“Sorry, my ladies,” he said quickly, looking from one woman to the other in quick glances, as though he didn’t want to let either out of his sight in case they suddenly became the tripled-headed liiraas snake from legend and bit him in the ass.
“I was just curious. Is she a runt or somethin’? Will she need special medical care?”
Unlike Risyn, Berr’s accent was thicker, a lot less cultured and much more provincial. It sounded familiar to her. In the midst of her panic, she wondered if he was from the Argarath Sector. She and Rynn had been there a few years ago when he’d been assigned to neutralize a problematic bloodline. Rather than simply wipe them out and lose good warriors from the empire, Rynn had spent time undercover in the area and discovered where the dissent had originated. Two surgical strikes later and he’d sorted the problem with no one being any the wiser. Such was the effectiveness of the Emperor’s shadow. But she didn’t recall the B’Kaar having a foothold in that region.
Indra’s voice was stone cold when she replied. “That doesn’t make it any better. It makes it worse. No, she is not a runt. She’s merely petite, as are a lot of human women.”
Petite. Huh. She had a name for her diminutive body type now. Keris filed the human word away in her memory.
“And a lot of human males... men, I mean, like petite women,” Jay cut in, smiling down at her with a look that made her stomach flutter and a strange, heavy heat settle between her legs. She knew he was playing the role of her mate, but a little part of her wanted to know if he really liked her petite type or whether he was just saying it. She wanted him to say it and mean it.
Berr nodded, looking past her two human protectors to Keris and giving a bow. “I apologize, my lady, if’n I upset ya or offered insult.’ Twas not my intent.”
She gave him a regal inclination of her head, copying Indra’s earlier gesture. “Thank you. Apology accepted.”
Jay squeezed her side, an approving smile on his face, and they walked in silence the rest of the way to the command center.
“This is...” Risyn paused to study the panels and consoles. “Surprisingly sophisticated for such an old base.”
For a moment Keris expected Miisan to materialize and ring a peal over the B’Kaar’s head for his backhanded compliment, but the AI remained silent. She didn’t blame her. None of their kind would willingly tangle with the B’Kaar. Not without several backups and at least one offsite redundancy. They were known to take AIs offline and hook themselves into the system instead.
She shuddered at the idea of a biological brain taking that kind of load, but it didn’t seem to bother the B’Kaar. At Risyn’s nod, they fanned out, their kasivars following them, already pulling input cables from their thigh pockets to start jacking in.
“Plugin, integrate,” the B’Kaar in the middle of the room ordered, the light of battle in his strange eyes. “Then uplink and disseminate information. I want this base’s secrets. All of them.”
8
“That was… intense,” Jay shuddered as the door slid shut behind them, enclosing them in the safety of Indra and Nyek’s quarters.
He snorted to himself at that idea. They’d been escorted here from the command desk by two fully suited B’Kaar warriors who were even now stationed out in the corridor.
“Where does that asshole Risyn get off?” Indra all but exploded, stalking forward. She was practically vibrating with fury. “For our own protection? Did he miss we’ve managed to survive on this rustbucket base for a week on our own?”
Jay rubbed at the heavy stubble on his chin. It didn’t take a genius to work out that they were prisoners, but what surprised him was that they were being allowed to mix rather than being kept in their separate rooms. That wasn’t wise. There was a chance they would form a team, and he didn’t think that cold, calculating leader of theirs left anything to chance. Which meant there was another objective.
“Do you think they—”
He turned on Indra as she began to speak, her gaze on Keris, and dragged his finger across his throat in a swift movement. Her eyes widened as she cut her sentence off abruptly. Pointing to his ear, he motioned upward and around them. Given the limited intelligence they had, there was a good possibility the B’Kaar were listening.
Ushering them forward, he herded them all into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Finger over his lips to keep them all quiet, he opened the taps on the basin and turned the shower on.
Then he nodded. “Okay, we should be good now.”
Seren raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to explain what’s going on? Or is this some weird human custom? I have to tell you, I’m happy to spar with you, but that’s as far as it goes.”
Jay snorted. “Sorry, handsome, my tastes run to petite brunettes, and whatever else you might be, no one can describe you as petite. You’re a sodding mountain.”
Nyek leaned back against the counter, arms folded over his chest and his dark gaze on Jay. “I would like to know why we’re all crowded in here as well. If this is some human harem thing, Indra and I will be declining.” He went to push off the counter. “We should barricade the door in case the B’Kaar decide on a frontal assault.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, will you get your minds out of the fucking gutter!” Jay exclaimed in exasperation. “And stop thinking like warriors for a second. Would you? You need to think like spies.”
Both Lathar looked at him like he had two heads. “Why? We’re warriors.”
“Fuck’s sake, someone save me from thick-headed aliens.” He tipped his head back and rubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, we need to adapt and overcome. Read me?”
“It’s not their fault. The Lathar specialize,” Keris said quietly. “They were born and bred to be warriors, not spies. The nearest they know of is the emperor’s shadows. Assassination and spying are what shadows are trained for.”
He blinked for a moment and then nodded and offered her a small smile. He was going to have to treat them as recruits then.
“Okay. So, this is a different type of warfare we’re looking at,” he explained, making sure to keep his voice low. “The B’Kaar are keeping us prisoner, but not separately. Which means they’re watching us… listening in on us.” He shot a look at Keris. “At least, I’m assuming they can do that?”
She nodded. “Easily. It was a smart move bringing us in here. The running water will disrupt surveillance devices in the main room. There are none in here.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, grim-faced.
She nodded. “It was the one thing Rynn did when he started to monitor a location. He always added surveillance in the washrooms.”
“Who is Rynn?” Nyek demanded. “And why is he watching males during their ablutions? That is… not honorable.”
“Rynn is the emperor’s shadow,” Keris snapped, turning on Nyek with surprising viciousness. She advanced on the bigger Lathar, poking him hard in the chest. “And his honor is without question. Understand me?”
Jay hid his amusement as the big Lathar looked down at the tiny woman like he’d just been savaged by a puppy.