Page 31 of Neverwylde 6
Kelen watched as, one by one, a guard latched onto each of them. When one of them approached Dox, the young man tried to avoid being touched, but the guard persisted.
“Hold on. He’s an isotope,” she told him. “Isotopes don’t like being touched, or having their personal space invaded by someone they don’t know.”
The guard ignored her and reached for Dox a second time. He managed to grasp the young man by the arm, and forcefully dragged him forward. Dox let out a yelp as he struggled to free himself from the man’s grip.
Kelen tried to protest the guard’s roughness, when the man suddenly gave a cry and shoved Dox away from him. Swinging his weapon up, he aimed it at the center of Dox’s chest. At the same time, Massapa whirled around, knocking the blaster away with his arm. The shot went over the heads of the officers still gathered on the stage, and everyone froze.
“What the hell!” Pfeiffer roared.
The guard pointed at Dox, who was crouched on the floor. “He started to attack!”
“Attack, hell!” Mellori converged on the man. “Isotopes don’t carry or evenuseweapons! Your training should have told you that!”
The guard insisted. “I saw him reach inside his uniform! Something moved inside his uniform!”
As soon as he said it, Kelen knew what the man was talking about. She rushed over to help Dox to his feet as the young man shoved his hand back inside his jumpsuit.
“He’s hungry,” Dox tried to explain, giving her a pleading look.
“It’s all right,” she reassured him. “We’ll get him something to eat soon.”
The colonel and several others angrily strode over to confront them. “What the hell happened?” Pfeiffer demanded and turned on the guard. “You were not given orders to fire at will!”
“He’s hungry,” Dox repeated, withdrawing the small furry from where it had been hiding.
The officers and the guards stared in shock and amazement at the little creature that climbed onto Dox’s shoulder and grabbed his ear.
“What the hell is that?” the colonel inquired in a softer tone.
“They call themselves Jeef,” Kyber replied. “We call them furries. His name is Ikko, but we dubbed him Five.”
“Where did he come from?” The lieutenant colonel moved closer to get a better look. “I’ve never seen such a being.”
“He came from that half planet you insist doesn’t exist,” Kelen answered, no longer masking her sarcasm. “He’s also highly intelligent. He’s one of those sentient creatures you asked about, and we believe he may be the superior species on that world. If it hadn’t been for him and Dox getting that transmitter to work, we would still be on that neverwylde.”
“And we’d also most likely be dead,” Cooter dryly added. “Check and mate, guys. We dare you to continue to claim everything we’ve said is a fairy tale. Ball’s now in your court. What are you going to do about it?”
