He tittered and raised his hands in front of him. “The General has instructed that all expenses be passed to him.”
Ohem, my alien sugar daddy.
I nodded. “Add a bonus for my appreciation for you,” I said, not knowing whether they’d know what a tip was or if it was even something you did in space, but judging by the way he vibrated, it was the right offer.
I asked for another drink and he quickly had another prepared and I took it to walk around the room. I was on my second rotation when I heard Ohem’s name. I casually stopped and backtracked to where the voice had sounded over the music and games. There were five females seated at a table off to the side of the dance floor, backed against the wall. I bobbed my way over and notched myself between two different groups of chatting aliens and focused on their conversation.
“I think she’s a perfect match for the General. She’s strong enough to challenge him and help him destroy his enemies, but beautiful in her warrior way,” a blue-skinned bird lady said. She was ethereal, and I stared at her in shocked wonder. If I hadn’t been happily mated, she’d be the first alien I’d approach, hands down. Her small beak was a darker blue than her skin and feathers and was more malleable than an actual bird’s beak. She could smile with it.
She had her pert breasts exposed and painted with neon orange paint in swirling patterns, her dark blue nipples were pierced and her slim thighs flashed underneath her ribbon skirt, bird feet and talons painted the same bright orange as her body. She was sexy as hell and I was momentarily transfixed until one of her companions spoke.
A raptor-like female tilted her head, “she slaughtered thirty crew members in minutes and then ate one in front of the others left alive,” she flashed a toothy predator smile. “I like her. We will have to set up a meeting, she could use allies and guides.” The others voiced their agreement.
Oh, I liked these ladies. Girls supporting girls!
I listened for a few more seconds to their chatter. They weren’t spies. I moved on to complete another long circuit of the room. I caught talk of the murder spree in the mess, and others wondering about my human friends, but no talk of Rakis. The hairs on the back of my neck had raised during my circle around the room, and the burning feeling between my shoulder blades told me someone was watching me. I finished my glass and sat it down on a table, waved at the bartender and left the room.
I checked two more similar entertainment rooms, and it was much the same. Horrified comments about my savagery and others that admired me for it. The feeling of being watched followed me to each new place. I moved on to some cargo holds and found them empty except for massive metal crates. Still being followed, I turned my head slightly and didn’t see anyone behind me. I couldn’t smell them either. Whoever they were, they were good.
I’d been gone for hours and checked in again with Ohem and the others. They were all back in the common room and I was told dinner was going to be served in an hour. I told Ohem about my shadow in a hushed voice so my watcher wouldn’t overhear. Ohem chuffed and told me to continue as I was, that he was watching. It gave me the warm fuzzies. I checked more rooms in the halls and pretended to be oblivious.
They tried nothing, just followed and watched. My wrist link chimed and tapped it. A small message holo screen popped up from Ohem. It said to lose my shadow. He’d turned off my tracking link to everyone but him and Rema. I grinned, turned a corner, and sprinted to the portal. It opened again in a different area, and I walked down the corridor. I entered another portal and then another until I came to a completely empty hallway. I exited the portal and wandered around for over an hour, checking the rooms until I was sure the feeling of being watched was gone. I was in one of the maintenance levels, all the rooms were full of tools and desks with various objects in different states of repairs.
Time to wrap this up for the day. My link pinged again with another message that said to check a room, that they’d followed my watchers to it. A small offset room on the map was highlighted. It wasn’t labeled and looked like a storage closet to me, but I’d check anyway before I left this section of the ship. The map pinged outside a plain metal door, and I pressed my ear to it and listened. No sound , but I could smell aliens inside and the tang of ozone that I remembered from the plasma gun battle on planet Hellhole. Bingo! Did they not think my mate would have me monitored? That he’d track them down easily while they followed me around? Between Red and these new assholes, I had little respect for Rakis’s lackeys.
I narrowed my eyes at the closed door. It hadn’t opened at my approached. I pushed it, but didn’t open and I typed a quick message on my link to get Ohem or Rema to open it. It clicked softly and slid open less than twenty seconds later. It was a dark hallway. There was another dark door at the end and I walked on silent feet to stand outside it. There were murmurs of conversation inside. I leaned close to the door and focused.
“Bring her to Bay 3. We’ll take care of the rest,” a male said in a deep, raspy voice. I would bet my life I was who they were talking about. “We have brought enough soldiers to capture her. Rakis wants her alive. Kill the General.”
My lips pulled back from my already shifted fangs involuntarily, a low growl clawed its way up my throat. I clenched my teeth to keep quiet, and backed away from the door. I pivoted and left the hallway before I rushed in and killed everyone. I didn’t want to repeat the cafeteria slaughter. I was going to be responsible. I’d get the others first and then let their plan play out. I’d find out what it was when they either “captured” me or after I was lured to the bay. Just to be safe, I’d warn Patty and others about it and have them stay in our rooms. I made it to a portal and waited until it closed before I touched my link. “Call Ohem.”
“Yes, myursang?” Ohem’s Mount Doom voice even rumbled over the link.
I gave him a quick rundown of my day and what I’d heard at the door to the unmarked room.
He hummed. “Patty and the others are here with Rema and I. They will try to take or lure you tonight. The shuttles are leaving first thing in the morning with those who wish to leave, and then we are jumping to a restricted sector. They don’t have time to delay. They won’t know where you are. We turned off your tracking locator so you could lose your shadow and I could track them when they went to report you’d evaded them. I left ours on so they will see we are in our quarters, but I will turn yours on now. Let them come to you. Go back to the entertainment room and feign drunkenness. We will monitor you and I will meet you when they lead you away.”
It was a simple plan, and it would work. It always did. I don’t care if you were a super advanced alien race, if your target was isolated and inebriated, you acted. I walked back out of the portal and returned to my bartender.
The club was even more crowded than before and the music was louder. I ordered a bunch of my drinks and slammed them quickly until there were several empty glasses in front of me. I waved the bartender away when he reached to take them. Alcohol burned through my system, leaving me buzzed for a few seconds before my metabolism swept it away. I sat sipping my last drink and swayed in my chair, my eyes shuttered and talked loudly to the bartender. He was more than happy to stand and chat with me.
I learned his name was Ket’ak, and he was a Morlens. His wife was the pretty blue bird lady I’d overheard earlier. He’d called her Izari and was very fond of her. I smashed my judgy, human from Earth nonsense into powder, and kept the surprise off of my face when he’d told me Izari was his mate. Maybe he was the pinnacle of beauty to her species and I was an asshole for thinking otherwise. We set up a double date, and he looked like he could die happy at any moment. He and his mate were adorable. I told myself I could get used to his eyes.
I’d been here only ten minutes when a wide eyed pixy looking thing buzzed over to me on dragonfly wings. It was about three feet tall and I wanted to squish it like a bug. It had that shifty look of something that was doing something bad and liked it. It took a seat next to me and met my eyes; I gave it a sloppy smile and swayed harder in my seat.
“Hi! I’m Jack!” I slurred and stuck out my hand.
The bug looked at my hand, and then ignored it to meet my eyes again. “Nin At’ens.” It looked around it and then leaned forward. “I know where there are other traitors.”
Its eyes narrowed slightly, and I didn’t miss its cocky little smile on its bug mouth. I widened my eyes and leaned back, almost falling over before I grabbed the bar to steady my poor, drunken self and popped up from my seat to wobble forward, looking over my shoulder at the bug who was hovering behind me.
“Show me!”
The bug’s eyes lit with triumph and he flew ahead of me. I weaved slowly through the crowd, almost falling a time or two, trying to really sell it. It came back to buzz at me impatiently a few times; I swatted at it and purposely missed, growling at its smug little face. We made it out of the club and into the portal, where I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. I even snored a little. I should win an Oscar for this performance.
The bug muttered under its breath and tapped my cheek to wake me when I didn’t move for the opening portal door. I blinked blearily at it and followed its lead out into a cavernous cargo bay. I stumbled to a halt, but the bug didn’t stop, just flew up and disappeared into the maze of towering crates.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” I said, like I couldn’t hear them rustling around. I added a little nervousness to my voice and walked into the narrow gap between the wall of crates stacked in front of me. They should really,reallybrush up on the Rijitera in their histories. I’m sure even in the washed out public versions it mentions heightened senses. I could smell, hear, and taste them in the air.
