Page 7 of Taken By the Naga King

At her words, he looked at the panels, their screen lighting up part of the room with their brightness. Of course, the language could be switched, but why would he do such a thing?

“Yes, that can be done. Why do you ask?”

She looked nervous but spoke anyway. She was brave, and he admired that trait. “I’d like to see if maybe I can do something about our situation.”

“No offense, but what could a human girl do that a Niri could not?” Jakam asked from behind him.

The anger that shot through him was even more intense than what he had felt earlier when he saw the Jorvlens outside. He swung his head around and glared at Jakam.

“Wait outside until I give you orders otherwise,” Gravon snarled at the male.

Jakam nodded and left the flight deck without another word. Gravon turned to Azha.

“I’ll change it to Galactic Common for you. But what do you think you can do?” He tried to word it in a much nicer way than Jakam, not wanting to offend her.

She bit her lip and looked at the ground before answering. “Remember how I said I triggered a false alarm on the Jorvlens’ ship, and that’s how I was able to run away? Well, I did that by hacking into their system.”

He watched her closely, curious about how she knew how to do such a thing. He didn’t have to wait very long for her to explain.

“I learned how to hack Jorvlen ships and the Noxxa systems a few years ago. It comes in handy when I’m in a bad situation or when another human needs help. I don’t do bad things with it… I only do it when absolutely necessary, just so you know.”

He held up a hand. “You do not need to explain why you do it. I am only intrigued that you were able to master something so complicated. So, what would you do with this?” he asked, gesturing to the control panels.

“Well, I was thinking I could hack into the system that connects us to the control tower. The very same screen that shows you what our current place is for takeoff. I can try to get in on their side and move us up.”

He nodded slowly. “And they wouldn’t know?”

“Anyone watching the screen at that exact moment would see our position change, but they wouldn’t get any kind of alert that someone was in their system. I can make sure they don’t.”

He nodded again. It was worth the risk. The Jorvlens couldn’t force their way onto this ship, but the aliens who ran the space docks could make up some fake excuse to enter and see Azha. They wouldn’t hesitate to bring her back to the Jorvlens. Technically, she belonged to them.

For now.

If that were to happen, Gravon had a plan, but he preferred it didn’t come to that. Which meant getting out of here immediately.

“Okay, I will change it,” Gravon agreed and moved closer to the control panel. He tapped a few options until he reached the language setting. One more tap switched it to Galactic Common. He could read it, of course. He had learned every language he could as a nirling.

Azha padded up next to him, her arm grazing his. The touch pulled all of his focus back to her and only her. He watched as she began tapping at the screen, but he was paying no mind to what she was doing, completely entranced by her mere presence.

If Azha noticed him staring, she gave no indication. She was incredibly focused on what she was doing, and he was, yet again, impressed by her.

After a while, he allowed his eyes to leave her face and looked at the control panel. She was on some screen that he had never seen before, typing in codes as her fingers flew across the panel. She really did know exactly what she was doing, and he hadn’t doubted it for a second.

He inched closer to her, his tail stretching out protectively behind her. That delicious scent wafted into his nostrils, driving him even more mad. He needed this ship to take off soon. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold himself back.

“How is it going?” He was impatient to depart Noxxa immediately.

“Good. It was even easier to get into their side of the system than I remembered. They should really protect themselves better. Though I’m not sure if anyone would be able to do much more than I currently am.”

“How much more do you have to do?”

Azha stopped tapping for a moment, reading something on the screen before resuming her work. “Almost there. Just a couple more minutes. I’m going to move us to spot five, so it isn’t so suspicious. Will five suffice?” she asked, her eyes lifting to his for a moment.

“Perfect,” he answered, wishing those eyes would stay on him.

Patience, Gravon reminded himself.

“Jakam!” he shouted.

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