Star Alliance by Ken Lozito

happen again,” he said, and started walking.
    Etanu caught up to him. “You’re angry?”
    Zack shook his head. “I really don’t understand your species at all. It’s like you’re hardwired against emotion. What’s the difference between feeling a certain way about what the Xiiginns are doing to your species and me saying I’m sorry about it? I mean, how does your species make any friends if you’re always so preoccupied with whether it makes you look weak or not?”
    Etanu gave him a long look. “The bonds my species share with one another are strong and are never given lightly.”
    “That’s good to know. I guess I thought that since we’re stuck in this place there would be some sort of bond between us. At least until we got out of here,” Zack said.
    “I’m required to protect you until I have saved your life,” Etanu said.
    “Got it. Crystal clear now,” Zack said.
    Etanu took the lead and Zack followed. He wasn’t sure if he just didn’t understand the Nershals or if it was just Etanu. Zack recalled how Etanu had come to stand with him against the Xiiginns on their ship. He’d stayed behind and was captured with him. Was Etanu really saying he did all those things because of some oath about protecting him? They needed to work together if they were going to get out of this alive. Zack pressed his lips together. He needed to stick with Etanu if he had any hope of surviving.  
    “Does your species use implants?” Zack asked and tapped the side of his head.
    “Of course,” Etanu said.
    “Then what do you suppose the scars on the silent hunters’ heads are for?” Zack asked.
    “Some type of enhancement. They are quite strong but seem to stick to only one area of the pit,” Etanu said, and glanced over at Zack. “We use implants, but we do not enhance ourselves beyond the confines of what is natural.”
    “So the fact that the Xiiginns are doing this to you is an even more serious offense,” Zack said.
    “Of course,” Etanu said. “Do Humans manipulate their genetics to make them into something they’re not?”
    Zack shook his head. “No—well I’m not sure. If someone is sick or hurt and we fix what’s broken with an artificial part so the person can stay alive, then technically we’re changing them.”
      “I don’t mean healing. I’m referring to crossbreeding between species to create something that nature wouldn’t have created on its own,” Etanu said.
    Zack wished Emma were here. He was sure the xenobiologist would be able to have a more meaningful conversation about this subject than Zack ever could.
    “What do you know about the giant mutant?” Zack asked.
    “Enough to stay away from it. It has a lair, and in the time I’ve been here, I’ve only seen it leave it to feed, but something drew the creature out last night,” Etanu said, giving him a sideways glance.
    Zack felt a chill zip down his back. “What could it possibly want with me?”
    “I don’t know, but if we see it, we do what everything else does in this place—run,” Etanu said.
    They continued on and within the hour they saw the walls of the pit. The gray walls appeared to be smooth, and Zack doubted they could climb their way out.
    Zack had hoped Etanu would be able to find something for them to eat, but the Nershal said nothing was safe. This place was a prison, and the Xiiginns were the ones in control. “When you tried to fly out of here, do you remember how many guards they had on the walls?” Zack asked.
    “Not many, there were more automated turrets. They’re meant to keep us in. One of the other mutants must have seen me, because a number of them tried to climb the walls. Their claws were able to pierce the wall material. Some actually made it over,” Etanu said.
    Zack’s eyes widened, and he glanced back at the walls. Could they climb it somehow? He felt an itch on his arm where the Xiiginns had placed their tracker.
    “They didn’t escape,” Etanu said. “There were several