Page 19 of Alien Abduction for Experts
"Katila," he sighed.
"Yes. I don't know how she got out but she's free, leading them like some kind of revolutionary."
The headmaster's body turned bright red and his stinger lifted. "I will make her regret this. Summon the guards. And activate security protocol beta four."
She nodded, her eyes still wide with fear, then ran off.
"I apologise for the interruption," Professor Z said, as if this had been a mere inconvenience. "You may want to return to your ship until I tell you it's safe."
"No," Xil growled. "This is our fight, too. Katila has wronged us. We will make sure she gets her punishment. If she takes over the IGU, that would be a death sentence to us."
"And to us," Hix muttered sadly. "We won't retreat either. We'll fight."
To be honest, the Gemi'i looked even less threatening than the tiny headmaster - he at least had a poisonous stinger - but I appreciated their enthusiasm.
"What is that security protocol you initiated?" I asked Professor Z.
"All guards will come to this building, securing the administrative areas as well as the Council and other leadership personnel. Then the doors and windows will be locked, and we'll wait for the guards outside to deal with the mob. We've got drones too, but I don't like to employ them unless it's a real emergency." I certainly classed this as a real emergency, but maybe he'd lived through worse things. With Professor Katila as one of his employees, he probably had.
"Do you have weapons here?" I asked him. We'd had to leave ours on the Jade. Not that we even had a lot of weapons, mostly what we'd kept after discharging from the Kardarian military. Still, once you knew how to fight and shoot, you'd never forget. It was like flying a spaceship.
The headmaster tapped the glass wall of his container and a screen appeared. Clever. He tapped his various appendages on it, navigating the IGU system far faster than I would have been able to with only two hands.
"They'll be delivered momentarily. There's also a ray gun in the cupboard to your right. The code is 6666."
I raised an eyebrow at that but didn't comment. I was the closest, so I got the gun. It was heavy and an older model than what I was used to, almost an antique. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to use it. I didn't want Trish anywhere near a battle. She was too precious to risk.
We waited in nervous silence. Xil had his arms wrapped around Trish. I wished our places were reversed. I'd much rather have her than the gun. But I was going to protect her no matter the cost. I'd die for her, no doubt about that. She was my mate and would be mine until the day I died, whether that was today or in a hundred IG years.
"Is it weird that I want to eat another cake?" Trish whispered.
Havel snorted. "Go ahead. I doubt we'll get the chance to eat something else anytime soon."
I watched her with fascination as she bit into the cake, her eyes fluttering shut, her expression relaxing into blissed out happiness. She was special, our little human.
Finally, after way too many IG minutes, the door opened to reveal six armour-clad guards. One moved to the table right away and picked up the aquarium, not surprised at all about the headmaster's tiny size.
"We've prepared the safe room," he said. "Will your guests join you?"
"Yes. Unless they've decided to return to their ship after all?"
Xil growled as if he'd been offended by that question. Trish put a hand on his arm to calm him down. "We'll stay."
The guard let his gaze wonder over us, then saluted the headmaster. "Follow me."
* * *
The safe roomwas larger than the conference room we'd been in. Screens covered all four walls, showing live feeds from various cameras across the station. Professor Z used his own container screen to control the big ones, enlarging one feed showing a group of about fifty people walking down a corridor. Most were armed, although some looked entirely out of place. Academics who'd never touched a weapon in their life. I scoffed. They weren't going to be much of a threat. At the head of the group, next to an old Ferven, was Professor Katila, her head held high, her steps filled with energy. I stared at her with hate, wishing I could reach her through the screen. The others should have listened to me. We should have killed her instead of doing this klatting diplomacy. Now she was loose, freed by some of her followers, and on the way to take on Professor Z.
"Maybe I'll employ drones after all," he muttered almost to himself. "They are better equipped than I expected. Hwar, I need you to look into how they were able to procure these weapons. Once we're safe."
"Yes, sir," one of the guards said. Four of them had stayed in the safe room with us, while the others were stationed outside the door. More were visible on the screens, running through the corridors on their way to confront the mob.
Luckily, this building was devoid of students who may have got involved in the fray. It was mostly admin staff here who'd now fled to safety.
One of the other guards, a female with a cleavage I would have salivated over before we abducted Trish, handed Xil a large box. "Weapons for you and your companions. You know how to use them?"
Xil chuckled. "I was the leader of a battalion in the Kardarian army. Yes, I know how to handle a gun."
