Page 40 of Bound to the Alien King
“Yes, Captain.”The intercom beeped off.
I sighed through gritted teeth.Now that Axxel was gone, I needed to move her to the brig where there wasn’t an intercom on the wall for her to listen in on.
“Any questions?”I asked.
Four hands shot into the air, plus a paw with the help of Doc who held Major in his lap.
I called on Philip first.
“I think I can speak for all of us when I say what.The.Fuck?”he said with his hands spread in front of him.
“Yeah,” I sighed, “that sums it up pretty well, I think.”
“I don’t think I could’ve kept all that in my head if I tried,” Mosely said, rubbing his temples.
“So what’s Earth Space Fleet’s deal?”Darc asked, cutting to the quick of it.“And what are we going to do about it?”
“All I’m asking you to do is come with me back to Klio-3, which you are, so you can cross that off your to-do lists.But once we get there, the choice is yours regarding what you do next.And which side you want to fight for.I won’t hold it against you since I’m not the one who gives you a paycheck.I can’t ask you to be on my side since my side could get you killed.I just can’t.I won’t.Period.”
“Captain,” Doc said.
An older man with silvering hair, he was the gentlest, most caring man I knew.He’d never married, never had children, but the soft way he spoke often reminded me of my dad.He never needed to yell because everyone always listened to him.
“Yes, Doc?”I said.
“We’ve been on your side for the last ten years.”He pointed with Major’s paw.“Yourside, nobody else’s.”
Mosely crossed his beefy arms over his barrel chest.“Yeah, you didn’t kidnap us away from Captain Early because you can’t kidnap the willing.”
“I pretended our communications were out when you stole—borrowed—his ship.”Philip grinned wickedly, and he and Darc fist-bumped.
“I flew as fast as I could away from that fucknut,” Darc said, a fierce glimmer in her blue eyes.“I was all like ‘see ya, Captain Anal-Retentive, you lobotomized fuck waffle.Wouldn’t want to be ya.’No offense toyou, Captain.”
“None taken.”I snorted and then shook my head.I’d blocked a lot of things out around that time, so a lot of this I didn’t remember.Maybe I never even knew in the first place.Regardless, my heart swelled to near bursting for everyone in this room.“I don’t deserve you guys.”
“Well…” Mosely dug in his pocket for a toothpick and popped it into his mouth.“I’m afraid you’re stuck with us like flies on shit.”
“Ew.”Darc scrunched her nose and then winked at me.“More like bees on sweet.”
“We know you, Captain,” Philip said with a smile.“There’s no denying that your side is the right side, and that’s where you’ll find us.Maybe even Major too.”
He reached toward the cat, which swatted at his hand.
“Or maybe not.”Doc chuckled as he scratched between Major’s ears.
“And if it gets you all killed?”I asked.
Mosely shrugged his massive shoulders.“It’s not like we can be mad about it if we’re dead.Besides, who better to take down Earth Space Fleet than us, a couple of rejects they sent to the farthest reaches of space just so they wouldn’t have to deal with our bullshit.”
Darc rolled her eyes.“You meanyourbullshit.Captain Early hated it when you talked about Van Gogh and Monet all the time.”
“Not everyone appreciates the finer things in life,” Mosely said, gnawing on his toothpick.“I seem to remember a certain argument where you called Early a thunder cunt because he docked your pay for your new hair color and ripped sleeves.”
“I call it like I see it.”She waved her hands dismissively and then looked to me again.“No offense.”
I laughed.“None taken.He’s my ex because heisa thunder cunt.”
“I came willingly because of you and Major.”Doc coaxed the cat’s smile even bigger at every stroke of his head while he gazed at me meaningfully.“And because you needed us, especially at that specific point in time.”
