Azdrei’in wasn’t fazed by Artemis’s anger. He wasn’t protecting her to win her approval. His commander had given him an order, and he was going to follow it no matter what she thought. That meant being prepared to eliminate a threat the instant it proved to be dangerous to her, since his people needed her alive if they were going to use the information she could provide to them. They couldn’t extract it if she was dead. As advanced as their technology was, they hadn’t created anything like that. So, even after he lowered his weapon, he gripped it tensely and kept his gaze fixed on the adolescent human, prepared to strike first if it even twitched in a way that he didn’t like.

At her instructions, he nearly rolled his eyes. Of course he wasn’t going to stay put where he was now. If she was going somewhere else with the other human, he was going to at least stay close by. At this point, he felt more confident that the young Earthling wasn’t a threat—he was just frightened, as Artemis had said—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t become one. Scared, trapped animals were often the most dangerous because they felt the need to protect their own lives. He intended to remain close enough to them to intervene if the male suddenly snapped and tried to attack her. It may have been an unlikely scenario, but as long as the chances weren’t zero, he would keep his guard up.

“I will come with you,” he asserted, holstering his gun for the time being to avoid worrying the other human. A compromise seemed to have been made, so when they started walking through the brush, he trailed after them at a slight distance. Once again, he found his experience on the Earth strange compared to his previous expectations. Rather than clearing the planet in preparation for his people to land, he was now wandering through fields of crops in the company of two humans, one of whom had been charged to his protection. He shook his head incredulously to himself, brushing aside some tall stalks of plants with one arm. It was strange, but he couldn’t say he was disappointed. He’d wanted to learn about Earthlings and their culture even before he’d left the mothership. That desire had been met in a peculiar way, but it had been met nonetheless.

When they reached a barrier, he stopped and glanced at the young male wordlessly. He didn’t understand his aversion to allowing him come any further. If he’d wanted to mindlessly kill him or even the other creature, whom he could detect inside the building ahead of them, he could have done so in a heartbeat. He then turned to Artemis, who had remained behind to ask him a question. “Heal? No,” he mused. “That is on the spaceship.” If she was asking him for technology that could be used to speed up the recovery process, he didn’t carry anything around like that. Only the physicians had access and knowledge to use medications and tools that could aid an injured person. He did “have” something else though.

“I can help with this,” he added. Unable to explain what he meant, he reached out to touch Artemis’s arm in a demonstration. Instead of sharing a mental image with her like he had before, he impressed an almost numbing sense of calm. The connection worked in a similar manner as anesthesia without causing the recipient to fall asleep. Most creatures experienced a relaxing chemical release from physical touch, and the Lunvalgan people had learned to amplify its effects to create a natural pain-killer that they used to aid one another when they were injured.

“But I have to be close to do this,” he warned her, letting go of her arm again. As soon as he stopped touching her, the effect ended. “If you need my help, I will have to come inside.”