Page 36 of Courting Mayhem

With a grimace Derek pointed at the ceiling.

I looked up. Kiri hung from the ceiling by her tentacles. Huh? She must be part monkey.“Get down here Kiri.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Me like. Fun.”She scrambled across the ceiling and draped her leaves over Poppa Jacob. “Him sick?”

“Someone hurt him,”I said.

Derek studied Kiri.“Her communication skills are improving rapidly.”

“How is that even possible?” Papi Sten wanted to know.

Derek shrugged. “Some kind of genetic tinkering.”

“I want to know whose genes she has and if she is a victim of that vile Rodan scientist’s freakish experiments,” I said.

“It’s a possibility. We aren’t sure Mallox died in the battle for Denebola. Oni’s weapon vaporized the Rodan fleet, before we could scan for him. Did he experiment on the Rui? Probably. Weaponized carnivorous trees would be right up his alley.” The war commander picked up the medical scanner and ran it over Kiri’s branches. “She has genes from Earth’s snakefish, the walking trees on the planet Keres, and…” Derek let out a low, long whistle.

“And,” I prompted.

“Katanic and Askole DNA.”

Papi Sten frowned. “Canute’s DNA?”

“No. The DNA belongs to a female Askole. I have no idea where he got the Katanic DNA.”

“We need to have a little chat with Canute,” I spat.

“I agree.” Derek strode out of sick bay.

Papi Sten hurried after him.

“Come on Kiri, we need to talk to your daddy.”I grunted as she fell on my head.

“Why you have no roots?”

“Because my people don’t need them. We have feet.”I shifted her branches off my face.

“Me hungry.”

“Why am I not surprised.”I detoured to the mess hall and programmed a bloody hunk of meat.

“Smell good.” Kiri sank her feeder roots into it.

I watched in amazement as the meat quickly vanished.

“Thirsty.”

“I programed a large bowl of sea water and put in on the table.

Kiri slurped it down. “Me like. You be my momma?”

“Not your momma, I’m your auntie.”

“The males me family too?”

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