“Decision maker? Like a senator?”
“Unknown,” Xander said. “But government reaction to Rick Father is causing of alarm.”
Kohei’s voice came through the radio. “I can travel to the city to ensure the return of Rick Father,” he offered.
“No,” Max said firmly. He desperately wanted to protect his family.
Kohei made an unhappy noise.
“I will travel with Max Father,” James said.
“No, you won’t,” Max said.
“Yes, I will. When Kohei returns personal vehicle to the ship, I will bring it to Max Father so we can find Rick Father and demand that he return.”
“You will go to the ship and we will all wait for Rick,” Max said firmly.
“I will go to city,” James said, and a mechanical click made it clear he had disconnected the radio. Max pressed his lips together and fought with an urge to call his child back and yell at him. Loudly. While Max loved his kids, they could annoy the life out of him. Hell, James could annoy him to death, revive him, and kill him again without breaking a sweat.
Max glanced over, and the guard who had followed him to this crappy little outpost now looked as horrified as all the other aliens. However, Max could read those curly tentacles in a way he couldn’t read the body language of any other aliens. “Humans have a biological imperative to keep offspring safe from outside forces,” Max explained.
Instead of reassuring the unnamed guard, that made the tentacles curl up even tighter. Yep, Hidden ones had firm opinions when it came to raising children. Max asked, “Where is the entrance to the underground hanger?”
“Query. Clarify hanger,” the guard asked.
“Clarify. Place where my ship is kept when it is moved underground,” Max said.
The guard trumpeted. “Ownership of ship is not assigned to boned outsider.”
“I am mated to Rick, so we share all resources. The ship belongs to Rick, so it belongs to me.”
“Unconfirmed,” the guard said loud enough that a few of the other aliens winced.
“Where is the entrance?” Max asked. Arguing with a guard wasn’t productive.
The guard’s tentacles curled tighter, and Max huffed. Maybe it wasn’t his children who were annoying; it might be aliens in general. Max walked back toward the landing spot. If they dragged spaceships into a shelter, he’d find evidence. It had to be near. If Max had to live in ugly, squat, symmetrical barracks, he would spend a lot of time in his ship.
Max circled the landing pad, his silent guard trailing behind him when the small personal transport they kept in the ship rolled to a stop next to him. The sides were open, and James was half out of the vehicle, his tentacles curled around the frame as he waved two tentacles in Max’s direction. Kohei stopped the vehicle, his tentacle tips twitching in aggravation.
“Max Father. I will go to city to determine status of Rick Father,” James trumpeted.
Max opened his mouth to argue–to order James to go back to the ship–to remind James of all the trouble they ran into during their last visit planetside. But telling James to do something never worked. Max tried some magical reverse psychology–the superpower of parents everywhere. “Perfect,” he said, and Kohei’s tentacles twitched. “Kohei and Xander will keep the ship safe since the government officials are challenging ownership of the ship. Absolutely.” Max nodded like this was the best idea in the world. James used his hold on the vehicle’s frame to pull himself upward until he was perched over the car more than sitting in it.
Then he trumpeted loudly. “Exactly!” he said at the tail end of the blast. He shoved Kohei out of the vehicle, leaving his older brother to tumble into the dirt. “Max Father and I retrieve Rick Father while brothers stay on ship.”
Max sighed.
Kohei straightened himself and rotated to consider Max from a cluster of smaller eyes. “Max Father stupid,” he proclaimed.
Max didn’t defend himself.
James settled behind the driver’s seat, which was fair given that Max had never read the manual on how to control the vehicle. He still would rather figure out the controls on his own before taking his child into an unfamiliar city, but he wasn’t getting that option. With a sigh, Max moved to the passenger side. “Keep the ship safe,” he told Kohei. Kohei’s trumpet sounded vaguely amused.
Max was glad one of them was enjoying this.
Chapter Five
Max stopped clinging to the frame after about ten minutes. James drove too fast and the vehicle went airborne too much, but he did have control over the car. Mostly.
