to Rasc telling them to be quiet. Not that he understood a word, but he thought Rasc may have been holding out on them about how fluent he was in Gatifreyan. It sounded fluent to him, anyway.
Setin began tying one of the guards who was still passed out, using a knife he’d picked up off the floor to cut a few strips off the hem of their robe. The guard’s robe had fallen off their face, and Kylon gazed down at them. They were young—much younger than Kylon would have thought. The hair was cut ruthlessly short, but the face looked either female or very young, with delicate boning. The body was lean, with no curves, and they looked tough and capable, even knocked unconscious. Kylon could tell by looking at them that they would be furious to wake up and realize they’d been captured.
“Tie that one extra tight. In fact, tie all of them well enough so that we won’t have a problem. If any of them gives you a hard time…” Kylon looked up directly into the hostile gaze of another guard nearby, who was watching him carefully. “Then just shoot them.” He turned around and winked at Rasc, who was watching him with only a little less belligerence.
“Give that disruptor to somebody else and come with me.”
Rasc got to his feet and called one of Pax’s men over to hand him the disruptor, then he turned to follow Kylon. “The Tygerian ambassador has arrived and made a visit to the commandant’s office, according to the chatter between the guards on the captured communicators. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do too,” he said, grinning. “We have our prisoners, and we’ve secured a stronghold. I think we’re doing well enough. What are your concerns?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Will we live through the next few hours or will one or more of those Gatifreyan guards get loose and kill us all? Will the commandant take his chances and just burn us out or will he storm those doors with his people and drag us out of here to hang us all?”
“Like I said, you worry too much.”
“Oh really. Then tell me what you think is going to happen.”
“I think that the commandant will offer to negotiate. We’ll make our demands and they’ll refuse them. We’ll make a few threats; they will too, and eventually, they’ll tell us they’ll meet our terms.”
“Which are?”
“A ship to take us off the planet.”
“They’ll never do that,” Rasc protested, shaking his head.
“Of course not. But they’ll tell us they will.” Kylon shrugged. “It’s what I would do. Then when we come out, they’ll do whatever they have to do to subdue us. Probably use some kind of gas on us.”
“What? Gas?” Rasc stopped in the middle of the hall and stared at him incredulously, his face pale. He leaned on a table, as if his knees had suddenly gone weak. “You never mentioned gas!”
“Oh calm down. It won’t kill us. Probably.”
“Oh my God, you’re crazy, aren’t you? I knew you were too good to be true. Anybody who looks like you do and fucks like you do just had to be batshit crazy. It’s the way my luck runs.”
“I’m sure Prince Larz knows what’s going on and is monitoring the situation. What could possibly go wrong?”
“Are you kidding? All kinds of things!”
He slung an arm around Rasc’s shoulders and pulled him close to him as he turned to walk. “Stop waving your arms around and getting so excited. Just stay close to me. I’ll keep you safe.”
Rasc wrenched away from him. “I don’t need you to keep me safe, damn it. You look out for yourself and I’ll do the same.”
He stalked away and Kylon let him go with a frown as Pax came up beside him. “Did the two of you, as the humans say, have a lovers’ quarrel?”
“Lovers?” Kylon replied. “What makes you say that?”
“The fact I have eyes.”
Kylon shook his head. “He’s an impossible person. I’d be crazy to fall in love with him.”
Pax smiled and shrugged. “Personally, I’ve never let that stop me. I have a feeling you don’t either.”
“The situation between us is…difficult. I don’t know what to do about it. He’s totally unsuitable for me.”
“The way I understand Tygerians, once you imprint on someone, it’s really a done deal. Is that not how it is?”
“I have a very strong will, and I haven’t imprinted. Not yet. I think I can overcome this.”
“Good luck with that. I