Page 10 of Alien's Challenge
“Yes! That’s my name.”
“I think that is the female’s name,” Big told Small.
Real old, real fast.
Faris
“I will take Alice to repair her chip,” Perrigaul said. He reached out a hand to stroke Alice’s hair.
“No,” he growled. “Do not touch her.”
Perrigaul jerked his hand back. “No? Why is that?”
“Do not touch her without permission,” Faris grumbled. “She is not a pet.”
Perrigaul held up his hands in surrender. “Fair. What are we going to do with the human?”
“Iwill take Alice to repair her chip. You will take the blaster to our buyer,” Faris said. The idea of Perrigaul alone with Alice made his scales itch.
“After that?”
This male and his ceaseless questions were getting under Faris’ scales.
“I’ll figure something out,” Faris answered.
“She is worth a fortune,” Perrigaul said.
“No. We do not sell sentient beings.”
Perrigaul’s quills went up. “I am stating a fact. She is worth a fortune, and people with more resources than two thieves will attempt to take her.”
“I know this.”
Humans had arrived on Reazus Prime a few years ago as sentient cargo. An accident caused the original ship to detonate. Some cargo pods fell to the planet’s surface. Some drifted in the black of space, waiting to be salvaged. He guessed this was what happened to Alice, given how Rand purchased her from a salvager’s auction.
“We should take her to a human sympathizer. They can find a place for her,” Perrigaul suggested.
Giving the female away, even to those who could best help her, felt wrong. He needed her to stay close so he could protect her.
“I have stated the plan. Chip,” he pointed to himself. Then he pointed to Perrigaul, “Blaster. When we have completed our tasks, we will meet at the nest.”
Perrigaul grumbled that he did not like the plan, but he agreed.
Alice crouched on the floor, rolled over an unconscious guard, and unbuttoned his shirt.
“What is she doing?” Perrigaul asked, horrified.
“She requires clothing.” Faris felt ashamed that he had not realized. She was cold and wore only a scrap of fabric.
The thought of her wearing another male’s garment outraged him. She should smell like him, no one else.
Faris scrubbed a hand over his face. No, that was incorrect. It did not matter whose scent she carried as long as she was properly dressed for the journey ahead.
Still, if it did not matter, then she might as well smell like him. He would not examine the logic of that too closely, for his peace of mind.
“Alice, wear this.” He shrugged off his coat and handed it to her.
She looked surprised but slipped it on. The fabric swallowed her, like a child dressed in an adult’s clothes. She tied the belt around her waist and pulled up the hood.
