Authors: Maree Dry
Zurian stiffened. He’d hoped the Zyrgin would be unaware of Julia’s connection to them.
“We will deal with her family,” Zacar said.
“And if they need to be terminated, where will her loyalties lie?” the leader asked.
“I believe losing her family will sorely grieve her,” Zacar said. “I would never disobey an order my leader, but may I suggest an alternative?”
In Zurian’s opinion, the fact that they dared suggest alternative courses to plans showed their leader’s greatness. He was the first leader flexible enough to adapt to the changes happening all over their galaxy. Under his leadership, the harsh rule of colonies had eased.
“Go ahead.”
“They call themselves a corporation as if they are a business. In reality, it is a huge criminal organization. We can raid them, take their resources, and force them to battle us. They would appear the aggressors.”
“That is acceptable. What of this Parnell?”
“He is sending humans, soldiers, and Raiders to this location. Soon we will have a mighty battle.”
“Do you require additional warriors?”
Zacar stiffened. “No.”
“Very well,” the leader said. “Dismissed.”
They saluted and left the control room.
“You need to deal with your breeder,” Zacar told him.
“Only a woumber would punish a woman recovering from an operation.”
“I agree. But she needs to understand the gravity of this situation. If he’d been in a different mood, he could’ve killed her.”
Zurian nodded and returned home. He stopped and stared at Julia who had opened one of his tablets and was peering at the insides, muttering to herself.
“Was a near death experience not enough for you?”
She jumped up and clutched her chest, saying some words his translator did not recognize. “Would you please learn to make a sound when you walk?” she then demanded. “You scared the wiring out of me.”
He enjoyed her reaction too much to ever stop, but he was not a stupid Zyrgin so he did not tell her this.
“Wait, did you say near death experience.”
“Yes.”
She took a step back. “You’d actually kill me.”
“You suggest I disobey a direct order.”
She made strange squeaking noise “He ordered you to kill me? What happens when you disobey a direct order?”
“I will be executed,” he told her.
“What? Just for refusing to kill your own breeder?”
He noticed how quick she was to use their word for her, now that she thought her life was in danger. “My leader ordered me to punish you.”
She did not need to know Zacar merely instructed him to make sure she understood the dangers.
“You’d hurt me?”
“No.”
She relaxed and smiled at him. “I knew you wouldn’t do something like that. You are too puffed up about honor and stuff like that.”
He suspected “puffed up” was some kind of insult.
“What do you suggest I do? I cannot disobey a direct order.”
None of the other warriors would believe this strange discussion with his breeder—the fact that she was disrespectful, and he was a deviant who enjoyed it, was for their dwelling only.
She put her hands on her hips and tapped her toe. “Well, you need to show that you were obedient and all that.” She paced a bit and then stopped and smiled at him. “I can go without food for a few days.” She squeezed her hips and scowled down. “Couldn’t hurt,” she mumbled.
“I would never starve you. Do you think me a woumber?”
“No, no, I’d never make that mistake,” she said hastily.
Zurian looked at the tablet she’d disabled and a sly idea came to him. It would solve many problems.
“You will give me your word that you will not touch our technology for a year.”
“A year?” she said, as if he asked her to give up her life when he was trying to save it.
“Yes.”
“A whole year without programming. Wait. Did you say your technology? I could still use the TC?”
“Yes.” He’d restrict the use and, while he did that, he would banish the Space Ranger.
The wall bleeped and Julia jumped. “Even your damn walls creep up on me.”
“Report here with your breeder,” Zacar said in English.
“That’s weird. I wonder what happened. Why he would want to see me as well?” She looked scared. “Do you suppose he wants to execute me himself? Would he hurt Natalie?”
Zurian drew her tight against him. “You need never fear. If any punishment is meted out, I will take it for your.”
She smiled and cupped his scarred cheek. “And I will do the same for you.”
He didn’t know what to say to such a strange answer.
Chapter 26
Zurian hoped the summons was one of Natalie’s dinner invitations. He had to get Julia to Viglar for those tests and he didn’t need more trouble from their leader.
Zacar waited for them in the main cave and one glance told Zurian his leader was extremely unhappy.
“We were ordered to attend the traitors execution, with our breeders,” he said in Zyrgin.
They stood in the new cave Azagor had built. It would be used as the secure location for the experiments with the new weapon. But for now, it would serve as the place they used to watch the execution of the traitor.
Zacar nodded and the leader’s hologram appeared.
Two warriors brought Egglggc in and moved him to stand inside the triangle. The Zyrgin traitor trembled so much the warriors had to drag him to the execution chair. Remembering Julia lying in the isolation booth, Zurian bared his teeth in contempt, vaguely aware that the other warriors watching the hologram did the same.
Next to him Julia stiffened. “What’s going on here?”
The leader stood back and the executioner stepped forward. He punched the traitor in the face. Blood sprayed everywhere. Julia flinched as if afraid the blood in the hologram would spatter over her. Zurian watched the slow deliberate blows and waited for the traitor to die. Among the other races they encountered, only those purple freaks, who called themselves explorers, were strong enough to withstand such a beating. It would take many hours for the executioner to beat him to death.
“What are you doing?” Julia shrieked.
The hologram winked out.
Julia whimpered and Zurian looked into her terrified eyes.
She stumbled back from him with her hands held out in front of her. “Stay away from me.”
He put out his hand and ignored her recoil. Deliberately he placed his hand on her neck, moving it up to cup her jaw. “Do not ever flinch from me again.”
“They were beating that man to death and you watched, expected me to watch?”
“That was the traitor responsible for your translator malfunction.”
“What? You killed a man because the translator didn’t work? What, did he do, sign off on cheap parts?” She threw her hands up. “Wow, that’s a crime that should have a death sentence attached.” She slapped his chest while she screamed at him.
He could never understand why she did that when it only hurt her and not him. Zacar escorted Natalie out of the room. Zurian should have followed his example and explained to Julia what was happening and asked her to keep her eyes closed.
“He did it for gain. Three new breeders died because he sent out faulty equipment. You almost died. Most of our equipment malfunctioned because of him. Would you prefer we allowed him to live?”
“This is why I left my family. It’s the kind of thing they would do to a traitor. I’ve been running form this kind of violence for years, and now I’m sleeping with exactly the same type of man.”
“It is our way. We do not tolerate traitors.”
“Then kill him with a bullet to the heart. Beating him to death is barbaric.”
“I did not beat him to death. I watched an execution.”
“No, you expected me to watch. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“You do not need to think anything. This is warrior business. You shamed me in front of my leader.”
She put her hands on her hips and tapped her toe. Zurian didn’t dare relax his stance but this was his Julia. The fiery temper and the foot tapping were for him alone.
“I won’t have a man beaten to death because of me.”
He remembered what she told him about her father beating the president. “Your father did not beat the president because of you and the executioner is not killing the traitor because of you”
“Then why do I feel responsible?” she whispered.
***
Zurian walked to the cliff overlooking the valley where he always came to restore his calm. He would return to talk to Julia when the doctor finished the tests. Viglar insisted that he needed to monitor Julia for the next two days and Zurian agreed. He would miss her but he hoped she would calm down by the time Viglar released her. But first he had to find the strength to combat his fear of losing her. Fear that she would try to leave him because of the execution of the traitor. The fear that made him want to draw his sword and kill until the rage inside him was appeased. He’d defended her honor and she’d reviled him in front of his fellow warriors.
He knew the moment Zacar walked up to him. After so many years of his father stalking him to beat him, Zurian always knew when someone approached.
“She wants to bring another man’s blood into my dwelling,” Zurian told his friend and leader without turning.
Zacar didn’t react with the disgust Zurian expected. Instead, Zacar sighed like a human and leaned against the jutting rock. “I have decided to bring my breeder a human girl child,” he said.
“You’d allow it into your home?” Revulsion pushed the raw Eduki he’d had for breakfast up his throat. He turned and stared at Zacar. Ever since his leader had allowed Natalie to capture him, she’d influenced him. And not for good.
“I would tolerate a female child.”
“Why?” Zurian could see no benefit into allowing a human child, male or female, into a warrior’s dwelling.
“Natalie wants a weak useless baby.”
Zacar definitely catered to his breeder with dangerous indulgence, Zurian decided. “And you would indulge her such a foolish wish?”
“When a breeder is happy, a warrior lives in a happy home. You’ll come to accept that wisdom. I can learn to tolerate a girl child.” He pulled back his lips from his teeth. “Never a boy child.”
“I don’t want it in my dwelling,” Zurian said. He’d made peace with the fact that he would never provide little warriors for their people, but he wasn’t about to share Julia with a human. “Have you seen one?” he asked his leader. He’d seen some in town but never up close.
“On their primitive TC. A sickly thing the size of a pre-change Zyrgin.” Zacar flicked his claws. “They can’t move or eat without help.”
“And you’d give that to your breeder?” It would be an insult to provide such a thing to a breeder. He couldn’t imagine that Julia would really want such a weakling. He’d rather allow her to try to break into his equipment.
“Yes, it would make her happy to have a baby to cuddle.” Zacar was quiet for a bit and then said, “I’ll get her a healthy one.”
“That goes without saying. Where would you find a baby?” Would Julia stay mad at him if he could give her a baby? Maybe she would be so busy with it that she’d forget about the traitor’s execution. She’d been quiet and sad these last few days.
“They have places where they put babies who have no parents. Natalie told me it is not a good place for them. It would be a kindness to take one away from that.”
Zurian stared at his leader. “And we Zyrgins are known for our kindness.”
They threw back their heads and their laughter echoed around the valley. Birds flew away and, far beneath them, he saw a flock of the newly introduced animals stampede.
“I can bring you one too,” Zacar offered at last.
“No.”
“It would make your breeder very happy.”
“I will think on it.”
“It would take her mind off the execution of the traitor.”
“I might be able to tolerate a female one in my dwelling,” Zurian said with great reluctance.
He had this feeling deep in his gut that he would regret his generosity. But if he took another’s blood inside his dwelling for her, he could claim she had small humans. It might keep her safe from the Zyrgin leader’s wrath when she did something dangerous again. And she would eventually do something dangerous again.
“When do we go?”
“In an hour. I want it to be a surprise for Natalie.”
Zurian nodded. “It will be waiting in our dwelling when Viglar releases my breeder.”
She would be grateful to him and forget to be mad at him. And she would not be sad all the time.
Chapter 27
Zurian was a soldier and he’d endured primitive conditions, organs flying around, seen his fellow warriors die. The slop the warrior force called food ranked right up there with the worst horrors the universe had to offer.
But this thing turned his stomach. He curled his lip at the ugly, squalling, little insect on his couch.
“Quiet, useless human,” he snarled at it. He wanted to present Julia with a pleasing girl child. Not this foul-smelling, noisy creature. “I can’t think with its noise in my ear.” He picked it up with two fingers, holding it by its foot. “I’ll kill this one and get her another one. This foul-smelling noisy creature is defective. There are plenty left at the baby place,” he told Zacar and lengthened his claws.
A shriek behind him stopped him.
The leader’s breeder stormed forward and grabbed the screaming, useless, little human.
“You will not. Zacar, tell him he can’t kill a baby.” She cradled it against her chest and, not for the first time, he wondered if humans had supernatural ears. The way she shrieked at him, along with the noise of the small useless human, almost brought him to his knees.
“You can’t kill a baby,” Zacar said obediently.
Behind his breeder, Zacar flashed him rude claws.
Zurian fisted his hands. Natalie didn’t notice the taunting look Zacar gave him. Probably wouldn’t recognize it even if she did see it.
He knew that to humans they appeared totally expressionless.
“I do not want to waste time with this disgusting creature.”