Chapter 1295: Luck
“[I departed from Nitis on my own],” Deni explained, holding a full glass over his crossed legs. “[Anyone assigned to the mission was already out, looking for you, so I begged the tribe to give a decommissioned ship to fly on my own].”
Deni took a short sip from his drink, resuming speaking as soon as he lowered it. “[I’m not a pilot, but the ship was still synced to all the teams, so I could let it fly on its own].”
The revelation inevitably surprised Khan. He was a proper pilot, so he knew the dangers of venturing into space without the skills to deal with the many problems that could occur.
Autopilots were great and could handle almost everything, but personal input remained necessary in such a deadly environnt, especially when the voyage was bound to last months.
It took guts and a large amount of resolve or desperation to face those risks, but Khan didn’t feel ready to comnd Deni yet. After all, ignorance was bliss, and that might have affected Deni’s decision.
Actually, the revelation featured a far bigger, different problem that needed to be addressed first.
“[How did you get the tribe to give you a ship]?” Khan questioned. “[They would have guessed what you were trying to do].”
Khan looked down at Liiza. The group of five had sat on the bridge’s floor, with Deni and Wayne facing the other three. Liiza was between Khan’s legs, slightly embarrassed but still determined to showcase her relationship in public.
The gesture didn’t bring the answers Khan had hoped for. Liiza only t his look for a second before refocusing on her father, but that was enough to convey what she knew about the matter, which was nothing.
“[Your relationship has more allies than you think among the Niqols],” Deni replied, smiling kindly while nodding at Liiza’s white tattoos. “[A love like yours born despite your different species isn’t sothing we can completely ignore].”
Liiza was still awkward but mostly felt bad now, and Khan sensed it through the ntal connection. Zalpa didn’t snort, either, seemingly agreeing with that statent.
“[I’m sorry I left in such a hurry, Dad],” Liiza apologized, revealing that Deni was at the arranged marriage with the Kros. “[I’m sorry I didn’t find the ti to contact you, either. We had to]-”
“[It’s my fault],” Khan interrupted. “[Father-in-law, I decided we had to hide for safety reasons, and Liiza trusted my experience in space flight].”
Liiza threw a scolding look at Khan, ready to add sothing that would give her a share of the bla, but Wayne’s loud laugh interrupted her again.
“[Khan always prioritizes keeping his loved ones safe],” Wayne declared. “[He did the sa with ]!”
“[I’m glad for that],” Deni announced. “[Prince Khan, no one could ever control my daughter, so I know you took this decision together. Besides, I’m happy to know you did it to keep her safe].”
“[I’d do anything for her],” Khan swore. “[Good or bad].”
Liiza threw another scolding look at Khan, but her gesture hid sothing else that she prevented him from exploiting by pulling a strand of his braid-less hair.
“[And please, father-in-law],” Khan continued, ignoring the pull. “[It’s just Khan for you].”
“[Social situations in the political environnt require]-” Wayne exclaid.
“[This is a special situation],” Khan interrupted. “[I’m sure you read about the exceptions with more confidential relationships].”
“[I’ve been taught that and more]!” Wayne proudly claid before crossing his arms and tilting his head, “[But I’m still having trouble understanding when the confidence starts. Didn’t you just et Deni]?”
“[But he is my Wife’s father]?” Khan explained, requesting help from the drink in his hand to handle Wayne’s social incapacity.
“[He is an exception]!” Wayne understood. “[I need to take more notes]!”
Zalpa didn’t know what face to make, so she decided to focus on drinking. anwhile, Liiza studied Wayne curiously. She had yet to understand his connection with Khan, and his elent inevitably intrigued her.
“[I’ll call you Khan],” Deni agreed, his smile sowhat surviving the strange interaction, “[If you call Deni. I know I don’t deserve the title anyway].”
“[Dad, don’t talk like this],” Liiza requested. “[I told you it was fine, and we can’t have these problems affect the baby].”
The “we” wasn’t for Deni, and Khan knew it. Liiza placed her hands on her belly, and warm fingers promptly reached them, joining the protective hug around the new life growing inside her.
“[Deni, what happened next]?” Khan asked, not letting that loving mont distract the group from the main topic while also agreeing to the previous deal.
“[I flew on my own, Khan],” Deni said, resuming his tale, “[But I only had fuel for a straightforward trip, and the route changed at each report from your interceptions. I eventually ran out following them].”
Fuel managent was sothing Khan had to master in a short ti. Ships gave warnings and could aid the calculations, but Deni probably didn’t know how to use those functions, so Khan didn’t bla him.
However, a re fuel shortage wouldn’t have been enough to kill Deni. After all, the area he had reached would have been quite crowded by then.
“[I managed to send a request for help],” Deni continued, “[But the signal was erratic. The ship said sothing about a displaced antenna. That was probably why they decommissioned it in the first place].”
Khan started to see a pattern, but his rational side fought against his hunches there. Part of him believed Wayne was sowhat involved, but space had no mana he could affect.
“[That’s when I co in]!” Wayne laughed. “[I thought about approaching one of the outposts to get clearer directions, but my ship sohow caught that erratic ssage].”
“[I would have remained stranded in space if it weren’t for Wayne],” Deni added, “[Unable to contact anyone. He rescued , and luck was on my side since we were heading in the sa direction].”
Khan couldn’t fall prey to Deni’s optimism or Wanye’s excitent. He had never been good at those scientific fields but could easily calculate the odds of that event happening. They were non-existent.
“[That’s quite lucky for soone who has bad luck as his elent],” Khan pointed out, becoming wary about the symphony again. Theoretically, his senses should pick up anything unusual, but Wayne was a special case.
“[Humans],” Zalpa snorted, and Khan didn’t get the chance to question her since Liiza promptly solved his doubt.
“[The concept of luck is sothing sentient beings conceived],” Liiza explained. “[Mana can take countless forms, but the elent bad luck simply doesn’t exist].”
Reviews
All reviews (0)