by Zara Zenia
"Either way, I'll be happy to keep them occupied and out of your way. The mission will go ahead without a hitch. They'll be safe here," said Uza reassuringly.
He seemed a little too eager to be keeping the Terrans there. Treasure decided instantly that she didn't trust this guy as far as she could throw him. Seeing as he was over seven foot tall and weighed several times more than she did—that wasn't too far at all.
Treasure got out of there, maybe a little too fast. She was suddenly flustered and not careful enough about remaining silent as she moved. Not that she really cared. If they found her in the building, she would just have to confront them about this babysitting crap.
"You have to cover for me," she said as she emerged from the headquarters building.
"What? Cover you how?" asked Raven with confusion. She and Sapphina were still waiting outside the building. "Did you annoy the wrong person this time?"
"Very funny. No, a high ranking officer named Uza is going to come to look after us. I need you to tell him that I'm busy in the restroom. Say it's lady troubles or something. They don't seem to have a clue about women at all, let alone Terran women."
"No way, that's crazy," said Raven.
"It's also an order," Treasure reminded her.
"Well, where are you going?" asked Sapphire with worry. "Please don't do anything that might put you in danger."
"I didn't join the Qetesh to sit around on some moon base being useless. I'm going to stow away on the Triumphant. Don't worry, I'm not going to force you to come along or anything."
"Good," said Raven. "If they don't want us on that mission, to hell with them. I think Sapphina agrees with me too, not that she's not brave enough to tell you so herself."
Treasure looked to the less opinionated of the two. It was clear to her that Sapphina agreed with Raven. "Well then," said Treasure. "That works out fine. I need you to both cover for me, please?"
"You shouldn't do this," said Sapphina. "Please, Treasure."
"Look, I am the ranking agent here. You're not going to get in trouble for following an order."
"What if you get yourself hurt? We'll have that on our consciences," said Raven.
"It will be no one's fault but my own. You're not my keepers. I'm in charge of my own destiny and willing to take responsibility for that entirely." Treasure raced away back to the spot where the Triumphant was. "Damn it," she said upon being reminded that the hatch had been locked by Kezon. "That guy really is difficult to pull one over on."
So Treasure had to wait until Kezon approached, while she hid on the opposite side of the scout ship from where the hatch was. When Kezon opened the door, she waited some more until the little ship began to power on. She decided that the gentle humming and sounds of the engine beginning to activate would be enough to disguise the sound of the door. Then she opened it and snuck inside.
Carefully, heart racing with excitement, Treasure snuck onboard and hid in the cargo hold. She knew Kezon wouldn't want to leave the pilot area as the only officer onboard. Well, the only Hjott officer anyway, not that he knew otherwise.
It was a small ship, so she was able to hear him go about his tasks in taking off. While she couldn't see him, she was able to keep the door open and simply hide behind some crates in case he did go by or enter the cargo hold.
After they'd taken off, Kezon started talking on the comm. She heard Oszul telling him to hurry up, because they'd found the compound where the prisoners were hiding. "I'll be waiting for you at the hangar," Oszul continued. "I don't expect you to take any longer than absolutely necessary."
"That will not be an issue, Sir. Without that annoying Terran woman talking the whole time and complaining, anyways." Kezon laughed and his commanding officer joined him. The way these guys spoke about the Qetesh agents was honestly disheartening. Treasure had come to think that they had won the respect of the Hjotts. Apparently, some things only appeared to change on the surface. Age old prejudices were harder to break, it seemed.
Staying hidden in the cargo hold, Treasure was careful to avoid being noticed by the Hjott. She did manage to sneak out when he was taking rest breaks. The ship was on autopilot at those times. However, he avoided taking breaks as much as possible. While autopilot was reliable and considered safe, he seemed to be able to move more quickly when taking the controls himself. Autopilots tended to play it safe, which was a good idea generally. Treasure started to worry that they might have a collision with something, or he might do something else stupid while rushing to get to Vurt.
After a full day and night, Treasure was bored and growing anxious. The cargo hold had nothing to do. She kept herself occupied by working out with body weight exercises, lifting small barrels of oil, and jogging on the spot. There were food supplies and water though. She managed to use the facilities once or twice. Kezon wasn't the most observant person in the galaxy. He was also busy piloting the ship by himself and trying to do so as fast as possible.
When they finally did land on Vurt, Kezon didn't waste a second. He brought the ship down in the designated hanger and rushed off the ship. This left Treasure hurrying to follow him. She observed him putting on an ice suit from a large storage closet in the hangar. These were adjustable for different sized species. After some messing around with the straps, she had something that was a fairly good fit. More importantly, the ice-suit was going to stop her from dying of hyperthermia as soon as she went outsize.
Chapter 7
Oszul
Oszul met with Kezon at the abandoned hangar they'd brought the Scorpion in on. "I hadn't been planning to see you back here," he told the other Hjott. "Are you sure the three Terrans are completely safe? I would hate for something to happen to them. That would cause some diplomatic strife with the Qetesh."
Kezon nodded his head reassuringly. "Don't worry. They have no way of leaving the moon base. Even if they did, they can't just exit the biodome without being cleared to do so."
"Good. I would have hated to hear what Treasure said about me during the trip."
"Then I'll spare you the details," replied Kezon with a laugh. They clambered onto an ice shuttle and began the arduous trek to the mountains.
Oszul thought he could see something moving around toward the back.
"As for the reason I came back at all. I've brought some important information from Uza at the Less Prorr moon base." Kezon told Oszul about what he'd found out.
"That's excellent. Now that we know where they are for certain, it will make our job a lot easier. I'll tell you all about what we're really doing here in detail. This trip will give us the time we need to get you up to speed on everything you missed while escorting the Terrans."
"What's that moving back there?" Kezon asked. "Did some kind of animal get into the shuttle with us?"
"No, I doubt there's much around here moving about at this time of year," said Oszul.
"Are you sure that abandoned hangar was completely secure?"
"My crew checked it out thoroughly," replied Oszul. He put it out of his mind. There were no more strange sounds, and he might have just been hearing the wind whistling against the outside of the shuttle in an odd way. They continued to drive up the mountain roadway until coming to a passage. "This is where we'll have to continue on foot, I'm afraid. Check your ice-suit is fully functional."
Once they'd made sure their suits were going to protect them properly from the extreme cold, Oszul and Kezon continued to move on foot. "While we continue, I'll fill you in on the details of our mission," Oszul said.
They walked along, not having any trouble despite the heavy wind and casual snow. Hjotts were a large, hearty race, capable of great physical exertion. Oszul had been growing tired of being cooped up on the Scorpius. This was some good exercise to keep him limber and fit.
"So, do you think you have all of that?" he asked Kezon after explaining their new mission details.
"Yes, I think so. We're on a fact-finding mission now. Our duty is to assess the situation here and call
for backup if we need to make a move."
"That's right. We're not to start any kind of raid or conflict on our own, not unless we're certain we can win. We're just looking for more clues and trying to assess what exactly is going on here."
They continued on foot until they reached the place their camp was hidden. "We're here," Oszul said.
"Where is the rest of the crew?" asked Kezon.
"They're here. You just can't see our camp. It's a great hiding place, don't you think?" Oszul asked proudly. "The camp is below the bluffs, hidden in a hollowed out ice-cave. Look," he said, pointing to a spot where a tiny peep of smoke rose. It was a similar color to the white ice, making it almost impossible to detect unless you were really trying to find it. And that would mean needing to know where to look in the first place.
"The crevice there?" asked Kezon.
"That's right. Come on, I'll show you. You must be eager to reunite with the rest of the crew from the Scorpius after spending so much time along with those Terrans." They went down into the stealth camp inside the ice-cave. It was cold, but their ice-suits did a great job keeping them from feeling it too much. They had their equipment set up on various steel tables. There was also a fire going with a huge pot of stew cooking above it.
"We try to keep the fire going as much as possible. Sometimes we need to put it out to avoid anyone seeing the smoke."
"Isn't that a little over cautious," said Kezon.
Oszul agreed, but he explained. "It's incredibly unlikely they could but being careful is always a good idea. We've been scanning the area from here and starting to have a fairly good idea of what our enemy has been up to."
"So now that we know the exact coordinates of their base in the area, are we going to move in on them?" asked Kezon.
"The best way to beat our enemy here is to know their every move. For the next few days, we are just going to gather intel. I want to call for backup now that we know what we're up against. Then we can just march in and apprehend them without much of a struggle. They'll simply be outnumbered." That was the plan that Oszul had, but he wasn't entirely convinced things would go according to that plan. The ice planet had already proven to be unpredictable because of the extreme weather. They were at its mercy.
Oszul left Kezon in charge, since the Hjott warrior had proven himself to be so trustworthy. "I'm going back to the Scorpius now that you're safely back with us. I want to check on the Terrans you left on Less Prorr."
"Why's that?" asked Kezon. "You're not having a bout of conscience now, are you?"
"Oh, I just want to see what her reaction is about the whole situation. I'm sure she's absolutely furious. I suppose she is quite cute when she gets mad and demands things." He chuckled, but on the inside, he was feeling bad. A pang of guilt went through him about the way he'd sent her away. He'd mistreated her, and now that Kezon was back without the Terrans, he felt bad.
"Are you sure you don't have feelings for their leader?" asked Kezon. "You wouldn't be the first to have eyes for one of these Terran women. They're highly prized for good reason, I assume."
"What do you mean?" asked Oszul, playing dumb and trying to pretend he hadn't even considered how attractive the women were.
"Well, I think Uza on Less Prorr has eyes for at least one of them. He was quite eager to have them stay with him. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to get to know one of them a little better, if you know what I mean." Kezon grinned knowingly.
Oszul thought about that conversation as he made his way back to the abandoned hangar where the Scorpius was located. Now that they had more information, and they knew for sure where the escaped terrorists were, he could request backup. He didn't think it would be smart to do so before taking Kezon back to the base.
He had a lot of time to think to himself as he drove the ice-shuttle back down the mountain. This was after walking alone down the trail that led to where they'd parked the vehicle. It was the ideal time and place to give his actions some deep thought.
Did he really have feelings for Treasure? He had treated her very poorly. The way he'd sent her away from the mission against her will, it wasn't exactly the behavior of an ally. But she needed to be kept safe. They had been warned against landing on Vurt with the Terrans. He wasn't just making her leave. It was for her own good, as well as the good of the other two Qetesh agents. They were vulnerable and much more fragile than the Hjott men.
They were also a lot stronger than Hjott women. That's why so many Hjott men seemed to be borderline obsessed with them. As well as other species in the galaxy. They were a stunning race, that much was certain. He found himself imagining Treasure's deep blue eyes. The way they lit up and seemed to blaze with a lighter blue when she became passionate. That passion of hers was admirable.
Did Oszul really miss Treasure Humphrey? If so, why had he done nothing but act rude and disrespectful to her? All she wanted was to have an equal command on the mission. To work together with the Hjotts to ensure they got the best outcome possible. She had seemed excited about the mission, even eager to meet him. Then he'd gone about ruining their professional relationship as quickly as possible.
When he arrived back at the hangar, Oszul boarded the Scorpius and contacted Less Prorr on the comm.
"Ah, greetings Commander Oszul," said Uza once he'd gotten through and had someone fetch their ranking officer. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."
"What? Is it about the mission?" asked Oszul. He had a sinking feeling about this. That guilt was sparking up in a big way now.
"Are you aware that I've been trying to contact you? What's wrong with your comm?" asked Uza.
"I wasn't aware of that, no. There's nothing wrong with our comm. We just don't have anything this long range that we can take on to our base here. I had to wait to use the Scorpius' comm." Then he noticed there had been several attempts to contact the crew of the Scorpius. That was impossible since they were not currently on the ship. "I see you have been trying to contact me. What's the issue?"
"It's about the Terran women you sent here for safe keeping. Their ranking officer, Treasure Humphrey. She's missing. The other two women had me convinced she was simply having a routine Terran illness and needed to be alone in the bathroom. That's why it took me some time before I realized what was going on."
"And what is going on. Where is she?" Oszul felt terrible. If something had happened to her, it was entirely his fault. Some ally he'd turned out to be.
"I am one hundred percent certain she is not anywhere on Less Prorr. I think you might have yourself a runaway."
"I'm going to come to your base as soon as possible to find her myself. I was given charge of her as an ally of the royal palace. This is my personal responsibility," said Oszul. He knew his words didn't take away his guilt. He had to try to do something though. Next, he commed the ice-cavern base and told Kezon that Treasure had gone missing. He also notified him that he would be taking the Scorpius to look for her. This ship was much faster than the Triumphant, so he was going to take it.
Just as he was about to fire up the ship, Treasure burst out from the hallway with her hands up in the air. "Stop, you don't need to take off!" she said. "I'm okay, see."
"What!" he shouted, standing from his seat and rushing over to her. "I thought you must have been kidnapped or worse!" Without thinking he threw his arms around her and embraced her. It was only for a moment, because then he regained his composure. Feeling sheepish about his unguarded display of affection, he started to blush.
"What was that?" she asked, looking just as embarrassed as him. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I, yes, of course. I was just shocked to suddenly see you aboard the ship. How did you get here? I thought we'd lost you." He was confused, and also surprised that he'd felt so relieved to see her. His heart was acting crazy, with a warm sensation like he was seeing a favorite friend or family member after years. That was the best way he could describe it, but there was something seriously lacking in that analogy. It was much mo
re powerful than that.
"I ... I can't explain how I'm feeling right now," he said.
"I can't explain why you're acting so weird," added Treasure. "You've done nothing but treat me like trash, you realize that, right? And now you're so happy to see me. You're the one who sent me and my agents away. They're still stuck on that stupid moon base by the way."
"They're safe there, you have to admit." He realized he still had her hands in his own. The strange part was that she hadn't pulled away from him.
"Maybe. They were happy to be staying there anyway. I was the only one who wanted to come here. I want to be a part of this mission."
"I want you to be a part of it. As a true second in command."
"Do you mean that?" she asked. Then she smiled. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life. The whole world around him was spinning and he did something without thinking. He leaned down and kissed her.
Chapter 8
Treasure
Treasure was completely caught off guard. I thought he hated me. Why would he be kissing me now? While she was shocked, his reaction to her wasn't entirely unwelcome. She didn't try to stop him at all. In fact, she kissed the alien commander back.
He was craning down so their lips could meet. His impressive height meant that he had to. The taste of his lips, his saliva, were amazing. Unlike anything she'd ever tasted before. Yet it was also somehow familiar, as though she'd just come home for the first time. It was a safe thing.
She couldn't help but let out a girlish moan. Her body tingled from the growing arousal as their tongues gently brushed over each other, tips touching and daring to probe farther. Treasure already knew that she was attracted to him. Since the first moment they'd met she had been. Since she first saw him. But then he was such an ass to her from then onward.
As the hulking golden alien lightly held her close to him and continued to kiss her, her mind kept on racing. Treasure thought about her friend Aryan, and how she'd become close to her new Hjott mate Kedun.
