for attacks without being seen.”
“They’re raiders who ambush ships,” Max said. That suggested they would flee if permitted. At least if they were humans, that’s what they would do, but cold fear filled Max’s chest because he could be misreading this situation. If he let the leader leave, he might go and find a whole battalion of space ships to attack them.
“Query,” Max asked, “will enemy return? Will enemy bring back larger ships?”
“No!” the invader shouted, his tone so high that it hit that nails-on-a-chalkboard note that sent shivers up Max’s spine. Either that or shock was setting in and his body temperature was dropping. That was possible. With second degree burn blisters all over his arms and bruises on his bruises, his body wanted to shut down in the worst possible way. Stubbornness was the only force keeping him on his feet.
Max raised his weapon a fraction of an inch. “I can’t let you threaten the children.”
The invader’s smaller tentacles slowly relaxed. Max wondered if it was an intentional gesture, like a human showing his empty hands to appear less threatening. “Query. Children?”
“Offspring,” Max clarified. “Humans will not allow their offspring to come to harm. Humans will kill for offspring.”
The invader made a show out of looking at James before he again studied Max. “Offspring not human.”
Max felt his cold pragmatism give way to hot fury. “I am their father! I am their surrogate father. They grew in me. I’ve taught them. I’ve cared for them. They are mine. And I will kill for them.” A half-hysterical laugh slipped free, and now Max knew he was going into shock. “Fuck, I would have let you steal whatever information you wanted and stayed with the children, but when you threatened to kill them, I took a hook and disemboweled your people. I would die for the offspring, and I would certainly kill for them.”
The invader’s tentacles curled back up, and he half turned away so Max could only see one eye.
“If you don’t get off this ship right now, I will cut three of your legs off and force you to drag your body through this ship with your one remaining limb. Do not touch a human’s offspring!” Max stepped to one side to clear the way for the invader to leave. The alien twitched without leaving. “Go!” Max screamed.
For an awkward, pyramid-shaped alien with a leg under what passed for his face, it could move. He dashed for the door.
When Max’s hand trembled, he lowered the weapon and took his finger off the trigger. “Rick, tell me right now if he’s dangerous and I need to go kill him.”
“No,” Rick said. A few of his tentacles uncurled. “No. Can secure door from here. Can watch from here.”
“Query. Watch? Show me.” Max would feel a lot better if he could see that asshole get off the ship. When he walked over to the display, James “sat” on the floor and reached up with his leg tentacle. Max pulled him up and let him latch onto his neck.
The computer displayed raw data in alien script. “He is leaving,” Rick said.
“Clarify. You can monitor from here. To watch requires a picture of what is happening, like the teaching computer downstairs does.” Max said.
“Understood. Monitor,” Rick repeated. “I can monitor from here. He is leaving. Quickly.”
Max snorted. He didn’t doubt the asshole was booking it. “I think I need to sit down,” Max said. He wanted to get to the couch, but his legs were so unstable that he ended up dropping to the floor. He landed with a thud hard enough to make his teeth clack.
“Max!” James said.
Rick curled his walking tentacle so he was at eye level with Max. “Query. Define the wrong.”
Max laughed, and even he could tell there was a touch of hysteria in it. Okay, more than a touch. He pulled at James’s tentacle. “Get James to the water.”
“No,” James said immediately. “Max damaged.”
Rick touched Max’s arm. Max hissed in pain as a blister burst, sending clear fluid running over his skin. As he’d expected, the burns had gotten a lot worse, and in the crease of his elbows, the skin had broken. Small trails of dried blood ran up his arms. That had happened when he’d been climbing a ladder to get out of an access shaft.
Max should have crossed the storage area and used the door, but the mass of body parts and fluids left behind by aliens four and five had made him avoid the