“Probably nothin’ you don’t already know. That he keeps his ‘treasures’ as he calls them, hidden away and it’s fuckin’ impossible to get in to see them unless you’re a wealthy investor who might buy one at an exorbitant price.”
Sarden nodded. “I know all that. I’ve smuggled several shipments for the bastard but he’s never once offered to let me see his private collection, even though I’ve been in his compound twice.”
“Excuse me,” I said. “Not to interrupt but if he sells his, uh, exhibits sometimes, why not just buy Sellah back? I mean…” I lowered my voice and spoke in Sarden’s ear. “Don’t you have enough money, er, credit from selling all that medical-torture stuff to Count Creepy? Especially since you didn’t have to pay to have the ship’s panels replaced?”
“I thought about that but Tazaxx won’t sell to me.” Sarden sounded frustrated.
“What? Why not?” I asked.
“Because…” He sighed. “We had a…dispute over the last shipment I smuggled for him. Terrinian quarthogs. He wanted to pay less than he’d offered in the first place so I offloaded the whole lot to another merchant. Once you piss Tazaxx off, he’ll never deal with you again.”
“But what about…I thought that was why you got me in the first place?” I said to Sarden. “So he would deal with you. Make a trade with you.”
“That would have been different—a trade doesn’t involve credit changing hands,” he said. “It’s not the same thing to a Gord.” He shrugged. “But even so, I don’t know if he would have gone for it. He hates me—he’d be glad to cause me pain by withholding Sellah just because I want her back so badly.”
“My employer is in the same situation,” Grav rumbled. “He offended Tazaxx and now he’s paying the price. Gords never forgive an offense—they hold on to a grudge like it’s fuckin’ credit.”
“Wait—your employer?” Sarden raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t strike me as the kind who goes to work for a regular paycheck, Grav.”
“Oh, I don’t—contract work only. I’m too much of a son-of-a-bitch to work with on a regular basis.” Grav grinned. “I’m a Protector now.”
Sarden’s eyebrows went even higher.
“You? A Protector?”
“I’m fuckin’ hurt.” Grav put a hand to his broad chest. “You don’t think I’m Protector material?”
“It’s just…surprising, that’s all.” Sarden shrugged. “But of course a male has to do what he wants with his life.”
“Excuse me,” I said, butting in again. “But what’s a Protector and why shouldn’t your old friend be one?”
Sarden looked uncomfortable but Grav answered me without hesitation.
“A Protector is a sentinel for hire—I shield my wards from harm or in some cases, like my current job, I retrieve them when they’re in danger. I put my life on the line to keep them safe—but the position requires them to trust me completely.”
“Oh,” I said. “So, kind of like a bodyguard slash rescuer?”
He inclined his massive head. “In a way.”
“But…” I shook my head. “I still don’t understand why you think Sarden thinks it’s odd for you to be a bodyguard…er, Protector.”
“Probably because I’m also a murderer.” Grav spoke matter-of-factly, as though it was no big deal. I threw Sarden a glance from the corner of my eye and saw that his facial expression hadn’t changed. But his hand on my shoulder tightened and he drew me a little bit closer to his big body.
“Ooookay,” I said at last, when the silence that had fallen between us was getting really uncomfortable. “Well, that’s not awkward.”
“Just answerin’ your question.” Grav shrugged.
“So who are you protecting now?” I asked. “You said it’s some guy who crossed Tazaxx like Sarden did?”
“No, my employer isn’t my ward—he just pays the bills. In fact, I don’t ward males at all.”
“You don’t?” I asked.
Grav shook his head, the polished tips of his horns gleaming in the dim light.
“Fuck no. Any male who can’t protect himself doesn’t deserve my help. I work strictly for females—I ward and protect those in danger—especially if they’re being threatened by a male.”
He cracked his knuckles menacingly, making me suddenly glad I had girly parts. I wouldn’t want to be the guy he was after for mistreating a female, that was for damn sure.
“That’s…very chivalrous of you,” I said, my throat dry. “But if you’re not protecting your employer, then who—?”
“It’s my client’s granddaughter—only twelve cycles old. I warded her for over a year and then her grandmother decided to take her on a trip without me—something about the mysteries of femalehood…becoming a woman—I don’t know.” He shook his head in disgust. “Anyway, pirates attacked their ship. The grandmother was killed and my ward was snatched up and sold to Tazaxx for his damn zoo.”
His face had gone cold as he told the story, the easy good humor disappearing from his white-on-black eyes and leaving them hard as stones.
“Only twelve years old?” I whispered, feeling a surge of pity for the girl. “That’s awful! Is she…is she all right? Did they…?”
“I don’t know exactly what they did to her.” Grav’s voice was a low growl. “I have to get her back first to find out. Then I’ll punish the ones who took her. And believe me, if they laid so much as a finger on her before delivering her to Tazaxx…”
He seemed to grow bigger somehow, if that was even possible, and if I had thought he was scary before, well, he was freaking terrifying now. I wouldn’t have been the pirates who had captured and sold his ward for all the world. They were going to be in a universe of pain if Grav caught them and something told me he wouldn’t stop until he did.
“And you think Tazaxx has her—your ward—in his exhibit?” Sarden asked.
Grav nodded. “I know it. But getting in to find her is a problem.”
“But…if there’s going to be an auction, couldn’t your, uh, employer just buy her there?” I asked. “And the same for Sellah—couldn’t you just buy her at the auction?”
“Of course—if we were sure that Tazaxx had them marked to go to the auction,” Sarden said. “We don’t know that. We don’t know what he plans to do and he’s sure as hell not going to share his plans with me. He told me last time we spoke that he never wanted to see my face again.”
His words sparked something inside me—an idea. It might be a really stupid idea, I wasn’t sure—but that didn’t keep me from speaking up.
“Why does he have to see your face?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” He frowned at me.
“I mean, you said that he sells to wealthy investors sometimes, right? So why not pretend to be one and get in his compound that way?”
“That’s a damn good idea,” Grav rumbled. “If you’ve got technology that will defeat his facial scanning software. If he recognizes you, you’ll be out on your ass before you even step foot in the door.”
“Will this do it?” I asked, pointing at the Grubbian mask I was wearing. “I mean, can you use the smart-fabric to make something that will fool his tech and get you into his compound?”
Sarden frowned. “Well, technically yes, the smart-fabric should be able to do it. That’s the reason it’s illegal almost everywhere.”
“Well, then—that’s it!” I was starting to get excited about my plan. “Just have Al synthesize you a mask and go in pretending to be some wealthy entrepreneur with a taste for exotic females. You could buy Sellah and the other girl—what’s her name?” I looked at Grav.
“Teeny,” he said promptly. “Teeny Kiv’orop.”
“Right. Buy Sellah and Teeny right there and get them out before the auction,” I said.
“It’s not that easy,” Sarden growled. “He won’t let just anyone in. Gords are very selective.”
“That’s true,” Grav said thoughtfully. “You can’
t just flash your credit and get in the front door. Tazaxx has this idea he’s a classy son of a bitch and he doesn’t want anyone around him that doesn’t meet his ‘standards.’”
“Exactly.” Sarden nodded. “Tazaxx wouldn’t let anyone who wasn’t someone into his compound. An important someone.”
“What about Baron Van’Dleek of Armitage 3?” Grav asked.
“Who?” Sarden and I said at the same time.
“Van’Dleek’s an emissary from another galaxy—Tazaxx has never seen him. He’s supposed to be among the trillion-credit elite and he’s named as one of the invited guests on the auction list—paid a hell of a lot of credit to get my hands on that damn list.” Grav shrugged. “Why couldn’t ‘Van’Dleek’ come early to get a look at what he’s going to be bidding on?”
“Hmm…it could work.” Sarden looked like he was thinking hard. “You have a holo render of him?”
“Of course.” The stone in Grav’s ring was dark red instead of black but it projected holographic images the same way Sarden’s did. I really had to get myself something like that before I went back to Earth, I thought. It put the Apple watch to shame.
The dim booth was the perfect place to project and the image that popped up was clear. Van’Dleek was about Sarden’s size and build—which was good—but he had pale blue skin and was bald as an egg. He was wearing flowing white trousers cinched at his narrow waist, no shirt, apparently so he could show off his chiseled chest, and a big, boxy black jacket that matched the trousers. Also loafer-like shoes with no socks on. I thought he looked like something out of an episode of that old TV show, Miami Vice.
Sitting at Van’Dleek’s feet were two females, both skimpily dressed and looking up at him adoringly. One had orange skin and several long, fleshy tentacles growing out of her head where a human’s hair would be. The other looked like she could have come from Earth—she seemed to be a regular girl with tan skin and long brown hair—until I looked closer and saw that she had three purple eyes, all in a row under one long black eyebrow. Eww.
“He never goes anywhere without a fuckin’ entourage,” Grav explained, gesturing to the adoring girls and the muscular bodyguard who stood at Van’Dleek’s back with his massive arms crossed and an alert expression on his face.
“So much the better,” Sarden remarked. “I’ll play Van’Dleek and you can be my Protector. That gets us both in.”
“I guess that makes me one of the bikini-babes,” I said, gesturing at the holographic projection of the skimpily clad girls.
“Oh, no it doesn’t.” Sarden frowned down at me. “You’re not going anywhere near Tazaxx’s compound—it’s not safe.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said bristling. “You need me there to make it look real. Look at this guy…” I gestured to the holo again. “He doesn’t go anywhere without arm candy. He’s probably the biggest douche-nozzle in the universe and he needs a girl with him constantly to tell him how amazing and wonderful he is.”
“Douche-nozzle?” Sarden stared at me.
“Actually, from what I can tell about Van’Dleek, she’s probably right,” Grav said, nodding at the holo apologetically. “About him always having a female or two with him, anyway. I don’t know what a douche-nozzle is.”
Sarden’s face looked like a thundercloud about to break.
“I don’t want to risk you, Zoe. I nearly lost you once—I’m not going to let you walk into danger again,” he growled.
“Look,” I said in a low voice. “I won’t be in danger—I’ll be between you and Grav here, who looks like he could bench press a city bus. Besides, this is the least I can do since you aren’t, you know, trading me away.”
“I don’t know…” he began.
“Come on,” I said. “This is my plan—you can’t just cut me out of it. Besides, I might be able to see more than you can. You’ll be playing the big, important man and I’ll be down on my knees adoring you and being unobtrusively nosey.”
“Well, if it means getting you on your knees…” His gold eyes flashed for a moment and my stomach did a little flip. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me but he didn’t—maybe because Grav was sitting right across the table, watching us with interest.
“I’m glad you’re seeing it my way,” I said, trying to ignore the rush of heat his words sent through me. “So let’s get started—the sooner we do this, the sooner we can all go home.”
I regretted my choice of words almost immediately but it was too late to call them back.
“Home. Yes, I did promise to take you home,” Sarden mused, the heat leaving his eyes abruptly. “And I will keep that promise, Zoe—I swear it.”
“I know you will,” I said, feeling suddenly miserable for no reason I could really name. “But we have to take care of this first. We have to get your sister.”
“And Teeny,” Grav put in. “I’ve sworn to retrieve her or die trying.”
“Wow.” I looked at him appraisingly. “You really take this bodyguard stuff seriously.”
“A Protector is more than just a guard,” he said, frowning. “I told you—I lay my life on the line for my wards. That’s why I’m very fuckin’ careful who I take as a client.”
“Duly noted,” Sarden said, nodding at his friend. “Hopefully we can get both our females back.”
“There is just one thing…” Grav cleared his throat. “I picked Van’Dleek from the auction list because he’s coming from a different galaxy and it’s a pretty sure bet Tazaxx has never met him before. But he’s Frellian.”
“So?” Sarden shrugged. “What does that mean to me?”
“Nothing, except, well, take a closer look at his clothes—his trousers.” Grav fired up the hologram again and made it bigger, zeroing in on the loose, white trousers. Now that he had zoomed it up, I could see what he was talking about.
“Hey—there’s no fly in those things,” I protested. “His, uh, junk could just fall out at any time. Why is that?”
“Frellians…” Grav coughed. “Uh, they expose themselves as a type of greeting to their equals. It’s considered an insult not to.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “They literally have a dick measuring contest every time they meet someone? That’s insane.”
“No—that’s Frellian,” Grav said. “Fuckin’ weird but what are you gonna do? Different cultures, right?”
I had a sudden mental image of Sarden opening a pair of loose, white, Miami Vice-type trousers and flopping out his dick while saying hello to the infamous Tazaxx. I couldn’t tell if the idea was horrifying or funny. Maybe just scary, considering how freaking huge he was down there. To my surprise, though, Sarden didn’t look the least perturbed.
“So, he’s Frellian. So what?” he said, shrugging. “Tazaxx isn’t—he’s Gord. Why should he care about the social conventions of a business partner?”
“Good point.” Grav looked relieved. “You probably won’t have to do it. I just wanted to, uh, lay it out there before we got started with this.”
“No pun intended?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Grav grinned, his white fangs gleaming.
“Right.”
“Is there anything else I should know?” Sarden asked.
Grav shook his head. “That’s it for weird Frellian customs as far as I know.”
“All right.” Sarden slapped the table with his palm. “Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s go back to The Celesta and prepare.”
Sarden
I still couldn’t believe I was letting Zoe come with me. Bearding Tazaxx in his den was damn dangerous and I didn’t want to risk her again. I wouldn’t have done it if it was just the two of us alone. But I would have Grav with me and no male could ask for better backup than that.
I watched him from the corner of my eye. He was in the corner of my room, putting on the disguise Al had synthesized for him. It wasn’t much—just two black leather straps with spikes that crisscrossed his bare chest
and torso. We’d decided to leave his face unmasked because he looked fucking terrifying enough as himself. Also, if Tazaxx’s facial recognition tech picked up on him, it would show his checkered past. And the male I was impersonating, Baron Van’Dleek of the Tig’o’bah system, seemed like the type who would hire a Protector precisely because of his violent reputation.
I looked away from Grav. To say I’d been surprised to see my old friend was an understatement—especially since I’d been under the impression he was serving three consecutive life sentences for his crimes. I wondered how he’d gotten early release—I would bet my left nut it wasn’t for good behavior.
The crime he’d committed was the worst thing you could do on Vorn 6. In fact, if he hadn’t been underage at the time he’d committed it, he would have faced immediate execution. I had never believed my friend could do such a thing but he admitted it freely—as he had during the trial, I remembered now.
Grav had never denied his guilt or the savagery of his actions. He had stood before the High Court and laid his crime out for the three judges like a bad hand of cards, never even trying to pretend he was innocent of the gory violence he was accused of. There was blood on his hands and no mistaking it.
Which made it all the more surprising that he’d decided to become a Protector.
He’d been right when he told Zoe a Protector was more than just a guard. They trained for years to earn the title and swore an oath when they took on a new client. Something like… “Your blood is more precious to me than my own—I spill mine willingly before a drop of yours is shed. Your flesh is my flesh—may I be pierced a thousand times before the blade shall even scratch your skin…” I frowned, trying to remember the rest of it.
“Well? What do you think?” a soft, feminine voice said, interrupting my ruminations.
I looked up and felt my eyes widen. Zoe had insisted on having a say in what kind of disguise she wore and she and Al had been holed up in the synth closet for almost an hour when we first got back to the ship.
I had wondered what was taking so damn long—Al had made the clothing for my own disguise in next to no time, although the mask had taken a little longer since it had to be an exact duplicate of Van’Dleek’s face. My skin I was going to tint with saphor solution, which allows the user to change his or her epidermis to any color they choose, but only for a certain amount of time. We would have to get in and out of Tazaxx’s compound pretty quickly.