The Human Bearer
35.
The only thing he could do for now was watch. Watch and try to comprehend whatever was going on in the telepathic conversation the two enemies held right in front of him. Gamni had abandoned the prospect of torturing him verbally since, apparently, he had bigger fish to fry. All Riordan could grasp was the humming that seemed to be the signature of that kind of communication. To any unaware onlooker, the scene in front of him had to look peaceful, or at least not giving away the violence concealed by the two tense bodies, one human, one alien in shape.
Gamni towered over Florent, who was now on his feet, looking upwards at his former master. His stare was resolute, keen, while Gamni seemed the more intense of them. A battle of wills took place, and Riordan wished he could be able either to tear his eyes away or start understanding what they were saying to each other.
The only thing left for him to do was to pick up on the cues bared to him and his limited understanding. Florent was resisting, his clenched fists by his sides, but he appeared unwavering in his decision, whatever that was. Gamni was attacking him relentlessly, but his eyes were slowly narrowing, a sign of obvious frustration and displeasure.
Riordan sat on the floor, his back to the wall, trying his hardest to take up as little space as possible, in an effort not to bring the asshole general's attention to himself. At the same time, his mind was racing. He needed to keep from trying to contact Xana again, although the last cell in his body screamed for it. Florent had saved him the first time, but who was to say that Gamni wouldn't take pleasure in watching him drown while stopping Riordan from getting any help?
He placed both hands on his belly and focused on slowing down the beating of his heart. All the things he had read about Xeno births and caring for Xenolites during the first moments of them being born, those were the things he tried to focus on. Even that thought filled him with dread. Gamni had been clear in his threats. The moment the Xenolite was born, he'd kill him.
For assurance, he felt the vial in his pocket. He hoped for the love of everything that Cario was right, or at least that his thoughts on the superpowers the thing could give were not mere hogwash. The only thing left now for him to do was wait for the right moment. Florent had told him enough about the strangeness of the prison in which they were kept for him not to act too rashly.
He closed his eyes, although the humming of Florent's conflict with their enemy was too distracting either way. Did time flow the same way, here, in the metal parasite serving as their cell? Had Xana learned already of his disappearance? Had they noticed that Florent was gone, too? What Riordan waited and wished for was a sign, one that would tell him that help was on the way. Then, he might take his chance at bringing down the general, because without him, someone had to be able to open the door from the outside and save them.
He pressed his head against the cold wall behind him. They could breathe in here. That meant that there had to be a physical connection to a system of pipes that pumped breathable air, and that could only come from Tu'lek. Riordan's eyes snapped open. Where was that opening that communicated with the ship? That time, when he had followed Lewis's lovers through the pipes to save Kanto, that kind of system had to be connected with this room somehow.
He stole a glance at Florent and Gamni. They seemed to have forgotten he existed in the same space as them. Keeping his eyes half-closed, he moved them slowly across the ceiling, trying his best to identify a trap, a dent, something to tell him that there was something there, something he could use at least as a reminder that there had to be a way out.
How the hell was Gamni doing that? The room appeared so hermetic, impossible to escape. His eyes rested on the huge light fixture hanging from the ceiling until they swam in tears. He blinked, and just then, he sensed that he missed something. He stared into the light again. He wasn't wrong. The thing flickered.
Riordan didn't even dare to blink again. Something was going on.
A jerk and the room tilted, making him roll on one side until he hit the wall to his right. Yes, dammit, finally, help was on the way!
An alarm began to blare and the light turned from harsh-white to crimson-red. Riordan heard a hissing sound and looked up to see Gamni pushing Florent so violently away that the Earthian stumbled and fell on his back. He slithered quickly towards the wall with the door.
Now was the moment. Riordan pulled the vial out of his pocket and tried to open it, but the room jerked again and he found himself rolling to the other side. There was nothing for him to seize with his hands to break his helpless trajectory. He ended up by Florent's side, just as Gamni disappeared.
"What do you think it's going on?" he asked rapidly, hanging on to Florent. "They're coming for us, right?"
He had no time to let Florent offer him an answer, because a stab of pain clenched his lower body. He jerked away from his friend and found himself on the back, his arms stretched out. It took him seconds to understand that the animal-like sounds he was hearing came from his throat.
Florent was by his side, grabbing his hand and Riordan squeezed back.
"What the fuck?" he murmured.
"I think it's happening," Florent said with a wild look on his face.
"What? What's--oh, fuck, the baby?" Using Earthian terms was easier. Just thinking of what a Xeno birth looked like made his breathing stop in fear.
Florent nodded and tried to give him a reassuring smile. Riordan growled as the stabbing pain started again. He had seen Cario giving birth, hooked on seth, in that bath that probably made things easier, but he was on a cold metal floor, and the only one to assist him was another human. With great effort, he searched his pocket. He'd have a drop, just one. He'd need it later, when help came, right?
"Oh, no," he whispered. He must have dropped the vial with the concentrated sangar when the room moved with them inside.
"You can do this," Florent kept whispering at him. "And yes, I think they're coming. Just hold on, Riordan. You're strong."
"Fuck, now's not the time to sell me a boatload of bullshit," he groaned as his body twisted and jerked. The pain was so overwhelming that he had no control over his muscles or anything else in his body.
Florent didn't sit idle. He helped him move his legs and hiked them up, relieving some of the pain in doing so. That was a guy who probably knew a lot more about Xeno births than him. He had gone to that fancy academy, like Cario.
