Page 8 of Guardian's Heart

I didn't see any fence or wall. Anybody seemed to be able to just walk right up to any ship. I had already made up my mind that the forest would be safer. I had no idea if those ships were run by slavers or what they would do to stowaways. Or even where the ship was headed. My best bet right now was to make myself at home in the forest, scope things out, and, in time, I might come up with a better plan.

I took a step forward and stopped. Just because I didn't see a fence didn't mean there wasn't any. I was on an alien planet, after all. I came here in a freaking spaceship. As far as I was concerned, the bastards could be capable of anything, even having invisible, electric fences.

I picked up a rock—yep, ordinary, run-of-the-mill rock, just like you find on Earth—and threw it. With a quiet thud, it landed unmolested on the other side. I took a deep breath and tried my luck with my foot, even though I didn’t believe in luck. Prepared to have my foot lasered off or something equally terrifying, it was almost a letdown when nothing happened, and my blood pounded in my ears.

Alright, so that's option one, I decided.

Option two was to walk all the way to the more industrial-looking complex and use the buildings as cover to get to the forest.

How long would it take for the silver alien to figure out I was gone? Would he think I would run to the spaceport? Probably. I would if the roles were reversed. He probably didn't know that A) I couldn't fly a ship and B) that Earth wasn't my home any longer. For all he knew, I could try to steal a ship to get anywhere. So yeah, the spaceport would probably be his logical go-to.

Which made the industrial complex more inviting. More places to hide and all. Still, the forest's lure rang deep and loud.

Fuck it, I decided, keeping my head down and moving as if I had every right to be there. Keeping the forest in my line of sight, I kept on going, ignoring the aliens moving about, not paying any attention to me.

Until I was about midway. "Hey!" a voice called out. "Hey, you!"

I didn’t turn to try to figure out where the voice came from or who it belonged to, worried it might be the silver giant. I just started running straight for the trees.

ZAAREK

Frygg, I couldn't believe that the little human female had escaped me. Filled with disdain, I stared at the huddled group of eight humans. As much as I yearned to chase the starbane down, my first responsibility was to take care of the humans.

You're nothing but a glorified babysitter, I grumbled to myself. Resenting this new mission even more than I had when Possedion had first assigned it to me. I chased and terminated criminals for a living. I might babysit a royal or high-ranking politician, but I had never, never babysat a group of slaves before.

"How did she get away?" Nock wanted to know, with his eyes searching the surrounding area as if she would magically reappear.Upps, sorry, just went for a dried piece of koloch—meat. No, not her. She, the one who tackled me. If I knew anything, she was long gone by now. Great Abyss, help me, but she could have gone anywhere. I had been stupid enough to give her the disguise she needed, my cape, to cover her ungrateful, naked body. Well, I would know better next time.

Nock pulled out his comm, tapping away at it when an idea occurred to me. With a grin, I snatched the comm from Nock's hand, ignoring his, "Hey, that's mine." And went to work.

My grin deepened. Got'cha! My comm was in the pocket of the cape as well as my credits.

I turned in a circle, eyeing the marketplace, until my eyes landed on what I was looking for. "Let's go!"

"My comm," Nock whined.

"Don't annoy me, and you'll get it back," I promised, moving purposefully toward the tavern to our left. The humans scrambled to keep up with me, as well as Nock.

I entered the common room ahead of the others and zeroed in on the proprietor. "You!"

The Guuluum blanched under his brown fur when he saw me coming. "Spa… Space Guardian?" he stuttered.

"I need your tavern for an indeterminant amount of time." I had already synced Nock's comm with mine. "Your account?"

Unable to form a word, the proprietor pointed at a code by the wall. I scanned it with Nock's comm. "I'm transferring ten thousand credits into your account. I'll double that amount upon my return," I promised. "In the meantime, nobody is allowed in here besides my guests." I gestured at the humans and Nock with a sweeping gesture. "Whatever they need, they'll get. Nobody is allowed to come in here unless they bring supplies."

The naked arm of one of the humans poking out of his covering made me sigh. "And get some clothes for them. You will be reimbursed."

"Yes, Space Guardian," the Guuluum finally found his voice again.

"I will hold you responsible if even one of their hairs is out of place. Do you understand?" I threw my most menacing glare at him.

"Yes, Space Guardian," he repeated, sneaking glimpses at the bedraggled group of humans.

"You will stay with them until I return," I instructed Nock. Only a Seer would know why I trusted him with this, but I was out of options.

"It'll be my pleasure." He grinned, and I cringed, pretty sure he would make full use of my credits. Well, at least they're not mine but the Ohrurs’.

"Not a word about them until I'm back and we have left, understood?" I warned him. The last thing I needed was for him to broadcast this location and my mission throughout the universe over the StarWeb. These humans were like underdeveloped planets, ripe for the picking.

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