Page 5 of A Monster’s Future

Igor lumbered up beside her, his massive frame casting a shadow over both of us. The guy looked like he could bench-press a shuttle and ask for extra weight. The experiments they’d done on him had left him with strength that bordered on inhuman. It made him the perfect guard. But Exotech had also messed with his head, controlling him for most of his life with neural shocks.

The poor guy. Before meeting him, I’d never thought I’d feel sorry for a super soldier. But now I understood what they’d gone through. They were victims, just like everyone else under the heartless corporation’s thumb. I was certain that, given the chance, Igor would love to take his revenge. But he was also terrified of his old owners taking over his brain again. And rightfully so.

Annabel had been the one who’d removed most of the receivers and transmitters from his brain. And it explained why Igor had more than a little obvious crush on the woman. To him, she’d saved his life and given him true freedom.

There was one implant she couldn’t remove since it was too close to the brain stem or something, which was why he sometimes wore a tinfoil hat. I wasn’t sure how much it helped, but it made him feel better.

For this trip, they’d made him a foil-lined helmet so he wouldn’t draw more attention than he was going to anyway.

“Ships are safe,” Igor rumbled, his voice deep and slow. “No need to fear.”

“Thank you, Igor,” I said.

Now that he was on our side, Igor was a total sweetheart. A little slow at times, but who could blame him? He never had a normal childhood, having been an orphan sold by the colony of Nova Vita to Exotech for their research.

“You two are coming along to check out the market, right?” I asked.

Annabel nodded. “Yep. Did you know Igor’s been to Halcyon Station before?”

“Really?”

“I don’t remember much,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Bullshit.” Annabel waved her phone in my face. “We managed to recover several images from his ocular implants. It was two years ago, so things might have changed, but the market was full of tech. I’m excited to see what we can find.”

It was crazy to me that even after everything, they could still pull up images from two years ago. I was grateful that these two were coming; my stomach-churning nervousness had dissolved, and I was actually smiling. Besides, Igor was a menace, and people would think twice about messing with anyone he was with. Maybe I could explore the market with them once the negotiations were done.

Chris showed up next with several men and women I didn’t recognize. I did recognize Charlene though; didn’t she major in Earth languages? She’d definitely help clear up any misunderstandings.

Aak was right behind him, with Maddy all red-eyed and clinging to him. Aak was one of the few native Vokiren who’d decided to stay at Ellaston instead of returning to his people. With the Kadrixans and the other mated couples around, their cross-species mating was much better received here than it was among his people.

Aak had immediately volunteered to act as a guard for the trip the moment he realized it would be off-planet. His people had never thought it possible to leave the planet until humans arrived, descending from the skies and beyond the stars. He’d be the first Vokiren ever in space, and his excitement was impossible to ignore.

Maddy was less gung-ho about leaving good old terra firma and would be waiting for him to return. It would be their first time apart for more than a day since they were rescued from the Exotech lab.

One by one, everyone arrived. The core group was comprised of the leaderly and diplomatic types, those who were there to do the actual negotiations. Then there was me, the official media. There were also a few of the science-minded and techy types, who were there to shop the market and bring home whatever was useful. And the rest of our group were big, burly men of all species, there to make sure the rest of us got back alive, guys like Igor and Aak. There were also a few Kadrixan warriors, including one male I’d spent a few hours with last rutting season. What was his name?

Damn it. I couldn’t remember. The rule during the rutting season was to keep things casual and not get too attached, since it was one of the times Kadrixan males produced bonding hormones for females who were not their mates. Getting attached to the wrong warrior was a recipe for disaster, so I followed the unwritten rules and kept things casual.

The warrior clearly remembered me as well because he grinned and came to stand next to me. “I did not know that such a beautiful female would be on the team.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a gesture that looked oddly human. “I admit I do not remember your name. Though I remember… other things.”

I hid a smile behind a hand. Of course he did.

“It’s Julie.” I stuck a hand out like I was meeting him for the first time, even though I already knew I was not his mate because we’d already touched. If I had been his mate, my touch would’ve dropped the poor guy on his knees. Love at first touch. It was kind of romantic.

He took my hand anyway. “I’m Ashtrr. And I will be your pilot.”

“Pilot, huh. I never knew.”

My smile disappeared the moment I heard the low growl of warning from behind me. I released Ashtrr’s hand and whipped around.

Grtirr stood there with a frown on his face, wearing the same skintight uniform as Ashtrr. It was the first time I’d ever seen him out of his medic robes. Kadrixan medical robes reminded me of religious clerical attire from old Earth, but they were black with neon-green details and looked more suitable for a cyberpunk Nosferatu than for a doctor.

“Ah, Grtirr, Trsak. We are all here then.” Ashtrr nodded to the grumpy medic like he wasn’t sustaining a low, angry growl through the entire interaction.

I’d known Trsak and his mate Kat were coming along. Trsak was the Kadrixan communication specialist, and Kat spent her life navigating political situations; she was on the negotiation team.

But I hadn’t known Grtirr was coming with us.