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Howard looked ready to lose his shit. His face turned red.
Worry hit her as she approached him and touched his arm. “Breathe. Don’t have a heart attack on me.”
Howard glanced over her shoulder, and she turned to follow his gaze.
Bradley Rogers was out of uniform as he stormed toward the control tower. He saw Commander Bills and almost tripped over his own feet. He continued forward, though. “Is there a problem? I was notified a mission is stalled.”
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Abby flinched. Howard had lost his temper, alright. He got in the team leader’s face. “I trusted you with the Veslors. I informed you how important it was that this be a successful joint venture. You’re overworking them, and now you’re about to send them down to that planet without any support? At night?! That’s the most dangerous time, when two teams are always required to work together.”
“That’s not true.” Rogers shook his head. “They’re lying if they complained.”
“Abby!”
It was a good thing she wasn’t one to shy away from confrontation or dealing with assholes as she moved out from behind Howard to glare at Rogers. Anger flashed in his eyes as their gazes locked.
She pulled in a deep breath. “You’ve sent the Veslors down to the planet thirteen times this week. Fourteen, if you count the aborted trip just now. Made them work with four different teams, and you just tried to send them down to the surface without any backup.” She paused. “You’ve been giving them two shifts every day, without any off days, since they were put under your command. I checked all the shuttle logs from the previous seven days and compared the crew list onboard with the times. You’re busted, Rogers.”
“You little bi—”
“Don’t!” Howard yelled.
Rogers snapped his mouth shut and glanced at the commander. His body stiffened and he locked his hands behind his back.
“Abby works for me. She’s my eyes and ears on Defcon Red. It’s her job to make sure my orders are being followed. You’re the one who isn’t doing what you’ve been told. What in the hell were you thinking? Answer,” Howard snapped.
“They asked for the extra shifts, sir.”
Abby rolled her eyes. “Right. Everyone loves being worked to the point of exhaustion while battling giant, deadly alien snake bugs. That will eventually get them killed. Sign me up for that shit…said no one ever. The Veslors aren’t idiots. I only see one of those, and you’re standing right in front of me, Rogers.”
Howard shot her a frown. “Abby.”
Maybe she’d gone too far, but she was angry. “I just can’t stand bullshit when I hear it. You’re a terrible liar, Rogers. It’s pathetic.”
Rogers lost his temper. “Like you’d know anything. You’re not even fleet!”
“Shut up,” Howard snapped. He turned to Abby. “Thank you for letting me know about this. I’ll handle it. Go to bed. You have been off duty for hours.”
“Yeah,” Rogers muttered. “Go do what you do best. Get fucked.”
“Rogers,” Howard ground out. “That was out of line.”
Abby forced a smile. “Actually, you’re the one fucked right now. I’m just sorry I don’t know exactly how many fleet regulations you’ve broken by being a xenophobic asshole. I’m watching you, Rogers. Everything you do, I have eyes on. Think about that the next time you want to screw with our new allies. Two words to remember if you don’t stop your bullshit: sewer lines. That’s going to be your future.”
She moved out of the flight-control room and noticed that a large group of fleet crew members had assembled, watching the show. The four Veslors were there as well, studying her.
Abby lowered her gaze, picking up her pace, and headed across the deck toward the doors leading out of the shuttle bay.
She made it to the lift and found herself inside alone, fortunately. Her tense body relaxed. “Making friends,” she muttered. “Just like always.”
She exited on level seven and made it to her cabin, entering the lit room. She always kept the lights on. Her high heels were the first thing she kicked off as she bypassed her living area to head into her bedroom. She tugged out the ponytail band from her red hair and shook her head, entering the bathroom.
“Rogers isn’t going to let this go, but neither am I. It’s a good thing I decided to come. I got that asshole busted,” she said aloud, talking to herself. It was something she’d done most of her life. It was a byproduct of all the time she’d spent alone with computers instead of people. “It beats hiding inside my home on Earth and doing hourly sweeps for drone bugs trying to find new ways to spy on me.”
She quickly stripped out of her clothes and got into the shower, turning on the hot water. It felt good to just stand there with her eyes closed, letting the water pour over her skin, washing away the dirty feeling that came with every confrontation with Rogers. She finally forced herself to move, washing her body and hair. Then she put on a robe and entered her bedroom, grabbing her personal data pad to check messages.
A personal one immediately improved her mood, and she tapped on it. Vivian’s smiling face appeared. “Hey! You must be busy doing something fun since I had to leave a message. Give me a call back when you have some free time to chat.” Her friend paused as something crashed loudly in the background. Vivian leapt to her feet from the cushion she sat on. “No, Klad!”
Abby laughed as an alien panther cub suddenly landed on the cushion where Vivian had just been. The baby’s large golden eyes stared back at her. Vivian and Brassi’s son was adorable, and he was growing fast. No human child could get around like that after only a few months.
Vivian returned to the vid and sat down next to her son, grabbing him by the back of his scruff and pulling him onto her lap, her other hand stroking his head. “So much for that vase I liked. He’s learning how to leap. Nothing is safe from Klad. I’m just glad he’s got tougher skin in this form. Brassi never warned me how energetic our baby would be.”
Abby felt a little envy. Her friend looked so happy.
“Guess what? I’m pregnant again! We just found out.” Vivian chuckled. “And we were worried we wouldn’t be breed compatible at first. I wish you’d come visit me and meet your own Veslor. There’s five of them on this ship to pick from. I’ve created a whole lot of interest in humans from their guys, too. Who knows? You could find your own sexy alien who wants to bare his bod to you,” she grinned, reminding Abby of the Veslor males’ method of showing interest in a woman. Vivian leaned in closer to the camera. “Just be careful if one talks you into some kinky sex, or you’ll end up with one of these.” Vivian kissed her son’s head. “Call me back and we’ll talk! I miss you.”
The vid ended. The other messages were mostly business related from Melissa, Mel for short, her assistant on Earth, and one of her best friends. A tiny bit of guilt surfaced. Abby had dumped everything to go on this mission. Poor Mel had agreed to run her office on Earth, but there were certain aspects only Abby could handle. Some of their clients were dicks who demanded to deal directly with the daughter of the owners. Those got forwarded every day for Abby to personally respond to.
She lay down when she was done, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Vivian’s invitation. Once, she’d dreamed of getting married and having kids. Then reality had bitch-slapped her dreams.
Men didn’t date her because they liked a mouthy, opinionated woman. Nope. They were looking at her bank account and family connections.
Maybe she should take a vacation to visit the Veslor trade ship Vivian lived on once she made sure the fighter grouping onboard was treated right. Hot aliens wouldn’t know who her parents were, or how much money she was worth.
* * * * *
Drak kept replaying the scene he’d witnessed over and over in his mind as he lay on his bunk. The redheaded human female with the light green eyes had been fierce, fearless, and had given Rogers hell.
The bunk under him squeaked. “We’re su
pposed to sleep. Do that,” Gnaw grumbled.
“Apologies.”
“It’s the female with blood hair.”
Drak tensed.
“I stood next to you while we watched Rogers get into trouble, and I know she aroused you. My nose is too good. Your oil is something I don’t wish to smell.”
“Leave it alone.”
“The human way is to ask her if she wants you on top of her.”
“I don’t think that’s right, Gnaw.”
“I’ve been watching the males and females on his vessel interact. The females smile and touch males. They in return touch and smile back. Then the male asks if the female wants to go to his cabin. That seems vague. Just ask if she wants you on top of her. Then you are sure she wants to copulate.”
“That is wrong,” Maith called across the room from his lower bunk. “You buy them a drink and then do that smiling thing. Add in light touching until the female asks you to go to her cabin.”
“We’re not copulating with human females,” Roth snarled. “Our king told us to make friends but to keep our rods inside our pants.”
Maith snorted. “Why did we leave home for this? Being insulted, no females to copulate with, and I have to share bunk space with all of you when you won’t let me sleep.”
“You should ask her to take you to her cabin,” Gnaw said after long moments of silence. “I refuse to sleep on the floor in the living space to give you our bunk room to copulate.”
“I’d be curious to watch them,” Maith mused. “Purely for learning purposes.”
“Silence,” Roth snapped. “There will be no copulating, and we certainly won’t be watching any of that happen, either.”
“I’d like to learn how to make them well oiled,” Gnaw admitted. “Some of the fighting females are attractive to me.”
“Never say oiled to a human,” Maith explained. “Do none of you read Vivian’s announcements to our kind about humans females? They just call it ‘getting wet’ when aroused. Oiled isn’t an attractive term to them.”
Drak frowned. “There are announcements, Maith?”
“Yes. Some of our males became interested in human females after that trader Brassi mated to a human, especially when news broke that she had birthed his cub. Their females are breed compatible with us.”
“That doesn’t sound possible,” Gnaw snorted. “Most of them are too small and look fragile.”
“You don’t keep up with the news from our world then. It’s happened,” Maith told him. “Brassi and the human have a male cub.”
“Bah! She must have been pregnant before meeting her male.”
“No, Roth. I saw images of the cub. He’s a Veslor. Vivian makes announcements for our males, since there is now an interest in females like her. She held a job smoothing relations between aliens and Earth before she mated. The female also probably wishes there were more of her kind with her, and probably shares information with our males to encourage them to mate humans.”
Drak felt even more drawn to the redheaded female, listening to Maith talk. She could breed him cubs if they mated. “Did this Vivian give details about how to get a female interested in copulating with us or how it was done?”
“No,” Roth cut in. “Don’t answer that, Maith. There will be no copulating with the females on this vessel. Their doctors harassed ours for medical information because of that very reason. They fear accidental pregnancies in their females. Our king ordered us to avoid copulating.”
The room they all shared grew quiet, but Drak still couldn’t sleep. The female, Abby Thomas, had stood up for his grouping. She’d also gotten the unpleasant male in charge of assigning them duties into trouble. The ship’s commander had yelled at Rogers and warned him that if he pulled stunts like that again, he’d bring him up on charges.
Why did the female care about his grouping? What was the reason she’d stood up for them twice? Drak wanted to find out.
Chapter Three
“No way in hell.”
Abby adjusted the uncomfortable, thin-armored suit she’d acquired and frowned at Howard. “It’s my day off. This is how I’d like to spend it.”
Howard stood from behind his desk. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I came here to look out for the Veslors. Reading the reports…well, I don’t trust them. Rogers is an asshat with a tendency to lie, and he’s the one writing them. What better way to find out exactly what the Veslors are being asked to do on the surface than to go with them this shift?”
“It’s too dangerous, Abby.”
“You already said that. Notice this stiff rig of an outfit on me?” She used her knuckles to knock against the chest plate. “Armor. This is what the surface tactical teams wear. I also picked up the helmet and gloves. They’re waiting on my desk. I just wanted to let you know where I’ll be.”
“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go down to the surface to fight those damn snake bugs. Your parents would never forgive me if I allowed anything to happen to you. Hell, I’d never forgive myself.”
“Who said anything about fighting? I’m going to tag along to make sure the Veslors are being treated fairly while off this ship.”
“No.”
“You already approved it. I’m officially on the mission as your observer.”
Howard gaped at her.
She smiled. “You know how good I am with these systems. Are you really surprised? It took me less than five minutes to contact everyone associated with this shift to add me, have a tactical suit sent to my cabin in my size, and it was a done deal. I leave in twenty minutes. We’re supposed to be down on the planet for six hours. I even made reservations for the two of us to share dinner later tonight. I’ll give you a full report in person.”
“Abby…” He scowled.
“I’ll be with the Veslors. I’m not worried, and you shouldn’t be, either. Hell, we’ll all be safer if I’m with them. Rogers and idiots like him wouldn’t dare do anything to sabotage them with me getting a front-row seat. Keywords: ‘your observer.’”
“Damn it, Abby. I don’t like this.”
“The attacks happen at night on the planet. I purposely chose to go with them during the day for that reason. I was being considerate of your feelings. The Veslors are going to hunt the Cadia down to take them out while they sleep. We haven’t lost anyone on the day shift. It’s the safest time for me to go. Those creatures are nocturnal.”
Howard softly muttered something.
“I’m not stupid, nor do I want to die. Between the armor I’m wearing and going with the Veslor grouping, it’ll be fine. I’ve seen them in action, remember? They kept Vivian alive on the Gorison Traveler. She refused to send them through the ship alone to handle the Ke’ters. They put her behind them to keep her safe, every time. They’ll do the same with me.”
“I can’t believe I’m even considering this. Your parents will never forgive me if anything were to happen to you. They’re like family to me. So are you.”
She beamed. “It’s already settled. I’m going. Thank you. I’m honored.”
“Our fleet tactical teams aren’t sent out to handle simple planetary problems. We get the difficult ones, and these damn monsters have killed over a hundred colonists and we’ve lost one of our men so far. That’s not counting the dozens who’ve had to be patched up in our medical bay. The Cadia are treacherous, Abby.”
“At night. Not during the day,” she reminded him. “I did my research.”
He sighed. “Fine. You better be safe, damn it.”
“I trust the Veslors to watch out for me. I’m not afraid.”
Howard arched his eyebrows.
“Veslors are highly protective of women. One will be assigned to my side. I’ll stay out of the way if they need to fight, and I’ll be completely safe.”
“That better be the case. Go before I change my mind. Just come back in one piece.”
“Promise. I’ll tell you all the details over dinner. We have a seven o’clock reserv
ation in the officers’ lounge. I sent you a reminder.” She left his office, picked up the helmet and gloves off her desk, and attached them to her suit belt. Then she made her way down to where she’d meet with the Veslors and the shuttle taking them to the surface.
Defcon Red was nearly three times the size of the Gorison Traveler because it was a battleship. It had a massive shuttle bay area that held thirty transports. There were also smaller bays strategically placed around the ship for fighter drones. Defcon Red had also been built to be self-sufficient in case of war. There was a garden aboard that could grow enough food to sustain the more than two thousand fleet personnel and three hundred civilian workers, if supply shipments were ever blocked. Most of the civilian workers were assigned to food tasks or, like her, clerical work for high-ranking officers.
It had been tempting to visit one of the weapons vaults to get outfitted with a few, but Abby hadn’t been trained to use them. Instead, she would trust in the Veslors to keep her safe.
She entered the shuttle bay to find the usual hive of activity. The day shift had a lot more people working than the night one did. She avoided bumping into crew hurrying around to perform their duties and went to flight control. It was a different guy on the job today. He looked up and frowned.
“May I help you?” His gaze traveled down her body, and then he stood, reaching for the weapon strapped to his thigh. “I don’t know you.”
“I’m Abby Thomas, personal assistant to Commander Bills. I’m here to observe Tactical Team One and the Veslors today. Which shuttle are we going down on, and where exactly is it?”
He hesitated then sat. “I was warned.” His cleared his throat. “I mean, informed. Shuttle number six. You’re ten minutes early but the pilot is onboard, going over pre-flight procedures.” He pointed. “Far left, toward the external space doors. You can’t miss it. The numbers are painted on the sides.”