Chapter 54
Therxian’s eyes slid over the corridor, his gavo lifting warily as he curled one wing around his mate who clung close to his shadow.
Jathella broke off from their little group, leaving Kitanara to take point at their side, her velkat raised menacingly, as Jathella moved ahead to speak to the two guards stationed a short distance away.
He went completely still as he studied them, weighing the situation as Jathella made her approach.
Would they take the bait? It did not appear to be a certain thing.
He had seen his share of lazy and mindlessly obedient guards over the revolutions, and many since coming to the shinara as well, but it appeared that they would not be so fortunate with this pair.
The females possessed powerful frames, their weight balanced alertly on their coiled tails, and they were highly attentive.
The moment Jathella entered the corridor, their eyes followed her, studying her as if cataloging every detail of her mannerisms as they waited motionlessly for their orders.
If Jathella betrayed herself, they were unlikely to miss it.
He had a feeling that everything depended on the captain’s ability to give a convincing performance.
Fortunately, Jathella’s bearing showed no hesitation as she struck toward them purposefully, her posture rigid with what appeared to be genuine urgency.
Both guards straightened at her approach, and he watched as they bent their heads deferentially.
The captain’s face was tense as she leaned forward and quietly relayed her orders.
Therxian did not hear what she said, but the guards immediately straightened in unison with matching expressions of concern as they snapped their gavo and quickly departed down the opposite corridor that led to the exterior passage.
She rested on her tail, her velkat extended at her side, the weight of the shaft balanced where it rested on the ground in an alert position.
Her head turned slowly in their direction, and she hummed a long, sharp note.
The way was clear.
He exchanged a glance with Kitanara, and they moved forward quickly in synchronization, keeping Alex shielded between them.
Although his wing covered much of his mate, they were taking no chances as they silently slipped past Jathella, exchanging the smallest of nods with the female before entering the chamber.
The chamber was small, smaller than the average nest, and yet it seemed vast with all the emptiness that filled the space aside from a flat mechanical device set on a table in the center of the room.
Therxian peered at it curiously. Was that it?
It seemed less impressive than he had imagined.
Although he had seen some examples of comms the humans had when they first initially arrived in the Vir Mountains, he had expected the small, personal devices to not compare at all in size to an official communication unit from a human colony.
Was it not supposed to take up more of the chamber than that?
It seemed that a device meant to communicate with far reaches of the planet would command more space for required operation.
He regarded it with some puzzlement but startled when his mate suddenly bolted toward it eagerly and began to flip on numerous switches, making the machine light up unnaturally.
He recoiled uncertainly, but his tail jerked in reaction when Alex squealed quietly with obvious delight.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered to herself as her fingers flew over it.
Therxian cleared his throat, and he drew nearer as he eyed it skeptically. “This is the comm unit you wished to use?”
She jerked her head in a rapid nod. “This is it. With this baby, I will be able to get a hold of my superiors at Raza. My identification code will put me in contact with the hangar, but they can transfer me as soon as they have verified my clearance,” she explained.
“I see. And this is all of it?” he asked, as he scanned the rest of the chamber.
His mate looked up from the machine and gave him a confused look. “All of it?” she echoed.
“Yes. Surely there must be more to such an important system,” he stated as he gestured to it. “Do we need to locate any missing parts?”
Her eyebrows flew up expressively. “No. This is all of it.”
He stared down at the small flat machine in aghast. “You are certain? You have seen one in working condition before?”
Alex’s lips twitched, and she nodded again.
“Many times. The hangar has its own unit, as do most of the major centers within the colony. This... this is a pretty basic system, Therxian,” she explained.
“It is just a flat holographic panel. I merely type in the channel for the hangar followed by my credentials and then press this button here.”
She tapped a glowing blue button, and Therxian drew back warily as blue light gathered above the device and then spread out in a flattened field before reorganizing in the shape of a human face.
It squinted suspiciously, but then its gaze shifted to Alex, and a look of surprise registered on its light-created face as its eyes widened.
“Alex? Holy shit, it is you. You’re alive?” the male retorted. “I can’t believe it.”
Her lips twisted wryly as she greeted him. “Hey Mike. Yeah, I’m still kicking and haven’t yet hopped over the void into the hereafter.”
“Woo-ee, I can’t wait to tell Whitey. He was pretty damned broken up when he heard that you went missing. Been drowning his sorrows in his cup every night, begging the gods to cough you back up and return you to his arms.”
Therxian’s gavo slowly extended, his scales prickling with hostility. Who was this Whitey and why was he grieving over Alex? And what was this about a strange male’s arms? He cast a sharp look at his mate, but she grimaced back at him.
“Right,” she drawled, a hint of impatience in her tone. “Well, you can just tell Whitey that all of that is unnecessary. I’ve never been better. So, he can carry on doing whatever he was doing before. But the reason I’ve commed is quite a bit more urgent—"
The glowing lines of Mike’s face rearranged into an expression of solemnity.
“You know he has been pining pretty hard for you, girl. I know you two have had problems, but I hoped that you would see reason by now. After all of this, don’t you think that it’s nigh time for you to come back and make amends?
Whitey is a good man, and I think you’ve let him suffer enough for his mistakes.
Especially leaving him here for so long, thinking that you are dead and grieving like a man who had lost the other piece of his heart. ”
Therxian glowered at the male, his patience rapidly dwindling.
“And which piece would that be?” Alex countered drily. “I seem to recall that he was pretty liberal about sharing it around and had a little something for everyone. But that is neither here nor there,” she continued briskly. “Whitey is not my problem. What I need is—”
“Now come on, Alex,” the male chuckled. “Enough hard to get. What better options could you possibly have? Just let me know when you will be back to the colony, and I will make all the arrangements for the two of you to have some well-deserved time off together.”
“Enough!” Therxian hissed as he whipped toward his mate, baring his sharp teeth at the human’s light-image.
It immediately grew distorted as if the human recoiled fearfully, and Therxian merely grinned, wishing that it was his rival in front of him instead.
“Enough of this Whitey,” he continued menacingly. “He is nothing.”
Mikey’s head turned toward Alex, his eyes widening as his image slowly became more distinct again. “Alex? What the hell? Who the fuck is this guy... this... alien?”
Therxian scowled in affront and slowly drew himself up. “I am Alex’s mate. I assume that you are the superior in this hangar that she mentioned. You will cease rambling about meaningless things and connect her with the superiors of the colony,” he spat.
His mate’s warm hand brushed his arm, and she chuckled.
“My hero,” she whispered, sending a flush of warmth through his chest, even if he had to endure Kitanara’s quiet laughter from the other side of the chamber.
Alex looked back over at Mikey grimly. “Therxian is right. No more messing around, Mike. I need you to patch me through to command.”
The male’s mouth pursed as he regarded them, but then he sighed heavily and rolled his neck. “Oh fine. Since you’ve gone and mated up with an alien, I’ll just get on that and pass the message along. I suppose this comm means you aren’t coming back, anyway.”
Alex shook her head. “I’m not coming back,” she affirmed. “I just need to report to command.”
Mike sighed. “Sure thing, Alex. It is a damned shame to lose such a fine young woman and damned good mechanic around here, but Whitey done fucked shit up good this time. Alright, Alex, hang tight. I am patching you through now.”
The male’s image collapsed into a glowing field that pulsed faintly.
“Finally,” Alex muttered, and Therxian could not agree more.
“How much longer?” Kitanara hissed as she glanced back anxiously through the entrance. “I do not doubt Elder Goyu’s ability to keep the guards distracted, but it will only work for so long.”
“Should be any minute now,” Alex murmured as she bounced anxiously on her toes.
The electric grid bounced and flickered before suddenly taking shape in the likeness of a male with a more angular facial structure and a pronounced nose.
The male narrowed his eyes for a moment, his brows furrowing in an expression of confusion.
He tipped his head as if listening to someone beside him, and his expression cleared.