So, Ved waited in silence.
Hours passed by in the black hole that was their ship, with only the red-glowing shafts of his confinement lighting the space. It didn’t take him long to understand that trying to pass through the bars without neutralizing them first would be the equivalent of being hit by hundreds of plasma shots at once—by the time he made it through, there’d be nothing left of him on the other side.
Ved was just starting to think that maybe the Blood Vultures felt no need to question him and would leave him to rot instead when one of them came back. Just one, the agent called Noxol. The other must be occupied with their true operation, finding the organic creature that had stowed away on the other Xaal ship.
Ved wanted to feel insulted that they thought one was enough to handle him. Then again, he was imprisoned in a sure deathtrap. He supposed they had the advantage.
“You wanted our attention, and now you have it,” the deep, dry voice filtered through the cell.
Perceptive. Ved was a skilled hunter, but trying to find a Blood Vulture that didn’t want to be found would have taken far too long. So, he baited them out. There was always more than one way to hunt. “You interrupted me.”
The Blood Vulture tilted his head and inhaled audibly.
Ved wondered what scent he’d caught—beyond what he could imagine—but neither said anything for a long time.
“You understand why you’ve been detained?” Noxol finally asked.
“Revealing myself to someone with intention to kill them … before you interfered. What difference does it make? If he had seen me of his own accord, you’d have me kill him.”
Another audible sniff. “Yet you didn’t kill the human female who witnessed your vessel crash and has been in contact with you almost every day since. Why is that?”
Ved had washed himself meticulously after his night with Isobel. With great reluctance. He’d wanted to keep her scent on him forever—the smell of her release on his fingers, yes, but the totality of her aroma even more so. If the Blood Vulture could still trace her, their olfactory senses were beyond what Ved had imagined. “She’s an innocent,” Ved said simply.
“You think the Authority cares?”
“Do you?”
The thing about Blood Vultures was they had their own honor system and set of values. Most didn’t work for the Authority out of love for order and regulation—they were forced to. Ved didn’t know all the intricacies of their planets’ alliance with the Authority, but whatever the agency held over the Blood Vultures kept them in line.Mostly.
They, too, were hunters and warriors. Every story he’d ever heard told of how cold-blooded, calculated, and ruthless they were. But Ved knew the same thing could be said of his people. Species who weren’t born with war in their marrow always thought such things.
Perhaps it was true, but there was still theheartof it. Xaal weren’t mindless killing machines, and he had a very strong suspicion that neither were Blood Vultures. Despite the fact that they seemed quite literally dead inside.
“The human male,” Noxol drawled, “he was not an innocent?”
“No,” Ved responded.
“He’s done something against the Authority?”
Ved didn’t respond. They both knew there was no way Richard could have.
The agent continued, “When we last spoke, I told you that you’d need to get off this planet before we were forced to getinvolved.”
Where had they been when Kroids landed on the planet and almost killed a native? He wanted to ask but refrained. Angering the undead bastard wouldn’t do him any good.
“My ship is ready, except I’m down two thermocylinders. This planet has no such resources to aid me. I could maybe launch without one and make it to a repair station, but without two is a death sentence. And I have no intention of dying or rotting away until the Authority deals with me, either.”
The Blood Vulture, it seemed, understood his intentions then. He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.
Fine. Ved would put it all out there. “You’re not here for me. I didn’t cause the vector tear. What you hunt here is far more important than anything I have done. Have you found it yet?”
The silence was thick.
“What is your offer, Qon?” Noxol finally asked.
“I have a data cell pack I lifted off one of the dead Kroids. It may be of interest to you in relation to what you seek. Give me the thermocylinders, swear to leave me and the human female alone, and I’ll give it to you.”
The Blood Vulture considered, but when he spoke, his voice was cold. “I’m not interested in making deals with Xaal.”
