16. CHAPTER 16

I'm used to straightforward battles; if someone wanted to fight me, I appreciated being told face-to-face in simple terms. At least I knew what the hell I was getting. I could counter a jab to the jaw and a kick to the ribs. But this? These mind games, secrets, and lies were always the worst type of shit to deal with. Every nerve was on edge, and my senses became extra sensitive to everything, which irritated me. I was tired of holding back.

I heard screams in the distance coming from the black smoke billowing into the darkening purple sky. Could it be my little Wolcan, my Caspian? Squirming himself out of another tight situation?

If it was, I think I would mate him right then and there the moment I saw him, whether I knew what the hell I was doing or not!

"Hey, big guy!" I heard a small whisper from nearby, but it was not his voice's soft, husky sound.

Someone stood in the near-dark alley, beckoning me to join them. I stomped over, sick to death of these shadow games, and removed the thick cloth hood from their head to reveal a human male. His blue eyes widened like saucers when I grabbed him by his hair and pulled him forward. He had a chip installed, just like Caspian. He belonged to someone.

"Please, listen to me!" He said the word please as though it killed him inside to speak it. "I was told to give you something by a …woman like you. Her name is Elvira, and it's about Caspian!"

I let him go and stood back to get a good look at him and to calm myself; damn, that boy made me soft as hell! "Be quick about it, human."

He handed me a small tablet that would fit into a navigation system. I had a feeling Caspian's kidnapping would lead to some game, they wanted to see me crawl and beg, but I would tear their damned livers from their assholes and piss down their throats!

"If you can't wait to look on that device, I think I overheard them say something about a planet called Dargoshe."

Hmm, Dargoshe, that planet is almost uninhabitable because of its hot temperatures. However, the heat was only close to the surface of the planet. The skies were very lovely. One needed an aerial ship to live there. The planet was a nice place to hide from the law as it was easy to jam signals due to the magnetic activity of the heated surface.

I snatched the human the moment I felt him trying to leave, and he struggled in my arms as he sputtered and babbled about how he had done his part.

"Feion, how many of you does he own?" I asked, wanting some information. "Don't even think of lying, or I'll rip that chip right out of your head."

"Look!" He still struggled to release himself from my grip. "This…Elvira… told me that this Feion was responsible for my… previous predicament. There was me and another, though I don't know if he escaped the fire. Caspian was there too." I let him go once he spoke his name.

He coughed and took a deep breath. "If you care about him, then it will make you happy to know that he wasn't harmed while there or sold to anyone. He talked about you. That you were gonna save him, but he isn't the type to sit around for that, so we escaped together." He pointed toward the smoke. "We did that, we started the fire." He winced once he snapped his head, and he coughed hard. The implant must have been newly inserted, and it was clearly a rushed job with little care given to this human's well-being.

"If you two escaped together, then why are you—?"

"I lost track of him in the crowd when I picked this up." He slipped the jewel from his gray cloak, and I snatched it from his hands. The chain wasn't broken. It was removed. "Before I knew it, I was getting carted off somewhere. Only these guys, other aliens like you, gave me clothes and these implants, and that's when Elvira told me to give this tablet to you." He sighed. "I get it," he continued. "This place is all kinds of shady. You're smart not to trust anyone here." He realized what he had just said, and he ceased looking around and focused his wide-eyed gaze on me. "I have no reason to lie, of course!"

"This is probably a trap," I said on edge. Running wildly through the city, slicing everything in sight, would only get me put down like a rabid animal. Once again, I was forced to play this game, play the cornered animal until the predator realizes they are the prey. There was also a detail in this human's story I found interesting. He spoke of Elvira being with other Valisians. Was this Feion that powerful? Something wasn't right. "You're coming with me."

"Huh? Why?" The man protested. "I barely escaped with my life! Now, I can talk to these aliens and understand them. I have a chance to make it. I feel sorry for Caspian, but I did my part in trying to save him twice already."

A devious thought had entered my mind. "You said it yourself, did you not?" I showed off my fangs. "I shouldn't trust anyone; therefore, I need some insurance, so you will come with me whether you want to or not."

"This is not fair." He groaned, resigned to his fate.

"You will find yourself doing many things you don't want to do unless you want to spend time in the prison onboard my ship. I'm sure my scientists would love to know more about human anatomy."

"I'm coming!" He perked up and plastered a false smile on his face.

Now, that was better.

The human followed behind me like a baby following its mother. I didn't want to waste more time with my rescue attempt, and I wondered how much of my efforts would be in vain. His life snuffed out before I had even arrived.

The shuttle that would take me to my ship, parked at the refueling station that orbited the planet, was ready to go. Still, I wanted no one from my ship to come with me. I didn't want to deal with the headache of deciding who was trustworthy and who wasn't. I suppose you could say I was avoiding the matter altogether. Perhaps it was because I feared being surrounded by others who didn't think I was worth following.

I ordered a new ship, one large enough to provide a private cabin and some comforts and small enough to land and take off from a planet's surface.

The dealer said he only had one available for me and to my luck it was a Valisian ship.

It felt like a new beginning the moment I stepped on board; the bridge was small enough for the pilot and copilot chair, while the main room was large, with a navigation system seated in the center and a single podium to overlook the system. A small security room, conference area, kitchen, dining space, and crew quarters for a small crew comprised the rest of the rooms onboard. A med bay and weapons systems with a turret room took care of the guns onboard. Engineering was below deck with the FTL drives. The ship was a sight to behold, and not every day someone would put a ship like this up for sale.

Like a compulsive buyer, I purchased it sight unseen after hearing it was Valisian-made. Though the design was similar, there was something quite off about it. Most Valisian ships of this size had a throne for the captain; this one focused on the nav system. There were also signs of stealth tech, and none of our ships used stealth; we considered it the coward"s way. Perhaps the ship was modified. I saw signs of several markings that were hard to see, such as paint scratching or covering them—so much for buying it new.

"For somebody on a rescue mission, you sure are taking your time inspecting this ship." The human male sighed.

I chuckled. "It wouldn't be much of a rescue attempt if this ship came apart the moment we left the atmosphere."

"Good point."

"Can you fly?" I asked, trying to figure out what role to give him; the vessel was small enough to fit inside my capital ship but was still sizable.

"I can get the hang of it, though I'm no professional. I got to this planet without even understanding the computer of a shuttle; now that I can, it would be even better."

"I'll fly. You focus on Nav," None of what he said gave me much confidence.

It wasn't long until we had our clearance and were taking off into deep space.

For the most part, the ship would be on autopilot until we were there.

"What's your planet like?"

"Fishing for information?" The human replied over the comms. "You will have to pay me."

"Pay you? You would tell me everything for credits?"

"I'm not the least bit brave. Torture wouldn't work on me; I will just tell you whatever you want."

"Are all the human males like this?" I thought of Xil and the news of his deal with humans willing to trade their people.

"No, most wouldn't have gotten as far as I did. Some meatheads would have acted tough and gotten themselves killed. I understand my limitations. I also have ambitions."

I laughed. "And you hope to achieve them here?"

"Yeah. Suppose I had a good ship. The company responsible for bringing us here had some serious restrictions on alcohol, candy, chocolates, and so on. Maybe they thought of creating a new religion, or they were health nuts, I don't know, but I planned to get my own ship and transport these restricted goods and more, make myself a shit ton of credits. Be a smuggler like Han Solo."

"Who is that?"

"Nothing." He said dismissively. "Some character from an old movie in my home world."

"Ah, I've had a glimpse of those."

"Yeah, well, the only time I wish to return to Earth is to pick shit up. I have no attachments to that place."

"I see." He was like me. I loved my home planet, but nothing was there for me; it made me wonder why I wanted to rule it.

"But you should be careful," he said over the static of the comms. "Caspian spoke about an invasion. We humans tend to adapt to harsh times, but we also lose ourselves in the process. It won't be as easy as you think. Hell, just coming up here had people trying to blow everything up."

"Maybe they sensed the danger."

"Maybe, but with all the aliens out here, you guys probably would have found us, anyway. At least if we're already up here, there's a chance."

I laughed. "I thought you said you didn't care."

"How am I supposed to make money if humans are crippled or destroyed? Hell, a war would be the most lucrative time of my career."

"Well, aren't you the savvy one?"

We were coming up to orbit the orange-swirling planet.

"Wow, it looks like an orange crème icicle." The human chuckled amusedly.

"Human. Click on the planet in the nav system and read off the location coordinates given by your mistress."

He groaned. "12. 15. 90. And I don't work for her."

"Good job," I said, ignoring him; the fact that he didn't try to kill me the entire time we were up here was making me begin to believe him… a little. But I knew men like him, they were opportunistic more than anything, likely to sell you out for a few extra credits than to betray for nefarious means. Perhaps that is what made me trust him more, it meant he wasn"t anybody"s man but his own.

"The temps are wild here! Just as hot as Venus!" The human exclaimed as I lowered us into the atmosphere and guided us close enough to the massive airship structure hovering in the skies. I magnified the location and spotted large security drones hovering over the ship in a pattern, most likely to protect it from invaders. I left the seat and headed to the main room, where the human stood on the podium. "Maybe I spoke too soon…" The human said once we exited the searing heat of the upper atmosphere to the more temperate climate below.

I grabbed my gun and checked my spare cartridges. Instinctively, I checked the locker nearby and found a few unused cartridges and a sidearm. I don't know what someone used this ship for, but the previous owners left some nice gear behind. I shielded my face behind my helm.

"Good luck." The human waved goodbye.