Page 4 of Abducting Sarah

“Stop thinking that,” I ordered.

He blinked. “Thinking what?”

I glared at him. “I’ve known you too long for you to be able to lie to me.”

“What?” He shrugged. “I’ve never had one of them.”

“And you won’t be having this one, either,” I said in a firm tone. “You want a human, you’ll have to catch one. This one is going to Deacon.”

Tiger asked, “Why does he wantherspecifically?”

“Couldn’t tell you.”Because it’s classified. And embarrassingly dangerous. “Now that the excitement is over, maybe you could all get back to your jobs?”

“Can we de-mog?” Treg asked.

As much as I preferred him in his human form, I wasn’t going to stop him from being himself. Gorrks were sensitive about their gelatinous, transparent looks. I liked the guy, but the fact that he resembled a midcentury jello dessert made me wonder about Ode’s tastes in men.

I nodded and said, “Go ahead. All of you. I’ll set the course for the orbit of Halla and—”

“Halla?” Tiger asked as he de-mogged back into his alien form. “I thought we were going to Deacon’s.”

“We are.” I headed for the doorway.

“What’shedoing on Halla?”

The kid had always been a curious sort, but sometimes it irritated me, and I couldn’t keep it from the tone of my voice. “Not really your business, is it?”

“Sorry, sir,” he said as he averted his eyes.

Kapok’s eyes, however, were on me while he de-mogged. His expression was a mix of disapproval and anger and didn’t change much when he shifted from human back to Ladrian.

I sighed. “I didn’t mean to snap, Tiger. I’m not allowed to divulge why Deacon is on Halla. You understand.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“And is there a reason that one human was able to garner the attention of my entire crew, or are you all just here to gawk?”

Kapok ushered the other two toward their stations, probably hoping to avoid more of my wrath. I felt bad for snapping at his cousin, but if Tiger wanted to be treated like one of my crew, then he had to harden up. He was too soft for someone his age. Hell, I had been a scout for six years by the timeIwas twenty. I hoped he grew out of his softness soon. I couldn’t wait around for Kapok’s cousin to catch up to him in maturity—I had hoped he would be as capable as his cousin when I hired him. Kapok was a fierce warrior. Tiger was a wannabe.

Sarah sleepily mumbled in Ladrian, “Who is Deacon?”

“How is she awake?” I barked at Ode.

“I told you, she’s on a ton of drugs, Jacaranda. She is not well.” Ode hit her mog again to appear human. “And there’s no telling how she will react to our medicine.” She walked to her bedside. “I’ll make sure you’re ready to meet him, just hold still.” She pulled out the jet injector again.

The human tried, and failed, to swat it away. “Nnn. Who’s Dea-on?”

I leaned over her and said, “He’s your new master, and—”

“What?” She shrieked out.

I held my ears while Ode sedated her once more, and the human dozed off. The doctor warned me, “If I have to knock her out again like that, I don’t think she’ll make it to Deacon.”

I huffed. “So damned delicate. All of them.”

“All of whom?” Ode asked.

“Humans. I don’t understand how they’ve lasted as long as they have as a species.”

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