Page 93 of Game on Askole

“Musa has wings.”KeeKee wiggled in excitement.“Wanna fly?”

Bui hopped up and down on Yakira’s face.“Want go. Can me?”

“Wait a minute. You need to have Sarah’s permission.”In English, Yakira asked, “Has KeeKee ever fallen off?”

“Not once.”

“You can go with them, Bui, but be careful,”Yakira said.

Bui scurried up behind KeeKee.“Fly!”

Musa launched herself into the air and off they went.

I called after them,“No shooting web balls at the ducks.”

Musa stopped her dive at a duck and flew off over the lake.

I turned around and took a startled leap backward. A creature some mad scientist had dreamed up was standing behind me. She was half Askole and half Rodan. She had the face of a T-Rex, tentacles, and the black armor-plated skin of an Askole. My hand dropped to the butt of my laser pistol.

Yakira quickly announced,“This is Ziyad, sister of my heart and my very best friend.”

Ziyad was equally shocked at my appearance. Her tentacles shot straight up.“You are Askole, yet not.”

“Coletti warlords aren’t the only ones who can change a girl’s DNA. My human genes are being overridden as we speak. Once upon a time I was a kickass Marine lieutenant who made the mistake of falling in love with an Askole. Now, my career is in the crapper, I have a bounty on my head, and I’m under house arrest. Oorah!”

“You left out the part where Sariel and the Overlord signed your bridal contract with Tihar,”Aunt Tess interjected.

Ziyad goggled at me.“Sariel, the Askole High Commander?”

“That’s him.”I grabbed a beer.

“Is Tihar a good mate?”Ziyad’s curiosity was genuine.

“Hard to tell. Haven’t seen much of him. About an hour after we mated, war broke out and he left to fight the rebels. I thought Tihar loved me until he had our bridal contract annulled.”

“Maybe he was injured in battle and doesn’t remember you,”Ziyad said, trying to put a positive spin on his actions.

“Tihar knows exactly what he’s doing, and boy, does he have some explaining to do. Now that the fighting has died down, Tihar isn’t moving around as much, and I have a lock on him. It’s time for us to have a heart-to-heart talk. If I don’t believe him, he’s going to fix my DNA. The easy way or the hard way.”

Yakira asked,“What can we do to help?”

“Glad you asked,”Aunt Tess said.“We heard you have a stealth fighter?”

“We do, but Wulf put tracking sensors in it, and the command controls are locked to his biometrics,”Yakira replied.

“Rats, we were hoping to borrow it for a day or two,”I groused.“All the ships I normally have access to, the Overlord put an inhibitor on the command console. I can only fly to predetermined locations. Any deviations and the computer notifies Zarek. Not a good thing.”

Detja walked over.“The sensors and locked command controls are easy to fix.”

“They are?”Yakira’s shocked surprise mirrored mine.

“I am the most powerful female on this world. The maintenance crew will do what I tell them.”

I gaped at Detja.“Why would you help us?”

“I always pay my debts.”

Detja’s answer surprised me.“When I fought off the naugers, I wasn’t expecting payment. I was saving my family, which includes you.”I hadn’t made up my mind about the Overlord yet.

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