Chapter Eight
Kids will be kids…
Poof! We appeared on the portal platform. I let out a shuddering breath as a timer chimed on my bracelet. We had ported with five seconds to spare, and hopefully, no one would ever find out how close we had come to dying.
His wild, white hair standing on end, Uncle Ben rushed over to me. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m a little banged up.” I retracted my helmet.
Uncle Ben’s horrified gaze roamed over my face. “Who hit you?”
“Commander Zot and the Alliance Minister of War. How many ships did my bombs take out?”
“No data yet,” Uncle Ben replied.
Gita jumped on Uncle Ben’s nose. “Who you?”
He froze. “What the fuck is that?”
“A baby Tabor.” I plucked Gita off his face. “Say hello to Uncle Ben, Gita.”
“Hello. Why fur stick up like that?”
The shock on Uncle Ben’s face was hilarious. “I…ah…” He ran a hand over his hair and bushy beard. “I’ve been busy and how come I can understand her?”
“She’s psychic, and smart, and looking for her mother.”
“Oh.” Ben switched to English. “Kaelen said you were onboard a slaughter ship.”
“I was.”
“A Tai-Kok soldier’s metabolic rate keeps them on the edge of starvation. They probably ate her mother.”
“I know, but I’m not telling her that.”
Gita started playing with his beard. “Onkel fur funny.”
Uncle Ben patted her head awkwardly. Under his breath, he muttered, “A talking spider. Who knew.”
“The Tai-Kok experimented on Gita’s mom.” I flashed Uncle Ben mental pictures of the Tai-Kok scientist and his lab. “Meet your alien counterpart. He even has your hair.”
My uncle gave me the stink eye. “Har. Har.”
“Got any clues what kind of experiments he was doing?” I shoved the images of the dead critters, petri dishes full of white oblong objects and flasks filled with God knows what into his mind.
“Huh? Egg sacs. My best guess is his tests had something to do with Gita’s mom reproductive abilities,” Uncle Ben said.
Shivering, Gita curled under my chin. “Him want eat babies.”
“That sick sonovabitch! I’m so glad I vaporized him.” I stroked her soft fur. “You’re part of my family now, and don’t worry. I’ll keep looking for your momma.”
“Kay. Him my Onkel?”
I kissed her little head. “Yes.”
Uncle Ben gaze fixed on Nix. “Is that another alien baby?”
“It is.”
“Any more surprises I should know about?”
I grinned. “Wait until you meet the father of my son. He’s an Askole.”
“Son? You have a baby? How is that even possible? Does your father know?”
“Yes, Dad knows all about Jaxor and it’s a fascinating story. Speaking of fascinating, when did Qa’a give you psychic abilities?”
A shudder shook him. “About a week ago he just popped in and said I needed to be able to communicate with all the lifeforms you would be dealing with. That was one freaky ass experience. I never, ever want him in my head again.”
I laughed. “I hear ya. Did he give you a tattoo?”
“He did.”
Nix morphed into a gigantic mouth with rows of sharp teeth and snapped at Uncle Ben.
“Holy shit!” Uncle Ben pulled his laser pistol and backed away. “What the hell kind of monster is that?”
Uncle Saul strode into the room. “Put your weapon away. That is a baby Katanic. You damage him and Qa’a will eat you.”
“Yes, sir.” Uncle Ben quickly holstered his gun.
A long, slimy tongue licked my arm, and I could feel Nix’s intense hunger. “How many boxes of beef jerky do we have left?”
Uncle Ben slowly backed up. “Two. They’re really popular with the men.”
“Go get them. Now! Before Nix starts chewing on us.”
Uncle Ben bolted.
“Did my bombs destroy the Tai-Kok slaughter ship, Uncle Saul?”
“According to Captain Adan, two Tai-Kok ships were destroyed, and three Rodan battle cruisers were badly damaged. Qa’a ate all the survivors,” Uncle Saul gently touched my face. “Are you okay?”
“Been better.”
Gita hopped on his nose. “Who you?”
“I’m your Uncle Saul.” He picked her up and stroked her silky fur. “Who might you be?”
“Me Gita.” She wiggled a leg at Nix . “Him Nix. Him bite.”
Uncle Saul’s eyebrows rose. “Does he?”
“He does” I held up my right hand, exposing the mangled metal on my glove. “Thank God for armor.”
Uncle Ben hurried in with two cardboard boxes. “Where do you want them?”
“On the floor.”
He dumped them. “That little fella has really big teeth.”
“Yep, and an appetite to match.” I patted the boxes. “ Eat up, Nix.”
Whoosh! There was a streak of black and Nix shoved an entire box in his mouth.
“We are going to need more meat. A lot more,” I muttered.
Uncle Ben nodded. “I’ll go get some elk out of the freezer.” He rushed off.
A cloud of flies buzzed around my bloody face. I swatted at them.
Gita’s busy little tongue snagged them all.
“Thanks, sweetie.” I could feel how hungry she was and shot her the image of a cricket. “Go eat all the crickets and as soon as we get Nix fed, I’ll take you out to Uncle Ben’s garden and you can eat all the insects you want.”
“Kay.” She scurried down Uncle Saul’s leg and started hunting bugs.
“We need to let Qa’a know I found Nix. I would but my bell got rung pretty good when Commander Zot hit me. Are you able to link with Kaelen, Uncle Saul?”
“I am. I informed him of your arrival and Qa’a will port them here.” He pulled a healing wand off his belt and scanned me. “Without your armor, that monster would have killed you.”
In perfect Tai-Kok, I repeated the curse.
Uncle Saul’s eyebrows shot up. “You can speak Tai-Kok now?”
“Yes.” I carefully touched my throbbing nose. “Telling Zot his mother had mated with an Axolot was a mistake.”
“Axolot?” Uncle Saul asked.
“Kinda like a really fat snake with fur,” I replied. “In their culture, it’s like saying your mother does it with animals.”
Cynical amusement filled his eyes. “I see. You won’t be saying that again, will you?”
“Nope. It really pisses them off.”
“Good.” Uncle Saul ran the healing wand over my face.
My shoulders sagged as the pain faded away. “Thanks.”
Uncle Ben pushed a cart with a side of elk on it into the room. “Where do you want it?”
Nix jumped on top of the elk and started chowing down.
“Never mind. The kid’s got one hell of an appetite.”
Keeping an eye on Nix, I warned, “A hungry Katanic is a very dangerous creature. It would be a good idea to have boxes of jerky stored in here, just in case one pops in.”
“I’ll put that on my to-do list,” Uncle Ben said.
Gita chased after a scorpion.
“No! No! No!” I quickly stomped on it. “We don’t eat scorpions. They’re poisonous. If they sting you, you get very sick. Stay away from them.”
Gita skittered up to my shoulder. “Kay.” She stroked a leg against my face. “You know? Me bite. You die.”
“What?” I drew on Kaelen knowledge. Shit! If a baby tabor bit you, you were dead before you hit the floor. I shared the information with Uncle Saul and Uncle Ben.
They both stared at Gita in wary disbelief.
“Me hungry,” Gita whined.
Uncle Saul’s gaze focused on the far wall. “I can sense a portal forming.”
“I’ll take Gita out to the garden.” Uncle Ben scooped her off my shoulder and bolted.
“Coward,” I called after him. “And don’t lose her.”
My only response was a door clanging shut.
A brilliant orange glow popped into existence in the corner and spun rapidly. I shielded my eyes as bolts of green lightning crackled wildly around the walls.
“Does it always form like that?” Uncle Saul asked.
“Pretty much. It reminds me of a freakish tornado from one of those disaster movies.”
A vortex formed. Twenty seconds later, Qa’a rolled out pulling Xyler, Jaxor, Dad, Kaelen and Captain Zan behind him.
Surprise. Surprise. Captain Zan was wearing armor this time. What I wanted to know was, what the hell was he doing here?
Taking one look at my face, Kaelen and Dad rushed over to me. “Who beat you?”
“Commander Zot and the Minister of War. They’re both very dead and it’s not as bad as it looks,” I replied.
Kaelen scanned my face. “Your nose was broken, along with a cheekbone and your concussion hasn’t fully healed yet.” He pulled out his healing wand. “If you will continue healing her face, General, I will concentrate on the concussion.”
Uncle Saul nodded but his attention was fixed on Xyler and Jaxor.
I hid a smile. Meeting an Askole for the first time was a bit unnerving. “General Jones I would like to introduce you to Xyler and my son Jaxor.”
“It is an honor to meet the warrior who defeated the Tai-Kok at the battle of Tucson.” Xyler clamped his right arm to his chest and bowed slightly.
Shooting my father a black look, Uncle Saul returned the salute. “It is an honor to meet the warrior who defeated the Rodan at Kaijus.”
Huh. The guys had been swapping war stories.
“Momma! Momma!” Jaxor wailed, his little arms reaching for me.
Xyler handed him to me.
“You go.” His tentacles wrapped around my neck. “You go.”
I hugged him and stroked his back. “I know. I know, but I’m back now.”
“No leave me. No leave me.”
“I can’t promise that. I’m a cop, like your dad, and sometimes bad people do the unexpected. Okay?”
“No like.”
“Me no like either.”
Jaxor stiffened and pointed at Nix. “Who him?”
“That’s Nix, your foster-brother. I rescued him from the monsters, just like I did you.”
Jaxor’s tentacles drooped. “Him sad.”
“I know. He lost his mom and we need to find her.”
“I help.”
I kissed his forehead. “You’re such a good baby.
“Stop moving your head until I finish healing your concussion,” Kaelen growled.
“Yes, sir.” The dizziness was getting better.
Jaxor’s tentacles wrapped around Uncle Saul’s wrist. “Me Jaxor.”
“A pleasure to meet you, little warrior.” Uncle Saul clamped his left arm to his chest.
“You make Momma better?”
“I am.”
My smile faded when I noticed Captain Zan was examining the portal with his scanner. “Is he supposed to be doing that? I thought the portal was top secret,” I asked Kaelen on our private link.
He grimaced. “Zarek decided it was necessary. If we are to defeat the Tai-Kok and Rodan, we need the Alliance’s help.”
“He’s an ass.”
Dad butted in, “I agree but you will treat him with the respect his rank deserves.”