Page 38 of Jewel of the Alien Bandit
MY MATE, THEwords repeated in my mind. I had thought if I mated with him my loh would calm down, and we could both move on from this draw he had over me, but his face fell into a stoney wall when Lord Zorn mentioned it. I couldn’t face the rejection I knew I would find there, so I pushed past him, and followed Lord Zorn closely.
No matter what Vareo thought of us, I wouldn’t let him become a slave to someone else in a fruitless attempt to save his female scientist. Female… Why hadn’t I seen it sooner? She was the one he cared about. Vareo was always bringing her up, and he called her by name, she wasn’t a stranger to him. Kensie, she sounded beautiful. Her name had the root of ‘sie’, the sweet sap from the blackpul rose algae, and ‘ken’, the fibers of the kentos trees which are strong and soft. Which was more than I was. I was stubborn, and weak.
All of my radiation was gone from my loh, I could feel the emptiness of death looming in the path ahead of me. I wouldn’t make it home in time to survive, and I wouldn’t let Vareo sacrifice himself for life in vain. For a moment when Vareo took my hand, I thought I felt life again in my fingertips, as if a glimmer of radiation still existed deep within me, and his touchcould draw it out, but he retracted so quickly, I knew that was only false hope. The will to live could play tricks on the mind.
“I can remove Vareo’s tracker,” Lord Zorn admitted as we entered his office, which looked more like a bedroom. Pillows, drapes, and rugs covered the room as if preparing every space for the possibility of mating in comfort. I felt the ‘but’ coming in his next words. What would he ask of me for this favor?
“It’s dangerous,” he continued, ” normally I have someone reprogram their chips, but Vareo’s tracker is unique.”
“How so?”
It was Vareo who answered from behind me, “King Sylve spared no expense when he implanted a self-replicating nanobug into my blood cells. There is no guarantee of removing every nano bug even with a full blood transfusion.” Without meaning to, I reached out to him, gripping his hand and pulling him forward to demand Lord Zorn fix it. He had to have another way or he wouldn’t be smiling at us like he was one agreement away from getting whatever he wanted from us.
“You know another way, tell him,” I ground out.
Lord Zorn nodded. “There is always another way. A costly way, of course.”
“What is it? You are aware my planet has plenty of valuable resources, expense isn’t the issue.”
Lord Zorn was pressing my buttons, and if we were on Estreldez right now, he wouldn’t be wearing such a smug expression with the full power of the moons at my disposal. The ache of my loh flickered on the top of my hand that held Vareo’s, and I stared at it, wishing for it to flicker again. To tell me that I hadn’t just imagined a spark of power there.
Wishful thinking again, I knew it, because Vareo’s focus was on Lord Zorn, and he felt nothing of the fleeting radiation of my loh. It was nothing, but I continued to stare at our hands, squeezing his fingers in an effort to bring that spark back.
Lord Zorn answered then, “We inject another nanobug into the blood transfusion that will proliferate his system before any remaining previous bots from the king have a chance to replicate again. Nanobugs working against the code of the originals.”
“So, basically you’d be able to track him, but King Sylve wouldn’t.”
Lord Zorn laughed again. “You’ve chosen well, Vareo. Though, I suspect she had more to do with it than you did. She’s smart, but,” he turned his attention back to me, “On my word, the only thing the bots would be tracking would be other bots. Consider it an anti-bot protection. Even I use the same technology for myself.”
I would have never guessed that Lord Zorn was the kind of male that would laugh so heartily, or seem so easygoing. It was almost comfortable to speak with him, with how charismatic he was. The longer I was with him, the more difficult it was to imagine all the horrible things he’d been known for. Suspicion made me narrow my eyes, but Lord Zorn’s humor didn’t waiver. And I followed his attention back to my hand still holding Vareo’s and he hadn’t pulled away from me yet.
Distracted, I looked up into Vareo’s blue eyes, and we stayed there for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Genbi is true to his word.” He squeezed gently in reassurance.
“I owe my life to Vareo,” Lord Zorn lounged back onto a couch that looked more like a throne with how big it was.
“That has long past been paid,” Vareo denied, and I found myself yanking on his arm to keep his mouth shut. If the Lord Zorn thought he owed him his life, then so be it. Don’t go giving him any reasons to sell us off to the market instead of keeping his word. Lord Zorn patted the couch, offering for us to sit with him at any number of the available sitting cushions.
“Brother, this will be the last time I can spar with King Sylve for you. He’s grown more suspicious over the years, and there isonly so much I can do before he decides to hire people to create a mutiny within our ranks.”
Over my shoulder I could see a few guards within hearing range standing alert at Lord Zorn’s office entrance.
“Only my most loyal guard my office,” Lord Zorn noticed my hesitation. “They share my plans for the Zorn legacy, and would die for the cause if need be.” One of the guards was glancing back at us with a smile, her teeth gleaming in a mischievous grin. I felt Lord Zorn was underestimating the commitment to only their own death, that one made me think she’d shank me given any perceived threat.
“What plans might that be?” If I was going to potentially be opening up trade with a trafficker of lives, I had to know if I was doing more good for my people at the expense of an unseen bad to others. My mother would never accept it if I didn’t think several steps ahead, and project possible outcomes. I was surprised I was even contemplating the deal.
Even more so when it was Vareo who answered for him, “A path to freedom, true choice.” There was a longing in Vareo’s eyes, and I knew then that there was more to this story, and I wanted to ask him about it. Instead, I found myself leaning into his chest, and trying to comfort him. His secrets would have another day to live. “Not everyone agrees with my plans, which is why it’s best to keep them between us. For now. Even my path is not perfect, but it is mine to take.”
I could respect that, even if I didn’t respect his business. He seemed trustworthy, which was a dangerous prospect. To think that I felt any kind of trust forming with a trader of lives like Lord Zorn was a sign of how easy it was to be complicit with evil deeds as long as the perpetrator was affable and giving in select kindnesses.
“Any business conducted with you would come with conditions,” I remarked knowing the conditions would go bothdirections. Hardness remained in my tone despite my waning resolve to stay objective when he had the means to help cure Vareo. “One of which is all labor must be paid for, and your labor must choose to work for you uncoerced. No one in connection with the transport or trade is forced to be there. Do you understand? No parsing my words or intentions.”
There was a twinkle in Lord Zorn’s dark eyes, and he pushed himself up from his cushioned throne in a swift yet smooth movement.
“Consider it done,” he agreed with a toothy smile as his eyes glimmered in a way that made me think I’d been swindled in some way.
“I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” I said, taken aback by his quick conclusion, nearly dropping Vareo’s hand in the process. He wasn’t letting me go so easily, and I warmed at the thought that perhaps he didn’t want to let go of the comfort of that touch just as much as I didn’t. In that moment, I didn’t want either of us to separate, because like this I didn’t have to think about whether he was only protecting me, or whether he actually cared.
“Lord Zorn,” the same guard interrupted, “all clients have been transferred to the planet base. We’re ready to disembark.”
