Raven Tide

“Begin,” a nine-foot-tall olive green and orange yautja female scientist commanded.

She stared at me, clicking her black tucks as we sat across from one another in the tiny stark white room.

I ogled the little cube puzzle she laid out in front of me on the metal table. It looked fairly straightforward but I couldn’t keep my legs still.

It had been six days of medical examinations and isolation. Normally, I didn’t mind being trapped indoors for extended intervals. But I hadn’t seen Raven Tide or even a single window throughout my entire detainment.

The yautja called this place the institute and they hadn’t done me any real harm beyond making me sleep in an uncomfortable bed and boring me out of my mind.

I pressed one of my newly formed fingers on the top corner then rolled it a little bit to gauge the scientist’s reaction.

The woman growled and stood up, then she snatched the puzzle box away and stormed out of the room with her long orange quills swaying behind.

I wasn’t trying to be difficult. I just couldn’t take being trapped under a microscope for one second longer.

I sighed and laid my head sideways on the table, fidgeting my brand-new fingers on the surface of the table.

I was still mad at Raven Tide but mostly... now I was worried.

Every night I replayed my final moments with him inside the transport before he locked me up and broke my trust in him forever.

I knew why he did it, it was a logical decision. But trust and logic rarely flow together.

Just tell me he’s ok...

I chewed on my lip and sat up.

The yautja on Sahei were different than I expected. They spoke more formally than Raven Tide and were strict about everything.

His speech cadence must have been indicative of his slightly different upbringing. He mentioned that he and his brother spent a great deal of time on Menthla with his mother’s species when they were children.

All of a sudden the heavy metal door swung open.

“Raven Tide,” I shot up and hugged him.

He chuckled and wrapped his big warm arms around me.

“Check you out,” his long white ears perked up. “Got your own V.I.P. sterile exam room and everything!”

“Lucky me,” I wiped my eyes with a smile. “You can have it all if you want it.”

“Oh, I’d take you up on it if I could,” Raven Tide curled his clawed finger under my chin. “But I’m nowhere near as special as you.”

“When can I leave?”

“Soon,” Raven Tide took a seat on the lip of the table. “But the big brains need you to prove what you can do.”

“But it’s so boring,” I rolled my eyes and slumped into the metal chair. “Can they at least move me to a room with a window or let me step outside for some fresh air?”

Raven Tide shook his head. “Gotta prove you’re worthy to get the glory.”

“Fine,” I huffed and sat up straight. “Where’s Chupacabra with her pokey box?”

“Chu’saka,” Raven Tide corrected me with a chitter. Then he hopped up and nodded at one of the blank white walls.

“Is that like a two-way mirror?” I scooted my chair up to the table.

“Try four,” Raven Tide spun his index finger in a circle.

“Yeesh,” I cringed my teeth. “How big is my audience?”

“Do you really want to know?” Raven Tide leaned into my ear.

I shook my head and let out an exhale in an effort to focus on anything else.

Chu’saka returned this time with a large crate filled to the brim with what I think were all puzzles.

“Please tell me I get to pick just one of my choosing,” my eyes pleaded at Raven Tide.

Raven Tide chittered again to my dismay.

“You’ll be done with these in a heartbeat,” Raven Tide hopped off the table then knelt to meet my eyes and rubbed my shoulder. “I’ll be right here the whole time. You got this.”

Chu’saka shoved the crate into Raven Tide’s hands and then left us alone in the observation room.

“Pick your poison,” Raven Tide dumped the heavy bin next to my legs then he got comfy and stretched out in the chair on the other side of the table.

It took approximately forty grueling minutes to solve every puzzle in the yautja’s big bin of torment. Raven Tide at least was kind enough to hold up each completed bauble for whomever was watching beyond the blinders then he’d chucked the little gadget into a random wall of his choosing to reward and encourage my performance by smashing it to pieces.

Then we moved on to the virtual exam.

One after another, I was provided with a different menu hud, each in a different language and continuity of format. Raven Tide would give me the task that I was meant to execute and then I’d do it.

None of the challenges were terribly difficult, but I was getting antsy and needed to move around.

“Are we done?!” I flopped back with my head hanging off the back of the chair. “I can do more for you later but you gotta let me stretch my legs.”

“One more,” Raven Tide pulled his feet off the corner of the table and came around to rub my neck. “This time, can you walk them through your reasoning?”

“Last one?” I harrumphed, practically begging.

“Last one,” Raven Tide patted my head then returned to his seat.

I slowed down my pace drastically and explained this to my observers, then I described each icon and my reasoning for selecting each button. A few minutes later I was finished.

The lights on the walls pulsed green and the final virtual hud vanished.

“All done,” Raven Tide grinned. “Give them a minute, you can leave in just a bit.”

“Finally,” I stretched both of my arms. “Those were super easy.”

“Chyani,” Raven Tide hunched over the table and spoke freely. “It’s a little scary that you don’t realize this, but in that last sequence, all the symbols were complete gibberish and the program was re-writing itself randomly. It was built to lock you out and you still pried it open and whipped it into submission.”

“Oh,” was all I could peep out.

“I always enjoyed drawing because it involved problem-solving. Perspective, anatomy, color selection, placing text and objects in the most appealing formations. It’s fun and there’s a sense of accomplishment when it comes out just the way I imagined it,” my eyes wandered across the smooth metal table. “It never occurred to me that there was anything else influencing my choices.”

“I don’t think your ability influenced anything,” Raven Tide folded his fingers together.

I raised my eyebrow at him in disbelief.

“Seems to me you’re just a lot more observant than the rest of us,” Raven Tide tucked his fists under his chin. “Nothing and no one made you press any specific button or decide to strut into an Iddril base, basically unarmed. You took the information in front of you and made a choice. You, Chyani. Not some silly power you picked up from squashing a grubby worm.”

I shied my eyes and kicked my feet together, unable to think up a proper counterargument.

“What happens now?” I pulled my eyes up to his.

“Well,” Raven Tide relaxed his shoulders. “After you directed me on how to slay the Graven and we got shipped back to Sahei, a funny thing happened. The remnants of the Graven left a big’ol marking in the ground. It’s a sigil written in the Graven language and little green flowers started sprouting all around.”

“Is there a grub?”

“No,” Raven Tide snickered and shook his quills. “But my mother is able to read it. It’s a gateway, like a jump point. We don’t know how to activate it. The scientists here think maybe that’s something you can help us with. What do you say, Chyani, are you game?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“In leaving Nexus territory, no,” Raven Tide explained frankly. “The Graven would be right back at hunting you. But as far as you helping us willingly. I suppose there’s an institute scientist skulking around who could think up some method for forcing you, but Oru, our Supreme Elder of Jahaa, forbade any such methods. She granted you unlimited asylum. No one here will harm you.”

“So, I’m not a prisoner?”

“Technically, according to the Nexus,” Raven Tide got up from his chair wagging his ears. “You’ve been designated a priority asset. You’ll even get your own personal security detail and I wouldn’t be shocked if you’ll qualify to have your lifespan extended.”

“What do you mean?” I got up with him and walked toward the door.

“One of many perks that come with being inducted into the Nexus,” Raven Tide smiled wide. “Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of experts to explain the details later.”

Then he stopped and dipped his ears.

“I’m sorry, Chyani,” he touched his forehead to mine. “I was focused on myself and made a choice for you and not with you. I was so busy trying to keep you safe, I failed to notice that all you needed was for me to listen.”

He flicked his big white ears against my cheeks, “The irony’s not lost on me.”

“It’s ok,” I listened to his big heart thump inside his chest. “I’m still mad but I’ll cool off and get over it. I can’t say I forgive you today but it’ll happen, I’m certain. Plus, you’re young, there’s plenty of time for you to learn from making bonehead mistakes.”

Raven Tide’s breath hitched and he squeezed me tight, “If Chyani says it, it must be true.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about living the rest of my life on an alien planet. In a way, I was relieved that I’d never have to endure another awkward conversation with a member of my own species, but... “What about my brother?”

“Sorry,” Raven Tide tucked his ears down dolefully. “Contact isn’t permitted. The record will likely show you died on Phirsa 3 with everyone else.”

My eyes traced across the floor.

He was right. Galactic Headquarters couldn’t protect me but I hated leaving Hecte alone, with him believing he was the last surviving member of our family.

He’ll be ok... He’s got Heather and they’ll no doubt make a whole gaggle of beautiful babies.

Hecte makes friends easily, he’ll never be alone, really.

“Will it be weird,” I looked up at Raven Tide. “For your people, that I’m here while at the same time, they hunt other humans?”

“Nah,” he patted my shoulder. “They and you will get used to it, give it time.”

I suppose... I got used to him and from the few other yautja I met, Raven Tide was weirder than all of them.

“Besides, it’s probably for the best that you’ll never see another human for the rest of your life,” Raven Tide wagged his ears, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “Their males will never satisfy you properly.”

I blushed and smiled but I didn’t push him away.

Raven Tide escorted me out of the exam room and eventually into a wide hallway where we were greeted by three intimidating yautja.

“I have to get going,” Raven Tide put his hands behind his back and stretched out his neck.

“This is In’sho,” Raven Tide pointed with his ears to a yellow and teal yautja while two white-masked Enforcers snapped a glowing blue collar around his neck. “She’ll get you safely back to your quarters.”

In’sho stared down at me and tipped her chin for me to follow.

“What’s going on?” My heart rate tripled.

“It’s ok,” Raven Tide flashed me a smile. “The consequences of my choices are binding.”

Then the two heavily armored Enforcers cuffed Raven Tide and took him away in the opposite direction.