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He raised his head and bared his teeth at the Kaanian captain who did not mistake the expression for a smile. The feline captain also bared his teeth, his lips peeling back to display fearsome fangs.
Louella sighed at the male posturing. Some things never changed, regardless of species.
“We are pleased to have found you,” the captain said. “Others from your ship have been retrieved. Please come aboard my ship. An Ahn’hudi delegation will meet you in Kaan-shar.”
“Thank you,” Louella said when Yas’kihn said nothing. Good manners never hurt. “Captain Ashtul?”
A low growl rumbled in Yas’kihn’s throat.
“Stop it,” she hissed at him.
“Yes?” the captain replied, eyeing the big reptilian warrior askance.
“Did … were many from the Ahn’hudi warship rescued?” she asked.
The captain nodded. “Only a few perished. We discovered the remnants of your warship and the Sivuul ship. There was a Sivuul mothership lurking in the same sector. Kaan-shar forces defeated the Sivuulian scum and destroyed their vessel.”
Yas’kihn held his temper at the knowledge that the Ahn’hudi warship had failed to detect and destroy the Sivuul mothership. He seethed, knowing the Sivuul had defeated his well-trained warriors. How had his warriors failed? How had they been so quickly overwhelmed? The overwhelming numbers of insectoid warriors must have come from the mothership. He resolved to speak with the Ahn’hudi ship’s captain if the male still lived. The Ahn’hudi warship’s defeat would add credence to the Kaanian’s smug attitude of superiority.
The captain ushered them toward the gangplank. As Yas’kihn and Louella preceded their rescuers into the ship, the general superior continued to ruminate on the factors leading to the Ahn’hudi warship’s defeat. He resented the implication that his fierce warriors did nothing to counter the overwhelming invasion of their ship. They had killed many of the insectoid intruders. However, he was grateful that another Sivuulian hive had been wiped out.If we hunted that race into extinction, no one would weep, not even the Ogranox who are their allies.
“We have little room for you on board my ship,” the captain said with a shrug. “However, it won’t take too long before we land in Kaan-shar.”
“Then why did you answer the distress call?” Louella asked, then immediately regretted it. “It’s not that I’m not grateful. I am,truly. We both are. But if there’s nowhere to put us—”
“Do not fret, human female. We Kaanians are an honorable race. We do not begrudge you a share of our supplies.” He stopped beside a door which slid open. “For as long as you dwell on this ship, you are part of Kee Pride. Do not abuse our honor.”
“Of course not,” she assured him as Yas’kihn ducked to pass through the door. She gave the captain a tentative smile. “We really are grateful.”
The captain nodded and returned her smile. “My beta is mated to a human female and Kee Pride has learned many of your strange ways. General Superior Yas’kihn is fortunate to have you.”
“You know who we are?”
“Of course. You two are the only survivors who have yet to be returned to Ahn’hudin.”
Louella wanted to goggle at his words. “We’ve been marooned on that moon for, what, eight days?”
“Perhaps a bit longer,” the captain replied before turning and murmuring a quiet order to one of his crew.
The lanky, whipcord lean Kaanian nodded and raced away to do whatever his captain had commanded. Ashtul resumed walking and the two refugees followed him down the ship’s metal clad corridor.
Ashtul said, “A new wormhole has opened on the far side of Kaan. It leads to your galaxy, General Superior. After debriefing, you’ll be released and sent home.”
“Another wormhole?” Louella echoed in awe. “Another galaxy?”
“Aye, Ahn’hudi and Kaan occupy different galaxies, but we are allied through our shared enmity of the Ogranox and the Sivuul.”
“Ogranox,” she replied and frowned, wracking her memory for a reference.
“The Ogranox are a foul melding of flesh and machine.”
“Borg,” Louella muttered, thinking of the evil cyborg race from theStar Trektelevision series and movies. Then she recalledThe Wrath of Khanand stifled a giggle.Captain Ashtul doesn’t look a thing like Ricardo Montalbán.
“Borg? What is Borg?” Yas’kihn asked.
She shook her head and exhaled a gusty breath. “Nevermind.”
“I would know what you know of this Borg,” the captain said, his tone going soft and ever so subtly menacing.
