Wednesday Briefs: Ancalagon Ch. 81

  

“You can’t do that!” Sonez blustered. The Heeze whispered in his ear. “It’s dereliction of duty!”

“Watch me.”

Garjah had let me handle my former captain until that moment, but when he took another threatening step forward, he decided to get in on the action with Bouncer. He brought one thickly-muscled arm up and pointed right at the red-faced captain who thought he could bully me. “If you touch him, I will remove your arm. And since you only have two, I don’t think you will function very well.” He flexed his fingers and the muscles in his forearms bulged, so casually menacing that it was even more intimidating.

I’d felt the strength in those hands when Garjah held me, protected me, touched me everywhere… I almost hoped Sonez did something stupid. He’d deserve to have a body part ripped off. Not that a hand was the one he really deserved to lose, but it was a start.

Still… I was supposed to be a good influence on the relations between Garjah’s people and the Galactic. I buried my resentment and turned my glare on the Heeze who was not at all subtly trying to pull Sonez’s strings like the mad little man puppet that he was. “If you do not leave and take him with you, the treaty that you just sat in on will not get back to Garjah’s people. The Kardoval will not sign it. They will not accept any others’ use of Ardra. There will be an incident, and I believe I was perfectly clear about their level of technology compared to ours.”

I could almost feel the heat coming off him as the Heeze’s anger grew stronger than he could control. His blank expression and dark skin could only hide so much, but the hatred blazing out of his eyes was no longer hidden either.

“That planet was first discovered by my people. We claimed it for the Galactic,” he hissed.

“Ahh, so now I know why you were here.” The Heeze had a system of planets that were close to Ardra, and their sun burned hot. They were always looking for new worlds, better ones with more temperate climates, to colonize. “Your claim is null and voice. The Council already declared that.”

“As you said, the treaty isn’t signed.” His voice was sibilant, his fangs dropping with his fury and creating a hiss that he couldn’t hide. Garjah tensed, but I put a hand on his bicep, gripping it hard.

Now I saw what was happening. I smirked, shaking my head slowly. “Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.” I tsked, clicking my tongue against my teeth. “But it won’t work.”

The Heeze had dropped to a crouch and Sonez’s hand hovered near his left hip; I wasn’t sure what he had there, but it was probably a micro projectile. Stupid, our suits would protect us.

“What won’t work?” Sonez scoffed.

“Garjah isn’t some mindless warrior who’ll be baited into attacking first. You have no grounds to hold me; my bond to him supercedes anything you might claim,” I told Sonez. “And you, whatever else you want, you will not get Ardra as a prize to be plundered and sold. We won’t break the treaty. But if you touch him, or me… well, Bouncer will make certain you regret it.” Bouncer lifted one paw and licked it, his long tongue getting between each of the finger-long curved spikes that were his nails. Eerie; it was like he knew what I was saying.

“We’ll be leaving now.” I fixed my stare on both of the men in our way. “Leave. Now. Or I’ll call a protection detail, and you can explain this public accosting.”

Sonez’s face was ruby red, but he moved. Slowly. He didn’t turn around until he’d left the room and had to move to go down the corridor. When we were alone, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Your people have many stupid aliens.”

“Your people have many stupid ideas,” I shot back almost as fast. Garjah didn’t bristle at the insult, he just thought it over.

“Yes, they do.”

I couldn’t even argue with him. “They’ll learn,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Garjah hustled us back to the landing pad, keeping his body at my back. It felt nice. More than nice. I was protected, cherished, and no one would get near enough to harm me. Not while my two protectors were on the job.

“How long until we reach the ship?” I asked when we fastened in to our seats and Garjah manipulated the controls. Alarms blared outside our skimmer.

“About five hours. We’ll have to meet it in orbit near the southern ring, then circle the planet and head back. From there, maybe four or five of your days?”

Definitely long enough to make a plan for when we got back. Maybe I needed to let Garjah worry about all that; he’d come up with a great plan to get us off planet, and he’d done amazing talking to the Council. I’d stressed over my parents and the Institute to the point of making myself almost feel sick, yet next to nothing had come from that. I’d declared myself no longer associated with them, and voila… it had happened.

I went from being my parents’ son to Garjah’s mate. Feeling the warmth of his hand on my back, I was more than okay with that.

“Is there anything we have to do during the skimmer flight?” I asked.

Garjah blinked slowly, his gaze meeting mine. “Once I lock it in, no.”

Sure the space was cramped, and I couldn’t shower or change afterward, but we’d be alone again, in the silence of space with the stars dancing around us. I couldn’t wait to turn my back on this planet and face my future with Garjah.

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J Ray Lamb

Julie Lynn Hayes