Chapter Twenty-Seven

V k met them on Bekdi's ship, which had turned out to be more properly called Sared a'Gavd's ship. She was an elderly exalted with a yellowish tinge to her gray stripes.

"Let us collect all which belongs to you so you may transfer to Kanbil a'Retav's ship and be properly his problem," she said, sounding both amused and rather harried.

Dante wasn't sure if that last part was related to the damage her ship had taken in the attack or the fear of having Dante on the ship any longer than necessary. "I shall take myself and my god's first blessing elsewhere as quickly as possible," he promised.

She huffed and studied him, ignoring Vk who stood at his side, her elongating and shrinking nose the only signal of her intense discomfort. "The Retav ship is sturdy enough to survive more blessings or I would have no qualms about accepting you into our temple. Know that Bekdi a'Gavd has lost our faith."

"I..." Dante had no words. He had never expected a senior exalted to side with him over another Kowri.

"Showing gratitude requires pressing the four thumbs together..." She glanced down at his hands and frowned. "I do not know if it would be more appropriate for you to use two thumbs or employ the opposing fingers..." She hummed before pulling her gaze back to his face. "But press the digits together, place them low over your stomach and bend down at a slight angle. If I have misread your emotional state and you feel no gratitude since I have only reported logical consequences of dishonorable behavior, then ignore everything I said." She was oddly cheerful throughout the entire explanation.

Dante pressed his thumbs and pinkies together before offering a bow. "Thank you."

"As I said, the action was logical. Next time an exalted requests a favor, I will spend more time inquiring about the motives rather than accepting the legal paperwork and assuming the issue sorted. Now please collect your immature ward and get him off my ship." She stopped at a door and touched the release.

The moment the door opened, Dante could hear Ter's voice. "If you understood the functioning of such a circuit, you could explain it without resorting to ridiculous metaphors which contradict logic and science. Your inability to articulate the most basic functions implies your utter and complete uselessness."

Sared winced. "Quickly," she said. "Take your immature ward from my ship quickly."

Vk hurried into the room. "Senior Engineer Ter, this is not your crew, and Chief Security Officer Regi does still have access to a brig," she said.

Ter whirled around, and the wide-eyed Kowri who had been huddled against a control panel fled. Smart choice.

"There you are!" Ter said. "I have been waiting hours for you to return." Dante thought Ter was yelling at Vk, but he stomped past her and straight to Dante. "When Optol packed the few things we own, he put this... this creature on ME! Do you know how hard it is to concentrate when I have an animal panting in my ear? And the Kowri refused to remove her because she is poisonous. If she is poisonous, she should not be on my shoulder! Remove this abomination at once!" Ter pointed to his shoulder where Peaches was clutching his uniform.

"What did you do to her?" Dante cupped his hands and held them in front of her. She was hunched and the skin around her nose was almost white. And she was panting. Hard.

Sared leaned closer, watching as Peaches waddled into Dante's hands. He brought her to his chest and cuddled her, stroking her quills to get them to lie down. "What did the mean engineer do to you?" he crooned.

Ter's elbows were fully deployed. For a skinny creature, he could take up a lot of space when angry. "You are the one who abandoned your pet, and I did nothing. I would not harm an animal. I reserve any emotional or physical damage for the idiotic creatures claiming sentience who infect me with their presence."

"She didn't look like this when I left her." Dante glared at Ter.

Sared held her hands low. "Be easy. Either she is constipated or pregnant."

All the pieces slotted into place. Peewee refusing to leave her. Her strange relationship with the smaller male. Her growing size. Her changing behavior. "She's pregnant!"

"Not for much longer," Sared said. "I will call Kanbil a'Retav to request bedding materials be prepared in both the temple and your quarters, depending on her choice, but do keep in mind that a female in labor can cause damage, even when no harm is intended."

"So don't let her stab me with poisonous quills," Dante summarized. He understood that animals in pain could be illogical, so that was a valid concern, but this was Peaches. For months... many, many, many months, she had been his best friend, his escape plan, his source of sanity. He trusted her. Maybe he was a fool—he'd been called one before—but this was Peaches. "We need to get to our quarters quickly," he said.

"I have a transport ready as long as you agree to take the ward Ter with you."

Ter's elbows jutted out even farther. "I have no wish to remain on a ship with such an inferior crew. I was led to believe Kowri technology was impressive, but either it is not or you employ mathematically-challenged and logically-impaired morons that lack the basic skills required to explain the simplest function in species-neutral terms. Idiots. Utter idiots." His voice rose the longer he ranted until he was practically shouting. And then he charged for the door, circling Dante where he still cradled Peaches.

"We should get him established somewhere else... and possibly lock him in a room until Regi has been released from medical," Vk said. "Hopefully his clearance will not take long." Her voice had a tremor in it that made the hairs on the bridge of her nose vibrate.

Dante understood the concern. The Kowri insisted he was healthy and the check was routine for all returning pilots, but none of them would feel safe until he was back.

"This way," Sared said, cheered at the idea of getting them off her ship. She escorted them to a shuttle much larger and less nausea-inducing than the fighter, although Dante still thought it resembled a bug.

"I would like to introduce Ijo a'Gavd and Fiope a'Oba," Sared said. Ijo was a small male with ears larger than most males and Fiope was an ancient woman who used a rolling bar. They both studied Dante first before turning their attention to Vk and Ter. "Welcome to the ship of Kanbil a'Retav," Ijo said. Fiope blinked at them with watery eyes that left dark trails down her fur.

"Thank you for allowing us onboard," Dante said. He touched his forehead with two fingers since that seemed least likely to offend anyone.

"I leave you with your new crew," Sared said before she hurried away. Dante got the feeling that she was going to make Bedki's life a bit of a nightmare after he dragged her and her ship into this mess.

Ijo held his hands low in welcome. "Kanbil a'Retav sends his welcome, but he is too busy to attend. Battle has shown us many ways in which we neglected the maintenance of our ship," Ijo offered.

"More morons," Ter proclaimed, and the hairs at the corners of Ijo's mouth turned prickly. Fiope stared at Ter, her expression unreadable, which made Dante intensely uncomfortable.

Ijo spoke louder. "Exalted Dante, we have quarters for you in the primary peristyle."

Dante mouthed the word peristyle . He had no doubt the translator had provided an English word, but he wished the computer didn't make him feel like an idiot who didn't know his own language. "Are Vk and Ter on the same level?"

Ijo froze. That was answer enough.

"We need to be housed near each other, and we can wait until you find other quarters. I'm not fussy about where. However, Peaches needs to get to a nest quickly." He held her up. Her panting had grown much quicker and her butt was getting puffy and pink. Dante expected naked little babies to appear at any time. In all the months he'd tended dops on the slave ship, he'd never seen one give birth. But he'd lived on the farm long enough to know birth was always messy and he would rather not have that happen in his hands.

"I do not wish to offend an exalted, but others should not be housed on the primary peristyle level unless they are exalted." Ijo whispered.

"Or families," Dante said. He'd spent a long time helping evacuate families from their sealed quarters during the attack, and he'd seen very large family quarters. Hopefully he wasn't making a mistake by offering to share a kitchen and living room with Ter, but he didn't want the others housed in a separate apartment. "Humans have families of origin that are usually related by blood, but we also have families of choice, those we choose, even when they drive us insane."

"Dante," Vk said, her nose so scrunched to her face her eyes almost disappeared into the folds.

"It's a human thing," Dante rushed to reassure her. "I don't expect you to feel the same, but I would like quarters near each other or quarters large enough for us to live without driving each other to violence because Ter's insults are very tiring."

Ijo looked at Ter, who had gone still. "Do you prefer sleeping individually or in some combination?" Ijo asked.

"Alone!" Dante blurted. He was barely into the dating stage with Regi, and the idea of sharing a bedroom with Ter was enough to send him screaming down the corridor. "Definitely alone, with privacy for each of us."

Fiope tilted her head to the side, and Ijo said, "I shall request such quarters."

Peaches gave a shrill cry.

"Quickly," Ijo gestured toward the interior of the shuttle. Dante followed, settling himself on a deep couch with cushioned arms that reached almost to his shoulders.

Ter sat across from him. "I am difficult to share quarters with," Ter said with a deliberateness suggesting Dante might have trouble understanding simple words. Then again, given that the translator seemed to have a vocabulary three times larger than Dante's, that was possible.

"I don't doubt that," Dante said. "And I'm going to get frustrated with you and yell at you, and when the situation has settled, I might move out or kick you out to your own quarters. However, right now I want us to stay together."

Vk tried to sit next to Dante, but Ijo had to hurry over and remove the padded divider to allow her to use two seats before she could fit. "Logistically staying together is logical."

"The rest of your discount logic more often than not." Ter continued to stare at Dante.

"I try to be logical," Dante said. "Besides, I like you guys. Living with you is not a burden." For months on the slave ship, he'd lived in close quarters with people who stank from lack of showers, and then he'd lived alone in the dop quarters for the past few months. Maybe a little middle ground would feel good.

Vk's nose crumpled again, and Ter's elbows jutted out. Maybe it would be wise to avoid repeating that. The jolt of rejection didn't feel good.

Ijo had vanished into the front of the ship, but now he appeared at the door that divided the front from this passenger section. "Quarters have been found. We will be launching and we will reach the ship in moments. Mechanical transport is waiting to get you to your quarters as quickly as possible." Ijo glanced at Peaches and she gave a chittering whistle. Ijo vanished back into the cockpit.

Maybe Vk and Ter disliked the idea of being his family, but Dante always had Peaches, and animals were a good sight more reliable than people anyway. Besides, Regi should be out of his medical check soon, and he had a way of making Dante feel important. As long as he had that, he could survive a couple of reluctant family members.

After all, their rejection was milder than his father's had been.