Chapter 32

Serval

"So, what lead did you get?" Sophie asked, leaning over the back of the pilot seat as she watched him input the coordinates he had been given.

"He knows the prince," Serval told her. "He didn't see him come to the station, but he heard every time it happened. Not often this place gets wealthy visitors. They tried to keep it quiet, but all the vendors knew when he got there because they wanted to sell to him."

Sophie laughed. It was such a bright, carefree sound.

Serval's teeth clenched, biting back his anger.

That visruthi male at her table had been about to touch her. He had been pumping out his pheromones, trying to get her horny and interested in him. There's no way she hadn't smelled it. The stench had been so thick, Serval had been choking on it.

And she had just sat there. Not even trying to get away from him. That sort of blatant challenge would have been impossible for a visruthi male to resist. They loved brash and brave females. Blowing smoke in his face was as good as begging him to fuck her.

Yet, she didn't even seem to notice.

Even now, she was just smiling, asking him questions, as she ran her fingers through her hair after having let it down.

So carefree.

So unconcerned.

So infuriating.

Serval was struggling to keep his anger contained as he worked.

"So, if your guy didn't see him, how did he give us any good info?" She asked, completely unaware of his feelings.

"The vendors all talk. They live on that station. They're close. He heard about the male the prince had been meeting. His name is Ritorvish. He's a kreecharma male. Furry, as I expected. He's a known smuggler. Usually, he works in people."

"Who, wait. People?" Sophie finally frowned. "He does human, er, people trafficking?"

"Not what you're thinking." Serval engaged the subspace generator. Preparing them for the swing. "He transports people illegally. Those who want to get away from the authorities specifically. But he will also transport desperate people who need to escape other bad people."

"So… he does good things?"

"Based on the rate he charges, I'd say no. He does the slightly less illegal thing because it's less likely to get the authorities on his tail," he replied evenly. "The point is, he specializes in transporting living beings under the nose of authorities. Which likely translates very well to captured animals."

"Hm, nice guy," she muttered. "How does he do that?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that he is well known in certain circles. Those desperate to get away, specifically. And that station happens to see a lot of the kind. Which means they know how to get in contact with him."

"And that includes a location?"

"It does." He hit the final switch and the ship jerked as they dropped into their swing. All the communication equipment went into standby mode, as there was no communicating with anyone outside the ship in subspace. "We're going to a terraformed dwarf planet. Very small, just big enough to hold enough atmosphere to survive. Technically, not legally terraformed or colonized. Ritorvish has a known compound there."

"Great!" Sophie bounced back excitedly as he stood. "How long until we arrive?"

"It's fairly close to here. We'll probably drop out of our swing within a mark. No more than two."

"Dang, that is close. Took us days to get here from Wav'aii." She chuckled, hands on her hips as she gave him a flirtatious smile. "So, got any plans until then? I was thinking we could do some practical experiments on my angle hypothesis."

Serval's cock jumped, thrilled by the prospect of claiming her little mouth.

But he was still angry, too angry to be tempted by her, so he said simply, "No. I have to get ready."

"Ready for what?" She followed after him as he walked from the cockpit, keeping pace with him as he headed towards their room.

"I'm going down to the planet and infiltrating his compound."

"Er, is that safe?"

"Of course, it's not."

"He's not, like, the only person on this planet, right?"

"There's a small town. Traders, mostly. The kind of people that don't stay long. But it's a good place to do some business."

"Alright, cool. So, what should I wear?"

Serval paused just inside their room, turning back to her with a frown. "What should you wear?"

"Yeah." She looked down at her outfit. "I mean, I take it this isn't it. Is this like a hide your face under a hood and cloak kind of place, or an all black hoodie type of place? Or maybe this is the thing, and it's loud and proud like the station."

"There's nothing loud about this place. It's not a place for people to visit. If they catch the attention of the authorities, the entire planet will end up being captured and detained and deported since it is not a legal colony."

"So, hoodie?"

Serval narrowed his eyes on her, crossing his arms, his olules worked up with his mood. "I'm going to wear something understated and, yes, covering my head. You can wear whatever you want, because you're not going."

"What? That's not fair!" She pouted, crossing her arms. "I went to the space station."

"That was different."

"Why?"

"Because you're not likely to get stolen and sold into sex slavery on that station. Although, apparently, you wouldn't even be concerned if you were!"

She blinked once as his words registered. Then her entire face tightened as she crossed her arms, giving him a blazing look.

"Run that one by me again," she said, her voice distressingly calm.

He heard the danger inherent in that tone, but something in Serval couldn't stop himself from continuing.

"You taunted a visruthi male!"

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"They crave females that defy them!"

"I fail to see how his desire is my problem," she scoffed, tossing her hair. "I told him no. I told him I was mated. If he wasn't getting the message, that's on him."

"You blew smoke in his face."

"Which, in hindsight, was a bad idea. So, I won't do it again. Yet, I fail to see how his reaction to my obvious rejection is my problem."

Serval growled, turning from her to go to his drawers. He began yanking out a change of clothes.

"I'm going to the planet alone. You're going to stay here."

"Fine."

He whipped his head, looking back at her. The casual agreement, the sharp sting of it, made his eyes narrow. Especially when she gave him that hard look. Still glaring, as if daring him to say something else.

He turned from her, walking into the privy to wash off. His wii, responding to his anger, had produced an excess amount of toxin and he wanted to get it off before he went down. He heard Sophie say something in her own tongue before she left the room, but he didn't ask what she said.

Some part of him was aware that he was being irrational. She was right, of course. It wasn't her fault if some random male desired her. He didn't even particularly care if males looked at his female with desire. She was a beautiful female; she deserved their admiration.

But the fact that she would let one get so close to her, that she would seem so completely unconcerned about his proximity, made him angry.

And afraid.

Fo-Ray station was seedy and, potentially, dangerous. A careless person would very quickly find themselves robbed or stabbed or worse.

But this dwarf planet they were going to now? It was assured danger. No one went down there who didn't have bad intentions. Sophie going there and acting with her attitude, casually and dismissively challenging powerful males, just assured that she'd be attacked.

And Serval didn't think he'd be able to handle her being in danger like that.

What if he didn't get to her quickly enough next time? What if she got hurt, even if he did? The idea of her on that planet, even hidden under a cloak, made his entire body tense with fear. He could not let her down there.

But he probably could have stated it better.

By the time he had finished dressing, he had calmed down and realized that he needed to apologize to her. She was right. Nothing that happened was her fault. He had been afraid and lashed out against her when she didn't deserve it.

He wrapped a scarf around his face as he left. Something that went over his forehead and around his mouth. He could easily tug it up over his nose, leaving only his eyes visible on his face. It was the only way to cover his features without covering his olules, which were his greatest deterrent.

Because the planet wasn't just dangerous for Sophie. He would have to be careful as well. The dark brown outfit he chose was one he often wore into dangerous scenarios. It covered him completely from his eyes down and had a hood he could use to also cover his olules if he wished. More importantly, it had body armor in his most vulnerable areas. Something light that moved as he did. It would resist most stabbings and weak gunfire. It wouldn't do anything against laser or plasma fire, but such advanced weaponry was military grade only, so if it became a problem, he'd have a lot more to worry about than just the strength of his armor.

He didn't have a similar outfit for Sophie. Just another reason he shouldn't be bringing her along. Which he could have said instead of snapping at her, he knew.

As he was walking down the hall, the ship lurched slightly as they dropped out of the subspace swing. He immediately released his combot from his pocket to get any messages or updates that might have come in as he looked for Sophie.

She wasn't in the recreation room, or the entrance to the swimming room, or the galley. He didn't think she'd be in the second bedroom, which only left the cockpit.

He headed there, apology already on his tongue.

However, the moment he stepped inside, his combot started its merry chiming, alerting him of an incoming vid comm.

Sophie, who was sitting at the communication panel, her combot in front of her, recording, gave him a look over her shoulder before turning back to the device.

She was putting on her makeup again. Something she did on camera as she talked to her audience. She had told him it was a way of connecting with her viewers in a more intimate way. When he suggested she just talk to them, she told him that wouldn't work. Just talking gave it more of a formal speech feeling, but if she was getting ready while talking, it invoked a sense of intimacy and closeness that talking at them couldn't convey.

And it felt strangely like she was shutting him out as she turned to them while aggressively swirling one of her makeup brushes into one of her powders. There was nothing between them, but it felt exactly as if she had slammed a door in his face.

Staring at her, Serval answered the comm without checking the name.

"This is Serval," he said, stepping towards his mate as she angrily swiped the brush over her face. Her mouth closed as she waited for his call to finish before continuing her recording.

"Hey, you," Korvii suddenly sang out, making Serval's teeth grit as he glared over to see the infuriating domini male smirking at him. "What are you doing around these parts, friend?"

"What are you talking about?" Serval snapped, already aggravated by this fight with his mate. He didn't want to add Korvii's obnoxiousness on top of it.

"Just a bit surprised to see you dropping out of a swing in my vicinity."

Serval groaned. "You are not around this outpost, are you?"

"Want to hook up our ships? We can share a meal. I can prove once and for all that my female is better than yours."

Sophie sent him a look over her shoulder. Completely shuttered and unreadable, but it didn't look at all positive.

"No. I have a job to do," Serval snapped.

"Oh? What are you hunting down?"

"I'm not telling you! You think I'm that stupid?"

"You think I'm desperate enough to steal your story?! Ha! I'm chasing my own. My farasie story led me here. So, if that's what you came here for, you might as well back off now. That story is mine!"

"It's not," Serval admitted, some of his defensiveness fading.

"You really think I would do that?" Korvii asked, something in his tone that didn't quite sit right with Serval for some reason.

"You've never done it before," he admitted.

Korvii was obnoxious. He was constantly a thorn in Serval's side. But Serval could admit that he had never done anything underhanded like trying to steal a story. They had both covered the same conflicts and large events in the past, but that wasn't the same thing as taking a story. Korvii had also never made an attempt to hide his own stories. He always announced them to Serval like they weren't in competition. And of course, Serval didn't steal them, because he wasn't underhanded like that.

It must be insulting to be accused of doing so, especially when he was so openly unconcerned with divulging his own investigations.

Korvii made a sound, like Serval's admission was enough of an apology for the, admittedly, baseless accusation.

"Me and Hela and are going down. Meet us. Safety in numbers and all that." His voice took on that distinctly annoying teasing tone. "I would extend that offer to your mate, but I'm pretty sure you're not enough of a novi to bring a soft little thing like her down there."

Serval looked over to Sophie who was still staring at him. However, when she caught his eye, she snapped her makeup pallet closed with a harsh clack and set it to the side, deliberately ignoring him as she fished around for something else to slather on her face.

"You know, because yours is weak and helpless and mine is superior in every possible way," Korvii continued, oblivious to the fact that she could even hear him.

"Shut up," Serval said, perhaps not as strong as he could.

"I told you she can't help you," Korvii laughed. "Her cute little stories and silly little videos don't even compare to what my Hela can do! See you down there, Serval. Guess I'll have to meet your vitrala mate another time!"

Laughing uproariously, like he'd told some great joke by calling Sophie weak, Korvii ended the comm, leaving Serval and Sophie sitting in strained, uncomfortable silence.