Peaches was waiting on her crate when he left the bathroom, and he scooped her up before heading toward the main exit. He had just finished clambering down the slanted ladder when a pair of Kowri marched toward him. They were both large males—da-males. Regi insisted da-males were slower to anger and, despite their size, less likely to start conflicts than either di-males or females. However, Bekdi a’Gavd was a da-male, and he was as aggressive, offensive, and xenophobic as any shotgun-totin’, homophobic redneck from back home.
Between the fear souring his stomach and the hangover, Dante was close to vomiting, but he refused to turn tail and run from trouble. He wasn’t a slave, and he had as much right to defend himself as anyone else on this ship. “What are you folks doing inside the ship? I thought Kowri avoided this place.”
“Move,” one snarled, and neither slowed.
Dante’s courage was thinning, and he was eyeing a narrow side passage when Peaches came to life. She stood on her back legs, turned her back to the two Kowri and shook her quills with a tiny high-pitched war cry. It would have been cute if not for the rattling poisonous quills that could kill with a scratch. And she was standing on his shoulder while doing it.
The two Kowri knew the danger because they both stumbled backward, their eyes large and their fur standing on end so they looked particularly fuzzy and cute. “Dop!” one cried out.
Dante scoffed. “Of course she’s a dop. The temple knows Peaches and Peewee still live on the ship.” Dante felt a little guilty that the name Peewee had stuck for the small male that continually tried to court Peaches, but if the shoe fit, the tiny dop had to wear it.
“You’re Dante a’Texas,” the other male said. Dante noticed that they never called him Dante a’Divashi, even if Divashi showed her interest in him. One day, Dante would slip and reveal that Texas was a place and not a god, and the Kowri were not going to be amused. “We have been ordered to secure the communication and engineering sections. We would request you step aside to avoid any injuries.” The male stared at Peaches, so he was concerned about his own hide. Smart man. Dante had seen someone die from dop poison, and it was an ugly and painful death.
“I thought the temple was keeping the Coalition and Kowri separate. Why are you in here?”
The two Kowri exchanged a glance and then the first male took a careful step forward. “We are followers of Gavd, on orders from Bekdi a’Gavd. We do not have time to delay.”
Well, crap. If Bekdi was involved, something was wrong. The male was a major power in temple politics, so Dante moved to the side and waved to invite them to pass. Unlike Earth ships where corridors were so tiny that only one person could walk at a time, alien ships had wide corridors, probably to accommodate the larger aliens. Dr. Bevit resembled a sumo wrestler with a dozen boobs and a hairstyle fit for the most flamboyant drag queen, and Ean resembled like a pyramid with her tiny head and her massive... hips? Butt? Entire region above her four stubby legs.
The extra space meant all three of them could have stood shoulder to shoulder and still had room, but the two Gavd followers plastered themselves to the far wall and slid past single file. Dante assumed they knew where they were going, and he hoped the Coalition crew wouldn’t try to stop them. Kowri didn’t like outsiders, and if Regi’s security crew tried to block their way, it wouldn’t end well.
Dante had seen what Kowri weapons could do, and he shuddered to think of them turned against people he knew, many of whom he liked. Sure, Ean was annoying in her attempts to get him to talk about his captivity and Ter was the singularly most offensive person he had ever met, but the former had a good heart, and the latter was amusing.
Standing at the ship’s exit, Dante saw dozens of Kowri standing around the ship and Regi was toe-to-toe with Bekdi near one of the large protrusions that kept the ship from rolling onto its side.
Regi and Bekdi were both fluffy with fury, as were many of the other watching Kowri Captain Cota stood next to Ter, his hands low as he spoke with a tall female Kowri, and Vk had planted herself at Regi’s side, glowering at Bekdi with her nose tucked up close to her face.
Even the sky reflected the mood with flat-bottomed dark gray clouds blocking out the planetary rings that bejeweled the sky.
Dante eased down the ramp, the earlier urge to vomit returning full force. However, his quarters in the ship wouldn’t protect him if there was an open conflict, and he refused to hide. When Dante had covered half the distance, Bekdi a’Gavd shifted his glare to Dante. Dante straightened and walked faster. He wasn’t going to let anyone intimidate him, not again. It wasn’t as though Bekdi was a slaver who could pull out a dyl stick, and if he tried to abuse his power as a law-enforcement officer, Dante trusted that both Regi and Peaches would defend him. That was a lot of protection.
“Good morning, everyone.”
Regi kept his focus on Bekdi. “Dante, return to the ship.”
“Is there a problem?”
“There is a prodigious problem. Did you convince the unbeliever that the gods exist?” Bekdi poked his double thumbs toward Ter. Regi gave a subvocal growl, and Bekdi’s fur rippled.
“I did. I pointed out that if he valued logic, he had to accept that powerful entities have left evidence of their existence. If you can scan for particles left by the gods’ interference, then they exist, and his disbelief was illogical.”
Regi took a quick step forward, and Bekdi retreated fast, his hand landing on his weapon. Considering Regi was a good foot shorter, Bekdi’s caution made him look ridiculous. Maybe he realized that because he took a step toward Regi, his elbows bent in body language so human Dante had seen it on any number of school-yard bullies.
“Dante a’Texas does not offend the gods by insisting they exist. To do otherwise would be blasphemy.” Regi spit the words.
“Discussing theology with outsiders is blasphemy!” Bekdi shouted back.
From the other side of the entrance ramp, Ter yelled. “This is unacceptable. I have work I need to accomplish and that brain-damaged disappointment who shames the genetic material his parents contributed stopped me from being able to do that. Tell all these sycophantic followers of illogical gods to get away from my ship.”
Captain Cota bellowed, “Engineer Ter, stand down and do not speak.” However, it was too late. Bekdi whirled away from Regi and stormed toward Ter. Physically, Ter was no match. Where Bekdi was tall and muscled and broad, Ter was tall and spindly and twitchy. Dante still thought he resembled a poorly assembled scarecrow, but instead of cowering, Ter stuck out his elbows and his tail twitched like an angry cat’s.
“You dare insult our gods?”
“If they are that powerful, my words don’t bother them. However, you’re a small-minded pedant and despot if you think you have the right to tell the rest of the universe how to talk.”
“You are on our planet, outsider.”
Captain Cota grabbed Ter’s arm and jerked him back before stepping between the two. “We apologize, Lawkeeper Bekdi a’Gavd. Ter is intemperate with his words, a trait that gets him in so much trouble that Coalition stations we frequent know his name and reputation. He often questions my own parentage, so I will beg your forgiveness since insulting others has become the only religion he will follow.” Captain Cota held his hands low, but his pupils were narrow like a goat’s. He was annoyed. Dante just didn’t know who was annoying him the most.
