The Sands of Argurumal (Argurma Salvager Book 3)

by S. J. Sanders

  “A female?”

  “Yes…”

  The alien’s pupils moved as her eyes seemed to complete rotate in their sockets at an odd angle. It was more than little creepy. “Over there around that bend. She is speaking with my sire at the counter.” A minuscule flexible joint in the exoskeleton on the bridge of her nose lifted to give the impression of a nose wrinkling in distaste. “A regular client who never ceases to complain how humid we keep the air. Truly unpleasant. We explain to her again and again that Ragirsi cannot survive in that dry heat out there, or even spend prolonged time at the front. Customers must always come in, but this just displeases her more. This is your friend?”

  Terri grimaced at the censure in her tone. Why didn’t it surprise her that Navesha, even as regular client, wasn’t on friendly terms with the merchants?

  “More like a relative,” she answered.

  She would have a difficult time of claiming Navesha as a friend. She was Veral’s cousin and one who had promised her aid upon their arrival. That was good enough for Terri to accept the female’s presence, but she couldn’t deny that the female could be unpleasant at times with her cutting comments and observations. She was belligerent, but at least she was an ally, which made her a bit easier to tolerate.

  The Ragirsi beside her sighed. “Oh, yes. Woe to the fates that we cannot choose our family. My sire is gathering her order, so you will have no trouble catching up to your kin.”

  “Thank you,” Terri replied as she hurried off in along the path the female indicated.

  Walking along the twisting path between rows of potted plants, Terri finally stepped out in a small alcove that was dominated by a large counter. A very tall green male made an impatient clicking sound as he slid a sealed UV protected bag across the counter to Navesha. The female had her hands braced against the countertop and was leaning her weight on them as she spoke quietly. Not for the first time, Terri wished she had the sort of enhanced hearing that her mate had. Whatever Navesha said seemed to make the male increasingly agitated but he handed over a clear packet with two capsules in it which the female tucked into a pocket with a small smile.

  “You have finally arrived,” Navesha greeted her as she scooped up the package. “I thought I would need to search for you once more. I am pleased to see that is not the case.” She inclined her head toward the merchant. “I will be certain to report on today’s service to Featha. I am certain she will reward your shop with future purchases for her little garden, despite its inadequacies. I am not pleased to have to wade through this wet pit only to find a partial order ready.”

  The male bobbed his head, the tiny joints along his jaw tightening. “The rarer plants take time to acquire, even more so those that will survive Argurumal. Your courtyards are set up with barrier technology, which helps, but her requests take time to fill.”

  Navesha lifted a hand and tapped on her comm device on her forearm. “I shall relay those exact words and let her decide how to proceed. I have transferred the credits for the dantha olara and the capsules. Perhaps you will remain in her favor to see more credits in the near future,” she said with a hard smile.

  Tucking the package under one arm, she peered down at Terri with a frown.

  “You are leaking water.”

  Terri glared back at her. “It’s called sweat. Humans sweat when we get too warm. It is hot as hell out there, so it’s bound to happen.”

  “It is very inefficient. I hope your offspring doesn’t inherit such a trait,” Navesha replied with a click of her mandibles.

  Gritting her teeth, Terri glared at the female’s back as she strode out ahead with an imperious, “Come, human. We do not have time to waste on standing in place.”

  Giving the Ragirsi an apologetic look, she hurried out back into the sun.

  True to her word, Navesha didn’t keep her on her feet long. They took a direct path leading deeper into the market, picking up other sealed bundles from various shops. One looked like a perfumery—though she couldn’t be certain exactly what was within the glowing vials—other shops held a variety of tech, herbs and spices, as well as butchers with vacuum-sealed cold displays filled with meats and produce stalls. Everything except the tiny packages was sent to be stored on their flyer’s cargo hold by for-hire porters who made themselves available at every intersection.

  Finally, they arrived at a large, shaded square filled with fragrant foods being cooked at numerous stalls ringing the area. Terri could see Argurmas and a number of other species seated at tables—some alone, others in pairs or small groups of three to five. Navesha led her to a corner stall, shouting a greeting to an enormous pinkish-gray male standing behind an enormous hot cooking flat. The male’s face was wide and angular like someone had carved it out of a boulder and gave him two enormous tusks that sprouted from each side of his jaw. His mouth stretched into a ragged grin.

  “Navesha’kanda!” the male barked out with a gruff laugh.

  Terri startled at the familiarity of the shortened name, but Navesha chuffed and leaned an elbow at the service counter.

  “Gargoluk, I require your special for my mother-kin.”

  A pair of beady yellow eyes fastened on Terri, and he let out another laugh.

  “That is not kin to you… It is a pink little morsel that cannot compare to the sublime strength of an Argurma female.”

  The female waved aside his comment, her vibrissae puffing out slightly.

  Was she… flirting?

  “She is a mate to my kin,” Navesha clarified with another sound of amusement.

  “I was not aware that you mate outside of your species,” he replied with obvious interest.

  Navesha shrugged. “Nor was I until my cousin brought her home.”

  The male grunted. “Featha must be beside herself.”

  “Featha will adapt. She has little choice in the matter.”

  The male whistled low between his teeth, but Navesha continued speaking uninterrupted.

  “I have more errands to see to and the female is not accustomed to our deserts. She will be resting here. Keep an eye on her, see to it that she is unmolested and that her plate and cup remain full, and I will see that you are compensated.”

  The male gave Terri a thoughtful look but nodded and indicated to a nearby table.

  “Seat her there, and I will bring her some food presently.”

  Navesha grinned at the male again before she took Terri by the arm and seated her at the small square table fixed firmly to the cobbled stone flooring. Although she felt dragged around a bit, Terri didn’t complain. Her feet and legs were aching, so she gratefully sank into the chair. To her delight, she had barely seated herself when a large plate full of fragrant noodles with chopped meats and vegetables was set before her with a tall glass of some sort of fruit juice.

  “Good. You have food and drink. Now remain here, and I will return in a short time,” Navesha instructed.

  Taking a cue from Navesha’s bad manners, Terri grunted in agreement and snatched up two double-pronged forks. Her eyes followed the female as she walked away and disappeared back in the throng. Her skin crawled slightly at being left alone, but it lasted only a moment before another small plate with a pair of dense rolls was set beside her. Gargoluk gave her a wide grin as he gave her arm a pat hard enough to have knocked her out of her chair if she hadn’t braced for it.

  “You sit here and eat and do not worry. Gargoluk will kill anyone who tries to harm you.” He glanced around with a small grimace, his eyes settling on a number of males and females plying their wares among customers seated at the tables. “Mind them, they will fleece you for all of your credits,” he advised gruffly. “Vermin.”

  With that, he left Terri to her meal. And a delicious meal it was. Everything on her plate was completely foreign to her, but the blend of meats and nutty flavors with a thick, spiced sauce tantalized her tastebuds. She watched the merchants as she ate until her attention became totally absorbed in her food. With one greedy moan and pl
eased sigh after another, she ate ravenously, slurping the noodles up between bites of the surprisingly light sweetened bread despite its thickness. She barely looked up when a merchant pulled up beside her table until she was surprised by the reedy voice speaking at her elbow.

  Glancing down, she met the gaze of a shorter scaled being with a broad fringed head. He couldn’t be much taller than her. He grinned down at her and nudged his cart closer. It was filled with a number of exquisite vases, pots and tableware that appeared almost translucent despite being engraved and painted with delicate flowers. He held one particularly beautiful, lidded pot. A bit larger than her hand, delicate orange flowers were carved intricately in a band around it.

  “Can I interest a beautiful female in a cosmetic pot? Good for all manner of creams and lotions.”

  Terri smiled at it with interest.

  13

  “It’s beautiful,” Terri said softly as she took the pot in her hands.

  On closer inspection, the pot was even more finely made than she expected and had a surprising weightiness to it. The lid seemed to fit snugly, with no visible gaps that would allow air to seep into it. It was as perfect.

  Terri curled her fingers around the small knob at the top, tugging until it released with a pop. A tiny scraping sound came from within it just as she tilted the pot to look inside. Startled, she attempted to shove it back at the seller just as something red hopped out of the pot and launched at her face.

  Instinctively, Terri threw her arm up, and thin, metallic tendrils spun out of her symbiont to protect her face, but everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Too late, she realized. She hadn’t been fast enough. She was distantly aware of her own shriek, but the red creature never landed. A blast sent yellow, goopy innards all over her face, chest, and the plate in front of her.

  Gasping for air, she tried desperately not to gag at the foul-smelling remains covering her. Terri swiped uselessly at her face but came away with more of the slimy, sticky substance. She grimaced at the thin yellow ropes clinging to her hands. Slowly, she spread her fingers and shook her hand in attempt to dislodge it.

  What the hell is this?

  A plain gray cloth appeared in front of her face.

  “What a surprise to see you here, little human,” a familiar cheerful voice said.

  Blinking through the slime clinging to her eyelashes, Terri grabbed the dangling cloth and vigorously wiped her face. Once she was sure she had gotten the majority of the guts off her face, she started wiping off her hands. Another cloth was offered, and she gratefully took it and attacked her hands with it. Whatever that creature was, its innards seemed to have a viscous quality to them because every place they touched her skin was red and stinging.

  Just great.

  Dumping the cloths on her plate of now inedible food, she looked up at the Blaithari, completely failing to conceal her shock at the presence of the tall pirate hovering over her.

  “Azan, what are you doing on Argurumal?” Terri asked warily. “And where’s Garswal… and your crew for that matter?”

  The idea of a crew of Blaithari pirates roaming around sent a ripple of unease through her. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about.

  The female’s smirk broadened into a grin as she dragged a chair over and dropped, sprawling, into it. Unlike the last time she’d seen her, the pirate was wearing finer, fitted clothes and had abandoned her tight topknot for several long braids. She wrinkled her nose at the mess still clinging to Terri’s clothes.

  “I hate gi’lurth bugs. Deadly if they get ahold of you and unpleasant if you manage to kill them first. But at least you are still alive,” she said with a firm slap to Terri’s shoulder. “Your little assassin friend didn’t get far.”

  “Assassin?” Terri said, nausea surging up with the thought.

  “What else? A gi’lurth bug is not native to this planet and would not have just crawled inside a pot.” Azan chuckled.

  She lifted one of her six hands and gestured to a scowling Gargoluk. He was storming up to an equally sour-faced guard with the merchant, who had attempted to make a hasty departure, in tow. The male grasped in one of Gargoluk’s meaty fists didn’t even bother fighting it but allowed himself to be dragged over.

  Response time of the guards was impressive. Of the same species as Gargoluk, the male didn’t look happy to be there but took the smaller alien with a stern look. Terri wanted to go and question the male, but at the same time, she didn’t want to draw attention to herself. Why would the merchant have wanted to hurt her? It was one of many questions that she would have to find a way of getting answers for.

  “As for what I am doing here and the location of my crew, we had a surprisingly profitable… let us call it an acquisition… from a system nearby. This was the closest market where we might turn a reasonable profit and far enough away from the main cities to avoid drawing too much attention from Argurma officials. The Great Dunes people are pretty much left to their own devices.”

  “And Garswal?”

  “Waiting on the ship with his… ah, caretaker.”

  “A caretaker,” Terri said slowly. A groan left her. “Please tell me you didn’t kidnap someone to nanny the boy.”

  Azan chuckled. “Ah, we would have been wonderful together. You know me so well. As it happens, we rescued a female who apparently had been heading for the slave market that specializes in rare species. It looks like your mate is not the only one to have stumbled upon your little planet, but given that there was not a whole pen full of them, I imagine they just got lucky with the one and didn’t find any others.”

  “A human,” Terri hissed in alarm. “You have a human?”

  Azan nodded happily. “She is still… settling in.”

  Terri blinked at her. “Don’t tell me you mean to keep her captive.”

  “Why not? She is well cared for and a member of my crew, not a slave. It has taken some adjusting for her, but once she realized there was no easy way to return to her planet—a dying planet, from what she says—she is better off with us than she would be alone. Besides, I like her. She’s got spirit.”

  Terri shifted uncomfortably in chair and held back a groan. She couldn’t deny that it was likely a safer option for the woman, but it still didn’t sit right with her.

  “And she’s not a slave or in any way forced to stay with you?”

  “No.” Azan chuckled. “She has half the males on the ship jumping to her demands. She did get separated from us once when she decided to ‘escape,’ but she decided she preferred our company.”

  Terri sighed and smiled gratefully at Gargoluk as he indicated for them to follow him to another table nearby. He returned moments later with two plates of food, sitting one in front of each of them.

  “On the establishment,” he grunted at Azan before stomping back to his kitchen.

  Azan dug into the food with delight. Terri watched her for a moment before following suit. They ate in silence for a moment before another thought occurred to her.

  “Did you know that Veral and I were here?”

  “That is actually a happy coincidence,” Azan replied after swallowing a bite of food. “Not to mention fortunate for you. Seems that the gods continue to favor you.” Her expression turned contemplative. “If someone is trying to kill you, perhaps I will linger a bit longer. I am quite fond of my human, but I don’t like the thought of someone getting to you. Where is your mate, anyway? Last I saw, you two were inseparable, and he didn’t tolerate being away from your side for even a moment. He should have been here to kill that male on sight.”

  Terri frowned down at her food for a moment, the reminder of Veral’s absence painful. Azan was right. Before arriving on Argurumal, Veral never would have allowed Terri to be separated from him for days on end.

  “He’s seeing to some family matters,” she muttered.

  Azan made a face, and Terri couldn’t help but agree with her.

  “I never would have imagined that you would have been allow
ed to come to the market alone,” the pirate commented.

  “I’m not here alone. I’m with Veral’s cousin. She let me stay here to rest and eat while she went to get the rest of the packages she had to pick up.”

  “And she left you,” the female pointed her pronged eating utensil at her, “here alone?”

  “Well, she arranged for her friend to watch over me,” Terri said, gesturing at the cook once more working over his cooking flat.

  Azan hummed skeptically, but Terri was grateful when the pirate changed the subject and turned to regaling her with tales of her recent exploits and latest acquisitions. The tension within her slowly relaxed until a shadow suddenly loomed over them, and Azan snapped her pistols up in four hands, aiming them that the Argurma glaring down at her.

  “Who is this?” Navesha growled.

  “This is Azan. She’s a… friend, I guess you could say. Azan, put those away. This is Navesha, Veral’s cousin.”

  Azan raised a brow at that as she glanced at Terri but slowly lowered her weapons and holstered them. Navesha narrowed her eyes at the Blaithari but, outside of the hiss of her whipping vibrissae, didn’t make any other moves. Suspicion crossed her face, but it matched Azan’s expression, so Terri considered them equally matched in that.

  Terri sighed. “Why don’t you sit down, Navesha, instead of standing over us threateningly. Azan isn’t going to hurt me.”

  There was a lengthy pause, but finally the female grunted and dragged a chair over between them. She sat in her chair shooting a glower at Azan, who just grinned smugly. Navesha hissed back but turned her attention to Terri.

  “I do not trust this female. Gargoluk told me what happened, and it is too convenient,” she growled.

  “You mean like your convenient absence?” Azan purred, making the Argurma stiffen with insult.

  “Azan,” Terri sighed.