Nokx (The Sraibur Crew #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,102

of the aliens fluttered wing-like appendages as it bounced to its scaled feet and clacked a beak-like mouth. “Oh yes yes yes. The handsome one. We cannot have him falling, oh no oh no. Sit sit sit.”

Another stool appeared between EJ and the alien. Nokx looked around, weighing and measuring the next step. If he sat down, he wasn’t sure he could get back up. And even though EJ spoke with the others at the table, that didn’t make them friends or even trustworthy. But his mate didn’t look uncomfortable. She looked... at home. As if she belonged. Did she know the beings at the table?

His thoughts splintered and he shook his head to clear it, suddenly uneasy. “What’s going on?”

“Sit,” EJ murmured, tugging on his arm to lead him toward the chair she’d occupied. “You need food. I’ll get you something. You can’t overexert yourself.”

He enjoyed his mate fussing over him, though he was less thrilled they had an audience. Nokx scanned the five others at the table, searching for a hint of their intentions. He let EJ pull him a step closer to the chair, though he refused to sit. “Where are we? What ship is this? Who are all of you?”

The Xaravian slowly stood and jerked his chin down to acknowledge another warrior. “I am Pyix, son of Myrax.”

EJ cleared her throat and gestured at the three odd, gray-blue feathered aliens. “These are Thula, Bula, and Mirti. And Commander Estelle.”

The other Earther eyed him coolly, her hair the color of Xaravian sand under the morning sun, but did not do more than nod to acknowledge him. Nokx frowned at her. He’d learned not to underestimate Earther females, and if that one did not like him... He would not turn his back to her.

The three bird-like aliens fluttered and flapped and tilted their heads to regard him with one beady eye at a time. Thula, Bula, and Mirti. He’d never seen anything like them before. Their long, thin necks should not have been strong enough to support their heads, just as the equally long, spindly legs should not have carried them about. And yet they moved with more agility than him.

Nokx finally let EJ pull him to the chair, and she perched next to him on the stool with the ordering panel from the wall. As she fussed with it, he pressed a hand against his side to make it easier to breathe — though he kept it concealed under the table. He would not have anyone think him weak. “What’s going on?”

One of the birds, perhaps Mirti, chuckled and rustled her wings, her thin legs skittering against the floor. “The captain should say, he should. Pyix? It is for you to tell your kind. He is your kind.”

The Xaravian inclined his head to the bird and leaned his elbows on the table as he turned to study Nokx. “Welcome to the Lovelace, brother. We are an Aldrin-class battleship, formerly of the Alliance Fleet.”

Nokx searched his memory, frowning more. “The Slasu fleet... There was another ship.”

“Yes,” Pyix said. “I’m the captain of the Lovelace, though I follow the direction of our benefactors.” And he nodded at the three avians. “Estelle is my first mate. We had originally locked onto the Hollbrd after their last port call and were tracking to intercept her when we spotted the Sraibur approaching, followed by the Slasu. We did not intend to become involved in the conflict, but we could not stand by when Slasu are around.”

Nokx grunted. “Then what did you want with the Hollbrd? Are you pirates? Working for the rebels, maybe? Or the Fleet?”

“Oh my my my,” another of the birds trilled. It might have been Thula. “We work for ourselves and the less fortunate. We work for those who cannot defend themselves.”

“Yes yes yes,” the other two echoed. One eyed him sharply and Nokx started to wonder why the soft and round aliens needed such sharp beaks. Despite looking like gangly songbirds, they started looking more hawk-like and predatory the longer he studied them.

EJ squeezed his hand under the table and took a deep breath. “Remember when I said I was doing some work on the side for people? A group that helped me out and asked me to help in return?”

He vaguely remembered something along those lines, though he didn’t know if it was when he suspected EJ tried to lead him away from her real background. Icicles of pain took root low in his back and crept