Kriss stared at her. “Go back—”
“That is another matter,” Jago said swiftly. “We’re talking about the oracle. What questions did you ask?”
What did she say? How to explain what the oracle had shown her when she’d not the words in her head. She wasn’t a scientist or an engineer.
Jago leaned forward. “You’ve been punished. There is no need to fear us.”
“Oh, it’s not that. I know I’ve been punished.” Her bottom refused to cool down now that the effects of the ull had worn off. So far, no bruises, though. “It’s just I don’t know how to explain. The Gotti’s oracle expected me to understand it.”
“What did you ask?” Kriss repeated.
She rested her palms on her thighs and steadied herself. “Okay. I asked why men only? Why no female Hezara?”
“This is known,” Jago said. “We can’t breed them, only the occasional queen.”
Shayla braced herself. “The Gotti know that’s a lie. They have provided Hezarans with the means to breed females. Hezara chose not to.”
Kriss’s back snapped to attention. “What?”
Jago held out his hand. “Come closer.”
She moved and knelt between his feet. He took her hand in his, as if he needed to feel her as well as hear her speak. “This can’t be true. You misunderstood the oracle.”
“It’s taken a while to think it through. While I was in the cell, and the thoughts were fresh in my head, I pieced it together.”
“What together?” Kriss asked impatiently.
“You’re engineered to be different, yes? Your tongue? Jago’s hearing. Many others are also altered. The Gotti have amassed a great deal of information about your genetic code. They can manipulate it in many ways. Each one of you might share your mother, the queen, but you’re also altered before you develop, to ensure you are unique. And male. I don’t understand the technology, but the Gotti’s oracle was clear, females are not necessary. Your rulers, the Junta, want males and,” she paused, taking a deep breath, “discard the females.”
Kriss paced the room, his fists clenched. Jago, more introspective and calmer, merely shook his head and sighed several times.
“The Gotti,” Shayla said, “are using their technology to help Hezara, in return for peace on their planet. It’s just another form of servitude. I don’t like them. They don’t care about me, not like you two.”
Jago patted her hand. “We care about you. Thank you for telling us the truth. Do you think this is the information your Resistance wants?”
She pondered what they might do, if she told them. “I’m not sure what difference it would make to them. They want to force a renegotiation that gives Earth more freedom and possibly end the agreement. They haven’t encountered the Violence, like you, and there are many who resent having to send Gifts, having to send Earth’s women to serve aliens. But, I’ve not found anything out about the incubators or queens that you haven’t already told me.”
“We need more queens to breed. I’ve never understood why we have so few. The Junta have always told us that queens are naturally rare. If what you say is true, then why lie to us. I can’t believe it.” Jago scratched his chin, his gaze darting around the room as fast as the fish in the lake. She’d unsettled him. Kriss was struck dumb. Jago spoke again, breaching the uncomfortable silence. “And your father, what would he do with the information?”
“He would be interested. If females can be produced, then you can breed more Hezara, and if you can’t, what if you need help from other species? Would you allow humans to integrate with Hezarans, would this strengthen our position by cooperating, not threatening?”
“That is not a question I can answer. It is not my decision. The queens should decide their fate, don’t you agree, Kriss?” Jago looked at his nestor.
“This has been kept from us, Jago,” he snarled. “Why?”
“Because of the Violence,” Jago said. “It’s all to do with the Beasts that ravage our worlds. They are the reason why, I know it.” He thumped his thigh. “If only we could destroy them.”
Shayla wasn’t convinced. The Violence, which had never visited Earth, and kept to the remotest parts of the galaxy, was a constant source of fear. Yet, Hezara themselves had the knowledge to change things regardless of the threat. The technology of the Gotti had to be known to the Junta, who must have kept it secret; the nestors’ oracle had not revealed the information to the warriors.
“Maybe, but, I think it’s the Hunger that is your real weakness. It controls you. If you were free of it...” She gnawed on her lip. There were other ways to procreate that relied on more wholesome emotions, like love, mutually given and received. “If I could speak to a queen, explain my father’s position, then maybe she could use her influence to change things.”
“The Junta control the entirety of Hezara’s universe. They make the laws that all worlds must follow.”
A Junta that existed where? Which planet? Who protected them? More questions. Perhaps she was a spy in the making if she was unable to contain her curiosity. Emboldened by the impact she was having on the two men, she decided she’d nothing to lose by taking a step further along the path she’d taken, except now it was entirely her choice.
“They can’t stop me from seeing the queen, can they?” she asked.
Jago glanced toward Kriss, who seemed to have calmed down. “No, they can’t. If we are able to, we might arrange for you to visit. At the moment, she is in confinement.”