Chapter 27

Antroli

I stand there, shock flooding my system as I look at my pretty Highland. Bruises and scratches cover her skin, mottling the pale flesh until it stands out angry and abused. Her nipples are swollen and cracked, dark and angry. Tears blur my vision as I look upon the atrocities visited upon her at the hands of Jakroon.

My fingers curl into fists as I push my way through, prepared to knock the bastard out. Vrokjan grabs me, keeping me by his side. His eyes blaze with mirroring fury as he shakes his head.

“She will pay for this,” Jakroon howls, shoving my pet into the arms of the enforcers.

Fiona cries out as she stumbles forward, her movements jerky and stilted. Agony lines her face as she looks at me, her eyes wet with unshed tears. Stepping forward, I try to reason with the enforcers.

“She was obviously defending herself. Take the bastard into custody for stealing my cow and abusing her like this.”

The Icorian in question thunders down the stairs. “An assault on one of us is a far greater crime than anything you’re accusing me of.”

“He is correct,” the enforcer intones. “This matter will have to be settled by the courts.” He curls his hand around Fiona’s arm and drags her away.

The soft, desperate cries tear at my heart. “Don’t fight them, my pet. They will not hurt you.”

“Moooooo,” she cries out, straining toward me.

“Please,” Vrokjan interjects. “Allow her one moment with her Master. Whatever crime she is accused of, you can see she’s distraught. The loss of a cow is tantamount to treason,” he grinds out. “You do not wish to be accused of such, do you?”

The two look at each other for a moment before handing her over to me. I catch her in my arms as she collapses forward and hold her tightly against my chest.

“You may bring her to the courts. I will lead and he will follow. Any deviance from the course will result in termination of your position as Ranchers. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Vrokjan answers for me. “And Jakroon?”

“He will remain in our custody until the courts decide the outcome.”

“This is outrageous,” he snarls. “She attacked me. Her crime is one that should result in her being put down, not coddled like some damned pet.”

Fiona flinches in my arms at the vitriol spilling from his lips. I simply hold her close as I remain silent, allowing Vrokjan to do the talking for both of us. He’s far more level-headed than I can ever hope to be right now.

“And you are accused of stealing said cow,” the enforcer retorts. “A serious crime indeed. You may come peacefully, or we will restrain you.”

A smile teases the edges of my lips as he storms after the men, still naked and dripping blood. Though her injuries far outweigh his, it fills me with a sense of pride to know she hurt him to the best of her ability. Ushering her to the transport, I put her into the front with us, sandwiching her between Vrokjan and me.

“We haven’t much time, my pet. Tell me everything. Vrokjan will allow you to speak.”

She looks up at my boss and trembles for a moment before looking back at me. “H- he hit me for speaking. Even after asking me a question.”

Vrokjan’s fingers grip the wheel as he keeps the transport where it’s supposed to go. The fury washing off of him is the same as my own. If I could rip the man apart with my bare hands, I would. Keeping my expression as tender as possible, I run my fingers down the bruises on her cheeks.

“You will not be punished for anything you say.”

“Promise?” The look in her eyes speaks to guilt, but guilt of what? What could she possibly have done?

“Promise.”

Glancing out the window, she ducks down a bit. “Can they hear what we’re saying?”

“No,” Vrokjan growls out. “My transport has not been tampered with in a way that others can listen in. I have it checked every day.”

“Good. Don’t worry about me then. How can we get this Jakroon asshole thrown in jail?”

I look over at Vrokjan, noting the grim expression on his face. “Unfortunately,” I hedge, “as an Icorian, he has far more rights than you. He might get a minor sentence, but you will be judged far more harshly.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get that,” she dismisses with a wave of her hand.

Her words and actions do not make any sense. Where is the terrified cow from earlier? Where is the sweet heifer that was stolen from me? In her place sits a human I barely recognize.

“What if we had dirt on him?”

“Dirt?” I ask, confusion furrowing my brows. Vrokjan looks over at me and shrugs, just as clueless as I am. “There is dirt everywhere. We are in a farming sector.”

“Ugh,” she groans, rubbing her temples. “Not literal. Ummm. Fuck. I can’t think. My head hurts too much.”

Gripping the back of her neck, I massage the tight muscles, my stomach clenching with worry. “Better? He didn’t break anything, did he?”

“I’m banged up a bit, but nothing I can’t heal from. What’s more important is that Jakroon has been breaking the law. Like in a big way. At least, I think. I don’t know how the legal system works here. Is it possible that an even bigger crime can make them forget mine?” Her words pour from her lips in a frenzied babble.

“That depends,” I hesitate, leaning back. “What could you, a human, possibly know?”

When she ducks her head, that sense of dread comes back in full force. “I kinda hacked your systems. He’s delivering milk off planet.”

The transport screeches to a halt as Vrokjan turns and looks over at my pet. “You what?”

An enforcer raps on the window, startling all three of us. “What seems to be the problem?”

As if on cue, Fiona doubles over and clutches her stomach, feigning an illness. She makes horrible sounds as if she is sick. Has my heifer been a charlatan this whole time?

“Forgive us,” I tell the enforcer, not wishing to make things worse for us. “My cow is sick. I need to take her to the grasses.”

“Move. I’ll follow.”

“What now?” I growl at my pet, furious that she’s putting herself at risk.

Instead of being the quiet, demure human I know she can be, she gives me a wink before mooing in such a horrible fashion it has me feeling ill as well. As I take her to the edge of the road, she drops to her knees and puts her hands over her mouth.

Where the guard can’t see, she sticks a finger down her throat until she gags. Vomit splashes on the grass, forcing the enforcer to turn away. I guess those in the capitol don’t have the same fortitude we do. Still though, as I watch her mind working in action, I can’t help but feel both admiration and dread.

Has she been capable of this the entire time? Why hasn’t she said or done anything until now? I choose to keep my questions to myself as I make a great show of attending to Fiona.

“Cow,” the enforcer barks out. “What do you need?”

She doesn’t speak, but instead looks to me as if waiting for my permission. Something tells me it’s all a show, and she doesn’t actually care about our protocols.

“Answer him, heifer.”

She swallows and winces before whispering to him. “I’m not sure when I’ve had anything to drink last. Might I please have some water?” Her tone is soft and demure, nothing like the hellion who fought against an Icorian and won.

With a swift nod, he turns back to his transport and rummages around for a bit.

“Have you truly not had water? When was the last time you drank?”

She closes her eyes for a moment and sways. Exhaustion lines her features as she stands there and thinks. “I can’t honestly say. I took a swallow or two before walking the fence. I- I fell asleep. I don’t think the monster gave me anything. If he did, I was unconscious.”

My heart stutters in my chest. Based on the footage we reviewed, Jakroon took her about twenty-four Earth hours ago. She started crawling along the fence about two hours before that. The asshole could have killed her. Gathering her into my arms, I walk her over to the enforcer’s transport.

“I demand Nagán, or an equally competent Medical Rancher, meet us at the courts. Based on my calculations, she’s gone at least one Earth day without water. Humans cannot survive under such conditions. I will make sure she’s safe before she’s interrogated.”

With his mask in place, I cannot see his expression, but his body tightens. “And you have proof?”

“As best as I can. I know when she was taken, but no proof of treatment after leaving our fields.”

Nodding, the enforcer pulls the bottle back against his chest and looks down at Fiona. “Can you hold on for just a bit longer? The Medical Rancher on staff can tell when you last drank.”

Instead of answering, she lowers her head and lets out a soft moo. Satisfied, he motions for us to go back to our transport. The instant we get inside, Vrokjan spears us with a dark look.

“You will tell me everything, and you will tell me now. What do you mean hacked? And how do you know about Jakroon’s activities? Did he tell you?”

Next to me, Fiona makes herself very small. “Back on Earth, I had an important job. I went into the terminals of businesses and spied on their workers. I got into their personal computers and looked up everything they had. If they were innocent, no harm, no foul. If they were trading insider secrets or sabotaging the company, I took that information to the boss.”

“But how did you access our terminals?” I ask, my mind slowly clicking into place. “No. Don’t tell me...”

“Don’t have her tell you what? If you two don’t start talking, I’m of a mind to kick both of you off my Ranch.”

“Please,” Fiona wails. “Don’t take it out on him. He has no knowledge of anything. He let me talk to my mum and I-”

“He. Did. What?” Vrokjan’s voice takes on a dangerous edge. Until this moment, I’ve never seen him so furious.

“To be fair, boss. I looked through all the records and laws. There’s nothing in there against such an action.”

“It was for your safety,” she amends, nodding for a moment before wincing. “I have a set schedule to speak with my parents. If I didn’t call, they would have come looking. People would miss me.”

With a heavy sigh, Vrokjan rubs his hand on the back of his neck. “Continue. I don’t like this one bit, but as you say, no laws were broken.”

“When he left to help you with Jessica...” Fiona trails off, her voice cracking.

Looking over at Vrokjan, I take her hand in mine. “Jessica is fine. She’s staying on Icora as Master Vrokjan’s personal cow. So do not allow that to cloud things.”

The look of surprise and happiness on her face tears at my heart. I may not get it, as she claims, but I understand loss. I understand thinking someone is gone, only to find them again. I felt that the moment I saw my prized human on Jakroon’s steps.

“She’s- she’s here? Oh. Oh thank God!” Wiping at her eyes, she beams at both of us before clearing her throat. “Anyway, when he went to help you, I messed around on his terminal. In my defense, you do not have any safeguards in place whatsoever. The only thing keeping me from getting further into your terminal is that I’m still struggling to understand your written language.”

I stare at my cow, pride burning in my heart. What she did was dangerous and stupid, but she still manages to surprise me at every turn.

“I’ll be damned,” Vrokjan mutters under his breath. “And Jakroon?”

She snorts. “Jack-ass has the same terminal swipes as you do. As everyone does. It really is very small-minded of you to not have any passwords. I mean, even my grannie, bless her resting soul, had a basic passcode on her phone. You’d think aliens would be more advanced.”

At the look of shock on Vrokjan’s face, I can’t help the laugh bubbling from deep inside. It’s part humor, part relief, and part incredulity, all wrapped up in one long, loud laugh. Eventually, Vrokjan relaxes enough to join in. However, it’s all cut short the moment the capitol looms into view.

“Even if it’s true, how do we get the proof?”

Fiona looks between us and shrugs. “Can’t your government acquire records?”

“I supposed,” I hedge. “To my knowledge, nothing like this has ever been done before.”

“Well, I know you didn’t ask me, but if I were you, I’d ask to see whoever is presiding over this case to meet with you in private. Lay out the facts I’ve told you and see if they can find a way to procure it on their end. The last thing you need is Jakroon getting any hint of this and destroying the records.”

“I- I never would have thought to do that,” Vrokjan mutters next to us. “How is it this human has more acumen than me?”

“Shocking,” she scoffs. “Isn’t it?”

“Careful,” he growls, leaning in. “I still run the ranch. I’ve been merciful for now, but Antroli knows I rule with an iron fist. Do not push your luck.”

I wrap my hands around Fiona’s arms and draw her close. “Now is certainly not the time to test him. Be a good little cow. Please. I don’t wish to punish you on top of everything else.”

“Yes, Master.”