Page 5 of Tis the Season for Tentacles
She reaches a tentacle over and pats me on the shoulder. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m okay. I’m still fierce and fabulous, even when I am single. And I have a lot going for me in my life. Getting to travel with my two best friends and explore the universe, all while escaping the stupid expectations of my parents and most of Dravethian society, is pretty damn sweet. I’m super fucking lucky.”
Indeed, we all are.
“At first, when Kheph came up with his plan to escape the arranged marriage his parents had set up for him and pull a runaway groom, I thought our off-world travels might be a temporary thing.”
Luna’s tentacles do a happy little shimmy. “But two years in, we’re still roaming the universe and living our best lives. It’s great. I know Kheph has no intention of returning to our home world, and neither do I.”
“Ditto for me.” I have nothing to go back to.
Rambo beeps three times. “Together, we are, the three amigos!”
Luna high-fives him.
It’s not that we hate our home world, but we were always misfits that didn’t quite fit in there.
I was born with the warrior’s mark, but I have never wished to fight someone else’s wars. That isn’t the purpose of my existence. Yes, I will enter into battle to protect those I love—my found family—but that’s different. I’m still searching for my personal passion, I guess, but I feel like I have a better shot at finding it out among the stars.
Kheph comes bounding over to us, grinning from ear to ear.
“Sasha is on his way back. Let’s fire up the engines, my friends.”
I heave a huge sigh of relief. “We’re done?”
Kheph nods happily.
“Affirmative,” Rambo chimes in with a series of beeps.
“Good, we really need to get going.” I don’t like tempting fate when it comes to the Alliance for Neutral Alien Lifeforms and we’re basically squatting in the backyard of their outpost here on Earth right now.
I study my view screen, and when I see dust churning in the air and coming straight toward us, I let down the ramp to our cargo bay.
Khephren hurries off to greet Sasha upon his return.
Once my monitor shows he and the vehicle are safely aboard the ship once more,
I close the ramp and fire up the engines.
Just as we begin to ascend into the air, Khephren and Sasha come hurrying onto the bridge.
“Hold on a second!” Sasha cries, waving his hands in the air.
I blink at him. “What is it? Did you forget something?”
He grimaces. “Um… so… we have a small problem.”
My brow furrows, and I feel that headache from earlier returning as my temples throb.
“What kind of problem?”
Sasha shifts nervously from foot to foot. “So, apparently, there’s a human lurking out in the desert here—and they saw us.”
My tentacles twitch as I bite back a curse. “Are you certain?”
Sasha winces. “Pretty sure.”
“Neptune’s motherfucking nads. What the hell are we going to do now?” I growl.
This is precisely the kind of thing that’s likely to sic the Alliance on our asses.
