“I think that’s her,” I said. “But you’re right, her cytonic abilities seem to be gone. What happened to them? And why did they end up here?”
“Gran-Gran was behaving strangely before she hyperjumped,” Alanik said. “She told me she could tell where Cobb was on the ship, which doesn’t make sense. He’s not cytonic, so she shouldn’t have been able to find him through the negative realm.”
That was strange. “But you knew it was her then,” I said. “Because you were familiar with her mind. So was I. She wasn’t a Superiority fake.”
“She also said she was hearing voices calling to her, asking her for help,” Alanik said. “She asked if they were my people.”
I narrowed my eyes. That could have been the Superiority interfering with her cytonics. Like what happened to Spensa’s father.
I looked at the medtechs. “What is their condition?”
“They seem stable,” Kel said.
“We’ve focused on keeping them nourished and hydrated,” Kauri added. “Our lorekeepers have some records of what nutrients your people need.”
“Cuna said that your people don’t have cytonics,” I said, “but that you still have information about them.”
“Yes,” Kauri said. “Our lorekeepers have preserved the records, and they study and understand them, but we have not had kitsen cytonics for centuries. Some of my people believe it’s a curse, that we haven’t proven ourselves worthy to regain the powers.”
That was unfortunate. Still, detailed records of cytonic powers would be useful. “We would love to speak to your lorekeepers,” I said.
“Of course,” Kauri said. “I will send a message saying that you’ve requested an audience with them.”
“In the meantime, we can load Cobb and Gran-Gran into the transport ship.” Something strange was happening with Gran-Gran, possibly with both of them, and they needed better medical care than our medtechs could give here in the field.
“I think you should meet with our senators first,” Kauri said. “If you remove your people from the planet before the meeting, Goro may try to use that as evidence that you’re trying to sneak away, or that you’re preparing to attack.”
I hesitated, looking to Winnow.
“I don’t think a few hours are going to make a difference,” Winnow said. “Unless their conditions worsen.”
That was fair. I looked at Cobb one more time. His face was pale, but he was breathing. He was alive.
We’d wake him up. We had to.
He had to find us a way out of this mess.
Seven
When we returned to the feast area, we found FM sitting cross-legged at one of the tables, rolling melons the size of her head through a machine with many coordinated blades that cut them into precise slices. Nedd and Arturo sat behind her, loading citrus fruits onto small spindles that spun around a sharp blade, which removed the peel in a long, thin strip. Nedd deposited the peels into very small waste canisters, which two kitsen replaced with empty canisters and then scurried away to offer the full canisters to a pen filled with miniature goats, about the right size for a kitsen to ride as a mount. Kimmalyn and Sadie were seasoning fish with very small seasoning shakers, while Catnip and T-Stall knelt next to the ovens, using handheld controls to remove the fish from the conveyors with acclivity-empowered spatulas.
“I’m sorry,” Kauri said to me. “You are our guests. Your people shouldn’t have been asked to prepare the food.”
Hana ran up, sitting at my feet. “We didn’t ask them,” she said. “They volunteered. In fact, FM insisted.”
FM raised her eyebrows at me from across the sandy pavilion.
“We take no offense,” I said. “Thank you for allowing us to serve you.”
FM smiled.
This was kind of brilliant of her. We were trying to convince them that we weren’t invaders. I bet the humans who’d marched in and declared them a colony didn’t offer to help them with food preparation.
“What can I do to help?” I asked.
Alanik and I were brought to rotating spits where squashes roasted over a fire. We were instructed to use miniscule spray bottles to hydrate the turning vegetables with a brownish liquid that smelled both sweet and spicy.
I sprayed a bit on my finger and tasted it. Stars, it was delicious.
Not long after, Goro arrived. His champion rode on the saucer beside him, her sword tucked into a sheath and strapped across her back.