They screamed and clutched their heads while I strummed through their minds with the ease of strumming a lute. I foundwhat I needed there, where to twist, where I could find their “off” switch and leave them screaming and incapacitated on the floor.
Our quarters were quiet now, but messy. No time to worry about the mess. I leaped over them and met another male in the hall. Unlike Devorans, these kind do not allow their females into battle. They do not believe in equality as we do. I disabled the male in the hall and closed my eyes until the telepathic hum of my First Officer’s thoughts were my own.
Yes. There were two more in the lower decks to disable. He could teleport two security officers. We’d already disabled their ship. Help was on the way.
But there was silence when I asked if Jess was on their ship. She wasn’t, which meant that the Taureans had somewhere else they could keep her. None of the planets nearby were inhabitable to Taureans. All were too cold, including most of Earth except for the equatorial deserts.
Once the two intruders on the lower decks were neutralized, I returned to the bridge. My first officer wasn’t pleased. Tisiphone, my older cousin who lived on the Southern tip of the continent, and served as my first officer, had a scratch on her face and our medic had been incapacitated during the attack.
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Tiss was right.
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> I chided her.
Tisiphone bowed her head.
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I did not withhold my irritation and though Tiss could sense it, she didn’t withdraw her position. We should ensure the safety of the crew first.
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Tiss was right, of course, but. I couldn’t send just anyone after Jess. She was too important.
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To Tisiphone, the younger officers were the ones around my age, an aging generation that could only be replaced by mixing our gene pool. I respected her suggestions and didn’t have much time to make a choice. I called Morpheus to my ready room to brief him.
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I scowled. Was I that transparent? Since Jess had come around, I hadn’t bothered to hide my emotions much and I was paying the price for it.
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Morpheus bowed his head.
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Arietan females had banished the males from their society and set off for their own planet years ago. The males skulked about the galaxy kidnapping any woman they could get their hands on. They were particularly compatible with other species.
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