Page 68 of I Married Amreth

“I do not defecate in the water. Creating Puricis takes time, and they must last forty-eight hours before they unravel,” the Raithean said with a look of contempt for his companion. “Their people are still traveling here.”

“I don’t give two shits about any of that. Just get it done!”

“You will care when you do not receive your credits because of a botched job, you stupid human! If the poison releases too early, the flora, fauna, and fish nearby will all be dead by the time their people arrive. They will know something happened. What do you think Marilia will do to us once the Enforcers are alerted?”

My heart leapt upon hearing that name. Was he referring to Marilia Hesper, the CEO of Typhoon Pharma, the biggest intergalactic pharmaceutical conglomerate? That name was too unique to be a coincidence.

The human muttered something inaudible under his breath, the threat apparently convincing him to back off.

“I’m almost done,” the Raithean finally said reluctantly. “Give me five more minutes.”

“I don’t think so!” Aku hissed as he dropped his stealth shield.

I groaned inwardly that he gave us away so soon. The Raithean could have made a few more revelations that would help us round up all the people involved in this mess.

Both assassins gasped as they abruptly pivoted to their right to face us. The human instinctively reached for his blaster while the Raithean raised the two remaining tentacles that he hadn’t wrapped into his makeshift legs. Before either of them couldfire, Aku shot a dart at the human with his blowpipe. It found its mark into the man’s neck. The human’s left hand flew to the point of entry even as he tried to fire. The shot went wide, and he stumbled back, the strength of the paralytic on it working at an insane speed on him.

Barely sparing him any attention as he collapsed, his eyes becoming glassy, I darted forward as I activated my energy shield to parry the volley of poisoned darts the Raithean launched towards Aku from the suction cups of his tentacles. They crashed against my shield, making it sparkle. My hands tingled as I invoked my Lumiak and blasted it at the Raithean. He dodged to the left into a roll, before getting back onto his now unfurled tentacles.

This time, he raised four tentacles to shoot a second flurry of darts while slithering in an erratic pattern towards the ramp to make himself harder to target. But I cut him off, flying in his path while blasting more Lumiak at him. Aku was also already on the move. He ran towards the Raithean, jumping at an impossible height to avoid the projectiles.

The Raithean activated his own energy shield, blocking my lightning, but leaving himself open to Aku’s dart. He shouted in anger when he felt its sting as it embedded itself in his hip. Realizing he would never make it back onto his ship, and that he couldn’t face off against the two of us on his own, he made a dash for the river. He kept his shield raised in front of him while slithering backwards at an astounding speed and firing his own darts at us.

I felt the psionic energy emanating from Aku half a beat before the Raithean faltered. He blinked multiple times and shook his head like someone trying to recover from a brutal slap. I flew towards him, unimpeded, as he was focusing his attacks on my companion, who was still not using a shield. It was a foolish endeavor as the Kreelar was moving much too fast,jumping and leaping out of harm’s way at dizzying speed while shooting his blowpipe almost like an automatic weapon.

Many—if not all—of Aku’s darts hit their target. And yet, the Raithean didn’t instantly go numb or paralyzed like the human had. It struck me then that he was likely coating each dart with his fibrous membrane before the venom could negatively impact him.

But can he truly neutralize them this fast?

That was a question for another time. Despite Aku’s psychically disrupting his mind, the Raithean managed to slither all the way to the edge of the shore. I swooped in, hoping to catch him before he got into the water, which would make it extremely difficult to tackle him. To my shock, Aku leapt onto a tree by the shore, right above our prey. He swung around the branch, throwing his tail like a lasso, and latching on to one of the Raithean’s tentacles just as he was diving into the water.

Like a gymnast spinning around a horizontal bar, Aku rotated back towards the clearing, yanking the Raithean back with him. He flung him onto the ground with brutal force. Stunned, he attempted to get back onto his tentacles and raise his shield to deflect any attacks from us, but he wasn’t fast enough. My Lumiak struck him straight in the chest. His body seized, and he flopped back onto the ground, shaken by spasms. Fighting the urge to zap him once more with even greater intensity, I whipped out my blaster instead and shot him at the highest stun setting. His body jerked once more before going limp.

Aku landed on his feet and ran the short distance to his fallen prey. The murderous look in his eyes sent another chill down my spine.

“He’s unconscious for now,” I said preemptively while crouching next to the Raithean. “It will last about ten minutes. I’m going to put the control collar on both him and the human.It will keep them from trying to escape or otherwise attempt to attack us. In his case, it will also prevent him from producing his poison darts.”

Aku didn’t answer. He just stood there, observing me, claws fully extended, and his fingers twitching as if he was fighting the urge to tear the unconscious male to shreds. I removed the collar from my belt and quickly set it around the Raithean’s neck before configurating it for his specific species. It would send distinctive neuronal signals inhibiting certain functions.

I moved to the human who was still very much conscious and aware, merely paralyzed. He could still speak and think rationally, but his limbs were too heavy to move. Even his speech was slightly slurred as he began to shower me with insults when I closed the collar around his neck.

“Let’s bring them back inside their ship,” I said, unnerved by the cold—not to say sadistic—intensity with which Aku was still staring at the unconscious male.

I picked up the human and carried him in my arms back up the ramp. I had mixed feelings about Aku grabbing the Raithean by the wrist of his right arm and dragging him behind him like dead weight. By galactic standards, it would be deemed an abusive and illegal mistreatment of a prisoner. I itched to request that he carry him in a more compassionate fashion but held my tongue. This minor roughness was better than a summary execution.

We took them to the bridge and sat them in the chairs near the science and tactical stations. After shackling them to their seats, I turned to the navigation board and attempted to hail Maeve. To my shock, she once again answered almost immediately. Whatever doubt I still held about them either having a communication vessel or temporary satellite in orbit vanished.

“Are they alive?” she immediately asked.

“For now,” Aku replied in a cold voice.

Maeve pinched her lips but didn’t argue. “Give me access to their computer. I will show you how.”

I followed her simple instructions, and within seconds, the entire navigation board lit up.

“Thank you,” Maeve said, her voice tense as she glanced towards my companion who was still towering over the prisoners. She returned her attention to me, her eyes doing all the speaking. “I’m counting on you, Amreth.”

I nodded, understanding her unspoken request. It was a tall order, but one I hoped to manage.

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