Echo Book 2

47. Information Only

We wake up early in the morning and take a long bath. I watch out the window at the planet below us.

"I feel so bad for my sister. I couldn't imagine losing someone I loved like that. Murdered right in front of her while she was pregnant with his baby."

Malax washes my back. "That had to have been horrible. At least her and the baby are good now. The 3 of them are a family."

"I feel bad Urie will never know his dad."

"He has Alden, baby. Alden is his dad."

"You know what I mean."

"Maybe you can search around and see if he has any family. Maybe you could find an aunt or something for Urie."

"That's true. Hell, maybe he has siblings."

"Yea, we don't know how Uhmok was. All I heard was he lost his mate early."

"I'll see what I can figure out. You are right. Maybe I can find someone. Urie should know his history. Eventually, anyway."

"I'm going to stalk Alden and Dipak. See what they're doing."

I nod. "Call it supervision. I think that's what we do."

"Me too."

We move to the dining room and nobody is in it. "Where is everyone?"

The wall answers. "Tim, Tobias, and Hunter are in their offices. Eriska, Victor, and Zion are sleeping."

Malax rubs his face. "Damn teenagers. Make everyone come here for breakfast."

10 minutes later, they're in here. Victor has his head on the table and Zion's hair is everywhere, but they seem to be awake.

Hunter looks around. "Someone needs to put a pool and workout room on the ship."

Malax nods. "I'll do that."

Tim shakes his head. "You're doing enough. Hunter can do that."

I look at Hunter. "Add a spa with the gym too. Did you see my house? How it's separate? Do something like that."

"Swimming laps are nice. Don't forget the current maker."

He nods. "How much money can I spend?"

Zion laughs. "She spent 22 million on a necklace yesterday. I don't think you have a budget."

I cross my arms. "It wasn't a necklace. It was a whole jewelry set."

"Big difference."

Tim rubs his face. "You 2 are not going to argue through breakfast."

Malax signals for the food. "If you don't argue, we'll buy you bikes on this planet."

I shut my mouth so fast. "He's my new best friend."

He shakes his head. "We weren't arguing. We agree. About everything. It was a jewelry set. Not a necklace. She was explaining that."

I nod.

The rest of them crack up laughing.

"And no dresses on the bikes."

"We do good with the gear."

"Echo had a skirt on."

Tim smirks. "That was convenient."

Victor laughs. "I bet. But yea, the dresses or skirts will fly up. You don't want to wear that anyway. And accidents can happen, and the road will shred your skin."

Malax stands up. "Tobias and Victor. You report to Alden and see what he wants you to do. Eriska can go with you. Me, Tim, and Hunter are going to follow people around and call it supervising. Zion and Echo, do not cause problems. See what you can figure out. The ship has riding gear and helmets. Use those."

Hunter rubs his face. "You're putting the 2 of them together?"

"We can't keep them in offices all day. They'll go insane and cause problems." Tim stands up. "They've already been locked on the ship for a day. Eriska is going to need some time later too."

Eriska nods. "Check their pools and gyms. They may have different stuff."

Zion jumps up. "On it. But I need a shower. Deliver the gear to my room."

"Yes, sir."

"ME TOO." I run out.

I run to Malax's room and the gear comes in after a minute. I get it all on. I'm black and pink again. This helmet looks like an alien head. It's very interesting. It's black and pink though. I'll wear it.

I go to the command room, and we're ready to go down. Malax lands us at a bike shop and gets 2 for us. Zion and I ride down the road for a while. Then we come to a little town and stop at a shop.

"What are we doing? Looking at pools and not causing problems?"

I rub my face off. "This place is so sandy and tan."

"Yea, it really f*****g is. It's getting in the seals around the helmet even."

"Anyway, my sister was with a man who lived on this planet. He got killed in front of her. She was pregnant when it happened. The baby's name is Urie. The throne is trying to sort out some stuff. Our mission is to figure out if the man had any other kids or family."

"What's the guy's name?"

"Uhmok."

"Last name?"

"No idea. Uhmok. He was a dragon. That's all I know. He lost his soulmate early."

"Not much to go on."

"Yep. I don't know where to start."

A guy sees us and takes off running.

"That's a good spot." Zion chases him and tackles him. "WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?"

I run over to them.

"Please. I'm sorry. I don't want any problems." He drops to his knees and stares at the ground.

Zion brushes himself off. "Why are you running?"

"The dragons. Her type. They ordered our dragons dead."

"You can sense my dragon type?"

"My dragon can, ma'am."

I scratch my head. "I'm so very confused. Can you start at the beginning?"

"Our old leader, Whyther. He made you mad. Rumors say he killed your queen. Then the ships rained down. They were ordered to kill us. We ran and hid. So many died. Over half of us. But some of us were able to stay hidden. And then the order was lifted. But we still live in fear. And now you have returned."

"I've heard the name Whyther. He did not kill a queen. He attempted to. The queens live. Alden must have given the order to destroy the dragons here."

Zion nods. "Then withdrew it when he found out about Urie."

"Did you know a dragon named Uhmok? We believe he may have worked with Whyther or worked closely with him somehow?"

"No. My family has always lived here in this small town. We do not know an Uhmok. The city where they worked is nearly 300 miles in that direction. You may find more information there."

Zion rubs his face. "Why the hell did he drop us off so far away?"

"No idea."

I spin in a circle. "How the hell am I going to get a shuttle here?"

"I'm texting Ax."

I smile at the man. "Thank you for the help. I'm sorry you lost so much. That was before our time. You're not in any danger now. We have no intention of hurting anyone. We're seeking information only."

We go back to the bikes and a shuttle lands. The brains load up the bikes. I sit by Zion in the front. "We invaded them. Now they have to look at us. After we killed over half of them. Could you imagine if our invaders come back and tried to be friendly?"

"f**k that."

"Yea. That's what I'm worried about. This is our planet only by force. Don't forget that." I point at a few people waving their hands over their heads. "I think they want something."

"Yea. Be careful."

We land and get out. A ball comes flying at us. It's about the size of a basketball. Zion kicks it back at them. It lands right behind them and blows up. This would be fine except it's really close to them. They are blown apart. Body parts and guts rain down on us.

"Wish I had that helmet on."

"Yea, that would have been nice." He pushes me back in the shuttle. "Get us to Ax as fast as you can."

We land about 3 minutes later and climb out. We're at an office building of some sort. Definitely in a city. A brain walks us into an office. Everyone is in it.

I smile. "The planet is hostile, boys."

Zion drops his coat. "Next time, don't drop us off in the middle of a war zone."

"What happened?"

"We have pretty much got nowhere. Some people were waving their arms at us, so we stopped." I drop my coat and pull something gross out of Zion's hair.

He gives me a double take and brushes my head off. "They threw explosives at us. I sent them back. They died. We brought parts of them with us, I guess." He pulls something else out of my hair. "You need to start over."

"Yep. One of you help me in the shower."

"I need help in the shower too. Blood is running down my back." He pulls his t-shirt off. "And please send out a message, we are here for information only. But if you attack us, we will defend ourselves."

Tim stands up. "The brains will help you in the shower. We have no servants with us. Woman, I got you."

Ax nods. "Yea, I'll get the message out."

Kehlani shakes her head. "I have servants on my ship. Go up to that. They'll help you clean up."

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."