard limits on the things I could and couldn't talk about. It would have made these situations easier. I'd never been a politician or even an orator. I was a damn waitress of all things. I didn't know the ins and outs of how the things I said could be twisted and misconstrued. "Am I allowed to bring up the girl?"

"If you think it best, yes."

"Do we know her name?"

"Sibel Andonova."

I repeated the name to myself a few times, familiarizing myself with it until I was certain I could pronounce it correctly. That same kinship I'd always felt whenever I found out someone had a similarly long name welled up in my chest, all for a girl I didn't know, who was standing on a planet I no longer was a part of. "Sibel Andonova."

Vailen motioned to the nearby door, seemingly the same one I always used whenever I found myself here, "They're waiting for you already."

I nodded and turned in Esayr's arms to lay my forehead against his chest to shore up my nerves before I walked into the room. He held me gently, his hands sweeping my hair away from my shoulders and my face while he whispered sweet words to me in Vallan. When I stepped away from him, I felt the distance as a physical loss, though nearly immediately sweeping through our bond there was a sense of reassurance that built like the steadiness of a brick wall behind me, propping me up in the moments that my legs felt weak.

"Would you prefer us to wait here?"

"For as long as they continue the ruse of checking on my health, yes. I don't want any narrative getting spun that I'm here against my will and you won't let me out of your sight." I traced the line of Esayr's cheek and he leaned into my hand, turning just enough to press a kiss to my palm. "Let's get this over with."

I left my mate and turned to the smooth door of the Comm room. The door slid open on a silent track as I approached. The room was mostly dim like always and fell completely silent when the door closed behind me, leaving me to my thoughts as I slowly made my way to seat in front of the screen.

Whoever it was on the screen, I didn't recognize her at all. I'd expected to see the same man from last time, but as I sat gingerly onto my seat, the woman addressed me with all the snip of a woman that wasn't used to being kept waiting.

"Addison Kane, kind of you to join us this evening."

"As unexpected as this was, it's my pleasure to be here," I folded my hands neatly in my lap to keep them from shaking on camera.

"If you wouldn't mind we have a few questions for you today regarding some recent happenings."

"Of course. I'm more than happy to answer your questions today," I paused for only a moment, "may I know your name before we begin?"

"I'm Melanie Stoddart," I noted to myself that she didn't offer me the name of her new station and the backdrop behind her was nondescript as well.

"It's nice to meet you, Melanie."

She nodded but didn't return the sentiment. Already this interaction was rubbing me the wrong way, but I kept my sentiments to myself.

"Tell us about the girl, Addison."

I'd expected that was what had prompted this call from a planet that had been more than happy to write me off previously, "I don't know much about her. The extent of my knowledge regarding Sibel Andonova is that she's disappeared in regards to her connection with the Lottery," I held my tongue regarding the fact that she'd been matched, unsure if that information had gotten out and if she had been abducted I didn't want to put her into the even more precarious position of hostage. "We're all concerned for her well-being and are invested in her safe return."

The woman stared at me, her eyes were as dark as Esayr's but lacked all the warmth of them. Where his were like heated coals, hers I could imagine like an obsidian chip, cold lifeless the warmth that had once created it long gone. "Surely you can't be that naive?"

I certainly could be. But, it wasn't like I could sit here and say that we thought she was might have been a target and could become a pawn to prove a point in this whole ordeal our little backwater planet had caused. "Not naive ma'am, simply optimistic. The ship is gutted that someone has possibly come to harm over their connection to the Val'Dornn."

The woman's eyelids fluttered and I got the distinct impression she'd just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "We don't care about that girl, Addison. Where is Cecelia?"

That surprised me. For all I knew, they shouldn't have had any idea that Cecelia had come to the ship. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I felt the chill more acutely from the woman in front of me, the wanton disregard for the life of a girl that had taken up residence on news stations across the entirety of the planet didn't sit right with me.

Melanie glared off to the side of the screen, "We know the Houston plant drew enough energy for a transport. Cecelia, though hard to pin down, has her roots in Houston, Texas. We've received no contact about any other matches being taken so we must assume then that a transfer of a civilian took place, and the only civilian that you might consider in that area would have been Ms. Bird."

"That's quite the leap of logic, Melanie." My voice felt harder. My bond twisted between us, knotting into anxious coils where it slipped through the seam of the doorway and out to Esayr.

"We're prepared to offer you a bargain," Melanie's attention returned to me from off-screen.

"I don't see have you have anything worth bargaining with." Nothing at all that I wanted at the very least.

"Your freedom, Addison Kane, the reinstatement of your citizenship and your safety to return to your home and your life down here on Earth. All we want is Cecelia."

"And how would you manage that?" I wouldn't take it. Never would, if I were being honest. None of those things were freedom at all, but I was interested in their plan and what they thought that they could get away with.

"I'm no news anchor, though we felt this was the best way to reach you as quietly as we could. I have affiliations with certain branches that would greatly like to speak with you in regards to your time on the ship. We could make certain you were well cared for on your return."

That cold and calculated idea of 'cared for' held no sway over me when I could still feel the warmth of Esayr's fingers on my arm and the press of his lips to my palm, "I want none of it, Ms. Stoddart. Turn your attention elsewhere. As to Cecelia Bird, of her whereabouts I'm honestly uncertain. Had she come to the ship, I really couldn't tell you as far as I'm concerned."

"If you terminate this line it will be considered an act of treason and you will never set foot on this planet a free woman again, Addison Kane. You will never come back to Earth."

"Bet," I ended the call.

*****A/N*****

This has been a little bit of a hectic week for me. I ended up getting an unexpected interview for a position in my company that I've been working towards for a while. When it comes to interviews I'm just a plain mess. I don't know what it is about them but I get so unbelievably nervous and I just positively -~vibrate~- with anxiety.

I still haven't heard back yet, but should know by the beginning of this week whether I'll move onto the next stage which would end up being an even bigger panel interview. I'm really nervous about it, but whatever happens, happens. If I don't end up getting the position at least I still have the position I'm in now.

Aside from that, I've been mostly reading in my free time and trying to clean up my house little by little so that I'll be able to the cooler weather once it comes around. The other day it was 61 degrees out in the morning when I went to work...granted that was at 5 AM, though, and the rest of the day ended up being a nice Florida 91 degrees lmao.

I'm still cooking along in this story. Ended up falling off the wagon of writing 100 words a day this week from the associated stress, but I'm looking forward to getting back into it while things settle down.

Love always,

~Layla