Page 29 of Cops in Space
“Yes, sir.” Uncle Ben quickly holstered his gun.
A long, slimy tongue licked my arm, and I could feel Nix’s intense hunger. “How many boxes of beef jerky do we have left?”
Uncle Ben slowly backed up. “Two. They’re really popular with the men.”
“Go get them. Now! Before Nix starts chewing on us.”
Uncle Ben bolted.
“Did my bombs destroy the Tai-Kok slaughter ship, Uncle Saul?”
“According to Captain Adan, two Tai-Kok ships were destroyed, and three Rodan battle cruisers were badly damaged. Qa’a ate all the survivors,” Uncle Saul gently touched my face. “Are you okay?”
“Been better.”
Gita hopped on his nose.“Who you?”
“I’m your Uncle Saul.”He picked her up and stroked her silky fur.“Who might you be?”
“Me Gita.”She wiggled a leg at Nix. “Him Nix. Him bite.”
Uncle Saul’s eyebrows rose.“Does he?”
“He does”I held up my right hand, exposing the mangled metal on my glove.“Thank God for armor.”
Uncle Ben hurried in with two cardboard boxes. “Where do you want them?”
“On the floor.”
He dumped them. “That little fella has really big teeth.”
“Yep, and an appetite to match.”I patted the boxes. “Eat up, Nix.”
Whoosh! There was a streak of black and Nix shoved an entire box in his mouth.
“We are going to need more meat. A lot more,” I muttered.
Uncle Ben nodded. “I’ll go get some elk out of the freezer.” He rushed off.
A cloud of flies buzzed around my bloody face. I swatted at them.
Gita’s busy little tongue snagged them all.
“Thanks, sweetie.”I could feel how hungry she was and shot her the image of a cricket.“Go eat all the crickets and as soon as we get Nix fed, I’ll take you out to Uncle Ben’s garden and you can eat all the insects you want.”
“Kay.”She scurried down Uncle Saul’s leg and started hunting bugs.
“We need to let Qa’a know I found Nix. I would but my bell got rung pretty good when Commander Zot hit me. Are you able to link with Kaelen, Uncle Saul?”
“I am. I informed him of your arrival and Qa’a will port them here.” He pulled a healing wand off his belt and scanned me. “Without your armor, that monster would have killed you.”
In perfect Tai-Kok, I repeated the curse.
Uncle Saul’s eyebrows shot up. “You can speak Tai-Kok now?”
“Yes.” I carefully touched my throbbing nose. “Telling Zot his mother had mated with an Axolot was a mistake.”
“Axolot?” Uncle Saul asked.
