Page 88 of Mazorium Buys a Human

Every night she’d had nightmares bad enough to wake her up. It was hard, but I knew all I could do was be comforting and supportive until she worked through the remaining fears.

“I have news also,” Iris said. “The Golic Company returned my employment inquiry. They’ll be here in about twenty days to add an energy weapon to your ship and deliver the defense bots I ordered.”

“Great!” Mika said.

“I can pay you back for all of it,” I said.

“Never,” Iris said. “This is my six-month-birthday gift for Nadia. Wait until you see what I’m getting when she turns a full year old.”

Mika laughed, even though I didn’t understand why Iris’s comment was humorous.

“Your generosity humbles me,” I said.

Damascus’s Ident and Iris’s information square chimed at the same time. They both pulled them out to read messages.

“Our crew successfully captured the males,” Iris said. She turned the information square around so we could see an image capture of the males, sitting side by side and bound hand and foot.

“There are only five there,” Mika said, sounding close to panic. “Where are the other three?”

“Dead,” Damascus said. He tapped his Ident and a holo popped up, showing images of the three dead males. “Our crew also collected the bodies and put them in cryo-pods for transport back to Talarian.”

The moment Mika saw the bodies, she relaxed in my arms. “He’s dead. That’s good.” She must've realized she said that out loud and looked at Iris. “I mean, um, that he, uh…”

“If we didn’t need them to get Gorum, I’d want them all dead too,” Iris said with a malicious look on her face that I could only admire. “Don’t worry, their trip back home won’t be pleasant."

“Life after their trial won’t be nice either,” Damascus said. “These crimes aren’t enough for execution, but they’ll probably be sentenced to a lifetime of servitude.”

“Death might be preferable," I muttered. Those locked into servitude were treated very poorly. They were often looked at as being sub-Talin and unworthy of respect of any kind.

We talked for a little longer before Iris and Damascus got messages that the males were aboard their ship and secured in the brig.

“It’s time to leave,” Iris said. “Try not to get kidnapped before the Golic Company gets here.”

“I swear to you that won’t happen,” I said.

Mika chuckled. “She isn’t serious. She’s teasing us.”

I forced a rumble of amusement out of my chestbox. “Very amusing, Iris.”

She patted my arm. “Sorry, it’s a human humor thing. Did Damascus give you the weapons yet?”

“Weapons?” Mika asked, sitting up in my arms.

“Yup, we’re giving you some boom-sticks,” she said, and that made both the women laugh.

“I don’t know why she calls projectile weapons boom-sticks,” Damascus said. “But they find it humorous.”

“Apparently,” I said. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but I’ve had military training up to Basic III.”

“Perfect,” Damascus said with a rumble of approval. “Then I can leave you with the boxes, and you can teach Mika.”

We continued to talk as we walked out of my ship and to their shuttle, Mika still in my arms. Damascus pulled four boxes out of the shuttle and stacked them. I wasn’t surprised by the number of weapons and quantity of ammunition he was leaving us. He knew what it was like to have a delicate human to keep safe.

It took a little while to say goodbye, especially for Mika and Iris. I was even forced to set Mika down so the women could hug.

Finally Iris and Damascus loaded into the shuttle, and we stepped back far enough for them to safely take off.

We watched them until they disappeared into the clouds.