Page 16 of Argen Mate
“All our combat teams will be on the ground securing the pickup sites. We’re hoping for minimal opposition by going in at night, but they’re looking for us now---especially after Julconi. The Dreads will protect the shuttles, and we will protect the ground operations.
“Any questions?” He paused, looking around the room with a rueful smile. “Oh, I almost forgot, Guryon is also funding our missions, so when we get back to Farseek, you will all receive your back pay. I know that’s small consolation for what we’ve lost. That’s it.”
Most of us just shook our heads at the last. We were never concerned about being paid. Our basic needs were being met. Getting as many people out of slavery as possible was always foremost in our minds.
Slowly, people got up from their seats. Argen and I drifted toward Commander Maktu, joining Harper, Scarlet, and Nora with Pyrr Avantu, and Sahvin Kazza, their respective mates.
“I suspected Guryon knew more than he was telling when I went to collect our payment, but I never guessed what he was really hiding,” Maktu said. “I’ve known for a while, but I was only authorized to share that information now.”
“It really doesn’t change anything,” Harper said. “There is no punishment severe enough to make him pay for what he did.”
“By supporting the Sargan slave trade, he got his own daughter kidnapped, and us too,” Scarlet said.
“But we’re the lucky ones,” Nora put in. “Conditions on the slave ship sucked, but we weren’t beaten or tortured like Sahvin and Argen.”
“Everything that happened landed us here to these wonderful guys,” I said, smiling at Argen and our friends.
I caught an affectionate expression from Argen and saw the other men looking at my friends in a similar way.
“It’s just about time for second meal, why don’t we all go together?” Commander Maktu suggested.
Of course, no one refused. It seemed that he needed our comradery as much as we needed each others’. In the months we had been with the Farseek Brigade cum mercenaries, we Earth women had learned the Uatu warriors were some of the fiercest in the galaxy. But they were also the most loving mates we would ever find.
If our time together was coming to an end, I knew I wouldn’t change a thing except what they had suffered. They had changed our lives for the better. For the next two weeks before the mission, I planned to cherish every minute with my beloved Argen.
