She was as good as her word, because, in less than a minute, Tekravzary was in my head, and ordering me and T’Kit back to the control room.
“You can collect your gear, later,” she said.
It was scant consolation, when Mack came to a sudden halt in front of us, and walked back to stand before T’Kit.
“Your queen has ordered our return,” he said, and the vespis inclined her head.
“I am aware.”
She said no more, but led the way from the docks, leaving the foreman standing with a look on his face that said he was hearing unexpected voices in his head, and was having trouble adjusting.
I’d just bet he was. He followed after.
Part way back, we took a different corridor, and ended up in a conference room like the one we’d cleared of arach, only smaller. It might have set me on edge, except that it was well-lit and there wasn’t a single arach in sight.
There was one spider, though—Askavor—and beside him stood Rohan and the dog. I risked a glance at Mack, and had to keep from laughing. The look on his face was priceless! Something told me he really hadn’t understood the terms of the vespis contract, might even be starting to wonder if he should have taken it.
“No choice,” he murmured, inside my implant—and I remembered the arach forcing him to kneel, the arach feeding—
“Don’t!”
Mack’s voice jolted me out of my head, and T’Kit pressed close enough that I could feel the warmth coming off her black-and-golden hide. The queen looked up from the table in the center of the room, and indicated where Mack and Tens should sit. She caught my eye, and gestured towards T’Kit, and I understood I needed to follow the vespis bodyguard’s lead.
There was nothing like learning on the job.
I was aware of Mack watching as I went to stand with the queen’s bodyguard. T’Kit and I took up the open spot at the end of the line—and we waited. When the door opened, next, it was to reveal the foreman, juggling a laptop that he was still trying to use. He glanced up as the door slid wide, made eye contact with the queen, and then stumbled forward, speaking as he came.
“Uh, your Majesty,” and he tried to bow, almost dropped the lap-top, rescued it, and hurried to the table, his face crimson with embarrassment and consternation. He was still talking as he reached the table.
“I have the specs you asked for, and a list of personnel, but I don’t see how we’re going to be able to fin…”
His voice faded as he realized the queen had company, and his eyes shifted to Mack, and Tens, and then across to me.
“Please sit, Fabian. There is one more group who needs to be here.”
“Oh. Yes, your Majesty. At once,” and he slid into the seat closest to where he was standing, fumbling the lap-top onto the table, before hiding behind the screen as he tapped nervously at the keyboard.
He startled when the door to the conference room slid open behind him—and spun in his chair to watch as the Odyssey delegation strode in. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have said they thought they owned the place. Fortunately, I did know better, and so did the queen, even if her bodyguards stirred restlessly on either side of her.
I followed T’Kit’s example, and settled my hands over the Blazer 54. Together, we eyed the Odyssey contingent, noting how they kept their hands well away from their weapons, even though they’d come armed.
“Odyssey go nowhere unarmed.” Delight intruding into the implant and taking what she wanted, as usual. “Not even to friendly negotiations, and definitely not in arach invasion areas.”
Well, that made sense to me.
T’Kit read the exchange, as, I’m sure, did all the other vespis in the room. Honestly, if Delight had wanted a private conversation, she should have chosen a head that at least had some defenses against psionic incursions. Delight said nothing, but she rolled her eyes, and led her people several steps into the room, and came to a stop.
“Your Majesty,” she said, “Please accept Odyssey’s invitation to board the Sugarsides, and to discuss this matter in private.”
The queen inclined her head, and rose from the table.
“We would be honored, Agent,” she said, her guards falling in around her as she made her way towards the door. “Come, Mack. Bring Tens and Fabian.”
It wasn’t hard to imagine Mack gritting his teeth at her high-handed tone, but I didn’t say a word, as I walked beside T’Kit. If the queen wanted us present, who were we to argue? We had a debt to repay.
The ride over to the Sugarsides was short and uneventful, and we boarded the cruise liner without incident. To be honest, I was half-expecting to have arach appear, either from out of the air vents, or on the radar, and I was glad we’d been allowed to keep our weapons. Delight and her team led us down several corridors and up a level, before reaching a conference room, with a long, wide viewport showing a backdrop of stars.
The humans glanced at it, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t for the view. We’d all seen something like it, before. No, most of us were looking for movement that would indicate a ship coming in, or a suited incursion. The queen, on the other hand, came to a full stop, and was staring, and I realized that she might not have seen this sky, before.
She raised a hand, signaling her guard to halt, and just stood there, taking in the stars, and then she looked to Fabian, and seated herself at the table, with him at her side, and her guards arrayed around her. Once she was settled, the queen turned to Delight.
“Speak,” she commanded.
“You need a repair dock,” Delight said, “and Odyssey will need repair facilities beyond what you can provide. We are willing to partner with Mack and his crew, with the
