Page 27 of Defiance
“The relay station on Titua picked up an echo from the Uaeri Corridor six beats ago. It appears to be a large ship in a dead float.”
“The Med-Go freighter?” Ferulis asked.
“We believe so.”
Ferulis sat back down on the edge of his bed, rubbing his brow plates. He tossed his crutch to the floor, done with standing. “Send the new agent. Let’s hope he finds something.”
“Yes, sir.”
Bael ended their comm, leaving Ferulis in the dark, staring at his own reflection in the window.
11
I squinted into the early morning light as the tangerine sun crept above the trees and pulled steam out of the groundcover. I was already sweating, sore from the events of the night before, and strung out on a venom-induced hangover that left my mouth dry.
I’d considered going the self-loathing route. Regret would’ve been the natural result of getting so thoroughly fucked and then thoroughly fucked over. Agent Gaul’s whiplash was so severe, I might have developed a concussion. But it was exactly what I’d agreed to. I wasn’t going to let my momentary misconceptions about what we were doing get in the way of filing that in my memory bank underThe Grandest Shag of All Time.I’d hope that by my forties, I’d learned that sometimes sex was just sex.
Hunar stood by the front of the hangar, handing something off to a tall, devastatingly familiar figure, and waved to me when I turned the corner. Agent Gaul was with him, his arms crossed, tail swaying. In the light he was even more beautiful with iridescent scales that gleamed like a raven patina. His jackal-like features were refined if imposing, and thecolearahe’d mentioned the night before was more visible to me now: a series of tags and flexible scales that lined the top of his muzzle. So that’s why he’d pressed the bridge of his nose to my neck…
My heart skipped and I blew a lock of hair from my face.
“Traitor,” I grumbled, hoofing it up the hill.
“Good morning, Charlie,” Hunar said as I huffed and puffed that last few strides. “Have you met Novak Gaul? He’ll be accompanying you to Piaoguo.”
I avoided looking at him as I put my hands on my waist, catching my breath. Gaul, however, stared, a duffel gripped in one large, clawed hand. Neither of them knew what a blush was, right? Because mine was raging.
“Aye. Briefly,” I clipped.
Ever the talkative type, Hunar nodded once and walked into the hangar, expecting us to follow. We fell in line side by side, our heads turned firmly towards Hunar’s back. A skittering sound followed us across the grated metal floors and I realized it was Gaul’s tail.
“Zufi has prepared your luggage,” the chief engineer threw back, pushing a locker closed as we passed the empty engineering lounge. It banged shut, filling the cool, humid interior with a hollow echo. “Gifts with a list of who they’re suitable for, some reading materials on diplomatic etiquette that you’re definitely not expected to know so just toss it, and clothes for three weeks made of Yaspurian and Dharateen fibres.” Hunar’s mane twisted as if he were rolling his eyes. “He made me promise to tell you the last part. He’s convinced people are going to ask you about it.”
“What I’m wearing isn’t good enough?”
I’d packed a bag, of course. Looking down at myself, I saw how the textiles were losing elasticity from use, how the dyes had faded during countless cleaning cycles. I sniffed myself surreptitiously, and breathed a sigh of relief that I smelled like alien deodorant instead of river mud and shame.
Hunar shrugged. “We programmed the home units with standard closets. Every color, closure, and detail is worn by every other colony in the Union. Is it fine? Sure. But you’rean ambassador of your species until your feet touch down on Renatan soil again. Pains me to say it, but I’m with Zufi on this one.” He tapped a tug drone awake and it began loading the luggage. Three rubbery mini cargo crates with my name on them.
“The hjarna value polish,” Agent Gaul said, his voice playing my spine like an instrument. The last time I heard that voice, he’d said he’d never—Nope.He’d definitely groaned my name and said,thank you for the dogging.Not any of the other stuff that could shatter my self-confidence or keep me up pacing, wondering if he was younger or older than me and if that mattered to an alien. “Your sister city’s liaison is a smart man.”
“Yes…” Hunar rolled one shoulder. “But never say that to his face.”
Novak grinned, his tail slapping the floor.
“Make sure I’ve packed a hairbrush. Got it.” My voice broke higher than usual, forcing me to clear my throat. I gestured towards the side door. “Shall we?”
The transpo was sleek, smaller than the delivery ships that Aavar and Piro piloted, but with a corrugated hull that wobbled like a mirage. The gangplank was already rolled down like a proverbial red carpet. Hunar clapped Novak on the back.
“Safe travels, Nov,” he said. “Take good care of Charlie and yourself.”
“Take good care of the new residents.” Novak squeezed his shoulder, tail curling around itself in a spiral. “I hear they were born late last evening.”
Hunar didn’t smile often, but the way he beamed warmed his grey temperament into the brightest summer day. I smiled too, recalling the snap attached to a midnight announcement. Humans in all the home towers hung out their balconies and sangHappy Birthdayas a rising chorus, waving their holotabs like concert vigils.
“I’ll guard them with my life, my kral.”
It was a serious statement with a serious head bow that left me perplexed. But we strapped in soon after and the engines hummed to full power and I held onto my harness for dear life, teeth vibrating right out of my skull.
