Page 8 of Uncovered By the Alien Commander
I thumb my knife; it helps soothe my nerves as Kaanus chimes in. “Now, now, my love. Tyrxie’s done a good job taking stock.”
“Any moron could do that!” Hyanxa protests, her voice rising as I try to ignore my increasing heart rate and avoid her hateful golden eyes.
“Not me!” Quad bellows with a board grin on his face. Oblivious to the implications. Once again, I’m grateful for his timely interruptions.
“Barlyxian cranium capacity and brain mass indicate potential for simple arithmetic. No?” Mod interjects with his pointless comment, turning to his brother Job.
“Perhaps Quad uniquely challenged? Yes?” Job’s spindly arm limbs gesture towards the poor confused looking Quad, who glances between the two with his mouth wide open.
“Cut the crap!” Kaanus shouts, his voice hard, interrupting, although his demeanor is still calm. “We’ve restocked our supplies and made a nice tidy profit selling our arcweave to Star City.”
“Pfft, Star City, such a stupid name!” Quad interrupts to splutter gobs of saliva over the table. “Why not Space Port City. Silly Klendathians,” he finishes laughing to himself.
“Hmm, Klendathian cranial capacity suggests potential for higher cognitive function. No?” Mod adds, his chitinous hands playing with his wrist console, as I take out one of my rags and wipe the table clean.
The aloof Triandale bristles “They are primitive savages,” he snarls, his passionate anger surprises me, so unlike his usual cool and collected manner. “If not for the Scythians, they’d still be throwing sticks and stones.” I’m glad Quad is sitting between us.
It could have been Triandale.
“Captain, Tyrxie requested you for more parts? Yes?” The treacherous Job turns his beady eyes towards me, his tone laden with insinuation. “You like her fleshy bits? You listen? Yes?”
My cheeks ignite like a giant star as I shrink into my chair, wishing the metal floor would swallow me up, never to release me. “I said nothing!” I protest, my voice shaky as I glance down at my trembling hands.
“You voiding bitch!” Hyanxa screams, her face twisted with rage, sending a shudder through my body as she makes a threatening move towards me.
“Easy Hyanxa, Tyrxie never approached me,” Kaanus reassures her with a placating hand. Hyanxa glowers at me, her golden eyes promising future pain, until she lets out a breath and runs a hand through her fiery red hair.
Job’s bug-like eyes dart back and forth between Hyanxa and me. “Mammaloid behavior confusing. Yes?”
“Indeed,” Mob confirms before he too looks at Captain Kaanus. “You spend profits on droids?” His spindly arms point towards Quad. “You replace that one? No?”
Job interjects his many arm limbs flailing in what I think passes for excitement among Glaseroids “Yes, yes! Maintenance drones to replace her!” His long fingers extend in my direction, causing panic to grip my chest.
They will abandon me!
“No, no, the female takes half a percent, the Barlyxian takes two percent. More efficient to remove him!” Mod corrects his twin brother, to which Job nods his flat narrow head in agreement. A shameful part of me feels a twinge of relief at his words.
Kaanus rubs his white eyes. “We’ve been over this countless times. No one’s getting replaced.” He then folds his broad arms. “Void, I don’t know how we get anything done with all this pointless chatter,” he complains with a weary sigh. “The reason I called you all here is to discuss our job offers.”
He extends his wrist console holographic display to encompass much of our table, the blue glow reflecting off thepolished metals. “Seems the Klendathians are voiding keen to reach a planet called Earth.”
“I never heard of it, so I checked the cords,” Hyanxa offers as she examines the back of her sharp nails. “It’s a little less than a week away. Would be a simple drop and fetch job, no mess, no fuss.”
Triandale scoffs, “Nothing’s simple when dealing with the Klendathians,” he asserts, his long neck curling round to stare at the Captain. “As Security Officer, I strongly oppose allowing any of them onboard. They are a menace, a blight that stains the very universe.” His drooping face tentacles almost scrub the table as he shakes his head.
“Pfft, Skinny is scared, I protect you all!” Quad exclaims with a hearty laugh. I sigh as I reach over once again to clean his spittle from the table. “I met Klendathians. They little taller, true, but I’m stronger with more arms!”
“You met their traders, farmers and craftsman, not their killers,” Triandale retorts, his runny sad eyes harden to arcweave. “Quad, take my advice. You stay far away from them.” He waves a lanky arm to encompass the cramped room. “That goes for all of you.”
Everyone’s dangerous.
Kaanus sighs, his gaze locks onto Triandale. “Let’s keep politics out of this—”
Triandale’s long neck straightens like a metal rod. “Politics, you call it? They slaughtered my entire species! My wife and children, all dead on Gorglaxia,” he bellows, banging his fist on the table with such force that half of us recoil in surprise. “No one knows better than me the destruction you invite onto our craft!”
Kaanus rises to his feet, the blue in his gray scales simmering with increased intensity. “My ship, not ours! You understand, Triandale? If you can’t follow my orders, I’ll voiding leave youhere on their planet!” He roars, sending shivers down my spine. Identical voice, identical face...
The one that haunts my nightmares.