Bgrarh loped next to Egwreh as they made their way into the secure area of the ship. The engineer was shorter than Bgrarh, so he automatically adjusted his stride to allow her to keep alongside him.
"{The Captain didn't say what this was about?}" asked Egwreh.
Bgrarh shook his huge head. "{I was unable to pick up her scent, mon ami.}"
They came to a door which did not automatically slide open on their approach. Even Bgrarh's implant was useless; as far as it was concerned the door was simply not there. A large red-and-brown pile of coils sat nearby, and as they approached the pile stirred. Resh'skk poked his hooded head up from his coiled body and regarded them both with a curious unblinking stare.
"[Thank Sotek's nethers you're here. I figured it would be impolite to just break down the door, even if the Captain invited me.]"
Egwreh nodded to him, then leaned forward and tapped in a code on a keypad next to the door.
"[Is this room what I think it is?]" asked Resh'skk.
"{It might be,}" replied Bgrarh as the three entered.
Beyond the door was a large room, much larger than the size of the door would indicate. The room was not very spacious, however, since it was filled with sealed crates made of nigh-unbreakable composite. The room also held the imposing figure of Captain Rgrarshok, the less-imposing but still substantial figure of Ngralh, and the wiry frame of Myyreh. As the door closed behind the newcomers, Bgrarh reflected that the room was now what the [humans] would call 'cozy'.
Resh'skk looked around at the others with pointed curiosity, then stared at the Captain. "[I seem to be the odd one out here. Was I invited by accident?]"
"{No, I wanted you here,}" replied the Captain. "{Especially since you have something in common with Myyreh.}"
The Jornissian gave a thoughtful purr. "[Namely, that I'm responsible for protecting a [tiny-chomper]. Is this regarding [Maria]?]"
The Captain nodded. "{We are on our way to [Sssnnathor's] planet. Our current cover story is that we are entertainers. Among us we have enough talent to make that story plausible, but our real strength is our [human] companions. [Sssnnathor] will without a doubt allow us to land if he has the chance to see tiny-chompers in the flesh.}"
Resh'skk's hood flared out. "[He'll want to meet them face to face. That means you are putting my ward in possible danger. I'm quite fond of [Maria]. I would be even if she wasn't a [tiny-chomper].]"
"{I'm not happy about this either, [Resh'ssk],}" said Myyreh. "{But we're not only bodyguards. We've both trained as soldiers.}" She motioned to the crates around them with a meaningful twitch of one ear.
He shook his hood. "[You are a Senate investigation team with no legal mandate to possess anything close to military hardware, especially since you have a [tiny-chomper] in your crew.]"
"{We will no longer be in Senate-controlled space,}" replied the Captain. "{In those circumstances we are allowed to act with much greater latitude. We have the necessary matériel here to outfit everyone.}"
Resh'skk folded his arms. "[All right. Even if you can wriggle your way out of an Inquisition hearing afterwards, is this strictly necessary? I can get us another ship, a smaller one. I know a few black-market dealers who don't look too closely at IDs if the price is right.]" He indicated Myyreh with his snout. "[The two of us can slip in, find this 'Silken Feather' dipshit, and have her tied up and dumped in front of you before you know it. That way the [tiny-chompers] can remain on safely board the Claw.]"
"{We do not have time to obtain another ship,}" said Rgrarshok. "{The travel time to [Sssnnathor's] planet is already significant. Every day brings another chance for our prey to get nervous and vanish again.}" The Captain looked over at Myyreh, who still had an angry set to her features, then back at Resh'skk's equally troubled face.
"{I understand everyone's concern,}" the Captain continued. "{Remember, [Oscar] is my pack-mate as well. The thought of him in any danger fills me with dread.]" She spread her hands. "[But consider this. In the larger scheme of things, are we doing the tiny-chompers any favors by coddling them? They're not pups. Eventually they have to take their place in the galaxy at large.}"
Resh'skk simmered for a few moments, then turned to Egwreh. "[What arms do you have available?]"
"{What do you want?}" replied the engineer with a cheeky grin.
"[Don't play with me. If we're sticking my [human] in possible harm's way I want a full military loadout. Power armor included, 6th generation at a minimum.]"
Egrweh's grin grew wider. "{Oh, is that all? Sure you wouldn't like me to customize some 7th gen gear for you?}"
After another few moments of them staring at each other, Resh'skk responded with a smile of his own. "[Very well, Captain. We'll play it your way.}"
"{What do we tell zhe tiny-chompers?}" asked Bgrarh. "{[Oscar] will for certain figure out what we're planning.}"
"[I'm not lying to him,}" added Myyreh with finality.
Rgrarshok clasped her paws behind her back. "{We will inform the tiny-chompers of our plans. I can hardly say they need to step forward and do their part, then in the same breath ask you all to throw them off the scent.]"
Ngralh cleared his throat. "{But we should also suggest to the tiny-chompers that they remain discreet about this equipping. If it turns out we don't need such weaponry, then no one in the Senate ever needs to know of our preparations.}"
"{I agree,}" said Rgrarshok. "{Egwreh, work with Myyreh and [Resh'skk], get them armed and armored as they see fit. No limits. For the rest of the team, we'll need to issue or fabricate low-profile arms and armor. Something that will pass as normal clothing.}"
Egwreh rubbed her chin. "{Fabbing low-profile armor for the [humans] won't be too much of a problem, I just have to scale things down and tweak the proportions a bit. Getting [Hrathra] and the [Karnakians] outfitted, however... that will be more difficult.}"
"{I can help zhere!}" said Bgrarh with enthusiasm.
The Captain sighed. "{I know you will, Specialist Bgrarh. But I have other duties for you as well. Please come with me.}"
----------------------------------------
"{You want me to dance, Captain? I...wow, I mean, I'm not sure, I've never done anything like that, well, that's not true, I've danced a few times on dates and things, but nothing complex, nothing professional.}"
The pair of Dorarizin stood in the hallway not too far from the secure storage room. Captain Rgarshok noted with amusement how Bgrarh had dropped his affected accent during his freak-out.
"{I understand, Bgrarh,"} she said, careful to make her voice soothing. "{But dance is the only artistic thing that I've had any training in. The Mehrrans style requires partners of equal size to make it look good, and you're the only Dorarizin here who's my height.}"
The big brick-red male fidgeted his paws together as he stared off into the distance. "{I could pick up some steps, sure, but to be good enough to pass as a trained dancer? I don't know if I can do it.}"
Rgrarshok had enough leadership experience to know that simply ordering Bgrarh to comply was not going to work. She laid a big paw on his shoulder. "[Bgrarh, you're also a supremely skilled athlete. I've seen the recordings of you in action during your major-league Hunt days. Dancing is nothing compared to that.}"
"{I'm still not sure, Captain...}"
She moved her paw down to his waist. "{Then let's start with something simple as a warm-up. Put your paws on my shoulders...that's right.}" Bgrarh's expression was dazed with fear as he followed her instructions. Rgrarshok's other paw moved up, and now she held his waist in a firm but not rigid hold. "{The most important thing in Mehrrans-dancing is flow, you can't be tense in the slightest bit. Just relax your shoulders more...excellent. This is a simple three-step spin-move, okay? I lead and you follow. And left and right and left and spin...}"
----------------------------------------
Resh'skk held himself at a posture of attention in front of Hrathra'sstah while the green Jornissian pondered his verbal report.
"
"
"
Resh'skk spread his arms and shrugged. "
"
The question stopped Resh'skk's train of thought dead in its tracks. "
Hrathra gave a hissing snicker. "
Resh'skk's hood drooped at her words. Not only had he missed the obvious, his secret crush was making fun of him. His face must have shown his distress, since Hrathra glided forward and patted his shoulder.
"
[Maria] must have been nearby, because in only a few [minutes] she came through the door in her species' version of a casual stroll. The other races' bipedal gaits always looked unbalanced and precarious to Resh'skk's Jornissian sensibilities. But warmcuddles took that bumbling-along to the extreme. [Maria] always appeared as if in danger of toppling over.
Resh'skk was shocked by the pang in his soul at the mere thought of this tottering little creature getting hurt. He realized that over the [years] the warmcuddle had tunneled her way into his heart more effectively than any sapper. For a moment the ex-soldier wanted to call off the whole idea. He pondered the possibility of getting [Myyreh] to go AWOL with him and follow through on his original plan.
"[What's up, boss?]"
The two Jornissians looked at each other as they realized neither of them had the slightest clue how to broach the topic. Resh'skk finally squared his shoulders and launched into it.
"
[Maria] snorted. "[Ya think?]"
He held up a finger and she fell silent, realizing that he was utterly serious. ""
The warmcuddle folded her arms. "[I'm sorry, [Resh'skk]. I tend to make bad jokes when I'm scared.]"
Hrathra smiled. "
[Maria] raised an eyebrow. "[Oh?]"
Resh'skk assumed his species' version of parade rest. "
She might be tiny, but [Maria] wasn't an idiot. "[Crap. You mean military gear, don't you? Guys, you know you can't have that kind of stuff on the same ship as me! The Senate will shit bricks!]"
"
"[I'm not so sure you should do this,]" [Maria] replied. "[It could get all of you in a lot of trouble.]"
Hrathra, ever the optimist, waved a casual hand. "
After some more thought, [Maria] finally nodded. "[All right, boss. I trust you both, and I'll keep [my hood pulled in] about it. If anybody asks, I saw nothing. Thanks for being honest with me.]"
Hrathra slithered forward to hug the little human, and as [Maria] reciprocated the hug she looked over Hrathra's shoulder and met Resh'skk's eyes. The [human] then gave a very meaningful bobble of her head towards Hrathra's hood, as if to say you should be the one hugging her.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Resh'skk knew he should say something, he'd tried several times to broach the topic with Hrathra'sstah. But every time his iron resolve turned to shifting sand, and to his shame he remained silent.
He told himself to be patient. There was still some time before they reached Sssnnathor's planet. Plenty of time to make his confession.
----------------------------------------
The Silken Feather decided in the end to give herself a few more nights of observation. If at all possible she wanted 'her' property in hand before calling the Senate team again. Once she had the Claw back in her possession and had spirited herself safely away, only then would she notify the authorities of Sssnnathor's suspicious doings. It should make for a good distraction.
She peeked over the ridge once more. The night sky above was cloudless and bright with stars. The construction lights around the half-built palace washed out the fainter stars, but apart from the lights all was still. In place of the expected bustle of activity, the job site looked deserted.
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. The previous fifteen nights had shown no such lull in activity, so why was nobody here now? As the Karnakian scanned the desert beyond the palace, she spied a new cluster of lights around a large bonfire. Some large and meaty animal turned on a spit over the flames while the workers milled around it drinking and chatting with each other. She could hear faint sounds of laughter carried on the slight night breeze.
The Silken Feather relaxed. Sssnnathor must have decreed a little party for his workers, all part of appearing as the magnanimous tyrant. At last, she had an opportunity to reclaim the Claw.
----------------------------------------
Nerlharg-of-Aergh waited under his holographic camouflage cloak as the green-and-yellow Karnakian crept closer. "{I have eyes on PHANTOM,}" he subvocalized. "{Do not engage until I've made myself known.}"
He'd exhaustively searched all of the usual hideouts used by those seeking to escape Sssnnathor's wrath. The desert beyond the equator was vast, but Nerlharg figured that the mysterious intruder (now code-named PHANTOM) would stick closer to settled areas. She was here for a reason, even if he hadn't yet figured out that reason. After a week of searching, he moved on from searching the obvious hiding areas to the less-obvious with still no success...then he'd had the brainwave that he needed to be looking in the most unlikely place of all. Namely, a place where Sssnnathor's people would be located around the clock.
The construction site of the new palace.
Infrared scans soon pinpointed PHANTOM, and she indeed had the job site under constant observation. That in turn made Nerlharg very nervous. Was PHANTOM a Senate operative after all? That made her capture and questioning all the more necessary. But simply rushing her prematurely would make her vanish again.
So he'd set a trap. If the Karnakian was gathering intelligence, then an abandoned job site would be irresistible bait. The workers, for their part, shrugged and accepted the impromptu party with delight. His ploy had worked, and his quarry was finally within reach. A squad of his hand-picked people waited in various locations around the job site.
"{Should we move, sir?}" asked one of his team through his implant.
Nerlharg subvocalized back. "{Negative. Nobody move, not until we know where PHANTOM is heading.}"
Nerlharg expected PHANTOM to head for the entrance ramp leading to the underground facility. To his surprise, the Karnakian instead slunk towards a bulldozer nearer his location.
"{Blue team, move,}" he subvocalized. "{Get between PHANTOM and the ridge.}"
His people all wore active camouflage cloaks similar to his. Unless one was right on top of them, one would see nothing. And even when close all the cloaks betrayed was a faint heat-shimmer. Because Nerlharg knew where to look, he could just make out a few little wavers in the night air as half of his team moved in behind the oncoming Karnakian to cut off her retreat.
PHANTOM was clearly nervous; as she moved closer, she glanced around and then stared off at the distant firelight of the party. As she reached the bulldozer, PHANTOM gave one final look around herself and then moved to the back of the machine.
Nerlharg was already in motion, gliding over the hard-packed clay of the desert floor with no noise as he called the others through his implant. "{Orange team, flank my location on either side. PHANTOM has stopped. It looks like she's digging in the earth.}"
As he crept closer, Nerlharg saw that she was indeed digging with her bare claws, glancing around constantly as she dug. She was only a few [centimeters] deep into the clay. He was now within five [meters] of her and figured this was as good as it was going to get.
"{Execute execute execute,}" he said as he deactivated his cloak.
PHANTOM looked up in panic at the Dorarizin suddenly looming over her, then around at the others that also appeared from the thin air around her.
"{There's nowhere to run,}" said Nerlharg. He tapped his skull next to his eyes. "{We're all wearing adaptive contacts and earplugs, so that little flashbang-in-the-clothing trick you used earlier won't work.}"
The Karnakian seemed to deflate as she stared back at Nerlharg. "[So this was a trap after all, eh? I must say, your stealth is admirable.]"
Nerlharg tensed and made ready to leap at her if she tried to run away. "{This doesn't have to be unpleasant. Just come with us quietly and answer some questions. We'll keep things civil, unless you refuse to cooperate. Then it will become unpleasant.}"
PHANTOM sighed. "[I'm afraid I can't come with you, my stealthy adversary.]" She gathered herself as if to jump away.
Nerlharg was already in motion as she tensed. He flew like a white-furred missile at PHANTOM, his arms locking in a death-grip hold around her torso. He bowled the Karnakian over onto her side from the sheer force of his attack...
And then, as she hit the ground, Nerlharg's arms were suddenly empty. He fell forward onto his face with a whump and a yelp of surprise. As he picked himself up, he saw a small spherical drone lying in the dirt where she'd been.
"{A hard-light projection,}" he snarled. "{Blue team, spread out and sweep the area! She must be nearby!}"
He looked down at the shallow trench that PHANTOM's hard-light avatar had dug into the soil. "{And get me some digging tools. Let's find out what she sent her drone after.}"
----------------------------------------
A pile of freshly-fabricated poker chips sat on a table in the ship's recreation lounge. Maria leaned forward and shoveled the pile around with both hand in a figure-eight motion, then leaned back. "How was that?"
"You're still signaling too much," said Oscar.
Maria let out a hmph and turned her hand over. One of the chips lay trapped against her palm. "What do you mean? I'm holding it just fine." She flipped her hand back over and wiggled her fingers. "See? It doesn't fall out, and my hand looks natural."
"Your shoulders tense up right when you do the palm. You've got to relax all over. They're not just gonna be looking at your hands, they're gonna be looking at your whole body. Trust me, I learned from the best."
"I still don't know why I need to learn this. I'm not playing poker or doing a magic act."
Oscar shrugged. "It's a useful skill. You given any thought on what you're going to recite?"
Maria dropped the palmed token back onto the pile. "I'm leaning towards 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. It's a reasonable length, though I'll have to trim it." She regarded the chips in silence for a bit, then looked up at Oscar. "Do you think we'll have to do an actual act?"
He responded with a nod. "I'm guessing Snape will want a command performance, so we'll have to go through the whole routine at least once. Are you nervous? You don't strike me as the type to suffer stage fright."
"It's not that, it's that we're headed into danger. Real proper danger, especially if this 'Snape' guy finds out we're doing some clandestine crap in his territory."
"We'll be protected," said Oscar. "Not just the crew, we'll have security drones and whatnot." Thanks to his discussions with Myyreh, he had a good idea of just what that blanket term of 'whatnot' entailed. But he didn't go into further detail. He figured that Maria had enough to worry about.
He motioned towards the pile of chips. "Right, now do it again."
----------------------------------------
Sssnnathor turned the curved object over in his hands. For the first time in a long while, he felt a sense of awe. It wasn't every day that you held an object many thousands of years old.
"
Nerlharg stood ramrod-straight in front of the tyrant. "[Yes, Excellency. Along with what I believe is the case it was once displayed in. I take full responsibility for failing to capture PHANTOM. I'm sorry.}"
Sssnnathor uncoiled himself and moved away from the tank. "
"
"[We can't be absolutely certain, Excellency. There are no detailed holographic scans or images of [Ta'irrl'qc's] Claw, just hand-made drawings.]"
Sssnnathor stopped his admiration of the Claw and looked at his lieutenant in disbelief. "
"[Don't ask me, it's some kind of [Karnakian] religious injunction.]"
The Jornissian blopped his tongue out in a circular manner. It was his species' equivalent of an eyeroll. "
He bounced the Claw in his hand. "
Sssnnathor slithered back to the tank. The once-small form floating inside was now a long blue-and-black shape, still indistinct in the murky fluid but clearly Jornissian in outline. He placed his free hand flat against the transparent tank wall and smiled fondly. "
----------------------------------------
Oscar rubbed his forehead. "Really guys, I'm not asking you to go steady with each other. All you gotta do is sing together. Is that so hard?"
The two pairs of Karnakian guards glared at each other from across the hangar deck. Between them stood Oscar and, of all people, Ter'yeik. Oscar still had no notion of the ex-Second Claw's intentions. Out of the blue, Ter'yeik had contacted Oscar and asked if he could assist with the upcoming subterfuge. Given that the Karnakian had tried to frame Maria and make Oscar look crooked, the detective's first impulse was to tell Ter'yeik to fuck off.
But then he thought that having the guy out and doing something constructive was better than leaving him in a cell to plot more mischief. He consulted with Matriarch Ck'Trrk'ka and got her blessing, and also made sure that he had access to Ter'yeik's transponder/paralyzer chip juuuuust in case the raptor was looking to dish out some payback. He also made sure that Jeeves Junior was obviously present when Ter'yeik first emerged from his quarters.
Ter'yeik, for his part, had paid the drone no mind and seemed to be in much better spirits. The cream-colored Karnakian proposed a musical act for the Karnakian guards on board, and after some further consultation Matriarch Ck'Trrk'Ka agreed. To Oscar's greater surprise, Matriarch Ma'elge'yk also declared herself cool with it.
The guards themselves, however? They were decidedly not cool with it.
After a lot more glaring, Ter'yeik gave a human-like shrug. "[I'm sorry, [Oscar]. Congretory Speaking is not just 'singing together', it's like having a discussion with many interleaved layers of meaning. Our Sacred Paths have too much past enmity with each other to make a harmonious song.]"
Oscar put his hands on his hips. "Shit. So much for that idea. Would a duo be enough to cancel out the translators? I want this to be more about the song than the lyrics."
"[Two singing together should be sufficient,]" replied Ter'yeik.
"Okay. We could do a couple of duos, I suppose...wait. What about a call-and-response song?"
"[What's a [call-and-response] song?]" asked Ter'yeik.
"Ah, it's when you have two different phrases or parts of a song that reference each other, like in 'Baby It's Cold Outside'."
He saw nothing but a bunch of puzzled stares, so he led the caravan of Karnakians to his quarters to fetch his terminal. To his relief the OIH had decided that Dean Martin didn't warrant censoring, and thus he was able to play the song in question for them. The corridor outside his room was soon filled with feathered crests bobbing in time to the music as he explained the structure.
"See, the woman wants to leave but the guy wants her to stay. Each line starts with her protesting and ends with his pleading for her to not leave."
"[I grasp it now!]" said Tk'riil'na. "[We could have a religious debate but to non-Karnakians it would sound like only music!]"
The four guards stared at each other, and before Oscar could blink they'd squared off in pairs facing each other. All that was required was a tumbleweed to go blowing across the corridor to turn it into a scene from a Western-movie gunfight.
Tk'riil'na was the one to start, with a low trill of "[It is said that...] His partner added to the phrase with a higher pitch and within moments the words blended into only music as Oscar's translator bead threw up its non-existent hands. The song lasted only a minute before ending.
Frick and Frack responded with a minute-long song of their own, one that took much of the first song's melody and performed a few interesting variations upon it. The response to the response varied the base melody further still, and as the back-and-forth singing filled the corridor everyone's crests started to rise in happiness.
----------------------------------------
Maria made another scan of her streamlined version of Coleridge's masterwork. She figured that the old laudanum addict wouldn't mind her making a few tweaks for the sake of time, seeing as how her audience would be like none he'd ever envisioned. Her editing was made harder by the never-ceasing slithering noise in front of her.
Hrathra'sstah's voice held an agitation which mirrored her unending movement. "[I've done some dancing, but not professionally. You're doing your poem, so I'm not going to repeat that. I can't sing, either.]"
Maria didn't look up as she replied. "You must know some Jornissian classical plays, right? The Dorarizin have The Ballad of Drezneh, we've got things like Antigone or Oedipus Rex...actually, please don't look up that last one. Just forget I mentioned it."
Hrathra's slithering came to a stop. "[I couldn't do an entire play, that's much too long.]"
"Do a classic scene from one, then. Something nice and dramatic, with lots of fighting and speechifying and implied bloodshed."
"[Hmmm, that idea has merit. There have been a few plays made about the defense of Malshak-V, but that's too obvious. A monologue would be too similar to your performance, so ideally I could do something with another actor...]"
As if on cue, the door slid open and Resh'ssk slithered in. He stretched his arms over his head and wriggled his body. A chorus of popping vertebrae filled the room, and since Resh'skk's body was nothing but vertebrae that sound went on for a long while. "[Oof. I forgot what a pain it is to get measured for power armor.}
Hrathra's angular face split into a grin. "[Did [Egwreh] get too familiar with you?]"
Resh'ssk gave an embarrassed shrug. "[Not all that much.]"
Maria looked up at her boss, then over at Resh'skk. She was very tired of this game and now knew exactly how to give her friend a push.
She pointed at Resh'skk. "Reshy should be your partner!"
Hrathra'sstah tilted her hood in thought as Resh'skk's face assumed a look of pure panic.
"[Partner? Partner for what?]" he sputtered.
Maria held up one hand, clutched at her bosom with the other, and put on her most over-the-top hammy voice. "ACT-ing!"
Hrathra coiled up along the wall in a pose that Maria had privately dubbed the 'Jornissian Thinking Loaf'. "[Hmmm, yes, of course. Good idea, [Maria]. Resh'skk, I'm thinking of doing a scene from Shrenthhah's Tale. Would you be willing to play the part of...]"
"[Ma'am, I've never done anything like that!]"
Hrathra shrugged her hood. "[Technically neither have I. The scene I have in mind is a duel, so it'll be mostly physical with some nice little verbal barbs thrown at each other. You'll just have to promise to be gentle with me when we wrestle.]" She waggled one teasing eyebrow at Resh'skk.
Maria resisted the urge to snicker like a naughty teenager as Resh'skk began having a full-blown panic attack. "[Gentle? Wrestle? I...er...you and I wrestle? What...]"
Maria reached up and gripped his forearm. "Will you excuse us, boss? Reshy and I need to have a little heart-to-heart." She tugged at his arm, and in a daze the Jornissian allowed her to lead him out of the room.
The sound of the door sliding shut seemed to snap him out of his crisis. "[[Maria], please, I know you mean well but I can't...]"
She spun and faced him, and now it was her turn to silence him with an upraised finger. "You can and you will. We are heading into danger. I know all of you are putting a brave face on things for my sake, but I also know that shit's about to get real. You may think that it's more romantic to only confess your love at the moment of death, but that crap only works in the movies. In the real world, here and now, you have a chance to be happy. Acting in this scene with her gives you lots of good opportunities to confess to her. Now, you're going to go back in there and tell her you'll be happy to act with her."
Resh'skk had regained enough composure to fold his arms and glare down at her. "There is an implied 'or else' in there."
"You better believe it, buddy."
Maria lost the resulting staring contest after a full two minutes of heroic effort. It was unfair that Jornissians didn't have to blink. As she blinked the accumulated tears from her eyes, Resh'skk chuckled.
"[You win, [Maria]. Far be it from me to disappoint you.]"