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“But you spoke to no one, and if Rokai is away from the ship, how will he know there’s a message?”

“We are both tagged. If either of us goes missing, the other can find them so they can free them.”

“Break them out of prison,” Vennie said, knowing exactly what kind of life Rokai and Gaishon led before joining the ship and its crew.

“If necessary. I activated his tag.”

Vennie looked at him, obviously confused. “The signal I sent his tag will heat it up. It will feel like he’s been stung. He’ll know it’s me, and I’m trying to get him a message.”

“I have been involved with the design of computer mainframes and communications devices all my life. It is thespecialty of my people. I have never seen, nor even dreamed of such capabilities, much less in such a small device.”

“We did. And we built it.”

“Who designed its inner workings?” Vennie asked.

“Rokai. Rokai is the most intelligent person I’ve ever met in my entire life. There is no one even close to his level of intelligence.”

“Rokai?!”

“Without a doubt,” Gaishon said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a brand new mate waiting on me.”

“Of course,” Vennie said, still pondering the information he’d just been witness to. “Many happinesses,” he mumbled as he sat down at the navigations computer and began pecking away at the keys. He typed for several minutes before Missy finally spoke. “Communications Officer Vennie.”

“Yes, Missy,” he answered.

“There is no trace of anything that’s transpired this night.”

Vennie sat back and let his hands fall away from the keyboard. He sighed. “Of course.”

“Have a good night, Communications Officer Vennie.”

~~~

Rokai was standing in a bar in a space port frequented only by those who dared to sell their goods on the very edges of the multiverse. He stood there as comfortably as he ever did, easily slipping back into the persona he’d once perfected. A handful of males of very questionable quality that he hadn’t seen in years eagerly surrounded him, laughing and sharing stories of where they each had been and been doing when they’d heard the news that he’d been killed.

“And you believed it?” Rokai demanded. “I am not that easy to kill.”

“I thought for sure that the Consortium had finally caught up to you,” one said. “And they’re on some kind of a rampageagain! The chairman himself is leading this one. Come barging in with his teams, shoving everyone around only to go rushing out again and not take anyone with him!”

“Yes, we thought your charmed life had come to an end!” another said laughing.

“No, not me. I’m just as charmed as always.”

“I have to admit though, I wondered when I heard of the pleasure room filled with headless bodies of the males, yet all the females were missing, if you’d been involved in that one,” one of the drunkest added.

Rokai smiled coldly and lifted another shot to toast the mention of what he considered the greatest service he’d ever performed for the public at large.

“Ahhh! It was you!” he said, hanging onto the bar as he, too, lifted a shot to his lips. “To the good old days!”

“To the good old days,” Rokai echoed, and truly meant it. He’d grown a bit nostalgic communing with his old friends. Even if they were criminals, and had questionable morals, they had been his friends. “Is the female the chairman’s looking for a human?”

“No, she’s Cruestaci. A beauty, too, if you ask me. Don’t know what the situation is, but I can promise you that even if we did know something, we’re not telling him!”

“Do you know anything? Are there any whispers of where she might be?” Rokai asked.

“No, none at all. Why are you helping the Consortium?” the male asked, horrified.

“No. I’m looking to help the female. Whatever they’re looking for her for, I’m hoping to snatch her out of their way.”

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