The Sands of Argurumal (Argurma Salvager Book 3)

by S. J. Sanders

  “You would be surprised to know that many Argurma hold the same aversion, and yet vansik is among the few exceptions that appeal to us all,” the female commented as she looked at the bag with what might have been longing.

  Her smile widened at the thought but dropped when the door chimed. Navesha straightened and touched the door panel.

  “Registered identity is Featha’katala,” Navesha reported.

  Malraha immediately stiffened, and Tarik stepped back quickly from the doorway.

  Featha. Wonderful.

  Biting back a sound of dismay, she nodded to Navesha, who promptly put in the acceptance code.

  The door opened to the tall crimson robed Argurma. She stood there, her eyes trailing around the room before she stepped inside.

  Tarik’s mandibles drew close to his cheekbones deferentially when she gave a sharp glance in his direction before raising her hand and flicking her fingers in a dismissive gesture.

  “Leave us, Medic.”

  “At your orders,” he replied stiffly.

  He wasn’t happy about it—his body language screamed it—but he complied. It seemed that no one argued against Featha. The female had such a strong presence that Terri could suddenly understand how she had kept order in the Monushava House.

  “And you as well, Malraha and Navesha,” Featha directed. “Stand guard outside the doors. I will not be long. I wish to speak privately to Veral’s human.”

  Terri opened her mouth to object—after all, they were her guards—but thought better of stirring the pot when they were so close to leaving. She would let Featha have her moment and pray she wouldn’t have to see her again before they left Argurumal. The female was a lot to take.

  Malraha gave a wide-eyed nod before slipping out behind Tarik. Navesha, not as easy to impress as the other guard, hesitated for a moment, her expression thoughtful as if she considered arguing the matter. At a hard, uncompromising look from Featha, she finally inclined her head before she stepped outside.

  Terri privately pitied any mate who Dreth ended up bringing home.

  Forcing herself to calm despite her natural desire to run and hide from—or take out from a safe distance—the imposing female, Terri smiled politely in the way that was considered appropriate among Argurmas and gestured to the small table and chairs at one corner of the room.

  “Would you care to sit?”

  The female returned the smile—if the arctic expression on her face could pass for a smile—and dropped her head at an angle to decline the invitation.

  Damn all the social cues. Terri wasn’t sure what she should do next. Thankfully, Featha saved her from having to guess.

  “Your hospitality is noted, but I will not be long,” the female stated imperiously.

  Once again, Terri was reminded of some of the nobility she had to deal with and couldn’t help but feel a renewed sympathy for Dreth. Terri had little doubt that she was formal and exacting in everything. That didn’t dredge up images of a warm childhood. Terri might not have had much, but her parents loved her with everything they had for the time that they had together. Between her and Dreth, she was pretty sure the other male got the short end of the stick when it came to happy childhoods, regardless of how much he was materially provided for.

  Since it was obvious that Featha wasn’t there for a social visit, it was time to cut to the chase.

  “How can I help you, Featha?” she asked woodenly.

  The female’s brow arched, but instead of immediately replying, she glanced down at Harahna.

  “There is nothing you can do for me, human,” she said as she stepped closer. “I merely wish to see my sister’s namesake before you leave.”

  She paused for a moment, a look of uncertainty crossing her face as she glanced up at Terri from the corner of her eye, gauging her response. Finding something there that apparently set her at ease, the female relaxed and held out her arms.

  “May I hold her?” she asked.

  “Hell no,” was the first thing that came to Terri’s mind, but she kept it locked tight behind her lips. But as cold and impersonal as the female was, Terri had a hard time finding reason to deny such a simple request. Featha was Harahna’s family, after all, and she had sworn to protect her. Hell, Harahna might even return someday. If so, it would be good to encourage some kind of bonding.

  Sucking in her bottom lip nervously, she pulled her finger free of Harahna’s mouth with a pop and handed her to the tall Argurma.

  Featha’s expression softened as she took the baby, her fingers smoothing the blanket away from her face before brushing through the unruly mass vibrissae. The coils tended to knot around each other so hopelessly that Harahna would squeal with frustration but at that moment they plucked curiously at her mother-kin.

  “She looks nothing like my sister,” Featha said, and Terri nearly snatched the baby back, prepared to defend her daughter’s appearance. “She is lovely, though,” the Argurma amended with a smile—something a bit closer to genuine. “She will grow to be a great Ahanvala.”

  Terri blinked at her in surprise. That… was unexpected.

  “You really think so?” she murmured, glancing down at her baby, who seized her mother-kin’s hand and happily began to slobber all over it.

  Featha chuffed.

  “I have little doubt. She is smart and reacts quickly. These are traits I recognize from my sister. And the fearlessness. Many Argurma do not know it until after they are taken away to be conditioned, but your Harahna has it, just as mine did.”

  A shadow of pain passed over her face.

  “I love my sons, but I always wanted a daughter. I would have named a daughter of my immediate line after her if I had managed to bear one. I speak of the disgrace of my sister’s emotional breakdown, but she was not. I say such things to keep my people strong and prepared because of how our world will treat them if they are not cautious. My sister was brave and fearless, even in her agony. She did not care what the council thought of her heart. They broke it when they took Veral. And they broke mine when they took her,” she whispered as she brushed her cheek against the baby’s.

  Harahna’s two chubby hands grabbed the female’s vibrissae as if hugging her back. A soft chuff escaped Featha as she gently untangled herself and glanced at Terri.

  “My sister had been so close to outsmarting them. I see where Veral gets it. She wanted to hide him with our far-kin in the Galithilan. I begged her not to and told her that our household could protect him. I was foolish. They came a day early—I have never been able to discover why—and took him. Then she left me, leaving me her youngest offspring.”

  Terri startled in surprise. “Veral has a sibling?”

  Featha inclined her head.

  “I do not wish for him to be told. He did not know, and it is up to Navesha when she wishes for such connections to be made. She has been angry for many revolutions, believing he was the cause of her mother’s absence just by existing. That her mother had grieved for him and left her because of it. I had thought that processing would help her forget her pain, but it seems that the trauma she experienced in her youth preserved her memories—the precious and the ugly. Although she has mellowed since he returned, I do not know her heart on the matter. As you know, our species is programmed not to be intentionally expressive or emotional. I tried to be a mother for her, but I have failed her as much as I have failed Dreth.”

  Terri winced slightly at that. Even though she had similar thoughts just moments earlier about Dreth, as a mother it was hard hearing that come from his mother’s mouth. Instead, she focused on the most incredible thing: Navesha—control freak of the biting remarks—was actual family. Veral’s sister!

  “Wow…I really can’t imagine how lonely and painful it has been for her,” she murmured. “I really hope she decides to tell him. I think Veral might like knowing that he has her. And having him might help her heal too.”

  Featha cocked her head inquisitively.

  “Do you?” she asked be
fore brushing her lips against the bony plating of Harahna’s forehead and handing her over.

  Terri stared back at the female, appalled as she cuddled her daughter against her. Tiny claws pricked as Harahna attempted to get through her tunic. She was hungry again. It appeared that she would be enjoying her snack momentarily as her daughter nursed her own.

  “Of course. She’s his family. That makes her my family and Harahna’s family. I want her to be in our lives.”

  “Would you say that includes all of his line, or just his immediate birth-kin? You did not seem so interested until now.”

  Terri grimaced. As much as she had endured just flitting around the compound aimlessly, she really didn’t know any of his mother-kin. She had been too caught up in her own boredom and her own morose thoughts about her mate’s absence to have made much effort in that direction. At times, she might have even resented the way that they eyed her in passing. She didn’t even know Featha and immediately judged her on outward perceptions—half of which the female destroyed within five minutes.

  She definitely hadn’t liked Kaylar at all.

  Terri held in a groan. She had been alone so long that she had forgotten something about what it was like to have family. She was going to have to do better.

  “Yes,” she said at last. “I know I haven’t done a great job of it, but I want him to have his connections with his family and for our daughter to enjoy them as well.”

  A small smile tugged at the corners of Featha’s mouth.

  “Perhaps there might be something to the human species that I did not see,” she said casually as she glanced around the room, her eyes falling on the packs of Terri and Veral’s belongings. “You are prepared to leave, then?”

  “We are. First thing in the morning. Hopefully Harahna sleeps well,” she laughed weakly.

  It wasn’t much of a joke. She was going to need as much sleep as she could get before they faced trekking over the Galithilan. The transport to the eastern minor household would be a short one. That would be the easy part, but she hoped that Harahna cooperated and allowed Terri to get all the sleep she needed.

  Featha chuffed in understanding and walked over to the baby’s bed. Her hands reaching into the bedding.

  “My sons did not sleep well unless the bedding was drawn perfectly tight,” she commented as she worked, drawing the bottom blanket snug against the sleeping mat. “Argurma offspring may develop quicker than other species, but they can be difficult…Wait, there is something moving just over…”

  Featha jerked back as something that resembled a spider but with far too many legs and a long abdomen like a scorpion, with three whipping tails four times the length of its body, jumped up from the bedding. Its tails flailed as long, thin legs reached for her. The Argurma let out a startled roar, her arm coming up protectively.

  Terri ran forward, distantly aware of the long cords of her daughter’s symbiont wrapping around her as she initiated her own. A long double-edged blade extended beyond her hand, and she nearly stopped in surprise at the new weapon, but she pushed back the shock as she swung the blade forward.

  The sound of the blade cutting through the alien arachnid hit with a wet crunch not unlike the sound that the vansik made when eaten. The wet sound, however, was mostly from the head falling away and followed by a soft thud as it landed on the floor, the body crumpling right beside it.

  A wheeze escaped Terri as she looked down at the remains and Featha drew in a shaky breath. From the corner of her eye, she watched as the blaster was lifted. Her body froze, and it exploded with heat.

  The plasma bolt slid right by Terri’s head, blowing apart another of the creatures that had, unknown to Terri, materialized from the bedding. Featha then pointed the weapon down and proceeded to blow the ever-loving hell out of the bed until it was nothing but wreckage. The whine of displeasure that came from Harahna in objection to all the noise was the only other sound in the room outside of blaster fire.

  That and her guards suddenly piling into her room with weapons drawn.

  Terri remained rooted to the spot, not even looking their way, as she stood there beside the bed, numb with shock.

  Those things could have killed both her and the baby the moment she put the baby to bed.

  From the corner of her eye, she watched as Featha leaned down to pick the things up by their tails—or what little remained of the second, anyway—and threw them at the feet of the guards. Both females stared at the remains, their expressions stony. Never before had Terri hated the outward impassiveness of Argurmas more.

  “Hathals—in the offspring’s bed! Where did these come from?” Featha demanded, her mandibles and voice vibrating with anger. “These creatures come from the Amhim’voreth and the Ahmhim’shal’va. Someone brought them here and put them in this room. I want to know who!”

  Navesha frowned down at the arachnids, her boot toeing one.

  “The eggs would be easy to hide, no bigger than a claw or capsule, and they hatch fast. It could have been anyone. We can review the security footage and see who has been near the room. I will…”

  “No,” Terri snapped, panic tightening her throat. Featha’s errands, the egg capsules, Navesha’s secretiveness and harbored grudges. Was it one of them or someone else? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she wanted everyone away from her and her daughter. “I need everyone to leave the room.”

  Featha looked at her steadily and inclined her head. “We will give you some privacy. I will comm Veral at once. He needs to leave with you tonight. There is no more waiting. This was not an accident.”

  With a flick of her fingers, she dismissed the guards. They balked at Featha’s command but at Terri’s pleading look they drew back.

  “We will be outside the doors,” Malraha said quietly. “If you need anything…”

  “I know,” Terri murmured as she dropped her cheek against Harahna, breathing in the warm smell of her daughter. “Thank you.”

  She heard the footsteps as they left, her body tense as she opened her tunic for Harahna’s questing mouth. As her daughter latched on, she relaxed, but it was only when she was certain that there was nothing around except silence that she allowed herself to weep.

  28

  Ice swept through Veral’s blood as he held his mate close under his arm, escorting her to the flyer prepared to transport them east. Krono clung close to their side, his vibrissae moving through the environment, sampling every energy signature near it. Veral’s vibrissae were doing the same, flooding his processors with information, much of it useless. It did confirm the absence of threats, however, and that was all that mattered at that moment while his body was still flooded with terror.

  He had come dangerously close to losing both his mate and offspring. There was nothing casual about this attack. Nothing that was devised to look like an accident. This was a blatant attempt at murder. Whoever the perpetrator was, they were no longer making any effort to hide what they were doing. They were also going to die—painfully.

  Larth inclined his head from his position beside the entrance to the vessel, remnants of red sand still clinging to his armor. The male had not made it far into the compound before Veral commed him with new instructions. That his cousin arrived before him and readied the vessel eased some of his tension.

  There would be no delays.

  Returning the greeting to his mother-kin, he stepped aboard.

  The flyer was small and compact, made specifically to carry passengers for short distances. Although rarely favored by many Argurma since it didn’t have space to transport cargo, it was sleek and fast, and less likely to attract notice. That served the households of the Quarnet’safet perfectly.

  Since the main cabin connected directly to the piloting station, Veral spotted Dreth immediately in the pilot’s seat. A large dusky dorashnal lay wedged in beside his station, staring back at Veral. The male glanced up from the controls and gave a terse greeting as he set his hand on the control panels, hooking into the syste
ms once more.

  Good. Veral was not interested in any sort of pomp and ceremony. He just wanted to get his mate and offspring far away from the compound.

  That Dreth ignored the manual controls and tapped directly into the system told Veral something of the male that he did not know. Despite his mother’s grooming, Dreth had received at least intermedial training as a warrior to have specialized enough to earn piloting updates to his system.

  “Engines are readied. We are ready to depart, Ahanvala,” Dreth reported.

  “Acknowledged,” Veral replied as he made sure his mate was seated and fastened securely, just barely avoiding Krono’s large body in the process.

  The dorashnal took a protective position by the females’ side, and Veral brushed his hand over the coiling vibrissae on the beast in a gesture of approval. Krono let out a grunt and stretched out on the ground, ignoring the other dorashnals on the flyer as he was trained. Veral could trust him to protect his mate and offspring.

  “Good boy, Krono,” Terri whispered, and the animal tipped one long ear back at her, although his eyes never left Veral’s daughter.

  Unaware of her anxious dorashnal guard or the protective stance of her father hovering over her, Harahna looked up at Veral sleepily, one fist propped against her mouth where she had been sucking on it. The metal coils of her symbiont still cocooned her securely to her mother’s chest. It was a wonder that they remained initiated for so long. It had to take an incredible amount of energy that would need to be replaced.

  As if responding to his observation, his daughter turned her face into her mother’s chest, nuzzling aside the fabric to latch on to one pink nipple. Veral stroke a hand down Harahna’s vibrissae before brushing a kiss against his mate’s cheek, his mandibles tucked in so not to scrape her with their sharp edges.

  A small smile crept onto his mate’s lips despite her obvious physical and emotional exhaustion. He was coming to understand just how much such intense emotions could be detrimental to one’s welfare, and he was not sure if he missed the absence of them or was grateful to be spared that misery. All he knew was the fear that settled inside his core and the anger that pulsed through his processors.