Chapter Nine
Good times for all…
There was a flash of black and poof! We were in the communal shower room.
I shot Kaelen a narrow sidelong glare. “Why did you teleport Xyler too?”
“He has a tracker on Jaxor, and it would have been a matter of seconds before he found us.”
“Swell, another public shower.” I stripped down to my underwear. “If Captain Zan shows up, I’m shooting him.”
Xyler bared his deadly fangs. “If he dares to disrupt your bathing, I will challenge him to a duel.”
“You would do that for me?” Color me shocked.
He gave a slight bow. “You are the mother of my son.”
“Good to know.” Turning on the water, I showed the guys how the handheld shower heads worked. I held up a bottle. “This soap we use on our bodies.” I poured some on my palm and rubbed it over Jaxor’s scaly skin.
His excited squeals echoed off the walls.
“Taking a bath can be lots of fun,” I said, tickling his belly.
Gita bounced up and down on my shoulder. “Me too. Me too.”
Wetting her down, I washed all the goop off her fur. “See, very easy. Once you’re clean, you simply rinse the soap suds off. Any questions?”
“I do not wish to smell like a female,” Xyler growled.
“What? But the soap is aloe-based. Dad and Uncle Ben use it all the time.”
Xyler retorted, “Warriors do not smell like flowers.”
“You’d rather smell like dead things?”
“Yes.”
Why do I even try? “Okey-dokey, then.”
Gita spat a web ball at a large moth; it missed and hit Kaelen on the mouth. Emitting a squeak of alarm, she burrowed into my bra.
I squirmed. All those legs tickled like crazy, and I really needed some chocolate.
Kaelen stared at the ceiling for a moment, then pulled out his healing wand and ran it over the web ball.
To my utter relief, it dissolved quickly. “No shooting web balls until you’ve had more practice.”
“Kay.” Gita peeked out of my bra. “Me sorry.”
A gentle smile on his face, Kaelen stroked her head. “I know. I will check our data base on how to properly train a youngling.”
“Me like.”
Nix suddenly snatched the shower gel bottle out of my hand and ate it.
“No! Bad Nix. Spit! Right now. The soap is for washing the outside not the inside. C’mon, spit it out.”
Nix belched loudly,
Taking a deep, calming breath, I linked with Dad, “I need another bottle of shower gel.”
“Let me guess. One of the kids ate it.”
“Yep. Nix gobbled it right down.”
Dad chuckled. “Not surprised. Babies put everything in their mouths. On my way.”
I held up the bottle of shampoo. “This is used to wash our hair or in Gita’s case, fur.”
“We do not have fur or hair,” Xyler countered.
A rather nasty Tai-Kok curse popped into my mind. “I guess it would work on tentacles, but you should probably give it a pass.”
A long tentacle shot from Nix. He jerked the bottle out of my hand and ate it too.
“Spit! It’s for washing not eating.” Nix gave me a toothy grin and little tentacles danced over his skin. “Dammit, yucky. Spit them out.”
Kaelen plucked Nix off my shoulder. “I do not think the Katanic people bathe with water.”
“We do not,” Qa’a said as he strolled into the shower room.
Ugh, how did I put this politely? “Okay. So, how do you ah… remove blood and stuff? Cause the little guy is kinda grody.”
Qa’a examined the showers. “There is a volcanic region on our home world we use when we become kinda grody.”
“Oh, like a steam bath?”
“No, we immerse ourselves in boiling mud,” Qa’a corrected.
Dad walked in with more soap and shampoo. “Bog Hot Springs might work.”
“Good idea and it’s not that far away.” I flashed Qa’a a mental image of the boiling mud. “Will that do?”
“It will. Two Tai-Kok slaughter ships have entered your solar system.”
My shoulders slumped. I was really looking forward to a nice hot shower and a burger. “It’ll take me about five minutes to change.”
“I have summoned my Executioners, and we will deal with them. You need to feed and rest.”
I frowned. “You’re sure?”
“I am. The Tai-Kok think the Katanic people are harmless. It is time they learned the truth, and I must teach Nix how to hunt our enemies.”
The menace in Qa’a’s voice made the hair on the back of my neck rise. He was beyond furious. “Do you need anything?”
“I will take several of your bombs,” Qa’a replied.
Dad’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I’ll get them for you.” He hurried off.
“Just a heads up, but Commander Zot’s soldiers think that since the Katanic people have no ships or weapon systems, you will be easy to defeat,” I said.
Qa’a smiled. A horrific smile that made me want to run screaming from the room. “They are about to learn otherwise.” A tentacle shot out and snagged Nix. “Come youngling. We hunt.”
“But he’s just a baby and he’s been through so much already,” I protested.
“The Katanic people are ancient beyond your understanding. When a Katanic is born, they inherit the genetic memory of our race. All our knowledge, our history becomes theirs. Some use this information wisely. Some do not.
“Like Ziyn?”
“Yes. Nix is aware of her betrayal and knows what must be done,”
I held out a jerky stick. “In case you get hungry.”
Nix carefully took the jerky. Gone was the mischievous child and in his place was an ancient being. “I give you the title of Mother, and the ones lost to us will be avenged.”
“Thank you. Be safe and know this. You will always have a home with us.” I chewed on my lower lip. “I do have a question for you, Qa’a. Do all the Katanic people now know about me and mine?”
A vortex formed on the shower wall.
“Yes, you have been added to our memory.”
“Oh.” Swell, more unexpected guests to prepare for .
Qa’a walked into the vortex, and it vanished within seconds.
Gita climbed out of my bra. “Nix not Nix.”
“Nope, and I’m not happy with us being added to the Katanic people’s genetic memory. Won’t that make it easier for Ziyn and her buddies to find us?”
“If she attacks, I will kill her,” Xyler growled.
I rolled my eyes. “And how do you plan on doing that? Weapons can’t kill them, they simply regenerate.”
“I will tear them apart with my teeth, with my claws. Askole warriors do not accept defeat. Ever.”
I smothered a groan. “And when you are being digested. What then?”
“We feed her as many explosives as we can, then jettison her into space,” Kaelen interjected.
“Just like we did with Wiggles.”
“Yes.”
“A useful idea,” Xyler said. “Never in recorded history have the Katanic people formed an alliance with another race.”
“That’s because they had never met a human before and Qa’a realized we are sneaky bastards who make awesome allies.”
Xyler sneered, “Humans are fragile beings with soft skin, no claws or fangs and easily killed.”
“Fragile, huh?” I turned the water pressure up and blasted Xyler in the face.
He retaliated.
Kaelen joined in, blasting the Askole with a deluge of water. Roars, battle cries and giggles filled the air. It was the water fight of the century and the most fun I had had in ages.
“Zap him, Gita!” I yelled as we slid across the slippery tile floor.
Web balls started flying and even with his super speed Xyler was suddenly glued against the shower wall with sticky threads of webbing. I did a happy dance. “Ha! Who needs armor or fangs or claws.”
“Your battle tactics are unusual but effective,” Xyler said with a big grin. He was having as much fun as we were.
Jaxor’s tentacles waved wildly. “Me like. Me like.”
“Fun. Do again,” Gita giggled.
Dad, Captain Zan and Uncle Saul charged in with weapons drawn.
“What the hell is going on?” Uncle Saul bellowed.
I gave them my Debbie Sunshine smile. “Just showing Xyler how humans use all available resources to defeat their enemies.” For a moment, I considered blasting them too. They looked awfully hot and sweaty.
Dad glared at me. “Do not even think about it. You’re not too big to put over my knee, young lady.”
“Spoilsport.”
“Ben has the grill fired up. Get dressed. He needs you to collect some tomatoes, onions, corn and lettuce from the garden,” Dad instructed.
I saluted him smartly. “Yes, sir.”
“Kaelen and I will check out why the sensors on the western quadrant just quit working.”
With one slash of his claws, Xyler freed himself from the sticky webbing. “I will assist you.”
“Hmmm. You thinking gophers or something else?” Had the Tai-Kok found us?
Dad shrugged. “The Oath Defenders have been spotted in the area.”
“I thought you had Timmy locked up, Uncle Saul.”
“His men busted him out of jail about a month ago. He high-tailed it across the border into Mexico and hooked up with Pedro Guzman.”
My jaw dropped. “The drug dealer?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I thought Timmy blew up his compound in Nogales.”
“He did,” Dad inserted. “The scuttlebutt is Timothy is claiming he has control of the portal.”
“That little liar,” I spat in disgust.
Uncle Saul’s lips drew back in a feral smile. “He told Guzman that he can port an entire battalion to any place on Earth in a matter of seconds.”
“In his dreams.”
Kaelen engaged his armor. “Give me the coordinates to the sensor arrays.”
“Timmy is going to have a meltdown when he sees Xyler,” I laughed.
Dad grinned. “Without a doubt.”
Poof! They were gone.
Captain Zan turned to Uncle Saul. “How many warriors can you send through the portal at a time?”
“One safely.”
“Just one?” Captain Zan’s tone was one of utter disbelief.
Uncle Saul’s face hardened . “In an emergency, we have ported two injured soldiers. Any more than that and the system crashes.”
“And you never know where you’re going to appear on an enemy’s ship,” I said brightly.
Zan’s eyes narrowed. “Never?”
“Nope. I’ve appeared in the engine room, their quarters, on the bridge and floating two feet off the hull of their ship. It really gets your heart pumping.”
A skeptical look on his face, Zan replied, “Yet you still live.”
“How about I have Uncle Ben send you to one of the slaughter ships that just entered our solar system, and you can see for yourself.”
Uncle Saul shook his head. “Not a good idea. The captain doesn’t have your skills, and the Katanic might accidentally eat him.”
“Speaking of eating, I need to raid the garden.” I walked off.