Page 7 of Bartender Mate

“You’ll all catch on quickly.” Argon clapped his hands and turned. “Twenty minutes to Church. I suggest you get your hustle on. Church starts when Church starts.”

We all entered the bunkhouse slowly, the darkness making it hard to navigate. Not a single light was on and we each shuffled forward trying to find a way to illuminate the room.

“You know,” said a voice somewhere above us. “I told my mate you all would have trouble getting acclimated to the club quarters.” The hollow sound of footsteps on wooden treds. “But I gotta admit, I did not have ‘Light Switch’ down as the thing that would have you lot stymied. Not sure why I’m surprised. That council of yours just doesn’t give enough information to their soldiers.” A click preceded the lights blinding each of us. “Fifteen minutes until Church.”

The woman couldn’t have come up to my shoulder. She was petite with dark hair that flowed like a waterfall down her back. Despite her diminutive frame, power radiated from her easy stance. For the moment, it was soothing and welcoming, but underneath those still waters hinted a torrent of pain if we didn’t mind our manners. Under our inspection, her skin flushed teal for a moment, like her new form was trying to bust through. This must be Argon’s mate. Eden.

“And when you get to your rooms, there’s a switch.” She reached over and flipped a little white lever down, plunging us back into darkness. “It’s right by the door.”

“We thank you,” Asteroid intoned, heading to the stairs. “We shall look for thisswitchwhen we enter our living quarters.”

“Look quickly,” she smirked. “Argon is a stickler for time.”

Then the woman sauntered out in the direction of her mate, without another word.

“Find your rooms,” Captain Zinc barked. “We have wasted enough time.” I watched as he tried to head towards the rooms on the first floor, before one of his companions grabbed his arm and directed him back towards the stairs.

“We aren’t here to find mates, Copper,” Zinc growled, low and full of warning.

“You use up entirely too much energy denying it.” Cooper shook his head and stomped up the stairs, nudging us out of his way. “One day, your fate is going to smack you in the face, and then what are you going to do?” He disappeared down the hall. The slamming of a door told us all what we already knew. There was a mated Drakon room for Copper and his mates, whether Zinc wanted to admit it or not. I was only a little curious to know where Zinc would find his bed. Because it wasn’t going to be on the first floor, and Copper could hold a damn fine grudge.

* * *

Church turnedout to be a room at the back of the clubhouse. Fifteen foot tall doors made out of thick metal led into the room that was barely big enough for us all to cram into. Argon sat at the head of a wooden table with Zinc at his side. Both males looked uncomfortable in their positions, but as Zinc outranked Argon at least in terms of Drakonian military hierarchy, it had to be confusing at best.

Argon reached out for a small mallet and hit it on a disk of wood. “Lets get this business settled before it gets too fucking late for beer.”

“Never too late for beer, mate,” snarked Eden, the woman who had saved us from pure darkness. We’d been officially introduced as we’d entered Church. “You’re just an old man.”

“We have shit to be taken care of.” He smashed the disk again, the crack of wood against wood echoed through the room, and seats were taken in haste. “First off. Welcome to Earth. I hope you all find what you’re seeking. It’s a dangerous planet, sure, but well worth the pain of discovering its riches.” He looked over at his mate, who made a soppy kiss-y face at him. “And their alcohol is second to none.”

“Nothing can take the place of a good Anderian Whiskey,” Zinc countered.

The stink eye that Argon gave him could have withered lesser males, yet our former captain didn’t seem to notice.

“We have to discuss the matter of rank as we merge.” Even the little side whispers stopped with those words. Argon stood and towered over us. “There’s going to be some growing pains with all of this. The council–in all its infinite wisdom–didn’t see fit to give us a clear path through, though, so I am going to clean up their mess.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, “As per fucking usual.”

A few snorts of agreement came from the other rebels while rustlings of dissent and unease were ushered from my former shipmates. Argon leaned on the table and pierced us with a knowing look.

“We all have thoughts about each other and on the events of recent past so let’s cut the shit. Having your Wyer join our Thunder isn’t going to be the easiest thing. Zinc technically outranks me. I was up for a promotion when we left Drakonis. Zinc rose to his rank in that vacuum. Am I saying he wouldn’t have gotten there if I’d stayed? I can’t speak to that. And, quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck. We’re not on Drakonis anymore,” he intoned. His imperious gaze swept the room taking in each and every Drakon present. My scowling eyebrows were slowly lifting as he spoke. “We’re on Earth, now, and there’s no going back. It’s up to us–all of us–to build a life here. One that is tolerable to our beasts and doesn’t bring down unnecessary trouble on our people.”

Much to my surprise, I felt myself and others nearby nodding along. “Therefore, the only way to solve this cleanly and without debate from the fucking peanut gallery, is through battle.” Argon’s eyes cut over to Zinc, who clearly wasn’t expecting that.

“You propose that I challenge you for leadership?” Zinc rose to his feet to stand toe-to-toe with the Stellar Misfits’ President. “Not exactly how it works. I was given an order to cede control to you. I, for one, usually follow my orders.”

Argon’s Thunder bristled at the slight, but the Prez didn’t so much as blink as he stared Zinc down.

“Do you deny that you had the urge to challenge me the moment our eyes met?” Argon pressed. “You’ll find I don’t play around. Despite your orders, your dragon hasn’t submitted to mine. What happens in battle the first time I make a call you don’t agree with? If you challenge the chain of command then, when we are fighting for our lives, then our people will be the ones to suffer.”

“I have more control than you give me credit for, Drakon,” Zinc growled, his beast already in his throat.

Argon inclined his head in a tilt meant to mullify the bristling giant. “I mean no disrespect, Zinc. If we are to survive here and protect the ones we love, we can’t fight our true nature. We must embrace our beasts and funnel their rage at the appropriate targets. This is the only way for our combined Weyr to fall into their natural places.”

“I will take it into advisement.” Zinc sat back down, fire still burning in his eyes.

I bit back a chuckle at his surly if thoughtful expression.

Whether Zinc wanted to admit it or not, Argon had called it. There was no way our former captain’s beast was just gonna take this pecking order lying down. But Argon had just proved himself an excellent leader, too. I knew as well as the rest that the brute was an excellent fighter with a flourishing career path. Until his defection, Argon was set to land himself a place on the Halls of Glory back on Drakonis. So, in a true battle for dominance, which beast would prevail?

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