Dante boggles at me.
“Dante, get out while I get changed,” I growl.
He starts as if I’ve shot him in the bottom and gives me a half feral look.
“I will check on the arrival of the scout ship,” he says rapidly as he makes a swift exit, his tail, smaller than when he was shifted, lashing behind him.
I can’t help the corners of my mouth quirking up as he escapes. From what Scarlett and Kerra have told me, Sarkarnii males believe females,anycompatible females, can bite them and envenomate them if they are unhappy.
It would appear this message has finally come to the front of Dante’s mind.
As soon as he has gone, I strip off my remaining garments and shove them in the drying cupboard, wait until the noise stops, and then extract them, dry and warm. I’m in the process of pulling my boots on when Dante sticks his head around the corner.
“The ship will be landing in the next five nova minutes,” he says.
I take that as an invitation to see exactly what sort of chaos surrounds the return of one of Dante’s ships. I have to hope it doesn’t result in injury like breakfast did.
Walking through his ship, it would appear the crew are a little less wary of me, albeit they are much quieter as we move past them. At least they’re not actively avoiding me. In fact, a cohort of armed warriors thunders past us, looking far more focussed than I’ve come to expect.
“Is that normal?”
Dante inclines his head. “Since the incursions by the Veseli, I’ve ordered we have a welcome crew at every shuttle landing.”
“Makes sense.” I shudder slightly at the thought of all the other aliens we’ve inadvertently met since we ended up on Vorostor.
The cockroach ones which I am not going to forget in a hurry, or the weird humanoid who looks like some mad professor and is hell bent on capturing the Sarkarnii for his own ends.
More fool him. I imagine it would be like herding really big cats. Ones which can also produce flame on command and sometimes by accident if Dante’s crew are anything to go by.
“I will not let them take you, Rosalie.”
“I should hope not,” I respond as we walk into a huge hangar filled with smaller ships and with an opening out onto the dusty plains of Vorostor.
The cohort of armed warriors has taken up a position next to an empty landing pad, and as I watch, a smaller space ship weaves its way towards the opening before sliding through the forcefield and into the hangar where the engine’s roar fills my ears.
Dante tucks me behind him as it approaches the landing pad, making a swift, neat landing in direct contrast to the approach.
“Warriors,” Dante growls over the hiss of the cooling engines. “Ready.”
In a fluid, controlled movement, the cohort surrounds the ship, and five of them line up next to the airlock as it cracks and spirals open.
I feel like everyone is holding their breath until a group of Sarkarnii troop out wearily.
“Dreven!” Dante hails the lead Sarkarnii.
He gives Dante a short bow. “Boss.”
Dante indicates to the warriors on the outside to enter the ship as three Sarkarnii carrying small blue pouches rush forward, handing them out to each new warrior.
“How was the trading?” Dante asks.
Dreven perks up a little, giving him a fanged smile. “They took everything for an excellent price, and we were able to obtain some eletviz.”
“Fantastic news!” Dante slaps him on the back, so hard he sways. “Decompress, use the aquiums, and then we’ll debrief.”
“Boss.” Dreven dips his head, accepting his blue pouch before he and his crew are led away.
“What is eletviz?” I ask.
