THE NADISC had located three sites that could be the hiding spots for the few Tash’Ba living on Ligador. How anyone could stand to exist on the same planet as those war beasts was beyond me, but then again, from what I understood, they stayed inside their bunker, controlling the growth of the beasts’ population.
After another swift briefing and some encouraging words from Baker and Kringst, all teams met in their assigned freighters. My team consisted of Carson, of course, although I wasn’t sure how we’d work together if we kept blowing up all the time. Niyara and Tom were there too, as well as four more humans and two Nadisc, one of whom was Ylkurt.
As I strode to the pilot’s seat, I murmured, “I still don’t get why you’re sending a high-ranking delegate on this mission.”
Tom cast me a smile. “You’re also taking a prince with you. Why are you so upset about Ylkurt?”
I shrugged and settled into the seat. “We don’t have time to babysit anyone.”
Tom barked a laugh, and his tail wound around my shoulders as he took up position behind me. “Ylkurt has killed hundreds of those beasts, and he stole the DNA decoder from the Tash’Ba more than ten times. It’s a very good thing to have him with us.”
While I prepared the freighter for the start, I said, “I don’t get it. If he and others of your race already stole these decoders, why can’t you just hand us one and we push a button and boom! All beasts are dead. Or disintegrated. Or whatever it is they do once you use the decoder.”
“Because every population is different. The Tash’Ba might create beasts that look very much alike, but they alter their DNA structure all the time.”
“Can’t you study how the decoder works? Maybe our scientists could be of help?” I suggested.
Carson slid into the other seat next to me without more than a mumbled greeting. Niyara clomped into the cockpit after him, smiling serenely. I refrained from asking the obvious question, mostly because Tom brushed the tip of his tail over my lips, distracting me.
“The decoders self-destruct right after their use. Nothing except a heap of ashes remains.”
I craned my head to stare in disbelief at Tom. “Seriously?” When he nodded, I added, “Crap! That means whenever the Tash’Ba build a new breeding station, someone needs to go on that planet, find the watchers, and steal the decoder from them?”
“That is correct,” Ylkurt said from the door.
“Wow, the cockpit suddenly feels rather small,” I drawled. Claustrophobic might be the better word to describe how crowded the cockpit was with three Nadisc milling around.
Carson glanced at me, grinning. “Riling them up is not a good idea, methinks.”
“I’m not riling anyone up. I’m stating a fact.”
Carson’s grin grew, and after a moment’s hesitation he leaned forward, grabbed my shoulders, and pulled me into an awkward hug. “Sorry for being an ass the past few days.”
“Were you really acting like… like this because I scared you, or were you just fed up with me?” I whispered. A week ago, I’d never have asked a question to which the answer could hurt me badly, but for whatever reason I needed to know.
Carson pulled back and peered at me with an intrigued expression. “First option. It’s always been the first option.”
“Oh.” And here I’d thought he couldn’t stand me at times. I never held it against him; there had been days, many days when I couldn’t tolerate myself, so why should it be different for him?
Carson shook his head as he clipped my ear. “Idiot.”
I stuck out my tongue at him before I pulled away, confirming we had permission to leave the dock. Tom settled in another seat, withdrawing his tail. I totally didn’t bemoan its loss—at least not aloud.
I jumped at a loud sniff at my back, and looked over my shoulder. Ylkurt inhaled, and his nostrils flared. His tail twitched restlessly from one side to the other. I asked, “Are you okay?”
Ylkurt’s answer consisted of a growl and something else I couldn’t decipher. Abruptly, he pivoted on his heel and stormed away from the cockpit.
“What was that?” Carson asked.
Niyara sat in her seat, her brawny arms crossed above her chest. “Ylkurt mentioned he thought he could smell his mate on your ship. Obviously that person is on board this freighter, and he’s seeking said person out.”
I cringed. “Will that become a problem? Maybe we should find out who Ylkurt’s mate is, so we can leave them here? Why the hell do all of you Nadisc suddenly find your mates? Your human mates, to be precise?”
“I have no idea,” Tom replied. “Fate?”
“I don’t believe in fate, or divine intervention,” I said.
“I do,” Tom whispered.
I blinked, then averted my eyes. Carson wore a weird expression, and when I glanced over to Niyara, she smiled softly. I rolled my eyes. “You’re weird. All of you.”
“What about you?” Carson asked as we maneuvered the freighter out into open space.
“I’m perfectly normal.”
Carson snorted while Tom coughed. I flipped them both off and raced the freighter toward Ligador.
A SHORT time later, Ylkurt tramped back into the cockpit.
“Let me guess. Your mate wasn’t impressed enough to be your mate?” I asked.
Carson winced. “Berit, I know you have no idea how to be tactful, but could you at least try to use common sense? It is not a good idea to rile up a Nadisc, especially not if he looks like he’s ready to commit murder.”
“No idea how to be tactful? I do know how to be tactful! I’m incredibly tactful!”
“When’s that?” Carson shot back.
“Once a year?” I replied. When Carson huffed, I added, “Hey, give me some slack over here. I’m trying to learn.”
“Learn faster, and don’t stick out your tongue again. It’s too juvenile, even for you.”
For good measure, I did exactly that, then drew in a deep breath and steered us into Ligador’s atmosphere. “Here we go. Ready to fight off some monsters?”
“No,” Carson croaked.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Niyara wrapping her tail around Carson’s right biceps. He gave it a squeeze and helped me navigate the freighter to our destination.
“I did not find my mate,” Ylkurt said in an irritated voice. “I’m sure I can smell my mate, but none of the people on this freighter are my mate. I don’t understand it.”
“Maybe there’s a misunderstanding? Olfactory defect or something? It happens to older folks and—”
“Berit!” Tom and Carson groaned simultaneously.
“I’m just trying to help!”
Ylkurt laughed and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I’m so grateful you’re not my mate.”
I winked at him. “Fine. That makes two of us. Now sit down somewhere in case we meet a peron on our way down.”
“Um, Berit?” Carson said.
“What?”
“I think we got lucky. There’s a whole welcome flock of perons geared toward us.” Carson pointed at something on the radar, and my stomach did a sudden flip-flop.
“Did you power up the device?” Niyara asked.
“Of course, I did! Right when we left,” I replied. Still, I gazed at the newly installed piece on my dashboard, heaving a sigh of relief when all lights showed the device worked fine.
In a tight voice, Tom said, “Let’s hope it works against a whole flock.”
“Hope?” I echoed. “Hope? I thought it’d work! You said it would work!”
“It does, but I’ve never encountered such a big flock before.”
The flock had seemed large on the radar but now that we could see them advancing on us, my mouth turned dry. The sky was hidden by a mass of large bodies, their cries echoing around us.
“They look angry. Do you think it’s possible this is the same flock that chased us when we took off?” I asked. “Think they might bear a grudge?”
“It’s possible,” Tom said.
I glared at him. “The right answer would have been: ‘No, Berit, of course they won’t. They’re too dumb to remember us.’ Want to try again?”
Tom’s frill rustled, and the glare slipped right from my face. “This is no time for jokes.”
“Why not? Might be the last chance I have to crack some jokes,” I muttered.
Carson’s breath hitched. “God, I hate this shit.”
“Amen, brother. Got those torpedoes ready?”
“Of course I have them ready. Did you think I lost my mind?” Carson snapped. “Okay, they’re in range in five, four, three, two, one and bang!”
Carson fired off four torpedoes. They impacted with the perons’ bodies, tearing their tight formation apart. Their howls and enraged screams reverberated through the freighter. We watched in horror as the large flock divided into several smaller ones, once again advancing on us.
“Carson!”
“On it.”
Carson fired off another series of torpedoes, but only one found its target. Carson cursed, while I estimated the distance to our landing place. Not that I believed we’d be safer there, but at least we’d be on the ground, and no flying monster could smash us out of the air.
In front of us, a large peron with bloodshot eyes appeared. It settled right before the front window, threw back its head, and screeched in a volume that compelled me to clap my hands over my ears.
When it stopped, it tilted its head to the side, retching up some sort of yellow globs on the windshield. After pulling my hands off my ears, I pointed at the peron and asked, “What’s it doing?”
Tom’s voice sounded strained when he answered, “It’s exuding a substance that’ll weaken the molecular structure of your shields, so it’ll be able to hack through it with its beak.”
“For real?”
Tom’s answer was cut off because the peron swung its long, yellow beak into the shield, which splintered in an instant. I jostled the freighter from one side to the other, completely ignoring the pained outcries behind me.
The peron slid away, but even as I drew in a breath of relief, another one took its place. Albeit smaller, this one lost no time, and hacked its beak at exactly the same point where the first had worked a tiny hole into the shield.
I pulled the freighter up, aiming for a somersault, even though the stabilizer groaned. The peron kept hacking, but when I’d flipped the freighter, it lost its hold and let go. I turned us around, sweat beading down my neck.
“Oh shit!” Carson exclaimed.
I followed his gaze and added my own curse to his. A small flock sailed right toward us. Carson used any weapon he could to prevent them from getting closer, but as soon as one tumbled toward the ground, another peron closed the gap.
“Tom!” I yelled. “Now would be a really good time to use that device of yours!”
Tom didn’t answer, and I spared a split second to gaze over my shoulder. Tom lay crumpled in a corner of the cockpit, blood gushing from his left temple.
“Berit! Watch out!” Carson shouted.
I swiveled back around, right when two perons barreled against the window. It burst into tiny fragments.