Director Hall sounded positively cheery. “So, ‘Agent’ Millwood, I just got off the phone with Xalanite officials.”
How did they do that so fast? “And?”
“And it looks like you’ve got some friends in high places. I’ve been given an order to make your assignment here permanent. N’kal is now your sole responsibility for the duration of his stay with us.” She chuckled. “God help you, agent.”
Chapter 25
N’kal
Timber’s mood perked up after her phone call with the director, which delighted me. I liked knowing that she would stay by my side for the foreseeable future, but even more I liked the way she smiled when she got the news. Her face lit up, and she lunged for a hug.
“Thank you, N’kal. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Did it make you happy?”
She beamed up at me. “Yes.”
“Then I had to do it.” I drew her in for a kiss, and the warmth of her lips set a fire in myn’ril. I reached around to cup the curve of her ass in my palm, pulling her hips to mine.
“N’kal …” Her voice held a slight tone of warning, but I did not care.
“Do we not have cause to celebrate?” I teased, squeezing and massaging her in a slow, sensual rhythm. "Let yourself enjoy this moment. No one can separate us now.”
She chuckled and gripped my ass as well. “I’m supposed to be working, you know.”
To my dismay, a knock at the door interrupted us. I growled low in my throat, irritated, but Timber just laughed.
“Cock-blocked by company,” she chirped as she pulled away from me to go answer it.
An unfamiliar human showed Timber a badge as he stood on the step, accompanied by a strange Xalanite. I thought them an odd pair until the agent introduced himself as “Doctor Franklin,” and the Xalanite was similarly named. Why would a pair of physicians be at our door, though? We weren’t ill.
Dr. Franklin quickly explained. Ty’shal’s mate had gone into labor, and she was having complications. The bathtub they’d prepared did not have enough water pressure, and the Xalanite doctor was out of ideas on how to remedy the problem.
“How can N’kal help?” Timber asked.
“He may have thoughts that we missed,” the Xalanite said in stilted English. “We wish to pluck his mind.”
“Pick his brain,” Dr. Franklin corrected.
I rubbed my chin as I tried to think of a solution. The intake center was near Lake Ontario, but Xalanite excursions to the lake were strictly planned and monitored. Humans, as a land-based species, did not understand the Xalanite amphibious body, so it was likely that Dr. Franklin had not considered the woman’s need for more equalized exterior pressure to aid the birthing process. The Xalanite physician should realize this, though, and it irked me that he wasn’t fighting for the woman to be moved to the lake. I brought up this fact, and Dr. Franklin interjected before the Xalanite could speak.
“We can’t. She hasn’t been cleared for travel outside the campgrounds yet.”
I scowled at the shorter man. “She will die if she does not travel to the lake,” I growled. “Moya’aShil, I am angry that you have not already suggested this. It is simple Xalanite biology.”
Moya’aShil lowered his head, his gills flaring in shame. “I did not think the humans would allow it.”
I pushed him aside. “You should advocate for your patients.”
Timber followed me onto the porch and down the walk, trotting to keep up as I rushed to the medical building. The two doctors followed, though they did not catch up with us until I had already asserted myself by shouting orders at the agents and Xalanite medical staff gathered there.
“You! Agent! Prepare a vehicle. We leave for the lake in five minutes.”
My outburst came so suddenly that it shocked the agent into action. She scurried off, grabbing a set of keys from a row of hooks by the door. The other agents and medical staff exchanged confused looks, but there wasn’t time to explain. Ty’shal’s mate floated in a small, human-sized tub, her scales tinted a sickly grey, and I could see things were dire. She moaned weakly, and I feared the worst.
Director Hall showed up as I was helping Ha’ana into the bed of an AARO truck.
“What the hell is going on here?” she asked. “Who authorized a trip off-site?”
