“More questions…?” The Hydrassian we’d seen at the bazaar was suddenly displayed as a hologram floating over the dash, all six snakeheads squinting at the camera.
“Until you give us something we can work with, yes,” I snapped in the trade language, too annoyed by the entire situation to play games.
Ziggy cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly in his chair, and I had to fight a smile at the distincthorninessflavoring the air.
Space Daddy likes me in Commander Babygirl mode.
The Hydrassian sneered. “We already told yoursuperiorswe were simply answering the call of the karnilianon your planet—that it had been so long since we heard its song.”
At this point, I realized Hydrassians spoke in the royal “we,” probably because of having multiple heads. I was still wondering if each head was a separate entity with different thoughts—and whether they meant it literally when they said they couldhearthe karnilian’s song—but asking how their abilities worked would only make me look even more clueless than I already was.
Fake it ‘til ya make it!
Refocusing, I channeled my inner bad bitch to continue the interrogation. “And how many of your fellow mercenaries happened to be searching Stellaria alongside you?—”
“WE ARE NOT MERCENARIES!” the Hydrassian boomed, and it was only thanks to my deeply ingrained supe instincts of Big Dickery that I didn’t flinch.
“Hmm…” I hummed in a bored tone. “That’s odd. We encountered no less than six Hydrassian mercenaries in a neighboring Muonova, with at least one working for the Irathians… the same Irathians who recently attacked Stellaria—whereyouwere found sniffing around.”
It doesn’t look good, dude.
The prisoner sighed heavily, seeming to understand they needed to start talking or face the thunder. “We assumethoseso-called mercenaries,”their voice dripped with disdain, “are from a younger generation of Hydrassians. With karniliangrowing scarcer by the day, some have claimed there is more money to be found tracking down the stone than waiting for it to appear on our doorstep in exchange for our talents.”
Okay, so Hydrassian Millennials also believe in hustle culture…
“We’ll ask you one more time,” Ziggy joined in with his skerry Space Daddy growl. “Why were you on Stellaria looking for a stone you know full well is illegal in our galaxy?”
The Hydrassian huffed, clearly offended. “We were sent to Stellaria to shop for basic ritual supplies. The instant we left our ship, we feltthe pull of karnilian from…somewherenearby. That was when we began searching for it.”
So their witchy bitch senses are only so exact.
Good to know…
“What were you planning to do with the karnilianonce you found it?” I asked. “Since you claim to not be associated with the Irathians or any other third party species seeking the stone for personal gain.”
A blast ofpridefrom Ziggy had me sitting up straighter, even as I kept my gaze locked on our subject.
What I wouldn’t give for the twins’ mind-reading abilities right now.
The Hydrassian was silent for a moment, observing me with the same level of intensity—as if they were trying to sus out how muchIknew as well.
“We were hoping to get it somewhere safe,” they carefully replied. “As mentioned, karnilian is rare nowadays, and the source of the stone even rarer.”
“Trols,” I filled in the blanks as confidently as possible, using deductive reasoning to finally name what Pedro was.
Our furry little alien troll doll.
“Yes.” The Hydrassian nodded all six heads in unison. “We have not seen a Trol in at least a few hundred years—not since their planet disappeared.”
Disappeared?!
“Disappeared?” Ziggy stepped in as my anxiety skyrocketed.
“That is what the elders say.” Our tea-spiller shrugged. “Historically, our planet had a direct link with Trols, along with contracted trade agreements so we could ethically harvest the stone for our rituals. However, one day, communication simply… stopped. When an envoy was sent to investigate, there was reportedly nothing at the coordinates except empty space.”
Well, fuck.
The plan had been to return Pedro to their planet once we figured out where it was, but now, it sounded like there might be no way home for our baby Trol.
