Page 55 of Devin
“Capital punishment. The death penalty, I believe you Terrans call it. We’ve got a more civilized name for it on Takalia. The Mahdfel, they are more into challenging each other into single combat and ending it that way. I, on the other hand, believe that we should push that fawning bitch and that scheming Adrastian out the first airlock that we can find.”
Grena said all of this without a hint of anger in her voice. She was dripping sweet and smiling the whole time. Val made a mental note not to cross her mother-in-law if at all possible. Ever. Val, for her part, was going to work on staying alive first, and letting revenge sort itself out later.
“We’re alive. And we know the Mahdfel are coming for us,” Val said.
“Yes, and we have a few very important things to consider. First of all, Charlette wants us alive and cooperative,” Grena said.
“But Captain Cock Up just wants a payday. And he wants to get away,” Val continued.
“While Charlette may not know how dangerous the Mahdfel are, the captain is well aware of the ticking clock and the riskof being caught. He’s going to try and blame Charlette for this whole fiasco,” Grena said.
“There’s no way Charlette planned this out all by herself. He was clearly in on it,” Val said.
“And the only way his story will work is if there’s no one around to contradict him,” Grena said.
“He’s going to kill us all,” Val stated coldly.
“Not if we kill him first, my dear. But first, we need to get out of this box. I’m sure Charlette will get curious or bored enough to open it sooner or later. She seems like the type who can’t wait to gloat. She’s easy to figure out. You on the other hand,” Grena trailed off.
“Me?” Val suddenly found one of her fingernails very interesting.
“Tell me more about this terrorist that my son has married.” Val turned red and shook her head, refusing to make any kind of eye contact.
“It was an accident, kind of, but no one else believed me, so I doubt that you will.”
“Fine, but I enjoy a good story, and we really have nothing else better to do until someone opens this box.”
“It all started with a guy in a red wig.” For the first time, Val poured out the whole story. She didn’t leave any of the details out, including some of the guilt she felt about Maryland, though after living the life of a Mahdfel wife, Maryland was probably better off someplace like this than in prison. Val explained the letter writing campaign, the hit that was put out on her and how going back to Earth was never going to be an option. She surprised herself by telling Grena the truth about how her son hadn’t wanted her, though none of it seemed to surprise Grena.
Worst case scenario meant that she wouldn’t have to worry about what Grena thought because both of them would be dead in a few days, tops. Maybe that wasn't the worst case. Living witha mother-in-law who told everyone else and then turned her into a pariah might be worse. No, dying was worse. She could live with everything else.
“I haven’t told Devin everything. He didn’t like me very well to start, and I didn’t quite know how to tell him,” Val said.
Grena shrugged. “Best to do it slowly. ‘This reminds me of the time when I was framed and sent to prison.’ Or ‘Terrans are so corrupt that they can’t even run their lotteries without imprisoning innocents, like me.’ And then distract him. Pleasuring him is generally a good idea. I find that any male species is more willing to forgive when all of the blood supply has flowed to his genitals.”
Val blushed and opened her mouth, and then closed it again, not sure what to say. She didn’t get time to think of a response because the top of their container hissed opened. It rolled back on hidden hinges until only Charlette’s smug face was left, peering over the edge. As if they had one thought, Grena and Val did not wait for an invitation. They stood and scrambled out of the box. It was only at shoulder height, but Val was not athletically inclined on a good day. It took a heave and she nearly landed on her ass, but she managed to catch on the top edge with her hand to avoid an embarrassing tumble. Grena vaulted over with ease, landing on the other side of the bitch.
Charlette was not amused. Apparently she had expected the pair to stay in the container. She clutched the weapon tightly and aimed it at first one, then the other. Now that Val knew it wasn’t lethal, she wasn’t as afraid of it as before. If Charlette fired on one of them, she’d have the other to contend with.
“Oh, dear, dear, dear. Put that thing away. We’re all friends here,” Grena said, inching forward. “I mean, we’re on a spaceship. Where are we going to go?”
“Yeah, those worthless Mahdfel with those giant sticks up their asses,” Val said, trying to split Charlette’s attention. Theycouldn’t protect us from one measly Adrastian. How could we expect them to protect us from those creepy space lizards everyone’s so afraid of?”
“I’ve seen one. In person. Jane killed it,” Charlette said.
“I’ve lived among the Mahdfel for years and no one I’ve known has lived to tell the tale. What a hit you’d be at a party at the royal palace,” Grena said, gushing. “Tell me. How did you survive?”
“Well, they discovered that the lizards can’t swim. So all we had to do was dive into the water, and let me tell you, diving in a bikini is not easy, and I was not going to let any of those monsters see or touch me.” Val couldn’t believe it was working. Charlette was so engrossed she didn’t notice either one of them getting closer to her little stun gun.
“It was bad enough I had to let that green oaf maul me every few weeks just to stop him from being so annoyingly sweet. But you know, I fixed that.”
“However did you manage?” Grena asked, sliding her hand casually along Charlette’s arm.
“I told him I left my bracelet over by the construction site, and if he didn’t find it before the buildings came down, and bring it back to me, then I’d never speak, nonetheless fuck him again. That stupid bastard was still looking for it when... squish. He was too stupid to know I didn’t even have a bracelet to lose.”
“How creative.” How Grena could smile and drip sweetness when Charlette had just admitted to basically murdering her husband was beyond Val. “Now, what are we going to do about all this Terran hair color? I told her,” Grena motioned to Val as if she was second class, “that fuschia is really in right now, and she was all excuses.”
“But I have blonde hair. It takes dye like that,” Charlette snapped and Grena snapped into motion. She took a lock of Charlette’s hair and wrapped it around her face with one handand bent back Charlette’s snapping hand with the other. Val grabbed the gun out of Charlette’s hand and Grena shoved the blonde back onto her ass. In a split second, rage covered her face and she turned from fawned upon socialite to hissing cat.
