For the King

by Reagan Woods

  She didn’t know how many people were out there, but she could discern from the conversation that Zocan was trying to get rid of the excess.

  “That’s not going to happen,” Zocan replied to the request to ‘meet the butcher’.

  Despite the danger inherent in the situation, Nora bit back a hysterical laugh. She was no butcher, she was a woman in an untenable position.

  There was a low, hissing growl followed by an angry spate of gibberish that translated to, “Watch your step, Lyaran. You think I do not know who and what you are? I could end you and yours here and now.”

  “Do not threaten me, Vrenti,” Lyon responded in low, dangerous tones. “Take your heads and be gone from my ship.”

  Gak! Nora realized exactly what they’d been doing to the corpses and did her absolute best to avoid puking.

  “I do as I please,” was the sharp response. “And it pleases me to meet this barbaric killer you harbor.”

  There was a long pause and Nora imagined Zocan was giving his opponent the dead-eyed, superior stare he excelled at. “That is not an option.”

  As the two continued to argue, Nora was forced to wonder why Zocan was risking himself like this. He could easily present her to this stranger and have done with her.

  “You will produce the killer or suffer the consequences.”

  Zocan stubbornly replied, “I cannot. I fear my crewperson was injured and is even now beneath the healing lamps.”

  Someone gave a hiss. The sound needed no translation as the disdain was evident.

  “Hunil, Bacosks, help Zocan’s males dispose of these bodies.”

  Zocan must have acquiesced to the high-handed command because there was quite a bit of stomping and grunting before shuffling footsteps trailed off leaving silence in their wake.

  An odd chuffing sound filled the air.

  Nora bit back a squeak of surprise when the sliding door to her hiding space was flung aside. Holy shit, she thought as a nightmare filled her vision. Its head was huge. Dark green scales covered it like a bumpy, shiny skin and yellowish horns studded its brow. Yellow eyes glowed faintly illuminating her little cavern and leaving her with no place to hide. Then, it spoke, “Join us, female.”

  The lizard-man straightened, apparently convinced she would do as he asked, and stepped back to make room for her exit. He didn’t offer a hand.

  A surreptitious glance told her Zocan wasn’t going to be any help either. His elegant nose flared as he regarded her.

  Nora gathered herself and, with as much dignity as she could muster, shimmied out of the hidden passage. She couldn’t avoid picking up the gore and congealed blood on her clothes. Apparently, she was doomed to a life of undignified introductions to aliens of all kinds.

  Standing, she wiped her hands on her already smeared dress. Looking into the lizard’s hard eyes with their fathomless, vertically slitted pupils she narrowed her own and set her hands on her hips. “Who are you calling barbaric, lizard face?”

  She heard Zocan’s sharp, shocked inhalation before the lizard-man made a sound like nails on a chalk board. Wincing, she turned to Zocan. “I think I broke him.”

  Zocan’s eyebrows were arched high on his forehead but his posture remained relaxed. “He’s laughing.”

  The lizard’s laughter cut off abruptly. “You knew she was here,” he accused Zocan, his demeanor going flat and cold.

  Nora shivered at the menace that emanated from the green male.

  Not bothered by the change, Zocan merely flattened his mouth and quirked an eyebrow, his gaze sliding thoughtfully toward her and away before he answered, “I suspected she remained alive because the translation program was still running.” He paused, holding a finger in the air as the words echoed in English.

  Vrenti’s posture relaxed almost imperceptibly, and Nora let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

  Zocan continued, “However, I couldn’t dismiss the possibility that she had died or been gravely injured, and the system failed to shut down. It’s not exactly reliable.” Smoothly, he pivoted into the role of genial host, “Allow me to present Nora, the latest addition to my crew. Nora, this is Primo Hunter Vrenti of the Guild of Shadows. He’s enamored of your recent work.”

  Whatever game Zocan was playing, she desperately hoped he knew what he was doing. She went with her gut and stuck out a mostly clean hand. Unlike the Lyarans, Vrenti seemed to understand her purpose and caged her hand in his clawed fingers.

  “Female Nora, did you kill all these males?” He quired, still holding her hand in his as he waited for the translation system to work.

  Nora made herself stare directly into the bulbous yellowy-gold eyes and hoped he would take the move for candor rather than challenge. “I didn’t have a choice. They knew I was here and were hunting me.”

  “You were well hidden,” he pointed out, shifting closer to loom over her.

  She firmed her lips when they trembled. “You found me.”

  “I scented you,” he corrected. “They could not have done so.”

  “I am not from around here,” she responded, tugging gently to try and free her hand. “I had no way of knowing what they could or couldn’t do. My best option was to take them out while they were still docked.”

  He resisted her efforts to take back her hostage appendage. “Why not stay quiet and wait for rescue?”

  “They’d gained control of the ship and intended to leave Coniru,” she answered truthfully. “I know next to nothing about piloting this ship. If I didn’t stop them…”

  Vrenti released her hand only to lean his big head down toward hers. “How did they gain control of this ship?”

  Nora had to restrain the impulse to edge away from him. She waved in the general direction of the command console. “They had a crystal and shoved it into one of the data ports.”

  Long, jagged teeth sparkled between Vrenti’s shiny, green lips as he spoke.

  She heard Zocan draw in a sharp breath to retort, but she forestalled his response with a raised hand as she finished listening to the translation.

  “Where is the crystal now?”

  Widening her eyes innocently, Nora asked, “Why? Is it important?”

  “I require the crystal,” Vrenti stated flatly. “I will tolerate no more of your lies and subterfuge. Give. Me. The. Crystal.”

  For once, she had the upper hand – if she had the cajones to play it.

  “Strange,” she replied, hands finding her hips once more. “I seem to recall you telling Zocan you wanted to meet me to thank me. So far, you’ve intimidated, questioned and demanded. Perhaps your customs are different than mine.” She tornadoed a single finger in the air. “Is that how you thank someone?”

  She winced as Vrenti broke out in his braying laughter once more. “I like your attitude, Nora. You are small but fierce.”

  “She has been through an ordeal,” Zocan interjected, causing Nora to jolt. She hadn’t seen him move to her side, but he appeared ready to step between her and Vrenti should the situation warrant it. “Perhaps we can give her a moment to clean up and gather herself before you continue your…inquiry.”

  Vrenti inclined his head in agreement. “I had not considered that. My apologies.”

  “I won’t be long,” she promised, scooting around them and proceeding down the hallway before either male had a chance to change their mind.

  Chapter 26

  Murmuring words of relief at seeing her well, Natar had met Nora at the entrance to her cabin with an armload of clothing and a pair of soft black boots before excusing himself. Showered and dressed in a thigh-length red tunic and pair of baggy soft gray pants, she marched from the lift to the main dining area where she knew the aliens waited to speak with her.

  She’d avoided the main kitchen and dining area like the plague since her first visit. The room’s walls were mirrored as was the ceiling. A glittering chandelier of crystal skulls hung over the long black dining table that was polished to a reflective shine. Unl
ike the rest of the ship, the floor was a hard, white stone of some kind. She imagined the hard, shiny surfaces made clean-up that much easier for the priests after their disgusting feasts.

  The seven males, her four Lyarans and the three lizard-men, stood and eyed one another uneasily around the dining table, their reflections echoed endlessly between the walls while a near perfect reproduction of the tableaux of mistrust shone out from the reflective surface of the table.

  Nora imagined one of the many-armed blue men in the middle of that table with an apple in his mouth. She shuddered as she entered the room, pushing the visual created by her over-active imagination aside.

  “There is no need for fear,” Zocan reassured condescendingly, misattributing her disgust.

  Nora lifted her chin, reminding herself to be confident and assertive. “I’m not scared,” she denied calmly, motioning that they should take seats in the bejeweled bone-back chairs. It was mostly true. The new clothes helped her feel more confident and less exposed. Plus, the Lyarans had given them to her, hadn’t they, so they must plan on keeping her around for a while. “I simply wish I didn’t have the image of the priests gathered around this table carving up a person like a holiday roast stuck in my head.”

  Natar’s lovely golden skin went green, but Vrenti and his men chuckled in their cringe-inducing way. She’d broken the ice so to speak, but the air still sported a hostile vibe. Her mother would have said Zocan and Vrenti were fixin’ to whip ‘em out for a dick measuring contest if she’d witnessed the way the two alien men squared off, flanked by their respective subordinates at each side of the table.

  “Fair point,” Zocan acknowledged, tearing his gaze from Vrenti to wave her further into the room.

  She took her time making her way to the open seat at the head of the table and used the opportunity to meet each male’s gaze. She didn’t want them to think for a moment she was afraid of them. They’d seen what she’d done to the five intruders, she reminded herself. That should be warning enough that she wasn’t to be trifled with.

  Knowing Zocan’s high-handed ways, she fully expected that he’d already set forth guidelines (or demands) for an information exchange with Vrenti. So, she was more than a little surprised when he turned to her once she was seated and said, “Nora, Vrenti is under the impression you have the crystal he seeks in your possession. I’ll leave it to you to decide if you’d like to give him the crystal and what you might accept as a trade for it.”

  The not-so-subtle hint that she had bargaining power here helped calm the last of the butterflies in her stomach. Zocan wasn’t going to order her to forfeit the crystal, and he’d set up the room dynamics to cede power over the proceedings to her. That was…unexpected.

  Vrenti gave her a smile that highlighted his razor-sharp teeth. “I am prepared to be reasonable provided you turn over the crystal forthwith.”

  Nora licked her dry lips. This was her chance. “I’m not feeling the love, Vrenti.” She gave him a disappointed headshake. “I did your job for you, didn’t I, by taking out the five criminals you were chasing? I’d think you’d be grateful.”

  “I haven’t taken your companions into custody,” he pointed out in a low growling tone as he leaned forward, big claws braced on the reflective surface of the table. “I could change my mind at any time. Everyone knows there is good money for heads such as theirs.”

  He had a point – Zocan and company were pirates, but her caravan had encountered plenty of bounty hunters and she knew how they operated. The ones on Earth didn’t do anything that didn’t directly benefit them, so she decided to play a hunch. “If you’d accepted a contract on my friends, they’d already be locked up aboard your ship or dead,” she rebutted with a careless shrug. “It might be that you can round them up and take them in for a little side prize, but your Guild turned the contract down for a reason, didn’t they?”

  Vrenti grunted and sat back, his golden eyes studying her with renewed interest and what she thought might be a touch of admiration. “Perhaps,” he acknowledged after a long moment.

  Nora let the ensuing silence stretch out for a moment. There was power in stillness, she knew.

  “What will it take to get you to give me the crystal?” He finally asked, wiping a claw over his spiked head impatiently.

  Vrenti was powerful, that much she’d gathered. The crystal was obviously valuable. Very valuable from the looks of things. She didn’t know why Zocan was allowing her to make her own decisions about its dispensation, but she had her suspicions.

  Zocan and Lyon sat close together flanked by Natar and Z’cari. Slowly, Nora stood and walked to stand behind them. She placed one hand on Zocan’s shoulder and the other on Lyon’s. They were supporting her, so she would make certain they benefited from this boon, too.

  “We need a ship with decent defense, adequate provisions for a long journey and safe passage out of here,” she stated, keeping her eyes on Vrenti. She didn’t dare peek to see how Lyon or Zocan reacted to her demands. Instead, she focused on the head lizard-man in charge. “Quickly.”

  “Is that all?” Vrenti blinked, his horizontal eyelids covering his golden eyes for several seconds in an unsettling display. Nora couldn’t tell if she’d frustrated him or played into his hands. It soothed her frazzled nerves when Lyon’s hand came up to rest over her own with a warm squeeze of approval.

  “I suppose you also want me to dispose of this vessel?” Vrenti’s opened his eyes and addressed Zocan.

  Nora glanced down in time to see a smirk lift one corner of Zocan’s thin mouth. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

  “Why would it be?” The razor-edged smile was back on Vrenti’s face. “The Sword of Triumph…will you be taking it with you?”

  Zocan laughed outright at that. “Perhaps you would be so good as to find it a good home, Primo Vrenti?”

  “It would be my honor,” Vrenti replied, seemingly mollified, as he stood and lightly rapped his knuckles on the shiny table. “Pack light. We leave forthwith.” He turned expectantly to Nora and held out his clawed hand.

  With a sheepish smile, Nora dug the crystal out of her waistband and placed it in his palm as the others filed out of the room around them. “It was interesting meeting you, Primo.”

  “I’ve never met a female slick-skin quite like you, Nora,” he replied, grasping her hand so the small, thin crystal was mashed between their palms. “It’s been an education.”

  “Likewise,” she replied seriously. She sensed Vrenti had something on his mind, so she didn’t pull away to follow the others right away.

  “You’re loyal to these Lyarans,” he noted when they were alone. “That is a good thing, but not all of them will be loyal to you.” With those cryptic words, he released her and swept from the room.

  Vrenti was fast for all his bulk, Nora mused as she studied his retreating form speculatively. What exactly had he meant by that? She followed, determined to ask, but he was already in the lift by the time she made it to the hall.

  Chapter 27

  Vrenti’s team of hunters was bigger than Nora had realized. By the time she caught him up, he was ushering everyone off the ship. The opportunity for a cozy chat was gone.

  Thirty burly Troclians escorted her and the four Lyarans across the docks on foot. She wanted to goggle and gape as she took in the ships at the docks, but the lizard-men set a fast pace, and it took all her energy to keep up as they covered what felt like miles of the black and silver grated floors. She was way out of shape.

  Conversation ebbed and flowed around her. Lyon dropped back to walk with her. Z’cari and Natar had taken one look at her and bustled to Zocan’s side. The three were all but jogging ahead and had done a good job of ignoring her, but without the translator, she was totally unable to communicate anyway. So, she left the talking to the aliens and focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

  Finally, they stopped outside a white ship that rested on towering landing pylons. It was much smaller than the gleaming bla
ck monstrosity they’d left behind. This ship looked like a flattened triangle that had swallowed a ball. At the bottom of the bulge, a delicate spiral stair descended.

  Once they were aboard – and Nora had her breath back after the steep ascent, Z’cari and Natar broke off. Lyon grasped her arm and propelled her up another staircase into the nose of the ship where the sloped-ceilinged cockpit spread out in an intimidating display of technology. Vrenti had come through on his end of the bargain in a big way. What the ship lacked in size it made up for with shiny tech.

  “Man,” Nora breathed, heart falling as she took in the overwhelming array of dials, flashing lights and the floor-to-ceiling wrap-around view screens. “This looks way harder to operate than the priests’ ship.”

  Both Lyarans eyed her quizzically. She drew in a shaky breath. Of course, they couldn’t understand her. Her nose burned as she struggled to fight back the desolation that engulfed her. Had she made a mistake by throwing her lot in with these pirates? Vrenti had seemed to think so. At least, she assumed that’s what his cryptic words indicated. For a moment, she felt very small and alone.

  Then, Lyon’s hand on her arm pulled her around to where Zocan stood. Zocan’s long, slender fingers skimmed over the console like a covetous lover.

  She watched as he deftly inserted a crystal - much like the one she’d turned over to Vrenti - into a port on a pillar beneath the console.

  “This ship is a treasure,” the mechanical translation of Zocan’s words sounded in stereo from hidden speakers.

  Nora breathed a sigh of relief as she shot each Lyaran a grateful smile. “I’m glad you like it,” she replied hesitantly.

  “Given the value of the information contained on the crystal you gave Vrenti, it ought to be,” Lyon groused. “We have much to discuss, Nora,” he warned with a stern look.

  “I don’t see what there is to talk about,” she replied, crossing her arms under her breasts defensively. “We needed a ship and supplies. I got a ship and supplies.”

  “You had the chance to go home,” Lyon snarled. It was the first time she’d seen him angry. He’d always been so controlled and patient with her and the change was no bueno. “Why did you not take it?” Veins bulged in his neck as he clenched his hands in front of her neck.