Chapter 11
Urgent Matters
Khar
“I would not recommend hiring this male. He seems… unpredictable.”
“Oh, nonsense. There is nothing wrong with him. I like that he has some nerve. If anything, you could learn from him.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“You see? That is exactly what I mean.”
Conversation between Vegrun and Horos after Khar’s interview
Khar was pissed off.
And sulking.
He could not sit still after Lily left with that predatory bastard, so he went down to the cargo bay and started moving crates around. His body seemed to need an outlet lately, ever since Lily had hugged him after the fight.
Not that he had accepted his current situation.
And just because he had not given in to the next step, something every fiber of him demanded with growing urgency, did not mean some leering carrion bird like Horos could swoop in and take advantage of her.
Khar knew exactly what the secretary’s intentions were. He was not about to let that smooth-talking parasite exploit an innocent, inexperienced girl. The fact that he himself might have benefited from Lily’s presence was irrelevant.
For now.
His senses were sharp, honed by countless raids and ambushes, so the soft voice behind him still caught him off guard.
Had he known Lily was back, he would have pulled on his uniform jacket instead of standing there half-naked, a faint sheen of sweat catching the low light across his chest.
“Wow, Khar. You actually finished the reorganization,” Lily said. “This morning you said you could not be bothered.”
Khar glanced over his shoulder and maybe flexed just a little.
Hardly noticeable.
It did not mean anything.
Certainly not that he did it because Lily seemed to enjoy the view.
“Had time,” he muttered.
She hummed softly as she inspected the new cargo layout, while Khar wrestled with the urge to ask about her meeting with Horos.
In the end, pride won.
Barely.
He still had a scrap of dignity left, and he intended to keep it.
“You did a great job,” Lily said at last. “It is much more organized now. Vitro will coordinate the helper bots better this way.”
She smiled up at him, and something dark and possessive stirred in Khar’s chest. He would have done anything to see that smile again.
Instead, he abruptly yanked his head back and slammed it into the wall, hard enough to produce a dull thud while carefully angling his horns so they would not take the impact.
Lily rushed to him.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” he said flatly. “Do not worry about it.”
Get yourself together. You cannot become this pathetic this quickly.
She hovered anxiously around him, then patted his shoulder. The simple touch nearly undid him.
“Lily,” he said, forcing his voice steady. “I have been thinking about the attack.”
She tensed, shoulders lifting as if to shield herself.
“Yeah. It has crossed my mind a few times too.”
Khar considered how to approach it, then decided that with Lily, directness usually worked best. It reduced the risk of another catastrophic cultural misunderstanding, something they had already managed more than once in the past month.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Incidents like that are rare. Most intelligent beings do not have to fight for their lives.”
Lily stared down at her boots.
“Maybe here that is true,” she said. “In space, I mean.”
“You are saying Earth is violent?”
She thought for a moment. “Not peaceful. It depends where you live. Some places still have wars. I am from a safer region. I never had to fight like that, but the threat is always there. You can get attacked. Robbed. Or raped.”
Khar carefully placed that information into a very small mental box and locked it tight, marked for later destruction.
Right now, her well-being mattered more.
“I see,” he said evenly. “Still, you went through something serious. Even if you were not physically hurt, it leaves a mark.”
Lily lifted her chin, eyes flashing.
“I do not need therapy from you, space bull. I did what I had to do. It was them or me. And how was I supposed to know they were that fragile? When I hit the first one with the weight and it just crumpled, I thought I was hallucinating. Who is that fragile and chooses piracy?”
Entirely possible. You simply come from a terrifying species that fights like trained soldiers without training.
Her anger cooled, settling into something sharper.
“I appreciate your concern,” she continued. “Really. But this is not the first time I have had to defend myself out here. Where do you think I got my ship from?”
Khar listened carefully. Every detail about her was cataloged with tactical precision, like intelligence gathered for a long campaign.
“I suspected as much,” he said. “I am sorry you had to go through it again. I assume someone helped you afterward.”
Her smile softened at the mention of her beloved ship.
“It is called an acclimatization program,” she said. “It helped me process it back then, and it will help now too.”
Khar smiled at her.
She blinked, then returned it with a wide, radiant grin.
“They also reminded me of a pest species from Earth,” she added. “Disgusting little things. I really did not want them touching me. Wait. Is that allowed to say? Is that… specist?”
Khar leaned against a pillar, relieved that if nothing else, Lily had support.
“Well,” he said dryly, “if you have to ask…”
Her face drained of color.
The old Khar would have let her squirm, maybe even enjoyed it. The new Khar felt a sharp pang instead. He tilted her chin gently so she would meet his eyes.
“Most people grow up knowing there are other species,” he said. “Even then, some cultures turn xenophobic. You lived your entire life in one environment. It is natural to compare new things to what you knew.”
She shook her head. “That does not make it right. They were living beings. Maybe they had families. Dreams.”
“Yes,” Khar said gravely. “The vukri are well known for their rich cultural life.”
She went even paler, her lower lip trembling.
Khar was torn between comforting her immediately or wondering if she would make this expression if he bent her over his knee and spanked her thoroughly.
Later. Definitely later.
“Lily,” he said gently, “I am joking. The vukri are parasites. They do not qualify as sentient. Someone planted them aboard Vitro using a remote probe with limited life support. They can be equipped with simple tools but cannot pilot ships. They slipped in because their bodies do not register standard life signs. It is a rare but known pirate tactic.”
Her distress vanished, replaced by outrage.
“You jerk!”
She slapped his hand away and glared up at him. Khar noticed, almost absently, that the claws he had touched her with were a shade darker now.
She did not see it.
“Lily.”
“What?”
“Can you handle operations alone for a few chrono-cycles? There is something I need to take care of.”
Despite her irritation, she shifted instantly into professional mode.
“You will clear it with Vegrun?”
“I will handle it.”
“Fine. I could use a break from you anyway.”
“You will still see plenty of me.”
Khar watched her stomp away, small boots striking the deck in furious rhythm.
Better finish the transformation soon.
A Liberator does not deserve to be kept waiting.