Page 26 of Saved By the Servali

“Thank you, Miss Kinney. We’re taking this very seriously and will be reviewing the security drone footage from the area near your attack. Over the last year, we haven’t been able to find anything concrete about the humans and Felids who are trying to traffick humans into the Felix Orbus System. So far, it’s only been adult female humans that we know of, and Sheriff Dane’s reports do seem to establish it’s because of the lack of adult Felid female partners. That would indicate that someone knows enough about the Felix Orbus Galaxy and its occupants to prey on their needs and this crisis.” The distinguished-looking Mr. Welch nodded and gestured to the small square next to him, where Sheriff Dane appeared on the screen.

Dane, the Lynxian sheriff with gray and black streaked fur, crossed his arms and nodded. “Twelve women, and then Miss Layla, who married Captain Rupex, were all supposed to arrive here on Lynx-Nineteen, which was one of the regions hit hardest by Queen Fever. We didn’t have many Queens to begin with. And you say the shuttle you were on was heading to the Pantherite Provinces? That means they know that things aren’t working. When a Queen is sent to Lynx-Nineteen, she’s safe and surrounded by folks who’ll take care of her right from the get-go. We might be desperate, but we’re not criminals.”

“You cannot say the same for members of the Pantherite Provinces,” Talos growled, the rumble in his chest so low that Nessa shuddered in her chair.

I like Kamau’s purr. Especially the way he purrs when he’s inside of me.

God, I want him insidemore. Farther, deeper, harder—more. Again, more. In all the uses of the word—more.

Her mind drifted to last night, and her thighs pressed together as her ravished pussy started to throb at the memories of how thoroughly he devoured her, then taught her a thousand new sensations with his silky, strong tail.

The thought of him stretching her out, filling her with his long, thick cock made her whimper.

“Itisenough to make one cry!” Rupex said loudly, apparently overhearing her sound and misinterpreting the cause.

“I’m—I’m sorry, could you explain that last bit again? I’m still a little groggy after my ordeal, and it comes on suddenly,” Nessa said with what she hoped was a charming smile.

“Of course, you wouldn’t be familiar with Felid history—even some of our young Knights and Queens are woefully uneducated about such things,” Mr. Manxwell, apparently from the Felix Orbus branch of the ICIO, gave a dramatic sigh and took the spectacles off of his broad white and black spotted nose. “The Pantherites lost a territorial dispute with the Tigerites several hundred years ago and were awarded a series of planetoids to terraform.”

“Those planetoids are as big as those in the Lynxian System,” Talos pointed out with heat, fangs bared. “We did not drive them out! They refused to share the land and wanted the Tigerites to leave our original homeworld, Tigerite-One! When we stood and fought, they eventually left rather than live amongst Tigerites and share our planet.”

“Now, now. That’s in the distant past. Many Pantherites live throughout the galaxy now—but the Pantherite Provinces have refused to fully comply with the laws set by the interplanetary council, and so they remain provinces instead of Pantherite-One, Pantherite-Two, etc. As such, there are partsof the Provinces where shady dealings occur with little legal ramification. A smuggler’s outpost, if you will.”

“Lynxians are supposed to be backwater types, but I’d rather be a poor miner or farmer than downright immoral.”

“So the traffickers have picked a new spot to unload? One where they think they won’t get caught or in as much trouble?” Nessa put the pieces together.

“Looks like. Of course, there are criminals in every society, and good people, too. I reckon there are many decent Pantherites who would be outraged to hear that they’re becoming a slave trading port.”

Nessa paled. “That’s sickening.”

“Well, thanks to you—there are three less victims.”

“Three? There were only—” Her protests died.Not only two. If I’d arrived alive, then I’d be sold, too.

I want Kamau. I want to go home.

No, I don’t want to go home, where they don’t even know I’m missing. Where humans trade other humans away for money! Sickening isn’t a strong enough word.

“Is there trafficking like this in the Felix Orbus Galaxy? Where Tigerites sell Tigerite women? Or cubs?”

Mr. Manxwell looked uncomfortable. “We have had to step in a lot in the last year to stop people from doing foolish things as this first generation of Queens after Queen Fever comes of age. Nothing so heinous as trafficking, but paying exorbitant bride prices and things like that... Hm. We are not without sin, Miss Kinney.”

“I’m glad you don’t lie to my face,” Nessa smiled back. “Humans? Not so much.”

“It’s clear that some human is lying—some human you may know, Miss Kinney,” Dane spoke up. “The only way to get humans out of the Sapien System is to use the Milky Way Intergalactic Port. Someone’s let atleastthree shipments ofhuman cargo out of the MWIP in the last two years since the Felix Orbus Galaxy opened up to intergalactic travel and trade post-quarantine. That person or group of people has contacts that know where to send humans with the least likelihood of getting caught.”

“So, it has to be someone who’s been there awhile,” Nessa mused. “Someone in shuttle inspection or directly over it—someone who covers shifts and makes the schedule.”

“Why is that?” Talos asked.

“Because then they could make sure that someone would pass off shuttles that had human cargo.” Nessa frowned. “Ugh. It’s actually not as narrowed down as it sounds. There are hundreds of inspectors on different shifts and thousands of shuttle port exits. And sometimes, the longer you’re there, the more careless and unobservant you get—or if you’re new, you might now know how to do a thorough job.”

“And lots of people can be bought,” Rupex growled. “They tried to buy you, didn’t they?”

Nessa twisted her fingers in her lap. “Yeah, and 300 credits is a nice sum for any inspector’s account.”

“Who made your schedule the day you were kidnapped?” Mr. Welch asked. “Do you know?”

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