Eradicate (Manipulate, Book 3)

Chapter 3

Spo Embassy

Planet: Selta

She'd gotten coffee on Sage's letter. Safely in her room, Claire finally removed the paper envelope from her pocket. It was nearly soaked. She teased it open without ripping the paper, and carefully peeled the letter out of it.

It was dated several weeks before. Probably he had written it right after everything had gone down, and posted it before he escaped from Selta.

Dear Claire,

I've arranged for you to receive this soon. I don't know if you've forgiven me for going against your wishes, but I hope you have. My intentions were only to save you pain, and as new as I am to friendship, I don't think I'm totally wrong. That may not be the apology you are looking for, but I know you are too honest to appreciate false tears.

I wish you were here. Francois has offered to take me to his family estate on Cross, and from his description, I know you would love it. If I were an unselfish person, I would be glad that you are with your own kind and safe, but I am not. I wish you were here with Francois and me, and not with them. Those other humans will try to convince you that we're monsters and enemies and that's only twenty percent true (I say with a smile.)

I hope that you are healing from your injuries. Francois wants me to tell you that he wishes he could be there to heal you again. I was horrified to see you that last time, bleeding and broken, but I was not surprised that you managed to get away from Faal again. You are an amazing person.

By now you're aware that we DID manage to steal the ink while we were escaping, and we now all have the human tattoo. It won't be accepted much longer, but it opened a few doors for us to get further away from the dangers of Merith space, and that alone is invaluable. I've lost contact with Old Twin, but Juliet and Athlete are on their way to Vel mainspace. We cannot go to Earth, so we've all scattered to the four winds.

Francois has been a brick, as there is some danger to him in this, and he continues to make light of it. I think your influence must have something to do with it, because in my experience, aliens do not risk their lives for each other without good reason. But since I met you, risking our lives for others seems to have become a commonplace. What next? Will the Crosspoint at last produce a comprehensible play? I can believe anything now.

Again, I wish you were here.

Love,

Sage

Claire wanted to pour over the letter and ponder everything he wrote, but they would be expecting her to come back with changed clothes soon. She allowed herself to read it once more, and then tucked it flat in her drawer under the clothes Nat had given her.

It took Claire a while to change clothes. Just working the elastic waist of her skirt over the bandage on her leg was tricky, and pants were impossible at the moment.

She'd balled up her skirt and tossed it toward her pile of dirty clothes, when she heard someone knock at the door. It couldn't be Nat, because she would enter without knocking. She and Claire had been sharing this room at the Spo embassy since Claire had come.

"Just a minute!" Claire shouted, wondering if one of the Spo had come looking for Nat. They didn't usually knock like a human, though.

"I'm waiting!" shouted back a distinctly feminine, human voice.

Claire paused. The only women at the embassy were her and Nat, and three older women who'd come for the tribunal. This didn't sound like any of them.

She hurried into another loose skirt that Nat had procured for her, and limped to the door. It opened to reveal a short, curly-haired, blonde girl with brown eyes, and a decidedly cocky smile.