Page 15 of Catching the Kot'oll Driver

I glare at her. “I said, why should I give my food to you when all you’ve done is lock me here, screaming at me, trying to threaten me, and acting like a bitch overall? I’ve already put you on my spaceship, so you aren’t freezing to death. I let you onto the only bed on this spaceship, and what do I get out of that? I didn’t help you to get something, but I sure wasn’t expecting glares and shouts.”

Her nostrils flare up as if she is getting ready to fight me or shout harder at me. I’m ready if she wants to fight. I don’t want to go to jail, but I’m not going to let anyone walk all over me either.

I sneer at her. “All I have to do is get you out of this planet, then no one can save you and you’ll have to beg for my mercy.”

She flinches for a second. “No, you aren’t doing that.”

“You aren’t telling me what to do.”

She swallows. “Before the power is back, the gate is locked.”

“My spaceship is equipped to fight bandits, so...” I can do significant damage to whatever gate they have, or... “Worse, I’d crash the spaceship after I’m done with you. There’s nothing stopping me.”

My cock twitches. Even more blood runs through my body and sends jitters into my arms. I’m not going to do what I said I would, but the thought is tempting. The line between doing the right thing and doing what I want is slim.

She takes a step back. “Are you disrespecting me?”

“Have you ever respected me? Even just as another being living on a planet? If I’m getting into trouble after the power is back regardless, I’m going to pick the worst trouble for you too.”

She shakes her head. “That’s not what I meant.”

“So, what do you mean? Better be clear.”

I’m a strong kot’oll and a strong kot’oll has an image to uphold. I have my honor and I’m not letting anyone step onto me.

She clears her throat. “I’m trying to say, maybe we can start fresh. I’m used to fighting criminals, so it is hard for me to trust a stranger easily. We just met not long ago, and—”

“You’ve been thinking of me as a criminal, and you dug hard to find something to cause me trouble.”

“I said I’m sorry!”

“It doesn’t feel like you’re sorry for the tiniest bit. You’re just here for food, and you’ll revert to how you were once you get things your way, and you’re going to cause me even more trouble when we’re done with this outage. There are only the two of us here, and you’re going to make up what I’d have done by then.”

“Hey! Maybe I’m not the nicest, but I’m not like that. I don’t... make things up and... I mean it... I... I was too focused on chasing the robbers, so... I’m sorry I caused you trouble.” She lowers her gaze and finally seems to be sorry for what she did.

I could have kept food to myself, but... I kind of feel bad for threatening her. I sigh. “Food’s in the fridge. Get some for yourself.”

Her head snaps up at once and she is at the fridge before I can blink. Staring at her back, I guess I’m going to regret giving her food the same way I regret helping her.

Chapter seven

Chapter 7

Kendra

My stomach rumbles as I stand next to the microwave, waiting for it to be done with my food.

Or... Like the four-arm guy said, his food that’s given to me.

I haven’t checked the time. I hope we aren’t stuck here for long and it won’t last.

But, at the same time, from my years working as a police officer, I know better than to expect good things most of the time. If things can get worse, they probably will. At least it’s safer to expect it will turn bad.

He is standing across the kitchen, over on the other side, where he has been standing since I arrived. He is watching me, probably still hating me.

I munch down on the hot sauce and meat right from the packet, not even wanting to figure out where the fork or spoon is located. The meat is a bit too salty for my liking, but with the noodles, maybe it will work better. If I’m eating his food, I don’t get to glare at him.

He... Maybe he is just a regular being trying to work for a living. I made a mess of his schedule out of nothing. As the captain said, I was overblowing things and was in the wrong.

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