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“See?” she said with a small smile. “Anyway, I’m sure if the council knew I was here that we wouldn’t be having this conversation. They would just send in the troops to kill me or disable me in some way so they can get their grimy hands on me. They wouldn’t have any need to make it look like an accident.”

Veral gave her a confused look.

“No, they would not ‘send in the troops,’ as you say. They would wish to keep the matter secret. They would likely employ skilled bounty hunters and assassins to capture us if possible or kill us. It would not be an attack that we would see coming,” he grumbled as he pulled open another access panel and hooked himself in that droid’s system.

“Sometimes an accident is just an accident. My daddy always said that bad luck came in threes. I guess I’m due one more fucked up thing happening if he’s right,” she teased.

Her effort to lighten the mood, and hopefully engage Veral in something a bit more interesting than his current preoccupation, fell completely flat.

She sighed and exchanged a look with Dreth. Veral was over-the-top protective, but this repetitive examination of the droids was unlike him. There were certainly other things that required his attention than malfunctioning droids that had already been inspected by no fewer than six different individuals. Instead, he should be patrolling the grounds, taking comms with his mother-kin in various parts of their lands, and arranging meetings—all of it boring, boring stuff that she was obligated to try and be enthusiastic about now that he was including her in his duties, if that was what she could call trailing after him as if she were a dorashnal.

She glanced down at Krono where he lay at her feet, his huge head resting on his forepaws. His sides heaved with a sigh, but he did not otherwise even twitch as his eyes tracked Veral. The poor creature rarely got out of the rooms since he couldn’t accompany Veral in many of his tasks. He kept Terri company while she rested, but when she was accompanying Veral, he was left in the room alone for most the day. Although she was assured that most Argurmas kept their dorashnals in their private quarters, Krono was accustomed to free rein throughoutthe Wandererand regular intervals sprinting over open ground whenever they were salvaging planetside.

The corridors of the household were hardly comparable to the freedoms they enjoyed. Terri couldn’t help but note that, despite being out of the room, Krono didn’t look any more enthusiastic than she felt.

Krono was bored, she was bored, and she would have bet money that Veral was bored, too.

There had to be more to his insistence on investigating everything himself so intently. He committed himself to it despite numerous reports from the household’s technical specialists, and even a report from the manufacturer regarding common droid malfunctions. Everything said clear as day that it wasn’t uncommon for programming to become corroded and the machine to switch to its auxiliary programming. With a droid also programmed for battle, corrosion could be lethal.

She knew that he was on edge—the droid’s malfunction still gave her the occasional nightmare, after all—but she wondered if there was a chance he was also using it as an excuse to avoid his duties. He would deny it, of course, since he was obsessed with her safety, but… was he tired of being the Ahanvala and looking for any reason to escape it as soon as possible?

Not that she could blame him. For as long as she had known him, he was a male who was in a constant state of activity. There were a few leisure opportunities that they enjoyed, but for the most part they were either traveling to a job or working one. It was the life they were both accustomed to.

Terri wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she was getting increasingly restless. There was a lot to be said for living in the relative safety of the compound with anything she wanted practically at her fingertips, but she had to face it—she wasn’t made for this life. Staying within the four walls and courtyard of the Monushava compound—which had originally sounded like a good idea when she was pregnant and wanted to be near someone with medical knowledge—was slowly making her crazy.

It was too dark and too claustrophobic, and lately she was feeling the constricting weight of it even more. There wasn’t a day she didn’t feel it as she walked the same routes through the hallways, trying to ignore the way the monotony of it all crawled under her skin.

Changing her route did little to help it. To make matters worse, she was hopeless when it came to contributing to an Argurumal household. Unlike everyone who was programmed and trained to fulfill a duty, she was useless. There was not one productive thing that she could find to do in a place than ran like an efficient machine. Even when she accompanied Veral, she had nothing worthwhile to do except enjoy his company until she decided to return to their rooms with Harahna.

In truth, the only thing shehadto do was take care of their daughter. When not occupied with feeding, she could attempt to amuse herself with either a book or walking through the courtyard and various parts of the compound—and wait for time to pass. Unfortunately, dark, endless walls and the same flat conversation among those who regarded her more as a curiosity than anything else wasn’t nearly stimulating enough, and the courtyard gardens could only serve as a distraction for so long in her day before she became restless there too. Not even accompanying Veral, as had become normal as of late, had done more than taken the edge off for a little while.

“Veral, perhaps your mate is right that this is futile,” Dreth offered, his voice breaking the thick silence surrounding them.

Larth made a choking sound in the back of his throat, his eyes widening at the younger male.

Veral snapped his head around, his hand paused on the systems panel of the droid he was currently leaning over. He straightened and glared openly at the other male, his vibrissae writhing in irritation. Dreth inclined his head toward her wordlessly. Veral’s head turned her way, and immediately his vibrissae flattened. His expression morphed into one of chagrin as he took in her tired—and probably somewhat impatient—expression.

He removed his hand, turned away from the droid, and approached her as a tiny light flickered on the panel’s inside casing.

“Uh, Veral…” she murmured.

What was with the light? Was that supposed to happen? She didn’t recall seeing any of the other droids light up, but she also admitted that she hadn’t been paying particularly close attention.

Mandibles purring with their vibration, he leaned in, his knuckles brushing her cheek lovingly. Immediately, she melted into the touch. The light thing was probably nothing. Aliens put alarms on everything, and it was only blinking.

“I know, anastha.” He sighed. “I am—as you like to say—obsessing. You have been standing there patiently yet again as I inspect the droid futilely. Not even surveillance has picked up anything suspicious, but when I look at all the data, I am processing that there is something that I am missing here. Perhaps it is due to my own suspicious nature and my fear of harm coming to you. I will cease now. Thank you, Dreth,” he added in acknowledgment to the male standing just beyond them.

The light behind him flickered faster, and Terri’s heart began to race. Okay, that wasn’t good. Still no alarms going off, though. Her eyes darted to Dreth and Larth to gauge their reaction since neither of them had remarked at all on it. Larth frowned in confusion as he met her eyes.

Shit, they were standing right between the guards and the droid. They were probably blocking any view of it. She had better say something fast. Better safe than sorry, as her dad was fond of saying about… well, everything when it came to the ruins of Phoenix.

“No, Veral. I mean, yes, you’re right… but that’s not what…”

Nearby, Krono stiffened and whined anxiously, his vibrissae standing around him like a halo.

Her mate frowned down at her, his body straightening warily as he glanced over at Krono and back at her again.

“Krono? Anastha, why is your heartbeat increased?”


Tags: S.J. Sanders Argurma Salvager Science Fiction