“Keep up,” Morgan hissed a whisper as she stepped closer to him. “We’re walking on thin ice as it is.”
She pursed her luscious, lickable lips and glanced at the Ozevroc around them. Her statement confused him at first. The floor was metal, not ice. Oh, wait. She was making a metaphor. He fingered his earlobe. Now why would he know what a metaphor was?Gah.This amnesia shit was getting on his last damn nerve. Especially since he didn’t know why he woke up walking the hallways of a hostile alien ship.
He had to be mental.
One of the Ozevroc, something that looked like the offspring between a howler monkey that did the nasty with a beaver, growled at Morgan.
She held out her hand to stop Ari from following the self-important chieftain into a room. “We’ll wait here until they say we can go in.”
Ari peered into the room.
A scattering of tables and benches were built close to the ground, small enough to fit the short Ozevroc. Lumpy, worn padded material covered the benches that had to give their stumpy tails stability. The tables had round, built-in trays. Probably to keep the food in place when the ship jerked around for whatever reason.
But it was the strange smell that came out of the room that told him this had to be their communal eating place. The air had a thick scent of cooking meat mixed with a faint, sweet order of something pickled and fermented. Not to mention that underlying musk of wet dog the aliens carried. At least he hoped this was their version of a cafeteria. If they used this disgusting room for anything else, he might bolt for the hills. Well, if there were hills to bolt to.
The four-eyed member of the snout squad poked him again with more growls and grunts. This time on his side. He scowled at the beastie. He reached to grab the idiot’s pole when Morgan gripped his wrist.
“No, it’s okay. They want us to go in.” Morgan led him inside. “I’m going to activate my multicorder around the body. Please just stay behind me and don’t say or do anything.” She turned her imploring gold-green eyes his way. “Please?”
Ari huffed with a frown. “Okay, I’ll do my best.” He glanced down at the stubby little shit with his weapon still aimed at Ari’s midsection. “But warn mini-ugly here no touchy, or I won’t be responsible for what shape his weapon will look like after I shove it up his ass.”
Morgan rolled those expressive eyes at him, but leaned down to the Ozevroc and grumbled and hissed at him.
The creature’s burned-orange fur bristled, but he stepped back and brought the tip up, narrowing his two sets of black eyes in Ari’s direction.
That settled, Ari followed Morgan into the room. The place was a mess. Plates, along with eating utensils covered in congealing food, littered the floor. Every messy table overflowed with the same discarded, smelly crap untouched for goddess only knew for how long. He sniffed. If he wasn’t mistaken, some of the Ozevroc had to have relieved themselves around the place.By the everlasting gods, these are some disgusting beaver-tailed barf-dogs.
Taking shallow breaths, he stood behind a crouched Morgan, who ran her multicorder over the still form of an unmoving Ozevroc.
The alien’s mouth was slightly ajar, the thin lips tinged in blue. A thin trickle of dried blood crested at the corner, and his black tongue hung out the side. The creature’s four eyes were wide-eyed, the orbs protruding. All six sets of his clawed hands were unnaturally bent and stiff. His beaver-like tail was curled in a way that spoke of agony and resistance. A clear bite mark from blocky, wide teeth stood out on one of his upper arms. As Ari looked it over, he found no similar wounds on it.
“Did someone strangle him or try to eat him?” Ari crouched next to Morgan, studying the body closer, trying to grasp every detail the corpse offered. The creature’s coarse hairs might have been a dark brown, but the color was covered in a dried, caking goo and lay matted against his stubby chest. “Is it okay if I touch him?” he asked Morgan.
She took a quick glance at her multicorder and at the High Chieftain behind her. She hissed, and he growled back.
“Okay, just be respectful.”
Ari grinned. “Hey, you bet. Respect is my middle name.”
Not waiting for a response, he took extra care when he lifted the Ozevroc’s head. There, around his neck, were deep, crescent-shaped bruises like powerful fingers had dug into the flesh. The skin beneath the fur bore the unmistakable imprints of a struggle, the force of the attacker’s grip clear in the dark, mottled marks.
Ari laid the head down and studied the Ozevroc’s long, coarse fingers, most bent unnaturally. Looked like the guy tried to pry away the hands that had stolen his life. “Morgan, aim your multicorder at his hands, especially his claws, and see if you can get any DNA from them.” He sighed, rising to his feet. He stood with his hands on his hips, taking in the cluttered surroundings. While the place was an overall mess, it was easy to tell the Ozevroc died trying to save his life. Overturned crates and scattered cooking tools bore silent witness to his final, frantic moments.
“What do you see?” he asked her.
“Well—“ Morgan rose, still reading her device. ”—this here is, er, was Lurvath, the head cook.”
“Wow, hard to believe anyone would object to something this guy cooked.” Ari pointed to the rest of the room. “If this room is an example of his master chef capabilities, no wonder the High Chieftain wanted you to fix their food-thingy.”
“Yeah, well. Now you know why I was desperate to make one for myself,” Morgan responded in a quiet voice. She looked up at him. “I’m going to tell his highness over there that I’ve found the same crystalline traces here that were in the sanctum room.” She pursed her lips. “Not sure how he’s going to take that.”
“I dunno—“ Ari crossed his arms with a grin. ”—we’ve lived a whole hour without getting a death threat. I was beginning to feel left out.”
Morgan grimaced. “Yeah, well, let’s hope that’s the least he’ll do.”
Luckily, the High Chieftain let Morgan scan the rest of the room.
Sure enough, the crystalline trail was in there, but nowhere outside it. The corridor was clear.
