Dante
The air inside the pirate vessel has the tang of vented atmosphere coupled with the usual stink of too many living in close proximity with little care for their welfare.
Beside me, Rosalie hesitates slightly, her pace slowing.
“My heartsfire?” I check to make sure she is uninjured, even though we’re less than a tail’s length from the airlock.
“It’s nothing…” She straightens her back. “This ship reminds me of the one Kerra and I were on when Darax found us.”
“I can leave my warriors to deal with it if you wish.”
“No.” She tosses her hair over her shoulder. It tumbles down her back like a wave of flame. “I want to see it. Banish the ghosts.”
I am not entirely sure what she means, but I do not get a scent of fear from her, and her jaw has the same look it had when she asked me to let the crew meet the sarkarnlings, something she was very right about. I would not disobey that jaw.
Although I would prefer to carry my mate through this filthy place, I push the desire down inside myself, and we walk side by side along the main passage to the bridge where my warriors have what is left of the pirate crew kneeling, or the equivalent as their species demands, in several neat rows.
Smoke rises from a couple of consoles. There is the distinct smell of plasma weapons discharge, so it would appear at least one of the pirates put up a fight.
“This one is the captain.”
My boarding party leader, a capable warrior called Dalix, points out a large Lijiki, one of the main pirate species in this galaxy.
His three stomachs bulge out of his open jacket, and he is producing enough slime to make him far more slippery than he actually is.
His dark, watery eyes flick to me then straight ahead again.
“Cargo?”
“Yes.”
I rub at my chin.
“Data banks?”
“Wiped.”
So they kept the cargo and wiped their data. At least I know which one was the more valuable to them.
“Hello, Captain.” I stand over the figure as he trembles, yet more slime sluicing from him to be reabsorbed by his clothing.
“We didn’t mean anything by our threats, Sarkarnii,” he says, attempting to sound strong.
“You didn’t mean it when you said you’d annihilate my ship and crew?”
“N-no.”
“Because I have my mate with me.” I look over at Rosalie who has a strange expression on her face as she stares at the rest of the pirates. “And any threat to her means I will visit it three-fold on whoever threatens her.”
To give him his due, the captain doesn’t even risk a look around the room. He stares straight ahead of him.
“I didn’t know, Sarkarnii.”
“I doubt you’d have done any different if you did know.” I examine my claws. “Why did you delete your databases?”
This time his eyes do flicker to me and then back to the bulkhead in front of him.
“Our systems went down when you fired on us,” he says, his big, bulbous nose vibrating.
Lijiki are terrible liars, which is somewhat of a problem for pirates.
“And yet the stench of you and your crew still fills this place, meaning the atmospheric conditions did not vary.” I pull out a knife from the waistband of my pants and examine it.
“And for a craft of this age and design, for your systems to fail and for you to still be breathing, or whatever it is you do, that would be an impressive feat.”
Again, he looks at me, his eyes alighting on the dagger in my hand, not that I need it, but it’s a fun and pretty thing to play with.
“I don’t know,” he offers pathetically.
“Wrong answer.” I shake my head. “Discharge him into space,” I say to Dalix. “We’ll get the information we need out of one of the others.”
With a sneer of distaste, Dalix grabs hold of the slimy creature and hauls him onto his tentacles.
“No, wait, kind Sarkarnii, dear Sarkarnii,” the Lijiki captain pleads. “I have standing orders to wipe my databases in the event of a Sarkarnii boarding.”
I already have him by the area where his throat would be, although as Lijiki breathe through their skin, it means little to him.
“You’re pirates. Who gives pirates orders?” I snarl, inserting the point of my blade in his nostril.
“Um…” His dark eyes dart to his crew, all of whom are looking distinctly uncomfortable…or rather more uncomfortable than they were.
“You would rather be thrown out the airlock than tell me?” I give him a shake. “Because I can think of worse fates.” I glare at him. “How do you feel about a sodium bath?”
“No!” His voice is high-pitched. “No,” he repeats in a lower tone. “You do not need to do that.”
Which is good because it’s the last thing I’d do, unless I really thought he’d have gone through with his threats and my Rosalie would have been at risk of harm. Not, of course, that the captain knows it. He has presumably heard the rumors about Sarkarnii warriors.
They’re good. I started them.
“Then what was in your database and who gives you orders?”
The captain shakes, his body wobbling and his tentacles squirming. It takes me a beat, but I realize this is some sort of mirth reaction.
“You really don’t know, Sarkarnii?” he splutters through a burble which could be a laugh. “You don’t know who wants you?”
“I know,” I growl.
“No,” he says, “you don’t.”