Oh well. Azan to the rescue.She hoped no one got word of this.
Raising her blaster, she squinted at the males. Damned Argurma looked the same as far as she could tell. Where was the one with the damaged head whips… Ah, there he was. The other was her target. She pulled the trigger, the sound of the implant discharging a faint whistle. But he felt it when it implanted. The male jerked away from Veral, his body arching as he roared in agony.
That was the damned thing about the implants. They were designed to burrow deep into the body and attach to the bone. They could not be dug out. Even a medic would have a difficult time removing it without detonating it. A cold smile curled her lips as the male spun to her, his hand clutching his side. That had to hurt as it dug through all that tissue to attach to the spine. She was fairly certain that her aim had missed the vital organs.
A cold smile stretched wide across her face. “Now that I have your attention, I am afraid I cannot let you take my new… ah, friends. I have debts to repay, and it would be difficult for me to do that if I let you take them. That little sting you felt—ah, more than a sting I suppose—that was a grenade implant capsule. Oh, youhaveheard of them,” she said with a small laugh as the shock broke through the impassive expression that the male bore. His face immediately shut down once more as he glared at her.
“What do you want, female?” he snarled.
That was unpleasant of him, but from her recent experiences, Argurma did not have good manners anyway.
“Simple. Return them to their ship, and then me to mine. I will give you the docking codes to align with my ship. Once I am aboard and am certain that my friends are safe, I will comm you the deactivation code.”
“The council—”
“Not my problem. Consider this a small mercy. That male there is very protective of his female, and I fear what he might do to you or anyone you turn them over to if you are fortunate enough. Especially once that little human has recovered and that symbiont armor is operational again. None of you are going to enjoy that nasty little surprise. Take my word on that. If you even think of trying to kill me and take them anyway, I might remind you that without the code, the grenade will detonate in thirty-six galactic standard hours.”
“I don’t understand. If you had something like that all this time, why didn’t you use it before now?” Terri asked in disbelief as she sagged against her mate. Once he had noted that Azan had the situation well in hand, he had returned to his mate, gathering her once more into his arms.
Azan gave the female a sharp grin. “Pirate ships are notoriously difficult to gain control of, and murdering the captain on his own ship is risky for one who attempts it. This worked out well in my favor. He died here going after his treasure, and I barely escaped, but returned to the crew to see them through the trials to come. I will be a hero. A far better scenario. Perhaps not exactly what I imagined, but worth the expenditure of the capsule.”
Kaylar snarled and turned to glare at Veral. “I thought you said that this female posed no danger.”
“I did not specify that she would not be dangerous to you,” Veral said, his tone flat. “If you had not betrayed me, we would have returned her to her ship without incident.”
“Very well. Seems no other options are available. The council will not be happy,” Kaylar growled. To Azan’s surprise his face suddenly relaxed, a smile tugging the hard line of his lips. “As your pirate friend says, however, not my problem. I will inform them of the situation and return to my previous assignment. Let us return to the surface of the ship. The disembarkation platform is waiting there. It is a dinix-class platform. It will fit us all easily with room to spare.”
With a pleased smile, Azan returned her blaster to its holster. No more walking through jungles and hot bogs… She could not have planned it better!
28
Now that the matter between Kaylar and Veral seemed to be settled, and to her surprise and amusement neither male seemed to hold a grudge at all over the matter, Terri was able to relax and observe the interior of an Argurma warship. It wasn’t as large as the salvager, but it was extremely comfortable. She settled at a table, practically groaning with relief at having an actual place to sit for the first time in days. All the tension and worry that had plagued her eased out of her, leaving only a bone-wearying exhaustion.
Azan flopped in the chair beside her and sighed, her eyes also on the males seated opposite them, pouring over holograms of star charts as the ship navigated toward where the salvager awaited. She had returned from one of the cabins where she had taken Garswal, after filling him with foods from Kaylar’s replicator, so that he could sleep. The female rubbed her face and sighed mournfully.
“I can’t believe we went through all that hell and came away with so little,” she muttered. “All that gold… The finest metals I’ve ever seen. And the giant gems! No, instead I’m walking away with that stinky old robe covered in decomposition powder. You can keep that.”
“I am certain that our client may purchase it. If not, I can find a buyer who will appreciate a rare item of antiquity,” Veral interjected. “It may be the only thing that will even partially reimburse us for the expenses of this salvage.”
Terri blinked and sat up, a smile flooding her face as excitement sent a burst of energy through her.
“That’s not the only thing that will reimburse us,” she said with a small laugh.
Everyone fell silent and watched as she grinned smugly and began unsealing the storage pouches on her armor. Each time her fingers slipped inside a pouch, she pulled at the ornate jewelry, gold chains, pouches of round gold coins that apparently were used before the credits system, and so many gems. Azan’s gasp was the only sound that filled the room as everyone stared at the growing pile. It was a good thing that the storage pouches held a lot without it being noticeable, because even bursting full, none of the pirates had noticed any prominent bulges in her armor from her collection.
Finally, she sat the last gem on the table, a blood red stone nearly the size of her hand, and sighed happily. “I do think that this should take care of it.”
“You found all of this without going inside the treasury?” Azan asked in disbelief.
“Yes, seems like the prince enjoyed surrounding himself with wealth in a very real sense,” Terri replied.
Azan whistled between her teeth as Veral handed Terri a bag. She methodically began to swipe the treasure from the table into the sack. She would find a better place to store it once they returned to their ship. She left aside an ornate necklace set with glittering gems for Azan. It only seemed fair, though it pricked at her to part with something that would supply them for an even longer period. She shook it off and scraped the rest inside.
Turning to the pirate, she pushed the necklace toward her over the table. “It’s only fair that you take something after everything down there. You kept me safe and helped us escape the planet.”
Azan fingered it, a small smile on her lips. “I should say that I could not take this, but I have been a pirate too long and am greedy by nature. So I accept.” She swept the necklace easily over her neck, her smile widening as she sat back in her chair. “A satisfactory exchange.”
“Do I get nothing?” Kaylar asked crossly.