Page 34 of Courting Mayhem

Derek grabbed a healing wand and ran it over his face. “You do realize that’s not a normal Rui tree.”

“Because she’s telepathic?”

“She?”

“The sapling is female.”

Derek laughed. “Of course she is. This little cutie’s tentacles are thicker than normal and if you remove a Rui tree from the seas, it’s dead within twenty minutes. The sapling isn’t showing any ill effects yet,” Derek said.

I stared down at her. She seemed healthy but feeding her was going to be a problem. “Maybe we should stock up on dead bodies while we’re here.”

“You’re planning on keeping her?”

To say Derek was surprised, would be an understatement. “Maybe.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “Your fathers won’t be happy.”

“Too bad.” I walked out of sick bay and headed for my cabin. While the guys interrogated Canute, I’d make the little one a temporary home. I had an old aquarium, which I could fill with water. “My name is Mayhem. What does your daddy call you?”

The sapling rubbed her leaves against my face and a loud knocking reverberated around my skull. “BamBam? He calls you BamBam?”

Her leaves wilted.

“That’s not a proper name for a girl. How about I call you Kiri?”

Her leaves perked up.

“Kiri it is.”I got the aquarium out of my storage unit, sat it on my lone table and use the replicator to duplicate Gliese’s Sea water. “This is going to be your new home.”

Her branches clattering happily, Kiri climbed into the tank.

“We need you in the brig and bring the creature with you,” Papi Sten ordered.

“Yes, father.”I held out a hand.“Ready to see your daddy?”

Dripping water all over me, Kiri wrapped her branches around me.

I sighed. Her leaves were covering my face. I moved them out of the way and headed for the brig.

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Chapter Eight

The minute I entered the brig, Kiri dropped to the floor and scooted toward Canute’s cell. “No Kiri! The energy field will hurt you.”

Canute spat a bunch of Askole gobbledygook.

Kiri stopped.

I pointed to the glowing energy field. “Bad. Very bad. It will hurt your pretty leaves.”

Kiri’s branches drooped and the wing-like hum filled my mind.

“Your daddy has been very naughty, and we have to lock him up for a while.”

Canute’s tentacles stood out from his head.“You named my Riu Kiri.”

“Yes. BamBam is a horrible name for a girl.”

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