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12
The security officerswere waiting when we reached the pod. Three were Agusian and the fourth was a Garvian.
One Agusian, a tall guy who reminded me a lot of Zarex, stepped forward.
"I am Rayax. This is Tarvun and Navor." He gestured toward the other two Agusians. "And Hamit."
The Garvian nodded. The movement made his tentacles flip and flop.
Another time, I might have laughed, but my sense of humour seemed to have taken a hike somewhere. Maybe it was the collection of long faces around me. Everyone looked anxious, but determined.
"Edie, Brinley, J'avet," J'avet said. "E'rel should be inside the pod. We all should."
If Rayax was bothered by J'avet's brusque tone, he didn't show it. He simply saluted and waved for us to precede him inside.
J'avet barely acknowledged him, just walked past and into the pod, followed by Brinley.
I gave Rayax a shrug and he responded with a wink. Yep, he reminded me even more of Zarex. Before I could say a word, he spoke softly, "Zarex is my brother. I managed to work it so I could come too. I want him back as much as anyone."
Once I got past my surprise, I smiled and patted his arm. "We'll find him," I promised. "He's probably given them so much trouble by now, they'll be glad to hand him back to us." Hopefully not so much trouble they killed him. No, I wouldn't think about that. I couldn't. Just the idea hurt my heart too much.
Rayan responded with a wry smile. "That sounds like him." His expression faded into one of concern that mirrored my feelings exactly. Zarex has that effect on people, obviously. He's easy to care about.
Rayax stepped away so I could board.
"He's cute," Brinley said as I swung my bag onto an empty bunk.
"You don't think I have my hands full enough?" I asked.
She smiled. "Knowing you, you'd handle one more. Or several." Other women might be jealous, but she was happy for me.
"Maybe you should continue your own collection," I suggested. "That would keep E'rel on his toes."
She glanced speculatively toward Rayax. "Maybe I will," she said thoughtfully. "In the meantime, I better get this pod underway before the captain changes her mind about letting us go."
"I think at this point, if she does that, J'avet will tell you to fly through the pod bay doors." I knew full well that would only result in the destruction of the pod, but I was done being told we can't do this or that. I just wanted to be on our way.
Brinley smiled and hurried to the cockpit, where J'avet already sat. He seemed to be looking over the controls, possibly trying to locate the tracker.
I leaned down so my mouth was near his ear.
"Are you going to disable it?" I asked.
"Why would I do that?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Because if Gamma can track us, who else can?" I asked.
He twisted around and gaped at me. Without responding, he jumped up and stalked toward E'rel. He crouched beside the other Parvoran and they spoke in low, sharp tones. Whatever they were saying, J'avet wasn't happy.
After a minute or two, he rose and stalked back to the cockpit. He slipped back into a seat and sat with a straight back. "E'rel doesn't know, but he said it's possible for the Iri to pick up our signal if they know to look."
"They're Iritauri," I said, "they'll know to look."
"Yes," J'avet said simply. "There's nothing we can do right now. Let's get off this ship. Find a seat and get strapped in."
"Right." I moved to the passenger section and sat in the first row. I felt a bit like the goodie-goodie at school, but I was as close to J'avet and Brinley as I could be without sitting on their laps. As tempting as it might be to sit on J'avet's, it wasn't safe. Especially if we actually had to punch our way out the door.
"What makes a human hunt Iri hosts?" Tarvun sat down beside me and clicked his harness into place.
