Center Worlds - Spark

  Chapter 4.2

  Keep Her Safe - TGX-2 in Tara Orbit -17 BA

  “I'll make sure she is well cared for, Ryo. You need not worry. You focus on repair and rebuilding. Aya will be as safe here as I am. She will not be harmed.” Tyo said as he held Ryo's hand.

  Ryo nodded as the travel bed with his young daughter slid by, escorted by two medics. “She is still under sedation. The Nanos are working on the injury. I'm sure the Palace doctors will bring her back, but I need her to live here. My Clanworld is in no shape to have her, and Desinlo is devastated, Tyo.”

  The Emperor nodded. “I know, You have a Clan to rebuild, I have a Confederacy to run, and I have some dealings that need to be handled in regards to another Clan that has now fully overstepped the boundaries of appropriateness.”

  “Tyo, just ... keep her safe. That is all I require.” Ryo said.

  Tyo nodded and shook Ryo's hand, then pulled his Cousin into a firm hug. “I feel for your loss, Ryo. Do not worry yourself over Aya any more, she will be healed and will live here as long as you want her to. She will be safe in my home.”

  Ryo went to the travel bed, picked up his daughter's tiny hand and kissed it gently, then laid it across her small chest. “Sleep well, my child. Heal and rest, you will be safe.”

  He watched as Tyo and the medics carefully loaded the bed onto a transport shuttle, and stayed as the shuttle lifted and slid out of the docking bay, until it vanished into the midnight sky of stars.

  Ryo turned, and as his crew discretely failed to notice, wiped a few stray tears from his eyes, then followed him back into the depths of the Battlecruiser as they prepared for the next fight.

  ...

  Tyo sat in a chair as the shuttle began it's descent, barely noticing the flare of atmosphere outside as the friction was vented to slow the descent. He was busy on the Comm.

  “I need Doctor Solonae at the landing port. We have a critically injured child here who will need his immediate attention. I also need to meet with whomever is currently running the Lari'Sota, I need a consultation. Right now, I don't care about the drought on Peradon. You get the regional governor to handle that for this moment. I have a higher priority.” He closed the Comm and looked at the sleeping face of the 4 cycle old child that Ryo had left in his care.

  She was pretty, definitely a Camelin, and he knew that no matter what, she would survive and thrive with him. Ryo had always stood beside or behind him, ready to defend or give him a push in the right direction. This was the least Tyo could do to repay his Cousin.