"What in the name of the Gods happened here!?" Taarig demanded. 'Why is this male touching you?' he wanted to demand but managed to restrain himself.
Cali's head whipped around at Taarig's voice and her heart, which had finally begun to calm, began beating faster. He'd come for her. Taarig had come to see if she was okay. At least that's what she thought until his words sank in, along with his tone. He wasn't asking about her. He wasn't here because of her. He was here because of his Star Base, which cut deeper than any wound the bomb had caused.
"I'd have thought that was obvious, Sub Commander," she spat out coldly.
Xanto frowned down at Cali, surprised at her response. It wasn't like her to confront a powerful male this openly. Oh, he knew she didn't back down when challenged, but Cali preferred to remain in the background unnoticed and underestimated, but always watching. Maybe she'd been more severely injured than he'd thought.
"The only thing that's obvious, Khatun Baker, is that an explosion has occurred in front of your establishment."
"Then you know as much as I do," Cali told him.
Taarig glared at her for a moment then moved on to Tay, taking in his injuries. "You were at the door?"
"Yes," Tay told him.
"Tell me what you saw."
"I saw nothing, Sub Commander. I'd taken over for Hamm after the shift change. The corridor was empty until I saw Cali walking toward me from the market district. I was just moving to open the door as she approached when an actinic bomb went off."
"Actinic bomb." Taarig was suddenly chest-to-chest with Tay. "How did you know it was an actinic bomb?"
"Hey!" Cali didn't appreciate the hard, cold look Taarig aimed at Tay and pulled away from Xanto to go to her employee's defense. "Tay had nothing to do with this."
But her words were ignored as the Galaian and Apre continued to glare at each other.
"Answer me, Galaian," Taarig growled.
"Sub Commander!" Cali tugged on Taarig's s arm, but it had no effect. Before she revealed just how strong she really was, Tay answered.
"I could tell by the odor and the color of the smoke," Tay gritted out. He'd been dealing with males like the Sub Commander his entire life span, especially when he'd been a youngling. But he'd grown big and strong since that time, and now he refused to be intimidated. Even by an Apre Sub Commander. "And while the rest of the universe outlaws them, they are often used to settle disputes on Gala."
"And do you have a dispute with the Coalition?" Taarig demanded.
"No."
"With Wik Corp?"
"Of course not." Tay's tone revealed how completely idiotic he thought the Sub Commander’s question was.
"Then you must have one with the owner of The Brink."
"What?! No!" Shock filled Tay's tone and face. "Cali has been nothing but good to me and my mate. I had nothing to do with this!" Tay's eyes flew to Cali's. "Cali, you have to know…"
"I do, Tay. Don't listen to the Sub Commander." She gave him a reassuring look before turning a hard gaze to Taarig. This time when she yanked on his arm, he turned and faced her. "None of my people would have done this, Sub Commander. So why don't you start doing your job and find out who did."
"I want to see all your visual recordings from before and after the explosion, inside and outside The Brink. I also want to talk to this Hamm."
"He went to his den," Tay said, looking to Cali.
"I'll go wake him," Cali said.
"Cali, you need to see the Meddygs," Tay argued, looking behind her.
Cali's head whipped around to see the species of healers exiting one of the lifts and heading straight toward them. She couldn't let them examine her. If they did, they could learn her secret.
"You took the brunt of the blast, Tay. You need to see them first." She saw him open his mouth to argue and continued before he could and used the one thing she knew he couldn't dispute. "It will ease Mae's fears. She shouldn't be upset right now."
Taarig watched as the massive Galaian took a deep breath then released it with a jerky nod.
"Good. I'm glad that's settled. Now, let's get into The Brink. That way, Mae can be with you while they examine you." Cali looked to Taarig. "And I'll go wake Hamm and get those recordings. Maybe then the Sub Commander can start doing what matters most to him, finding