Chapter 106: No Mercy
What the Sisalik did or did not do was important. They mattered less to him than a milingona meant to a zilonis.
His pet needed to be fed. Despite what Ye’tab had said, Au’dtair hadn’t seen any sign of the ship taking care of Mei Xing, well, besides providing shelter. If he were feeling generous, he would admit that the ship was also providing food, but his pet would still have to remember to order it.
No, this ship didn’t know how to take care of a pet at all. It almost treated Mei Xing as a fellow AI that occupied the same space but didn’t have any needs. That must be why she appeared on such a hostile planet. If the ship was used to species like the Sisalik whose very skin acted as armor and were used to living in places like the jungle, then it wouldn’t have thought twice to drop his pet there, thinking that she could do the same thing.
Only the Dark Lord knew how she managed to survive before he found her. Au’dtair’s eyes narrowed at the thought of never meeting Mei Xing because something had eaten her catawr before he met her.
No, the ship couldn’t be trusted. But that would work out in his favor.
Au’dtair watched as the voragyvis crawled into the command bridge and up into his pet’s lap. Speaking of her lap, he noticed that she had never let go of the first fur he had given her. His chest puffed up with pride, and his thoughts drifted from the new information and potential consequences to new and better ways of caring for his pet.
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"Captain," said Qorinna as she turned around from her communication station to face the other Sisalik. She had just been allowed back to her post after suggesting that the L-Series ship and its pet would go to Thuzirus. "There seems to be a lone L-Series ship approximately 50 hyperjumps away from here."
"And? There are fifteen L-Series ships. How do you know that it is the one that we are looking for?" sneered Captain Xarvyn. It had been moons since they had been told to find a human for the High Council, and they still weren’t having any luck. Maybe it would have been easier to try and find the planet rather than a single one.
However, he was now committed to those plans. He had no idea where the human planet was, and since there wasn’t a record of it in the known universe, it would be like looking for a star in the sky.
No, he needed a human from the L-Series. And right about now, any human from any L-Series would do.
Captain Xarvyn leaned back in his chair and made a decision. "Find us any L-Series ship. We will take their pet and present it to the High Council."
"Yes, Sir," said Qorinna with a dip of her head. She didn’t bother to tell him anything else. He wouldn’t listen to her, and she really didn’t want to be sent back to quarters.
She quickly sent the coordinates to the male in charge of the helm, and the two exchanged a look. It was right on the border of the Alliance’s home territory, but a command was a command. He nodded his head in understanding and quickly implemented them into the navigation system.
"Preparing for our first hyperjump in 3...2...1..." said the male, and Qorinna quickly braced. This was not going to be a pleasant flight.
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Ye’tab didn’t know where the ship was going, but it seemed to be in a hurry to get there. His wrist unit vibrated silently, and he took a second to read the message. It was from Au’dtair letting him know that other species were now aware that the Saalistaja technology had been stolen.
But how was that possible? None of the Saalistaja would have spread that information; in fact, most of the tribes didn’t even know that something like that had happened.
Could whoever had stolen the technology be the one to spread the rumors? Ye’tab’s head was going through and discarding the multiple possibilities as soon as they arose.
None of his hypotheses made sense. It was one thing for a species to be brave enough to steal from them, but it was a completely different thing to be brave enough to call attention to their actions. He attempted to reply to Au’dtair’s message asking how he knew about this.
As far as Ye’tab knew, the other male was still on the hunting planet. However, as soon as he sent out the message, an automatic reply was sent back saying that the sender was unavailable.
Getting more confused by the minute, Ye’tab started to come up with a different plan. He didn’t need to be on this ship anymore. He would get off the next time they docked and get the others of his hunting party to pick him up.
Hopefully, by that time, Au’dtair would be finished his hunt, and they could all concentrate on finding the vasfuggony bastards that stole their technology and bragged about it.
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Vraev’ox stood on his command bridge and looked at the other two males. Their hunting party went from five down to only three, and while Ye’tab was off chasing leads of his own, it was not enough. Moons had passed, and still, they were no closer than they were before to finding their stolen technology.
There was a brief vibration on all three of their wrist units, and Vraev’ox quickly pulled up the message. ’Other species know that technology has been stolen from Saalistaja.’
It was quick and to the point, but enough information was given to cause the male’s outer mandibles to click in rage. Clearly, the reputation of the Saalistaja was not how it was 300 years ago, and he blamed the Elders for that. Too concerned with hunts and catering to their females, they seemed to no longer care about their place in the universe. But this was unacceptable.
For someone to think that they could steal from them and then boast about it? That was simply not acceptable.
No. He would find those that stole from the Saalistaja and use them as a demonstration as to why it was a dumb idea to mess with them. They were the most feared beings in the universe for a reason. It was time to remind everyone why. And this time, there will be no mercy.
