Chapter 9
Myrum
Although it took all his brain power to pull his attention away from the taste and feel of Amina’s mouth on his, he managed to do it and interact with Desur.
It seemed he was so excited about getting to tinker with a new invention that he wasn’t afraid of Myrum, which was good. These Ugarian’s were important to Amina, so Myrum needed them to at least be willing to tolerate him. Liking him would be even better.
In an effort to win Desur over, he asked questions about the collar, even though he didn’t understand much of what the Ugarian said. Honestly he mostly wished the Ugarian hadn't shown up, but that collar meant freedom from the bed and the ability to touch Amina.
He wanted that so badly. It filled his mind to the point he’d momentarily forgotten he was trapped on a ship.
His thoughts kept circling back to the same thing: she liked the way he smelled.
He heard other humans talking about how most Talins smelled like scented soap to them. But he didn’t smell like soap to Amina.
She perceived his scent to be something she liked. Something familiar, sweet, and edible. Even more important: she kissed him.
Back on Kalor the human picked the Talin. Could this ship be a place where Amina picked him? He could only hope.
Desur’s in-depth explanation of the trigger mechanism was interrupted when the cabin door slid open and Helmen walked into the room carrying some kind of large tool that looked like it could be used as an effective blunt weapon.
The door didn’t close because the rest of the small crew all huddled in the opening, also holding similar items. Several of them were wearing items that looked like panels pulled off walls and strapped around their chests.
It was clearly meant to be armor, and it looked a little adorable. Against a well-trained warrior like him, they didn’t stand much of a chance, but he had to admire their willingness to face him again.
“Greetings,” he said to the crew in the doorway. Even Teshor looked nervous despite appearing fine earlier when delivering the food. “I’m honored to be in your presence.”
The crew in the doorway murmured words of greeting back, but Helmen ignored him and addressed Desur.
“Are you sure this will work?”
Desur’s excitement diminished. “Mostly, I think. I tested it a lot without a loaded lancer, and in the last round of tests it worked every time. I could test it some more because I’m sure there’s a fail rate, I just don’t know what it is. Actually, maybe I should—”
Helmen made a gentle sound in the back of her throat that wasn’t dissimilar to a Talin rumble of comfort. “I know you did your best, Desur. You’re not to blame if anything happens.”
She looked down at Myrum. "This is your only chance to redeem yourself. If you hurt anyone, I will not hesitate to kill you. These people aren’t simply my crew, they’re my family.
I refuse to return home and have to explain to anyone why one of their children, siblings, parents, or spouses didn’t come back with me. ”
He’d felt a strong sense of community with his crewmates when he’d served on the diplomatic ship. It was devastating to find out he was the only one who survived. How much worse would it have been if they’d all been the family he was raised with and he’d been allowed to love them?
What would it even be like to have a loving family?
“I want to be part of your crew. I want to be part of your family.”
The words came out without him realizing it. He could tell his statements had surprised both Helmen and Amina.
The human’s expression turned soft, and she opened her mouth, probably to assure him he belonged with them.
Helmen’s reaction was more appropriate of a captain. “Neither of those are options at the moment. But being allowed to move around the ship is possible.”
Amina frowned at Helmen. “That was cold.”
Helmen didn’t take her eyes off Myrum even as she answered Amina. “It’s practical. I’m here to keep yours and Desur’s soft hearts from getting us into a situation we can’t get out of.”
Amina snorted. “As if we were the ones that decided to do the sketchy pickup on that brimon mining station.”
That got Helmen to turn her head and fix her gaze on Amina. “That was a calculated risk.” She pointed at Myrum. “With a collar on, he’s a calculated risk. That’s as far as I’m willing to go right now.”
Amina still looked annoyed but kept quiet.
“Go on, Desur,” Helmen ordered.
Now that he was tasked with actually putting his invention on Myrum, he hesitated. Crouching down next to the bed, he looked up at Myrum.
“This won't hurt. Even if you get lanced, you’ll probably barely feel it. You need to tell me if it’s uncomfortable anywhere. I’m sure I can add padding.”
“Desur, put it on!” Helmen ordered, making Desur sigh.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered and stood up. He edged over so he could put one knee on the bunk behind Myrum. “We had some basic Talin physiology on our UniBase, so I was able to find some good measurements of the depth of your neck plates. Please bow your head down.”
Unlike the plates running down the rest of his spine, the few smaller plates protecting the back of his neck weren’t controlled by muscles. They would separate slightly by hanging his head forward, but that was the limit to their movement.
He felt Desur slip something under one of his neck plates and work it down until it was resting on the vulnerable skin normally protected by the plates.
“You can look up now,” Desur said. “I made sure that this part of the collar was as thin as possible.”
Myrum looked up, pleased to find he could barely feel anything under his neck plate. He expected it to be much more bothersome. “You did an excellent job. It isn’t irritating at all.”
“Hold off your judgment until I finish,” Desur said.
He shifted his position until he was hunched over and fiddling with the section of the collar that was laying over the exposed section of skin where his neck met his shoulders on the left side.
The collar tightened slightly. Desur mumbled something to himself and kept fiddling with it.
It struck him as humorous that he was wearing a collar. Back home on Kalor, the humans wore collars in case anyone visited unexpectedly. Although, the humans could remove them at any time. Lakin called her collar a prop and had delicate tools hidden under the inside lining.
Unlike those collars, this one was real and could dose him with enough medication to put him flat on his back. It was an interesting juxtaposition.
“How does that feel?” Desur asked, straightening up and staring down at him anxiously.
Myrum moved his head around, but the collar didn’t inhibit his movement in any direction. It felt odd, but he’d probably become accustomed to it quickly.
“It’s fine,” he said. “It doesn't impinge my neck and doesn’t hurt. Your skills are a credit to this ship.”
Desur’s ears relaxed. “That’s good!” He turned to Helmen and handed her a small device on a cord. “Here’s the remote. You’ll need to pull this back to hit the button. I wanted to make sure you couldn’t inject him by accident.”
Helmen accepted the device and hung it around her neck. “Desur and Amina, leave the room.”
Desur jumped to do as she asked, but Amina didn’t move.
“I’ll release the binding," Amina said. “You can’t do that and hold your weird weapon with both hands. What is that? Did you take a rod-extractor and strap a shocker to the end?”
Helmen ignored Amina’s sarcasm. “You can release him then step behind me and make your way to the door.”
Amina didn’t move. “You’re being ridiculous. He’s not going to jump up and attack us.”
Helmen let out a sigh. “Could you not argue with me just this once?”
“I only do it when it’s important,” Amina said and reached for one of the straps.
“If only that was true,” Helmen grumbled.
As Amina worked the strap on his thighs, Myrum tried to reassure Helmen again. “I’m in my right mind and will work very hard on maintaining my mental equilibrium. I wish I remembered what happened so I could apologize for my actions in more detail.”
Helmen didn’t answer, but he thought perhaps she was softening toward him.
The strap across his legs came loose, and Amina tossed it over to land on the other side of the bed.
His left wrist was freed next, and he slowly moved it to rest on his lap.
Amina had to lean over him to release his right arm, and her delicate scent wafted up to his nose.
It was only because Helmen was watching him and ready to stab him with her improvised weapon that he didn’t lean over to bury his nose into her loose hair.
He really needed to find out how she achieved the lovely blue color of her hair. It was absolutely beautiful and would probably be even more gorgeous saturated with his bonding oil.
No! It was a bad idea to think of intimate things with Helmen and the other Ugarians in the room, all staring at him.
That’s when he realized the color of Amina’s hair matched Desur’s fur. Was that on purpose so she felt closer to her Ugarian cousins?
Maybe he could figure out how to dye his plates blue. Then she’d see he wanted to fit in also.
Once he was free, Amina stepped away so he had room to stand up. Before moving, he reached for the soft scarf Amina draped over his neck and wrapped it more securely. He wanted to make sure Ruby had a secure place to snuggle if she wanted to.
Ruby moved inside the scarf. He could feel her inspecting the collar then settling down.
“Did you see that?”
“Yes, it was adorable!”
He looked past Helmen to find the rest of the crew, including Desur, watching from the open door.
“That’s Ruby,” he explained to them, finally swinging his legs off the bed. He ignored the stiffness as he stood up. “She’s a jeweled lizard and my friend.”
He heard several of the crew make sounds that seemed like they were cooing. He had heard the humans on Kalor make a similar sound when seeing animals or babies. Maybe Ruby was going to help him win over the crew.
“She could meet all of you one-on-one over the course of our journey," he suggested. “I wouldn't want to overwhelm her by handing her over to all of you right now.”
“No, we wouldn't want to traumatize her,” Desur said quickly.
“But I really want to meet her,” Teshor said, casting a longing look at his neck where Ruby was now hidden.
“She’s really sweet,” Amina said, giving him a fond look. “And it’s fun to feed her. If we’re nice to Myrum, we could probably talk him into letting us watch her eat next time she's hungry.”
The crew asked her questions about how Ruby ate. While they talked he stretched his arms up over his head, enjoying the feeling of his stiff body loosening up. He moved slowly to keep from startling anyone. Helmen still stood with her weapon at the ready.
Finally he dropped his hands to the side with an exaggerated groan. “Oh that felt good!”
“I don’t know how you put up with not being able to roll over,” Desur said, taking a half step back into the room. None of the crew tried to stop him.
He sounded an amused rumble. “I’ve slept in much worse situations. This bunk was almost the nicest spot I’ve ever been trapped in.”
Amina hissed out a breath. “That was a good joke, but dark,” she muttered under her breath.
He kept his focus on Helmen. “Is it okay if I walk around the ship?”
Helmen raised her weapon and rested the butt on the floor in front of her. She pointed to the small pendant hanging around her neck.
“You do anything I don’t like, and I’ll drop you to the ground,” she warned him.
He kept from pointing out that she shouldn’t brandish her weapon at him while having the remote. She couldn’t use both at the same time, and that could’ve meant he took control of the situation without much effort.
He needed to find an opportunity to discuss security protocols with her. The entire crew could use a few lectures, including Amina. They weren’t being as cautious with him as they should be.
Not that he’d say that! But he could give them advice on other things.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Teshor said when Helmen didn’t answer him right away. “What happened yesterday was an anomaly. We all have bad days.”
“Except when you have a bad day it means you eat too much and we have to put up with you moaning about bellyaches,” Helmen retorted. “You don’t threaten to rip us all apart.”
Amina opened her mouth to object, but Helmen held up a hand to stop her.
“Just because he didn’t harm you doesn’t mean the rest of us are safe,” Helmen said.
She looked over at the crew. “Everyone but Amina needs to stay away from him. If you hear him do anything, then contact me. Desur said the remote will work from anywhere on the ship. I can keep all of you safe, but you have to do as I ask.”
Okay, maybe Helmen wasn’t as foolish about internal ship security as he thought.
She pinned him with a hard look. “You can move around the ship but stay out of the engine rooms and control. You do everything Amina says, including staying in your cabin when necessary. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
“Never,” he vowed, more confident in his ability to cope with the ship.
Ruby and Amina were his saviors.