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warbling hissing language which Ethan had heard from Tova.
    “Do we have to go through this exercise every time?”
    More warbling.
    “We’ll get you cleaned up if you agree to stop hiding.”
    Warble.
    Slitted blue eyes appeared.
    “Good,” the cameraman said, reaching for the control console again. This time pressurized jets of water shot out from the walls and ceiling. The water washed away the foam, and Ethan found himself cringing at the sight. It wasn’t so much terrifying as disgusting to look at. The creature was human-sized, naked, with a slick translucent skin that gave a clear view of its internal organs. The creature had large, round eyes the color of dark sapphire, muscular arms and torso, and a bony skull-like face, similar to Tova’s, but with light blue fins rising along the top of its head. Gills flared in the sides of its neck as it breathed. As Ethan watched, the creature bared a double row of small, serated white teeth which looked like they might belong to a shark. Looking more carefully, Ethan saw a thin, dexterous tail restlessly lashing the ground behind the alien.
    “That’s better,” the cameraman said, and zoomed in on the creature’s face.
    “Freeze image,” Atton said.
    Ethan sat staring intently into the wide blue eyes and translucent face of a real Sythian. “Ugly kakard,” Ethan commented.
    Atton smiled. “Not going to win any beauty contests, is he?”
    Ethan frowned. “Definitely not.”
    “How do we know the Gors are really on our side? As far as I can tell they have a lot in common with the Sythians—language for one. It’s probably safe to assume there are cultural similarities as well. Why would they side with us, a species which they have nothing in common with?”
    “Ethan, we fight our own species and for reasons less compelling than emancipation—Alec Brondi is a fine example of that. Sharing genes and culture is not enough reason to peacefully coexist. If the tables were turned, wouldn’t you side with the Gors against your fellow man in order to escape slavery?”
    Ethan nodded. “I suppose I might.”
    “The Gors haven’t given us away yet, and they’ve had multiple opportunities to do so. They already know where Dark Space is.”
    Ethan grimaced. “Revealing that was not very wise, Atton.”
    “It seemed a worthwhile gamble. Trust me, the Gors are not our enemy, Ethan. They require no convincing to fight on our side, and to date, Gor-crewed ships have taken out more Sythian vessels than we did in the entire war.”
    “I’ll have to take your word for it. You mentioned Tova was supposed to stay hidden—that it’s part of some sort of deal the two of you have. . . .”
    Atton nodded. “Yes.”
    “So none of the rest of the crew has seen her aboard? This is some big state secret?”
    “In Sythian Space we staff Gor ships with a human commander and bridge crew, but the main body of the crew is made up of Gors—well, along with human nova pilots and a few human engineers to fit into the smaller crawl spaces of our ships. Due to the Gors’ physical size, they can’t perform in every capacity that we’d like, but they do enable us to run most of our ships with a skeleton crew.”
    “So . . . it’s just the Defiant that doesn’t know about your pet alien?” Ethan’s brow furrowed up to his bristly salt and pepper hair.
    “Not just the Defiant . Everyone in Dark Space is blissfully unaware. Bringing them into our sanctuary was not a very popular decision.”
    “I can understand that.”
    “They know we’re working with the Gors and that we have an alliance. They also know what the Gors look like and that their species is not really to blame for nearly wiping us out—at least not directly to blame—but that still doesn’t mean humans are eager to work with Gors. Just knowing a Gor is aboard is enough to keep most people from sleeping at night—you saw how Tova appeared out of nowhere.”
    “Yeah,” Ethan nodded. “You mean that’s not