13
“It’s beautiful,” Terri said softly as she took the pot in her hands.
On closer inspection, the pot was even more finely made than she expected and had a surprising weightiness to it. The lid seemed to fit snugly, with no visible gaps that would allow air to seep into it. It was as perfect.
Terri curled her fingers around the small knob at the top, tugging until it released with a pop. A tiny scraping sound came from within it just as she tilted the pot to look inside. Startled, she attempted to shove it back at the seller just as something red hopped out of the pot and launched at her face.
Instinctively, Terri threw her arm up, and thin, metallic tendrils spun out of her symbiont to protect her face, but everything seemed to happen in slow motion.Too late, she realized. She hadn’t been fast enough. She was distantly aware of her own shriek, but the red creature never landed. A blast sent yellow, goopy innards all over her face, chest, and the plate in front of her.
Gasping for air, she tried desperately not to gag at the foul-smelling remains covering her. Terri swiped uselessly at her face but came away with more of the slimy, sticky substance. She grimaced at the thin yellow ropes clinging to her hands. Slowly, she spread her fingers and shook her hand in attempt to dislodge it.
What the hellisthis?
A plain gray cloth appeared in front of her face.
“What a surprise to see you here, little human,” a familiar cheerful voice said.
Blinking through the slime clinging to her eyelashes, Terri grabbed the dangling cloth and vigorously wiped her face. Once she was sure she had gotten the majority of the guts off her face, she started wiping off her hands. Another cloth was offered, and she gratefully took it and attacked her hands with it. Whatever that creature was, its innards seemed to have a viscous quality to them because every place they touched her skin was red and stinging.
Just great.
Dumping the cloths on her plate of now inedible food, she looked up at the Blaithari, completely failing to conceal her shock at the presence of the tall pirate hovering over her.
“Azan, what are you doing on Argurumal?” Terri asked warily. “And where’s Garswal… and your crew for that matter?”
The idea of a crew of Blaithari pirates roaming around sent a ripple of unease through her. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about.
The female’s smirk broadened into a grin as she dragged a chair over and dropped, sprawling, into it. Unlike the last time she’d seen her, the pirate was wearing finer, fitted clothes and had abandoned her tight topknot for several long braids. She wrinkled her nose at the mess still clinging to Terri’s clothes.
“I hate gi’lurth bugs. Deadly if they get ahold of you and unpleasant if you manage to kill them first. But at least you are still alive,” she said with a firm slap to Terri’s shoulder. “Your little assassin friend didn’t get far.”
“Assassin?” Terri said, nausea surging up with the thought.
“What else? A gi’lurth bug is not native to this planet and would not have just crawled inside a pot.” Azan chuckled.
She lifted one of her six hands and gestured to a scowling Gargoluk. He was storming up to an equally sour-faced guard with the merchant, who had attempted to make a hasty departure, in tow. The male grasped in one of Gargoluk’s meaty fists didn’t even bother fighting it but allowed himself to be dragged over.
Response time of the guards was impressive. Of the same species as Gargoluk, the male didn’t look happy to be there but took the smaller alien with a stern look. Terri wanted to go and question the male, but at the same time, she didn’t want to draw attention to herself. Why would the merchant have wanted to hurt her? It was one of many questions that she would have to find a way of getting answers for.
“As for what I am doing here and the location of my crew, we had a surprisingly profitable… let us call it an acquisition… from a system nearby. This was the closest market where we might turn a reasonable profit and far enough away from the main cities to avoid drawing too much attention from Argurma officials. The Great Dunes people are pretty much left to their own devices.”
“And Garswal?”
“Waiting on the ship with his… ah, caretaker.”
“A caretaker,” Terri said slowly. A groan left her. “Please tell me you didn’t kidnap someone to nanny the boy.”
Azan chuckled. “Ah, we would have been wonderful together. You know me so well. As it happens, we rescued a female who apparently had been heading for the slave market that specializes in rare species. It looks like your mate is not the only one to have stumbled upon your little planet, but given that there was not a whole pen full of them, I imagine they just got lucky with the one and didn’t find any others.”
“A human,” Terri hissed in alarm. “You have a human?”
Azan nodded happily. “She is still… settling in.”
Terri blinked at her. “Don’t tell me you mean to keep her captive.”
“Why not? She is well cared for and a member of my crew, not a slave. It has taken some adjusting for her, but once she realized there was no easy way to return to her planet—a dying planet, from what she says—she is better off with us than she would be alone. Besides, I like her. She’s got spirit.”
Terri shifted uncomfortably in chair and held back a groan. She couldn’t deny that it was likely a safer option for the woman, but it still didn’t sit right with her.