Page 46 of Savage Union

Why was that? What was happening to me? Why did I feel so protective and yes,possessiveof a boy I’d never met before two days ago?

I had no answers for any of those questions. I would just have to keep an eye on the Crew and ask Snuffy to take their temperature often to let me know if there was anything brewing. The long-nosed cabin boy was universally liked because he often ran errands for busy Crewmembers. He would be able to let me know if there was something bad coming down the line. He?—

“Captain, I must protest this nonsense!”

The strident, nasal voice was all too familiar. I looked up to see Frux standing by my chair, looking down his long, bony nose at me. There was an expression of self-righteous anger on his long face.

Inwardly, I sighed. Couldn’toneday go by without the Union Rep complaining about something? But I knew the answer to that—it was almost always “No.”

“And what ‘nonsense’ are you protesting this time, Frux?” I asked, glaring up at him. I was in no mood to put up with him today. Not with so much on my mind.

“I’m talking about the favoritism you’re showing to the second navigator you hired for some reason—though I’m beginning to doubt you hired him to navigate at all!” Frux announced.

Of course, every Crewmember on the Bridge heard him. I thought of taking him into my Ready Room for some privacy, but it was too late. I was going to have to address this in public, because that was where he had started it.

“Whatexactlydo you mean by that, Frux?” I asked, letting my voice drop to a menacing growl. “What favoritism?”

“Why, you’re letting him share your quarters!” Frux exclaimed. “While I—a ranking officer—am forced to sleep in the same cabin as the lowly regular Crew! If anyone gets to share the Captain’s Quarters it should be me—the Union Rep!”

“I’mnotfucking sharing my quarters with you, Frux!” I growled. Just the thought of having to share a bed with the irritating bastard was enough to make me want to fucking break his bony nose for him.

“They why are you letting that boy sleep with you when he has a perfectly good berth in the navigators’ bunk?” Frux demanded. “Or is what the Crew is whispering true?”

“I don’t know—whatisthe Crew whispering?” I growled. I was really beginning to lose my patience now!

“They’re saying you got them a Catamite but then changed your mind and decide to keep him for yourself, Captain. So they are, so they are,” Snuffy said helpfully. “Sorry,” he added apologetically. “I thought you should know—though I was going to tell you later, in private. Yes, I was.Yes, I was.”

“Yes, well—there’s no need to be private about it,” I said calmly. “I’m allowing Cass to stay with me because he and ourother navigator weren’t getting along. It’s important to keep the peace between two of our most important Crewmates.”

I could have said something about how I feared for Cass’s life—or at least his virtue—if I had left him where he was. But he was already perceived as weak and vulnerable by the rest of the Crew—I didn’t want to make things worse.

Speaking of Cass, I was aware that he was standing on the other side of my chair, blushing helplessly and keeping silent. Gurflug, on the other hand, had turned in the navigator’s chair and was eyeing the whole scene with a triumphant look on his flat face, obviously enjoying the scene that the Union Rep was making.

“So you moved the boy in with you to ‘keep the peace?” Frux sneered. “Riiight. Rest assured, Captain,allof this will be going into my report for our Chieftain at the end of this trip!”

At last, I lost my temper. If this skinny shit thought he could disrespect me in front of my Bridge Crew, he was going to learn otherwise the hard way!

Reaching up, I grabbed him by his scrawny throat and dragged him down to my level.

Frux choked and sputtered, but he was no match for my strength and he knew it. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as I glared him in the face, pulling him so close that our noses nearly touched.

“You put whatever the fuck you want in your little report, Frux,” I told him, keeping my voice low and menacing. “But if you disrespect me again in front of my Crew or anywhere else, you’re spending the rest of this fucking trip in the fucking Brig!Isay who sleeps in my fucking quarters with me and it’s none of your fucking business!”

He choked and gurgled, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as he scrabbled at my fingers which were locked around his throat. I had the urge to crush his windpipe and I could havedone it, easily. I’m a full-blooded Brute and we’re fucking strong…but I knew my Chieftain wouldn’t like it. He might not care much for Frux, but the annoying Union Rep was still related to his wife. Killing Frux would piss her off and make his life hard…which meant he would makemylife hard. Though I had to wonder if it could get any harder than it currently was.

I squeezed for a little longer, cutting off Frux’s air and letting him know that Icouldkill him if I wanted to before abruptly pushing him away. He fell to the ground, choking and gasping and flopping like a fucking fish. At last he managed to scramble to his feet.

“Get off my Bridge,” I told him flatly. “I don’t want to see your face for the rest of the day. And if I hear you’ve been spreading rumors, you reallywillspend this trip in the Brig for insubordination.”

Frux gave me an angry look, but didn’t dare to say anything. He scrambled down the tube and disappeared into the deck below with a metallic clatter of boots on metal.

There was a breathless silence on the Bridge and nobody seemed willing to look at me. I don’t usually resort to choking people, but I felt like I needed to get my point across. I really couldn’t allow a Crew member to disrespect me—that way lay mutiny which is something to be avoided at all costs, especially in Deep Space.

I wasn’t too worried about Frux, though—he wasn’t well liked by any of the men because he was constantly tattling on them for minor infractions. Still, the fact remained that I’d had to punish three Crew members in less than twenty-four hours and all of it related to my new navigator.

I looked over at Cass and found that he was watching me with wide eyes. But the minute our gazes met, he jerked his face around and looked intently at the viewscreen where Gurflug was plotting a course.

The big Galafruxian chose this moment to turn in his chair again and announce,

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