by Sara King
The Human dropped his head back to the pillow. “I kept him from Jer’ait when Jer’ait was getting his chip. He wasn’t happy with me.”
“So what was he trying to do with Jer’ait?”
“Beats me. Had something under his arm. Maybe a locator beacon. I don’t think he wanted to kill him.”
“Mind-control,” Flea said.
Joe lifted his head again. “Excuse me?”
“Mind-control,” Flea repeated. “It’s a new program. They’re using it on convicts, problem-soldiers…anyone who might give Congress a hard time. It’s why Jer’ait stood in while Daviin got his operation. I was going to do it, like I did for you, but Jer’ait kicked me out.”
The Human pushed himself up onto his bloody elbows. “They’re implanting it in soldiers? How do you know?”
“Please. Overseers talk,” Flea scoffed. “I just happen to be in places where I can listen.”
Joe stared at him for so long that Flea thought he might be experiencing a resurgence of the paralysis drug. Finally, his Prime said, “That’s dangerous information, Flea. I’ve been a Prime for thirty turns and I never heard anything like it.”
“You just haven’t been in the right places,” Flea said. “So Commander, I’ve been meaning to ask you and now seems like as good as a time as ever, where’s your brother keep his stash?”
“Huh?” The Human had a truly perplexed look on his face when he lifted his head.
“Your brother,” Flea insisted. “The one who squirreled away billions from big companies on Earth. Ghost. He had a huge stash somewhere. They can’t find it.”
“I don’t know anything about a stash.”
Flea was hugely disappointed. “Wherever it is, it’s not getting any use. He’s dead, you know.”
The Human stiffened, but he said, “Yeah. I know.”
“Neat fellah,” Flea said. “Wise-ass in court. It had a certain charm when he told the Dhasha judge to go suck Ueshi genitalia. I was hoping some of his cronies would rescue him. Never did, though.”
The Human was frowning at him. “How did you get access to the trial feed? It was classified.”
“Your friend Phoenix was watching it.”
Joe stiffened. “She’s not my friend.”
“Oh, I gathered that much.” Flea buzzed his wings in amusement. “Have you ever been in her room, Joe? She’s got pictures of you on the wall.”
Joe blinked. “She does?”
“Oh yeah. And every one of them is being used for darts. She’s actually quite good. Has narrowed her groupings down to the eyes.” Flea cocked his head. “Why does she hate you so much?”
“I don’t know.”
“The drugs wore off, then?”
“No, you lump of Dhasha shit, I really don’t know what the Trith said to her.”
Flea perked up. “You mean she also had one visit her today?”
The Human frowned. “No. It was back in Basic. What do you mean, ‘today’?”
“A Trith was sighted in town today,” Flea said. “Right before the Jreet got into their scuffle. Other than for the one that I saw, there were at least four other confirmed sightings…all around where members of your groundteam were at the time.”
The Human sat up suddenly, entire body alert. “A Trith visited you?”
Flea grinned. “It was a nice chat. He tried to convince me you were going to destroy the world.”
The Human stared at him in mute shock. “Ghosts.”
“What?” Flea asked, cocking his head at him.
The Human jumped to his feet, face dark with fury. “Mothers’ burning ghosts! It’s happening again. The sons of bitches are doing it again!”
Flea was a bit surprised by his violent reaction. “If it makes you feel any better, I told him to get lost. Used your brother’s words, with a few modifications.”
Joe glanced at him, “You didn’t believe him?”
Flea twittered with amusement. “Of course I did. It was a Trith. But I just happen to believe the world might be a bit more interesting if someone came along and destroyed it. That would be quite a joke on those fat old furgs who send young furgs like us to our deaths, wouldn’t it?”
The Human looked stunned.
Flea laughed. “Let’s get rid of this body. I’m not sure, but I have the nervous suspicion that it’s someone high up in the Peacemakers’ chain of command. The last thing we want is this linked to us.”
Joe flung his arm at the bloodstains around the room. “A little hard to hide now, isn’t it?”
Flea twittered. “What are you talking about? All they’ll ever find is that Human’s blood. And she’s still alive. You can claim it was a mating ritual. Jreet do it all the time.”
The Human’s dark brown eyes widened when he realized Flea was right.
“The perfect crime,” Flea said, grinning. “Kind of like your brother’s. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to enjoy it.”
CHAPTER 21: The Sentinel and the Assassin
“Where are you taking me, Huouyt?”
Jer’ait gave Daviin another irritated glance. “Just be silent. They hear you and we’ll have to fight our way back out of here.”
“I think I’d enjoy that. Too much tension.”
Jer’ait stifled his frustration. It was the nature of Jreet to be bullheaded oafs. “This requires precision,” Jer’ait said. “Brute force will get us both killed.” Then he cocked his head, considering just who was pacing the hall with him. He remembered the dismantled restaurant, the Dhasha heir trapped in his coils. “Well, maybe not. But still. Be quiet.”
“So this assassin that came for you today,” the oversized worm said. “He was the one who came for you in surgery?”
“No,” Jer’ait said. “Different employers. Now shut up.”
“So if they’re not both working for the Huouyt Ground Corps, who was the other one working for?”
“Peacemakers. Shhh.”
“I’m confused. You work for the Peacemakers.”
Jer’ait whirled on the invisible alien. “Shut your melaa-eating mouth, or I will do it for you.”
“How much do you weigh, Huouyt?”
Jer’ait narrowed his eyes. “It takes less than a drop of fluid to kill a Jreet.”
“Why don’t you threaten me with something interesting? Like my glands will fall off. Or my tek will dry up.” The Sentinel snorted. “Death doesn’t scare me, Huouyt. Only a moron jenfurgling wouldn’t have noticed that by now. Now where in the ninety hells is this Ueshi coward we’re looking for? You’ve been taking us in circles.”
“No I haven’t,” Jer’ait snapped. “You’re just lost.”
“Who’s lost?” a Huouyt voice asked as an eight-point Prime Commander stepped around the corner.
“Talking to myself, sir,” Jer’ait said, allowing his borrowed headcrest a flutter of embarrassment.
The Huouyt looked him up and down. “You lost, Ueshi?”
“No, sir. Well, maybe, sir. I don’t know how I got here…I don’t remember anything. I just woke up in this strange room and have been trying to find my way out ever since. I…I think someone attacked me, sir.”
The Huouyt’s face twitched and Jer’ait was amused with the Prime’s lack of discipline. “A prank,” the Prime sighed. “We’ve been getting a lot of them lately. The multi-species groundteams created a lot of Huouyt resentment. Here, allow me to lead you back to the common area. This section is Peacemaker only.”
Jer’ait nodded and babbled his gratitude, waiting for the Huouyt to strike.
When he did, Jer’ait immediately isolated and nullified the chemicals he used and, identifying the compound, allowed himself to go limp. He tried to kill me,” he thought, surprised. They’re not fooling around.
The Huouyt slung Jer’ait over his shoulder and began carrying him down the hall. Though Jer’ait didn’t hear him, he knew Daviin followed.
The Prime dropped Jer’ait roughly to the floor outside a nondescript door and entered a p
asscode. Taking a cue from the Human, Jer’ait listened to the tones as each number was pushed. Then he heard the door drip open.
Upon seeing the other Ueshi still inside his prison, the Huouyt demanded, “What the hell?”
“Which hell are you referring to?” Daviin asked above them. Then the Jreet slammed his fist into the Huouyt’s midsection. Even Jer’ait had to wince with the force the Jreet put into the strike. Had the wall not been reinforced, it probably would have crumbled.
“You know,” Daviin said as the other Huouyt’s brains and organs dribbled in an orangeish goo across the wall, “I think you’re smarter than I am, Huouyt.”
“I know I am,” Jer’ait said, picking himself up. Still, his eyes paused a moment on the body of the other Peacemaker. His insides had literally exploded over the walls, and it had taken but a twitch of the Jreet’s arm.
Finding a grudging new respect for the Sentinel, Jer’ait stepped inside the room and squatted in front of the wide-eyed Ueshi lying still on the floor. It shied away from Jer’ait, whimpering and closing its eyes. When Jer’ait administered the antidote, the Ueshi gasped in terror.
“He’s not the one who took your finger,” Daviin said, lowering his energy level. “That one’s dead.”
Jer’ait had to turn at the concern in the Jreet’s voice. The giant was almost…gentle.
Seeing the Jreet, the Ueshi’s binocular blue eyes widened to their fullest. “I’m sorry,” he babbled. “Jemria told me to—”
At the name, Jer’ait froze. So that’s what was going on.
“Silence!” the Jreet snapped, his tenderness gone in an instant. “I’m here to rescue you, not to listen to you whimper.”
Jer’ait wished the Jreet a new world of agony. Taking a deep, calming breath, he turned back to the Ueshi. “What were you saying?”
The Ueshi’s eyes went wide. “N-n-never m-m-m—”
“Finish your sentence!” the Jreet roared.
Jer’ait got up, grabbed Daviin by the audial ridges against the back of the skull, and dragged him down so they were eye-to-eye. Quietly, he said, “I think the Ueshi and I need to be alone. Go watch the hall.”
“You don’t order me around, Huouyt,” Daviin boomed.
“I do, or should I tell Joe you’re disobeying an order from his Second?”
Daviin’s face scrunched. “My hearing is better than a Dhasha’s. There’s no one out there.”
Oh, how Jer’ait wanted to strangle the ignorant, blockheaded creature! As evenly as he could, Jer’ait said, “I don’t think you understood me. I need time with the Ueshi to figure out where he learned how to operate on a Jreet.” He cocked his head at Daviin. “Or did you think I just came here to free him?”
Daviin straightened in a display that made Jer’ait wince inwardly. This is where he gets stubborn.
“I will not let you torture him.”
“Jreet, I’m warning you…”
Daviin shoved past him and plucked the Ueshi off the floor. The poor creature gave a terrified whimper and pungent black liquid trickled from its glands. “Please don’t hurt me. I—”
“Shut up,” Daviin snapped.
“Excellent!” Jer’ait cried, gesturing widely in frustration. “You refuse to let me give a friendly interrogation, but you make him void himself by screaming at him while he’s dangling not two ninths from your tek.”
Daviin’s brow-ridges tightened, then he shifted his gaze to the Ueshi. “I won’t let him torture you. You saved my hearing.”
Jer’ait took a deep breath, mentally deciding which poisons he would have to use. Then he said, “I suppose you’re right, Daviin. He spent twice as long patching you up as the Welu. He took special care with you. You were in good hands.”
The Jreet’s muscular body constricted. He tore his gaze from Jer’ait and glanced down at the creature in his arms as if it had suddenly turned to a frozen Takki.
“After all,” Jer’ait continued, “It’s not every Jreet who has his own personal guardian angel.”
The Jreet dropped the Ueshi suddenly. The weak blue creature crumpled to the ground with a wail, then scuttled backwards on its delicate front limbs.
“In fact,” Jer’ait said, “I think he’s probably saved your life twice already. The concussion from the sound grenade left you with a lot of internal bleeding near the brain. If he hadn’t chosen to help you over the Welu, you’d be dead now.”
Tension was drawing the Jreet’s lower body into semi-coils, his face tightening into a mask of rage. He raised himself until he was glaring down at the Ueshi. “You helped me over the Welu?”
The ignorant little Ueshi nodded up and down. Jer’ait had to stifle a snicker.
“How dare you?” the Jreet roared, surging upward until he was pressed against the ceiling. “I’ll make you dance on my tek until your feet bleed, coward!” Daviin reached down for the trembling Ueshi, obviously intending to do just as he said.
“You know,” Jer’ait said, “I know a thing or two about pain.”
Daviin hesitated, turning toward him. “What?”
“Pain. You want him to feel much of it, yes?”
“I want him to scream until the hells open up and swallow him,” Daviin growled. “Before the end, he’ll know better than to coddle a Voran!” He grasped the terrified Ueshi by the thin blue arm and dragged him to his feet. With no finesse whatsoever, he thrust the tek from its sheath, making it hover ninths from the babbling creature’s squirming body.
“Perhaps you’re right,” Jer’ait said, praying the Jreet didn’t do something incredibly furgish before he could stop him. “Dancing on a tek is a very good way to make an enemy scream, however short-lived it may be.”
Daviin tightened his claws around the unfortunate Ueshi. “Short? I’ll draw it out.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Jer’ait said. “I’m sure you could teach me a thing or two. After all, on Va’ga, we only learned a few thousand ways to induce pain. You, though... You’ll probably make him cower in terror, threatening to poison him for hours until you finally give him peace. It will be educational.”
Daviin twisted around to scowl at him. “You think you could do better?”
Jer’ait gave a confident snort. “I can make it last so long he forgets his own name, and the pain he’d endure would have him screaming until the dawn.” He yawned. “But, obviously, I can’t do that.”
“Why?” Daviin demanded, dragging the blinking Ueshi around to face Jer’ait.
Jer’ait shrugged. “The honor is yours. After all, it’s you he wronged. I’m just here to watch.”
Daviin glanced down at the whimpering creature in his grasp, then shoved him toward Jer’ait. “You do it.”
Jer’ait shoved the Ueshi back at the Jreet. “No, Daviin. I’ll not take your vengeance from you.”
“Putting him in the hands of a Va’gan is vengeance enough.” The Jreet shoved the Ueshi back, making the poor creature let out a terrified cry and drop to the floor in a huddle between them.
Jer’ait eyed the Ueshi, then the Jreet. “Very well. How much pain would you have me give him?”
“Enough to make his ancestors feel it.”
Jer’ait nodded, giving the Jreet a grim look. “You should go watch the hall. His screaming will arouse suspicion.”
“But I want to see the little worm die!” Daviin cried.
“He’s already dead,” Jer’ait said solemnly. “Now go. You’ll not enjoy the preparations. I’ll have to meditate on my poisons and say a prayer for the gods of Va’ga.”
The last thing the Jreet wanted to hear was a Va’gan prayer.
Daviin glared at him, then at the Ueshi, then nodded and went out into the hall. As soon as he was outside, Jer’ait locked the door behind him.
“Why’d you lock the door?” Daviin demanded from the other side.
“Only our victims are allowed to witness our prayers,” Jer’ait snapped. “Unless you want me to kill you, too, you ignorant janja pile!”
&n
bsp; The Jreet made a grumbling noise on the other side, but said nothing.
Jer’ait turned to the whimpering Ueshi. “Now what were you saying about Forgotten?”
The Ueshi blinked its glistening blue eyes, his crest quivering in horror. “I was told not to tell.”
“Believe me, Ueshi, I can make you tell.”
“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” the Ueshi wailed.
“That’s what I told the Jreet,” Jer’ait said. “However, I’m not sure that’s wise, given the name you just dropped. Jemria. There’s only a handful of people in the universe who know of that name. What does Forgotten want with Daviin?”
“He w-w-wants him t-t-to live.” The Ueshi’s blue headcrest was trembling again.
“Obviously. But why?”
“He never said why,” the Ueshi whimpered. “Please.”
Jer’ait cocked his head, intrigued. “Is it possible our mythical Geuji has decided to help us fight the Vahlin?”
“Anything’s p-possible with J-Jemria,” the Ueshi agreed.
“So the Geuji does not enjoy the thought of a universe ruled by Dhasha. How surprising. Are you charged with tending the Welu heir, as well?”
“No, sir,” the Ueshi doctor babbled. “There’s another Ueshi tending that one.”
“Where did he find you two? I thought Jreet didn’t have doctors.”
“Jemria trained us both, sir.” Then, at Jer’ait’s sharp glance, he whimpered, “On his ship. I was from a poor hatch. Couldn’t get into medical school on my own. He told me he’d teach me. He took me to his ship. T-taught me everything about Jreet.”
Jer’ait’s eyes narrowed. “Does he continue to contact you?”
“No, sir.”
Daviin pounded on the door, making the entire room reverberate with the sound of his huge fist. “I don’t hear screaming, Va’gan!”
“Give me time, you underbred oaf!” Jer’ait snapped. To the Ueshi, he said, “You must have a system worked out. Once this is over, how will you get paid?”
“He’ll deliver it to my accounts, sir.”
“What bank will he use?”
The Ueshi blinked at him. “He won’t use a bank.”