I sigh.
“I put the last one under my bed.”
That makes Aelon laugh. He nods, and two of his soldiers head back into the Wayward Scythe. A moment later, sure enough, they emerge with the last Orb.
Rather than angry at my deception, Captain Aelon actually appears entertained.
He wags a scolding finger at me.
“Naughty, naughty. Trying to hide secrets from me? That’s not a good start to our relationship.”
My eyes narrow. This man captured my ship, stole my cargo – and now he’s cracking jokes?
But there’s a serious tone to his voice when he continues:
“There’ll be nothing else hidden from me while you’re on my ship, understood?”
I just glare at him.
If the Aurelian is upset, he doesn’t show it. In fact, the towering alien smiles – purring:
“I’m Captain Aelon – and when you’re aboard The Instigator, you’re mine.” He takes a menacing step forward. “Mine, understood?”
His voice turns hard at those last words, his smile disappearing and replaced with an authoritative snarl. I immediately get the impression that Aelon runs a tight ship – which is necessary, I suppose, when you’re commanding hundreds of testosterone-fueled warriors always aching for a fight.
I swallow hard. I’m powerless and terrified, but don’t want to kowtow to this Aurelian.
“We understand,” pipes up Sawoot.
I turn and glare at her, and she shrugs her shoulders apologetically. Sawoot knows it rankles me to submit so easily, but she wants to avoid confrontation. Sawoot is a great first mate, and this isn’t the first time she’s stepped into an awkward situation and helped me keep my pride from writing checks my ass isn’t prepared to cash.
“Sir!” Another soldier appears. “We’re receiving a transmission from the Toads.”
In between trips in and out of my ship, securing every last one of our stolen Orbs, one of Aelon’s soldiers had apparently managed to find time to keep an eye on transmissions.
“Toads. Fucking scum.” Aelon shakes his head. “Very well, I’ll accept the transmission.”
A holographic projection appears – rippling to life between Captain Aelon and my crew.
Three-dimensional, life-sized Toads appear, as if they’re right there in the loading bay with us. If it wasn’t for the flickering, translucent effect of the holo-projection, you’d almost think you’re staring at the authentic article.
As it happens, this is as close as I’d ever intend to get to a Toad. They’re the second most disgusting creatures in the universe. They waddle between six and seven feet high, almost as tall as Aurelians, but that’s where the similarity ends. Where Aurelians are chiseled like the statues of ancient Greek Gods, Toads are bloated, vile, disgusting creatures.
But you’d be foolish to discount the threat they pose, despite their massive bellies and thick, warty skin. Beneath that glistening sheen is hundreds of pounds of solid muscle.
I do everything I can to avoid Toads – but in my business, sometimes you have to deal with them.
The problem is, dealing with them is even more dangerous than dealing with Aurelians. At least with those marble-skinned bastards, the worst you have to worry about being taken for your body.
Toads, on the other hand, will take your body; but they want your credits more than anything else.
The hologram projectors don’t allow the Toads to look behind them, so we’re out of their field of vision as they address Captain Aelon. Nevertheless, my anger boils up as I stare at the hunched, glistening backs of these disgusting creatures – who, just minutes earlier, were trying to blow my crew and I out of existence.
“I am Captain Hoplan!” The biggest of the Toads gurgles. “You have something that belongs to us, Aurelian! That ship is ours! We saw it first!”
The Toad gurgles and jiggles his fleshy jowls, the greed apparent in his voice. He’s clad in nothing but a short loincloth around his flabby, overhanging waist. His huge, distended belly is so big I can see it even from behind his holo-projection, and I can almost feel the moisture that is dripping from his warty body.
“Calm down, Hopper,” with an arrogant sneer, Captain Aelon dismisses the Toad’s words. “You’d better watch your fucking tone.”
“Hoplan,’ corrects the Toad – but he’s not yelling anymore.
“Alright, Hopper,” Aelon deliberately gets the name wrong again, and I’ll admit I have a momentary surge of appreciation for the infuriating man. “I don’t have anything that belongs to you – and even if I did, why would I hand it over?”
Aelon laughs, putting his hands on his muscular hips.
“From what I see, you’ve got three dinky little assault ships, and I’ve got sixteen las-cannons trained on each of them. So, you raise your gurgly voice to me again, frogspawn, and I’m going to wipe you and your fat little friends out of existence.”
The Toad takes a step back – even though he’s merely a hologram, so there’s no way for Aelon to actually hurt him through the projection. Nevertheless, I’m shocked at how aggressive the Aurelian is with this Toad. I can see now that The Instigator is a fine name for his ship. It’s like Captain Aelon wants to provoke this Toad into doing something foolish, despite the Aurelian’s overwhelming firepower advantage.
“You… You wouldn’t dare!” Captain Hoplan gurgles. “It would be an act of war between our two Empires!”
Aelon stares down the Toad. “You really want to test me, Toad? I’ve killed twelve of your species with my Orb-Blade – and three more with my bare hands.”
Hoplan’s slimy jowls quiver like jelly.
“But with my las-cannons?” Aelon laughs mockingly. “Hell, I’ve killed so many of your kind, even I’ve lost track.” He snorts derisively. “You won’t even be a number in my record book when I’m done with you.”
For a moment, Hoplan stands there quivering with rage – but the moment Aelon boasts of the number of Toad he’s killed, that anger transforms into fear.
“Please…” The slimy Toad gurgles. “We’ve tracked criminals to this sector, and we demand – ahem, we ask kindly – that you give them over to us.”
“I don’t have your criminals,” Aelon snorts – lying with such seamless ease
