“I’m sorry,” he whispered and stood up. He edged over so he could put one knee on the bunk behind Myrum. “We had some basic Talin physiology on our UniBase, so I was able to find some good measurements of the depth of your neck plates. Please bow your head down.”
Unlike the plates running down the rest of his spine, the few smaller plates protecting the back of his neck weren’t controlled by muscles. They would separate slightly by hanging his head forward, but that was the limit to their movement.
He felt Desur slip something under one of his neck plates and work it down until it was resting on the vulnerable skin normally protected by the plates.
“You can look up now,” Desur said. “I made sure that this part of the collar was as thin as possible.”
Myrum looked up, pleased to find he could barely feel anything under his neck plate. He expected it to be much more bothersome. “You did an excellent job. It isn’t irritating at all.”
“Hold off your judgment until I finish,” Desur said.
He shifted his position until he was hunched over and fiddling with the section of the collar that was laying over the exposed section of skin where his neck met his shoulders on the left side.
The collar tightened slightly. Desur mumbled something to himself and kept fiddling with it.
It struck him as humorous that he was wearing a collar. Back home on Kalor, the humans wore collars in case anyone visited unexpectedly. Although, the humans could remove them at any time. Lakin called her collar a prop and had delicate tools hidden under the inside lining.
Unlike those collars, this one was real and could dose him with enough medication to put him flat on his back. It was an interesting juxtaposition.
“How does that feel?” Desur asked, straightening up and staring down at him anxiously.
Myrum moved his head around, but the collar didn’t inhibit his movement in any direction. It felt odd, but he’d probably become accustomed to it quickly.
“It’s fine,” he said. “It doesn't impinge my neck and doesn’t hurt. Your skills are a credit to this ship.”
Desur’s ears relaxed. “That’s good!” He turned to Helmen and handed her a small device on a cord. “Here’s the remote. You’ll need to pull this back to hit the button. I wanted to make sure you couldn’t inject him by accident.”
Helmen accepted the device and hung it around her neck. “Desur and Amina, leave the room.”
Desur jumped to do as she asked, but Amina didn’t move.
“I’ll release the binding," Amina said. “You can’t do that and hold your weird weapon with both hands. What is that? Did you take a rod-extractor and strap a shocker to the end?”
Helmen ignored Amina’s sarcasm. “You can release him then step behind me and make your way to the door.”
Amina didn’t move. “You’re being ridiculous. He’s not going to jump up and attack us.”
Helmen let out a sigh. “Could you not argue with me just this once?”
“I only do it when it’s important,” Amina said and reached for one of the straps.
“If only that was true,” Helmen grumbled.
As Amina worked the strap on his thighs, Myrum tried to reassure Helmen again. “I’m in my right mind and will work very hard on maintaining my mental equilibrium. I wish I remembered what happened so I could apologize for my actions in more detail.”
Helmen didn’t answer, but he thought perhaps she was softening toward him.
The strap across his legs came loose, and Amina tossed it over to land on the other side of the bed. His left wrist was freed next, and he slowly moved it to rest on his lap. Amina had to lean over him to release his right arm, and her delicate scent wafted up to his nose. It was only because Helmen was watching him and ready to stab him with her improvised weapon that he didn’t lean over to bury his nose into her loose hair.
He really needed to find out how she achieved the lovely blue color of her hair. It was absolutely beautiful and would probably be even more gorgeous saturated with his bonding oil.
No! It was a bad idea to think of intimate things with Helmen and the other Ugarians in the room, all staring at him.
That’s when he realized the color of Amina’s hair matched Desur’s fur. Was that on purpose so she felt closer to her Ugarian cousins?
Maybe he could figure out how to dye his plates blue. Then she’d see he wanted to fit in also.
Once he was free, Amina stepped away so he had room to stand up. Before moving, he reached for the soft scarf Amina draped over his neck and wrapped it more securely. He wanted to make sure Ruby had a secure place to snuggle if she wanted to.
