Rone huffed out a laugh. “Of course.” Kuren’s words echoed Rone’s earlier ones from their first meeting, yet he didn’t dare look at either of his pets. Frey was used to being described as a fuck toy, but Rone could only imagine how Preen felt about that last comment in particular being repeated.
“Come. Let me show you the rest of the ship. You need to familiarize yourself with it before you leave for your first major run. The hold already contains the cargo.”
“Where am I taking it?”
“Not so very far from here, to a planet located at one corner of the Empire that many talk about, yet have no real interest in.”
Rone stopped in his tracks. “You mean the planet the humans invaded?”
Kuren smiled. “Exactly. A planet we care so little about that it doesn’t even have a proper name, nor any civilization, save for the garrison left there to oversee the human vermin. Plenty of space to hide a large cache of arms.”
“For what purpose?”
Kuren’s eyes narrowed and he leaned into Rone’s face. “Our clients pay us to move things from one part of space to another. We don’t ask why, nor do we care.”
Rone dropped his gaze. “Of course. Forgive me. I will deliver my cargo as ordered and have no concern on that front.”
“Good. Let us continue.”
The tour of the ship was long and thorough, giving Rone an eye-opening lesson on just how sophisticated Kuren’s operationwas. A vessel such as this would not be easy to obtain and trick out with the kind of technology and even luxury that this one contained. The cargo hold itself surprised him with both how cleverly hidden it was within the ship and how much it contained. A revolution could be fought with such a storehouse. And Kuren spoke of this as Rone’s first run, which meant that even more would become available. Despite having rounded up or killed many traitorous males, it was clear that the conspiracy remained active with a large group of males unaccounted for.
He was glad when the tour brought them to the captain’s quarters. They were his quarters now, and it was as sumptuous as his rooms had been back in his mother’s house. There, she’d decorated for him, not really caring what his tastes were. Orianna had been more accommodating. The lavish excess didn’t suit him at all, yet certainly helped with his intended persona of a dissolute male. It also allowed him to direct Frey to drop the container with their combined personal items somewhere. Although it wasn’t very large or heavy for Rone, he’d seen his human pet struggling to carry it all over. Naturally, he couldn’t take it from the boy without looking weak. But once he told the boy to put it down, he pulled his pet to his side and kneaded his rump, as if that had been the point of his order all along.
He didn’t like the interested look Kuren gave him, though, and stopped groping the boy. The last thing he wanted was for his boss to ‘request’ use of the pet before leaving the ship. The one time he’d done so had infuriated Rone, and he didn’t think he’d could hide his true emotions about it a second time—not convincingly. He was too close to completing his mission to take any risks. Fortunately, the moment passed, and Kuren led him to the bridge as the final destination.
“As you’ll see, the bridge is of the same high quality as the rest of the ship. And the pilot is a male I have confidence in.”
The moment Rone stepped inside the room and saw the pilot turning to greet them, he knew he was in trouble. He almost reached for a weapon. Almost. If he had any chance at all of salvaging what had suddenly turned to shit, he needed to be a very good bluffer or an even better cheater. His life had just turned into a large quaz game. The pilot’s nascent smile turned into a growl when he saw Rone. He reached for the weapon strapped to his waist and pointed it at Rone. Kuren’s guards had theirs up and pointing at the pilot in automatic defense of their boss. Seeing that reaction, the pilot lowered his gun.
“My apologies, sire. I meant no threat to you. It’s him,” he added, with a jut of his chin at Rone.
Kuren slowly turned to look at Rone, who met his stare boldly. Bluffing first. Cheating later, if he got a chance. “What are you doing, Avith? This is Rone, the new captain.”
“I know who he is. Rone and I were cadets together.”
“Until you washed out,” Rone added with a sneer. “You were too unstable, even for military service. I had wondered, briefly, what your mother had done with such a problem son.”
Avith growled. “Self-righteous as ever.” He turned his attention to Kuren. “Sire, I assure you that there is no way this male is a committed servant of yours. With his family and House pedigree, let alone his caste, he would never involve himself in smuggling or arms dealing. He is the pampered son of a wealthy female and the widower of an even wealthier female. He has no need to be here. It’s a trap of some sort.”
Kuren signaled his guards, who then trained their weapons on Rone. “Is this true?”
Slowly holding his hands up so that Kuren understood he didn’t mean to reach for his own weapon, Rone gave an honest answer. “Yes, sire. What Avith says is true. I was raised in a proper household, wanting for nothing. I had a career set on the home world and had made an advantageous mating.”
He didn’t have to fake the emotion that tinged his next words. “She was a female that would have made you sick with envy for what I had. Then her sister murdered her, but my mother and the other females insisted on pretending that it was an accident. Their weakness and lies disgusted me. My mother wanted me to take another mate and forget my precious Orianna ever existed. I refused.”
Bluffing over, he stopped a moment, looked away and took a deep breath before cheating. “What Avith says about me is true, yet so is what I just told you, as is this. Avith is not to be trusted. I’ve never seen him follow a single order correctly. He is not only unstable, he’s also wholly untrustworthy. I have to wonder, as well, how he became a pilot when he washed out well before such lessons were offered. Perhaps he never left the military and instead joined the more secretive parts of it.”
Avith sputtered in outrage, a reaction that did not work in his favor. He had always been overly emotional. “Sire, you know that’s not true. I earned my place in your ranks by working hard.”
“He has been with me for quite some time.” Kuren appeared pensive right before he signaled his guards once more.
They were on Rone before he could even think of mounting a defense, not that it would have done him any good. Outnumbered and outgunned, he would have only managed to get himself and his pets slaughtered. He didn’t even fight the guards’ search or their hold, merely stood tensely between them, trying to control his temper.
“Sire, I am loyal to you,” Avith stated.
“Not to worry. You’ll be given a chance to convince me. As Avith is so certain you are a High Command infiltrator, I will give him a chance to get a confession out of you,” Kuren responded.
Avith looked way, too pleased with that pronouncement.
