Page 73 of Champion
That left us girls standing around rather awkwardly until Khaion pulled Emmy to sit in his lap, an action every male emulated.
I squirmed, trying to find a spot on Charick's lap that would keep his growing erection from distracting me. Meeting Emmy's gaze, I suspected this was a shared dilemma and bit my tongue painfully to keep from giggling.
"We have received our first assignment from the Alliance," Khaion announced, all business despite Emmy perched on his thighs. "Planet Westarzo."
Jutuk's low moan reverberated around the room. Pearl turned in his lap, sliding her arm around his shoulders. "What's the matter?"
The Wayfinder positively beamed at his mate's attention and allowed himself to kiss the tip of her nose before addressing his obvious reluctance. "Westarzo is a privately owned planet on the edge of the Durveshi system." He sighed, eyes darkening. "Its owner is known for being… eccentric."
"What do you mean?" Hakkar asked, leaning forward enough to jostle Agnes. She giggled… a sound I hadn't heard from her in a long time.
Emmy chuckled, then cleared her throat, adopting a serious pose. "From what we understand, the owner, a merchant named Kayzon, got his hands on some broadcasts of old Earth movies and was particularly fascinated by westerns."
"Seriously?" Clara asked on the heels of the amused snort.
"Seriously," Emmy chimed, with a faint roll of her eyes.
"Kayzon is very wealthy," Khaion added. "He's known to be quite a collector."
I vaguely recalled hearing about a theft of Western antiques and collectibles a few years back that had never been recovered.
"He's styled the main settlement on the planet to resemble a western town, complete with saloon and whorehouse," Emmy continued with distaste at what she relayed scrunching her nose.
"So, he's kidnapped human females for sex slaves," Clara grumbled. I heard she’d suffered the same fate. Of course, it had all worked out well in the end… her mate Tarook being her only client.
"We have a report of only one human female at the settlement. A chanteuse." Khaion shifted Emmy to his opposite thigh in order to hit the control panel embedded in the table.
The screens around us erupted with footage of both the planet and the settlement. It looked like the typical set of a Western movie, except the sand was a faint mauve color, and the sky was a lovely shade of lavender.
"John Wayne goes to Mars," Pearl mumbled, sending a fissure of something that might have been excitement over my spine.
Television and radio waves had been emanating from Earth for decades. Some aliens found themselves smitten with the images and sounds and sought to obtain the source. Collectors, they were called. Beings that didn't want to exploit humans as slaves, but simply wanted to own what they considered great talent or beauty. It's how Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Pressley found themselves in space, their absence covered by the government to look like untimely deaths. While it pissed me off to no end to think my own government and the military I'd served might have a hand in covering up alien abduction, I had to admit, the idea of finding John Wayne on an alien planet was rather exhilarating. A chanteuse though? I wracked my brain for missing country and Western singers and came up empty.
We spent the next hour reviewing the images, learning the layout of the settlement, and reviewing intel on its owner. While I found all the strategizing fascinating and reminiscent of my naval intelligence days, when Pearl announced it was time for dinner, my stomach gave a rumble of gratitude.
I don't know what I expected, but the dining hall was so reminiscent of those on Earth’s military bases that I nearly laughed out loud. The space was huge, with enough tables to seat at least a thousand comfortably, although it was only half full. I guess, like any good military operation, not all the crew of theBardagacould be off duty at once.
The twelve of us took over a long table near the starboard windows. We girls settled at one end while the guys spread their star charts and maps at the other. Charick suggested that with my military background, I be included in planning the infiltration of the settlement. I was so going to reward him for that later. But the issue in question was how best to approach Westarzo so as not to raise the alarm by our mere presence in orbit, and I knew squat about space travel. Although I did suggest that stealth when rescuing kidnapped humans might prove best… especially on a planet where everyone wore sidearms and held gunfights in the street.
Pearl disappeared into the kitchen for a minute, returning with a tray of glasses filled to the brim with the sweet-tasting valat.
"Dinner should be ready in a few minutes." She grinned broadly, settling into her seat. "I taught Orzon a new recipe."
I might have been imagining it, but no one but Pearl seemed too impressed with the announcement.
Emmy instead turned her attention to Daisy, affixing her with a gimlet eye and a pout. "I can't believe you guys are leaving us in a couple of days. I bet Daicon would love a planet modeled after the old West."
"Oh, he would," Daisy said on the heels of a giggle-snort.
"You're leaving?" Clara piped up, leaning forward to get as much in Daisy's face as she could from across the table. "Why?"
"Now that the Alliance has ousted Ambassador Yaard and his cronies from power, we need to get Ewok and Vienda recognized as the true heirs," Daisy explained.
Thanks to Charick's mother, I knew this. When Daisy and Daicon rescued a group of child slaves from the Gilese mining moon, they had no idea one of the brood was a prince, heir to the throne of the Kerzak. Ambassador Yaard slaughteredthe king and queen and sent the young prince and his sister into banishment, something everyone learned when Agnes and Hakkar rescued Princess Vienda and her family from the planet Arstan.
"Are you sure it's safe for you to be traveling to a planet full of Kerzak?" Clara pressed, her eyes darting to Daisy's rounded stomach. Clara had a reason for concern, from what I understood. A group of Kerzak nearly killed her.
Daisy laughed, her hand rubbing over her stomach. "The Alliance is giving us a full military brigade as escort. And you know how protective Daicon is. Plus, we won't be gone long, just long enough to install Ewok as the rightful ruler."
