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The Urd’s eyes bugged—from surprise rather than lack of air. Arkk was being far gentler with the butcher than Gau would have been in the Arashal’s place. Meersh’s jaws gaped in speechless astonishment, then he found his voice.
“You’re an Osk.” Shock muted the Urd’s fear.
“Smart one, aren’t you?” Gau said.
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugged under his cloak, making a show of browsing the slaughter assembly below them with languid disinterest. “Just killing time while my ship undergoes some much needed repairs. Which your former associate Arkk has been very helpful with, by the way.”
The mention of Arkk’s name seemed to remind Meersh of the situation he was in. He stirred in Arkk’s grip, legs kicking. “What do you want?” the Urd whined.
Gau laughed softly and waved a finger. “Ah, Meersh, it’s not about what I want. It’s about what Arkk wants. And I believe, unless I’m very much mistaken, that Arkk wants to leave with me.”
“Not possible,” Meersh snapped. “Arkk must pay for his crime. An Urd warrior, a female, is dead because of him. It’s not my decis—”
Gau nodded past him, at Arkk. The muscles in the Arashal’s tail rippled over each other as they began to squeeze, cutting off first Meersh’s words, then his breath. Gau brought his snout centimeters from Meersh’s muzzle, meeting the panicked golden eyes as the Urd’s face turned dark from lack of air.
“You seem to think you have a choice,” Gau said. Another nod to Arkk and the scaly garrotte loosened. Meersh slumped in the Arashal’s arms, coughing and wheezing.
Gau knew he was playing dangerously, relying on Arkk’s fragile new-won rebelliousness. If the Arashal quailed and Meersh sensed that weakness, it could end messily for them both. But if he pulled this off and got Arkk away from Rreluush-Tren, he’d have the Arashal’s loyalty forever. They were a pack species, not so different from the Urd that way. Gau was establishing himself as pack leader here and now. All he had to do was maintain his aura of utter confidence.
Gau placed two fingers under the Urd’s chin, under that jaw powerful enough to rip his hand off, and lifted Meersh’s gaze to meet his again. “Now, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to clear the hangar and blank the cameras. Arkk and I walk out of here, and then we fly away.”
“And in exchange, you let me live?” Meersh rasped.
Gau shook his head. “You don’t understand. Your life isn’t part of the exchange.” He smiled. “It’s a gift.”
Before he could even nod in signal, Arkk constricted his tail again, not quite tight enough to cut off the Urd’s breathing. The Arashal was learning fast.
“You have nothing I want, Meersh.” Gau spread his hands. “Not yet, anyway. There’s no reason for me to stop Arkk killing you, which I feel he has every right to do for the torments your kind has visited on his over the eons.” At a slight nod from him, the tail released fractionally again. “But I’m in a good mood today. And who knows—I may be back this way again. It would be nice to have someone here I can trust.” He favored the Urd with a sardonic grin.
“It doesn’t matter if you let me live,” Meersh said. “The port administrator ordered me to produce Arkk’s remains to feed to the meat factory. Who do you think takes his place if I fail?”
Gau thought for a minute, tapping two fingers against his jaw. “You know, I have just the solution.”