Tamed By the Alien Pirate by Celia Kyle Page 0,55

we never got the comms working on this jalopy. How will we tell the Queen to open her cargo bay and let us in?”

“I have an idea about that.”

I kick in the afterburners and speed toward the damaged vessel. Then I engage in a little bit of fun, “buzzing” the Queen’s bridge and coming to a halt long enough to wave at a very perplexed Swipt. Then a wide grin spreads over his face, and he points toward the aft deck where the Queen’s hangar bay lies.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone this story.”

I grin in response to Thrase’s declaration.

“I second that motion, most emphatically.”

Bereft of her engines, the Mephisto is reduced to using her superluminal drive to jump and escape. And not a moment too soon, either. The strange squid ship—which I remember seeing from a holovid presentation as belonging to the Contras—was coming in hard on an attack vector.

Victory. How sweet it is…

Though not nearly as sweet as the love of my jalshagar.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Thrase

“Will you be still?”

Dr. Nicari once again attempts to use the dermal regenerator on my bruised face and scabbed lip, and I try to be still. I really do. But the raucous gathering in our cargo hold keeps distracting me.

Zander stands right by my side, fiddling with the new tooth implant Nicari gave him. He keeps touching it with his finger and then using his tongue as a probe. Across the golden deck plating from us, Solair and Brax, the leader of the Coalition Contras, are cracking each other up with jokes. Swipt and Tur, the apparent “partner” of Num, are patting each other on the back, figuratively speaking, about what awesome pilots they are.

Kintar and the Shorcu known as Gyn seem to be kindred spirits and speak to each other in low tones near the bay doors. Meanwhile, Phyn’Ro and his mate Lucy are telling the story of how they faced off with the dreaded Warlord Gorn, a scarred Vakutan who has turned his mind to a path of peace.

Marion pushes through the milling throng of Kilgari, humans, and the Contras to reach me, her gentle face drawn into an expression of sheer pathos.

“Oh my god, what did they do to you?” she touches my face, getting right in the good doctor’s way. Dr. Nicari once again grumbles and takes my chin, forcing me back into the correct position so he can continue to heal my wound.

“It was just an open-hand slap, Marion.” I hate to see sadness in her azure gaze. “I’m fine.”

“A murder puppy struck her.” Zander’s lips pull back in a sneer. “Their hands are like stone. She might as well have been struck with a brickbat.”

Marion arches an eyebrow and shakes her curly black locks.

“A… murder puppy?”

“A Kreetu. An offshoot of Pi’rell, which…”

“I know the term, Zander. It’s a slur. I would have thought you were better than that, or are you as much a bigot as the Earth First people?”

Before he can answer, she turns back to me and squeezes my shoulder gently.

“I’m just glad you made it back safely. We missed you.”

That takes me by surprise. I’m normally considered anathema to polite conversation due to my penchant for correcting people and my somewhat limited social skills.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Don’t sound so surprised. You’re one of us, Thrase. Never forget that.”

She takes her leave, and Dr. Nicari heaves a sigh of relief as he finally regenerates the last of the damage to my face.

“There. You’re free to wriggle about like a worm on a hook all you wish now.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I’m glad you’ve learned more about human anatomy.”

“Hmph.” Nicari wanders off, heading for his office. Out of all the Kilgari on board, he’s probably the least social. There’s been a lot of talk regarding hopes that he finds a mate soon so he’ll mellow out a bit, but I can’t imagine there’s a soul in the galaxy he’d be compatible with. Then again, I suppose the same could have been said for me a short time ago.

Tur and Swipt approach me and Zander. The tall Grolgath and the Kilgari pilot seem quite similar to each other, even in the way they carry themselves, though between you and me Tur is a bit more arrogant. But his eyes are full of humility as he bows his head toward me.

“I wanted to thank you personally for taking care of Num. I know he’s a handful.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He seems to be the sweetest creature I’ve ever met—if