Page 20 of Taming the Alien Outlaw
I had no idea it was that bad. “Have you told Alik he’s shorting you or asked for more in the interim? Never mind.” I wave him off when he glares at me. “What’s the response? The exact response you get? Wait, first off, how do you communicate about the supply as well as where the pick-up place is?”
There’s a long hesitation before Janik says anything. “Why do you wish to know these things?”
“I’m not a spy, if that’s what you’re wondering. Humor me. Please.”
Even with my reassurance, I don’t think he’s going to answer, but finally he does. “We send encrypted messages through the communication center. Several of my males filter through the messages that go through several security protocols.”
“And how do you evade Horek’s men during the pick-ups?”
“Because they never see us. The places we arrange for deliveries are ones where we have created hidden doorways. We remain out of sight and then slip in, grab the ration, and disappear within the rainforest before anyone suspects a thing.”
“Smart.”
He grins. “We are also often lucky in that the person making the delivery is one my lackeys—as you say. Then, we don’t bother with subterfuge.”
I shake my head at his arrogance. “Just how many guards do you have spying for you?”
“Enough,” Janik is far too cagey with his response, but I can’t say I blame him.
“That’s fair.” Now that he’s answered that—or rather didn’t—I still don’t know about the rest of it. “So within these encrypted messages where you mention you didn’t get what you paid for and need more, what does Alik say?”
“Nothing. Our pleas are ignored.”
That can’t be right. “So you tell him your supply is low or running out or not enough in the first place, but he says and does nothing?”
Janik nods. “That’s correct.”
Rebels or not, Alik has gone through so much trouble to make sure his people don’t die out. It’s the whole reason I’m here, after all. Why all of us humans are on this planet.
“Is it at all possible he has never received your messages?”
“One or two perhaps, but none of them?”
“I’m going to say something and I want you to just listen. No interrupting. Deal?” I suspect he’s not going to take my suspicion well.
“What if I don’t like what you’re saying?”
I chuckle. “Pretty sure you won’t.”
“Then why would I accept this deal you’re offering if it includes you telling me something I’ll dislike?”
“Because I’m asking you nicely?” I bat my eyelashes in the worst effort of being flirty in my life.
Janik huffs. “Fine. I will be silent.”
Here goes. “I think someone is lying to you and intentionally keeping you from getting more of this drug. And I don’t think that person is Alik or anyone from Preska. At least not anyone under the prince’s directive.” I hold up my finger. “No interruptions, remember?”
Janik snaps his mouth shut.
“Hear me out. Quinn mentioned you—or who Horek assumed was you—got caught in Preska the day we arrived. You said something about not being able to afford this powder. There’s only one problem with that. Alik gives it to everyone for free. All they have to do is go to the medical center and ask the healers for it. Johnna confirmed this. She’s another human and is married to Vornak, the head healer. As soon as they start running low, Alik and several of his men fly to some nearby planet and trade for more.”
I study Janik and can tell he either doesn’t believe me or he’s trying to compare what I’m saying with what he’s experienced.
“Perhaps this only applies to those living within Preska. As rebels, we cannot simply walk into the medical facility.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you, except he also sends shipments of it to the other cities. I’m actually surprised you haven’t stolen some of it during your robberies.”
Janik shakes his head. “We have never come across any.”
