Chapter 9
Live and Let Live
Khar
“Among Divani sports champions, perhaps the most remarkable is a young titan who rose from humble beginnings to colossal heights: Khar. Remember the name. We expect great things from him yet.”
Excerpt from the first official interplanetary broadcast about Khar
Seven chrono-cycles later (approximately 8.75 Earth days)
Tired of always setting the example.
Tired of always being strong.
Tired of never being allowed to look up to anyone, because he was required to be the best.
Khar had been defeated.
It took time to accept that the faces he had always believed were his own had been masks.
When they finally fell away, everything grew lighter.
The hardest part had been waiting for the blow.
Then the moment arrived, the thing he had feared all his life, and he discovered that it was not so terrible after all.
Perfection was over. The pressure was gone.
Now he would train not because he was being chased, but because he enjoyed it. He would grow stronger to reach someone he respected, not because a thousand eyes watched him, ready to judge every sign of weakness.
The human female.
The Usurper.
No.
Lily, the Liberator.
Lily sulked for a few chrono-cycles over her imagined grievance, believing that Khar did not respect her enough to consider her a worthy opponent. She forgot all resentment the moment he addressed her by name for the first time.
Had she known that in Divani culture only the victor was granted a name, while the defeated were addressed only by general functions such as Divani male, navigator, or mechanic, she might have reacted very differently.
Now that Khar had moved past his resistance toward her, he found himself deeply amused by the vast gulf between Lily’s self-image and her actual abilities.
Even her appearance did not align with what she was capable of.
Among the Divani, size, strength, and social standing were directly linked, yet Lily barely reached the center of Khar’s chest. Her small head rested there when she stood close, and still she could leap nearly as high as a gerilfi predator pursuing its prey.
Her pinkish-yellow skin, so pale that veins often showed through it, was as resilient as an IMPERIUM-standard protective glove.
And Khar knew exactly what those slender arms could do when Lily focused on overpowering him in arm wrestling.
As for her scent, Khar would rather break his own nose than act on impulses he would regret while trapped alone with her.
His nose healed the moment he stepped into Vitro’s medical bay, but the wound to his pride would have lasted forever.
“Cursed human females and their irresistible scent. That should be illegal,” he muttered.
Khar had no doubt that if humanity were ever classified as a Registered Species by the IMPERIUM, they would be placed in a category marked particularly dangerous.
Even sealed away from Lily’s scent, he was still far more aroused than was appropriate for sharing a ship with a coworker.
The discomfort left him irritable, and only training helped.
A little.
Then Lily, as always, turned his life upside down once again.
Since the arm-wrestling incident, Khar avoided interacting with her whenever possible. He had learned that he could never predict what to expect from the tiny catastrophe.
Lily was like the radiation of Divani homeworld’s sun. You may try to protect yourself against it, but eventually the radiation will wear you down.
Perhaps it was better to accept that.
More than once, Khar amused himself with the thought of inviting the human girl to the Divani core worlds, just to witness the reaction of the elders when Lily effortlessly pinned one of them to the floor.
He also knew it would never happen.
The events of the past weeks made him understand why he had drifted so far from the Divani nesting galaxy. What happened with Lily severed the last and strongest tie to his past.
He was no longer Khar the Unbeatable.
He was simply Khar, free to shape his future however he wished.
He went to work humming.
Lily was already waiting on the bridge.
“I’m glad you’re here, Khar. Vegrun will arrive soon. I’ve prepared everything, but I’m nervous about meeting him.”
Khar dropped into the seat beside her and performed a cursory check of Vitro’s status.
Why bother nitpicking? Lily had done flawless work ever since he met her.
Not that he would ever tell her that.
“Why? He barely notices us. He enjoys the novelty of rare species working for him, but usually he brings a few business partners for short trips, or takes one of his lovers on a shopping excursion. We’ll greet him, and then we likely won’t see him again until the farewell.”
Khar knew he had become more talkative lately, but he did not mind. Lily, for her part, visibly brightened during their conversations.
What a sweet little creature.
Horos’s voice filled the speakers.
And this one is a disgusting little creature.
The fact that Horos was nearly his size did nothing to alter his opinion.
“Vegrun’s vessel has docked at bay two. After expedited customs clearance, we will proceed to the Vitromium. Remain on standby.”
Khar responded with a low grunt that could have meant anything.
Lily rolled her eyes at his reaction and replied politely.
“Yes, sir. We will be ready for your arrival.”
Whatever Lily had feared about Vegrun never came to pass. Just as Khar had predicted, their employer cheerfully introduced them to his lover as if they were old friends, then promptly forgot about them for chrono-cycles at a time.
Horos, who Lily later learned had been the one to interview her for the job, never even set foot aboard the ship.
Khar and Lily barely had any orders to execute.
Vitro was largely self-governing by design, and between the two of them they had refined her algorithms to near perfection.
Once, they drained and refilled the star-deck pool that mimicked the chemical composition of the oceans of Gentarno, after Vegrun and his lover finished amusing themselves in it.
Once in a chrono-cycle, they remotely navigated their employer to the luxury space promenade nearby, far enough from the Szaler Nebula that Vegrun could enjoy the view during dinner.
Khar was convinced this was the easiest, least stressful assignment he had ever had.
“Khar, something is wrong with the data.”
Lily stood at the console, frowning at the cascading lines on the main display, while Khar lounged beside her with his feet propped up.
For a moment, he considered pretending not to hear her and letting her solve it alone.
She was faster and sharper than he was, after all.
But his sense of honor would not allow it.
Hierarchically, she outranked him, even if she did not know it.
“Show me.”
As Lily explained, Khar’s glowing eyes narrowed with sudden clarity.
Someone had breached Vitro’s defenses and was currently inside cargo bay two.
The intrusion was executed with such precision that without Lily’s sharp eye, they would not have noticed until the intruder reached a primary panel, where real damage could be done.
Khar sprang to his feet and seized Lily, pulling her along the corridor toward the dock while already calling Vegrun on his private channel.
“I hope this is important, Khar.”
“Multiple intruders in cargo bay two. Professional level. Vitromium’s security did not trigger. You may be the target, or your guest, or they may be attempting to seize the ship with minimal damage. Lily and I are en route.”
Khar appreciated the calm in Vegrun’s response, though in truth he had never seen the tentacled being panic.
“They are fortunate that Silomarila is currently bathing and did not hear this. She has been quite anxious lately, and the last thing we need is her learning she is still not safe. I would be left standing here with dry tentacles.”
So that was her name.
Vegrun had introduced her, but Khar had not paid much attention.
Privately, he referred to her by the name Lily had jokingly given her.
Madame Turtle, perhaps.
Vegrun would not have appreciated the comparison.
By the time Vegrun finished grumbling about his lover’s fragile mental state, Khar and Lily reached the external panel of the cargo bay.
With a single motion, Khar seized manual control through his handheld console and accessed the data the intruders had failed to overwrite.
“I see it now, sir. Ten individuals breached the bay. Their vessel is still docked to the cargo aperture. That is how they entered. Small-bodied. Based on thermal signatures, I would classify them as vukri.”
Lily’s eyes went wide in her pale face, but to her credit she made no sound.
Khar needed her boldness intact for what came next.
“Khar and Lily, listen carefully. Resolve this quietly and quickly so that Silomarila remains unaware. Naturally, I expect you to protect the ship as well. You will receive double the usual hazard compensation.”
As Vegrun spoke, Khar had already torn open the locker containing weapons and protective gear.
He fastened a defensive vest onto Lily with the brisk efficiency one might use on a child, then secured his own.
“Sir, ten against two alters the odds. I am owed triple hazard pay, and Lily should be allowed to order a solar collector for her vessel if we resolve this minor inconvenience.”
Lily froze mid-motion and looked up at him with sudden hope.
A solar collector.
Only premium owners like Vegrun could order one.
It would reduce her fuel consumption to a tenth of its current level.
Her resistance collapsed instantly.
Khar suppressed the half-smile tugging at his mouth.
Only one being remained to be convinced.
Vegrun seemed more distressed by the negotiation than by the attack.
Had he possessed teeth, he would have ground them.
Then the bathroom door opened behind him, and he had no choice but to agree.
“Fine. But deal with it quickly. Darling, there you are. I ordered you a new surprise. What? No, not that. I learned from last time.”