53

Camille wouldn’t lie, she was still suspicious of Sia’s motives and yet as agreed, she was sitting at a small round dining table that Sia had insisted on being set up in Sid’s room. She could still see in her mind the look on the doctor’s face when she had seen what was going on.

*“This isn’t a hotel!”*

*“Are you telling me that you would deny a mother the chance to eat dinner with her son after he nearly died?”*

Sia had been as intimidating as ever in that moment. It wasn’t that she was aggressive or threatening violence but she certainly made it clear how difficult she would make everyone’s life if she didn’t get her way. Just her presence commanded attention and respect like a General in front of their men.

Needless to say, the doctor had quickly walked away, putting an end to the disagreement.

In a way Camille was impressed. It took skill to be able to carry something like that off without barely saying anything. But Camille also had dealt with enough intimidating people in her life and while she had no doubt Sia was nothing like the ghosts from Camille’s past, she still felt like Sia was plucking at the same strings.

But here they were, all sat around the table. Sid was still in his wheelchair but he looked like he had washed and was no longer wearing the hospital attire he had been living in for the past few days. Now he wore a dark grey t-shirt stretched over his muscular physique and soft looking black joggers. To Camille he still looked frail and drained but the spark in his eyes was growing. Camille doubted that Sid would be laid up for much longer if he could help it.

“Well, isn’t this nice?” Sia smiled as she looked at the two younger beings sat at the table. “I have made some of Sid’s favourites. Have you tried Draygonian food before, Camille?”

“Ah, yes.” Camille nodded. “Sid made some dishes a few weeks back. It was really nice.”

“I’m glad to see that my son is putting his cooking lessons to good use.” Sia smirked, glancing at her son. “I was worried that he was going to rely on military canteen food or this fast-food that humans seem obsessed with. When he was a child he would forever be sneaking into the kitchen to steal a sweet treat or see what his Nonsu were making.”

“Nonsu?”

“It means grandmother or grandmothers.” Sid explained.

“So what is grandfather in Draygonian?” Camille asked curiously.

“Tansu.” Sia was the one to speak up first as she picked up something that resembled a grape but was orange in colour and a little bigger than any grape that Camille had ever seen. “Tana is father.”

“Brother and sister are still brother and sister though.” Sid smirked.

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” Camille asked.

“Five brothers,” Sid replied. “No sisters.”

“Six sons?” Camille blinked looking at Sia who gave a wry smirk. “That’s a lot of children.”

“And thank the sisters that I had three males on hand to help with them.” Sia chuckled. “All of them wanted to become warriors like their Tanas and Nona but none more so than Sid. Every day he would be charging around with his replica armour and weapons, trying to mimic the actions of the warriors when they were training.”

“Nona!” Sid groaned. “I am sure Camille doesn’t want to hear about my childhood.”

“Oh I don’t know.” Camille laughed. “You sound like you were an adorable child.”

“Adorable but also very good at finding trouble.” Sia chuckled. “I can still remember when he got chased by a Pishal because she thought he was trying to hurt her young.”

The image of a child sized Sid being chased by a large horse type creature with a huge dinosaur tail might have seemed terrifying but given how harmless Pishal were, it was actually cute albeit it a little frightening.

“I got her to forgive me eventually.” Sid pointed out, shifting in his seat awkwardly.

“That you did.” Sia smiled fondly. “You did have a way with our animals.”

“Well I did inherit it from you.” Sid chuckled. “That and my excellent fighting skills. Speaking of which, Cammie is a pretty good fighter as well.”

Camille nearly choked on her sip of water, eyes widening as the attention landed on her. She had been enjoying listening to mother and son reminisce over Sid’s childhood. She didn’t mind not really being a participant in the conversation. But now here she was, centre of attention.

“Is that so?” Sia raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Just Jujutsu.” Camille managed, silently grateful that her voice didn’t fail her.

“And krai-na.” Sid added. “Camille is getting pretty good at it. Maybe you can show her a few techniques from your glory days?”

“By all means, make me feel old with your *glory days* talk.” The older woman sniffed. “I can still put you on your backside without breaking a sweat.”

The three of them had been so busy laughing that for a moment, they didn’t notice Jag and Kal enter the room, solemn frowns shadowing their features. Camille’s heart plummeted into her stomach like a pebble falling into a churning swell of choppy ocean. The pair didn’t need to say anything. Camille could feel their emotions. She could tell what this was about.

Nathan.

“Ah gentleman,” Sia’s feline yellow eyes clapped sight of their visitors. “Have you come to join us?”

“I wish I could say this was a social visit,” Jag spoke up, the air in the room becoming cold and heavy. “Unfortunately there’s been another incident.”

“What happened this time?” Sid straightened, features hardening.

“We’ve lost control of the guns.” Jag replied before glancing at Kal. “Tell them what you found.”

“About an hour ago, The Watcher received a transmission from EFHA stating that we have five days to evacuate all Draygonians from earth. The transmission was by Nathan.” Kal explained. “The guns then fired on a ship that was due to go through the rings. The ship was destroyed and there were no survivors.”

“How many people were on board?” Camille’s throat felt like it was closing up, her voice barely above a whisper and strained.

“Forty six.” Kal replied quietly.

“How the hell did EFHA get control of the guns?” Sid frowned, eyes flaring with anger. “We changed the codes!”

“Tina.” Camille’s eyes widened in realisation. “She did something.”

Kal nodded. “We are still investigating but so far, what we have found points to sabotage. It looks like EFHA purposely let us find those documents on the guns knowing we would change the codes. They then implanted a virus into the new codes which gave them remote access to the guns while also locking us out.”

“Can you get back control?” Sid asked only to be met with a shake of Kal’s head. “So what now?”

“I will tell you what now.” Sia finally spoke up. “You, Camille and I are heading to Draygon before an all-out war starts.”

“That’s not going to be possible.” Jag held up his tablet, the screen lighting up to show a video.

The video began to play automatically, the darkness on the screen eventually clearing to reveal Nathan’s face but little else.

“General Jag,” Nathan smirked. “You and your friends have something that belongs to me and I want it back. I’ve given you and your kind five days to leave this planet but before then, you are going to return Camille to me. If you try smuggle her of planet I will find out and I will make sure the ship she is on is destroyed while you watch. Because if I can’t have her, no one can.”

The silence that poured into the room after that pressed down on everyone like dirt filling a grave. Nathan’s face continued to stare out from the screen despite the video now being over.

“I think it’s time someone examined the full version of what is going on here.” Sia finally broke the silence with her quiet but serious voice. “Who is this man and what has he got to do with what is going on?”

“He’s a terrorist.” Kal answered. “He was behind the attack on the apartments.”

“And the ambush that landed my son in here?” Sia raised an eyebrow questioningly only to be met with guilty looks from all three males. “How is this man still walking around free?”

“Because he is a ghost.” Jag replied. “He has contacts that we can’t breach which means he can move around undetected.”

“Probably thanks to the hacker he has been working with.” Kal added.

“And what do you have to do with this, Camille?’

The accusatory undertones in Sia question weren’t subtle But Camille wasn’t shocked. Still, the hardness in Sia’s feline eyes was like being struck by a thousand needles. Camille could see the motherly side of Sia rearing its head to protect her child from a possible threat.

“Nona, leave her alone.” Sid was quick to defend his female. “Camille isn’t the enemy.”

“And yet this man knows her?” Sia shot back.

“Nona...”

“Sid, it’s okay.” Camille cut in before an argument broke out between mother and son. She looked to the older woman. “I do know that man. His name is Nathan and he was my...my partner.”

“You were lovers?” The older woman’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Love isn’t the word I’d use to describe our relationship but, we were together.” Camille nodded. “I left him months ago to try and have a fresh start. The problem is, I didn’t actually escape him. He used me to gain access to the Ark and put people in danger.”

“So now what?” Sia asked, looking at the three males and Camille. “How do you intend to stop him?”

“We are trying to locate where this video came from.” Kal replied. “We think we’re close.”

“But, we are running out of time.” Jag added. “Which is why we need to think of something else.”

“There is something that we could do.” Camille glanced at Jag. “We could just give him what he wants.”

“We are not evacuating.” Jag narrowed his eyes, taking a step towards Camille. “We don’t run away.”

“And you don’t have to.” Camille shook her head. “We just need to make it seem like you’re giving in to his demands. Then we can draw him out.”

“How?”

“By me agreeing to go back to him.”