Chapter 154: A Recap and A Cuddle
"I am willing to put money on the fact that the Alliance, as a whole and not some ’rogue’ within the organization, is fully aware of everything going on," I said, taking another sip of my hot chocolate. Hopefully, Ye’tab will have the heating system up soon, or else I am going to have to put my armor back on.
"The Thuzirusians had discovered that all human females are universal breeders," I continued, bringing my newest mate up to date. I also wasn’t sure how much GA and Ye’tab knew, so I decided to start at the very beginning. "They went to the Alliance with their fine, and the Alliance brushed them off. Then they heard about the Sisalik capturing a previously unknown species and discovering that they were universal breeders."
All four men grunted when I paused, and I could tell that they believed in that ’coincidence’ as much as I did.
"When did you find that out?" asked Midnight as he pulled me into his arms, adding his body heat to the furs.
"Just after I meant you for the first time," I shrugged. "I kind of participated in my own kidnapping on Thuzirus and found out a whole bunch of tidbits."
"I knew I shouldn’t have left you to your own devices," grumbled Midnight.
"I now have a permanent tracking device implanted," I shrugged like it wasn’t that big of a deal. "I got lost, and it took a while for Jun Li to find me and get me back to my fighter."
"That was you?" demanded Ye’tab, spinning around in the captain’s chair. I looked at him wide-eyed, having no clue about what he was talking about. "You killed ten Thuzirusians?"
"Yeah, well... three of them killed themselves, but I managed to kill the rest," I responded, almost forgetting about the little green dude and his friends. But, as I was saying... the Sisalik, with the help of the Alliance, managed to find these universal breeders. I think they weren’t expecting me to be a member of the Ethawain Royal family, but here I am."
"Here you are," agreed Da’kea. "Does anyone else know that you are calling mates?"
"No. And as far as I am aware, no other human female has been able to. Which is why the Alliance now has all of them on a daily supplement," I answered. "I think it is what the Sisalik injected me with while I was on their bed for six years."
"And they are now dissecting other human females who have died after taking the supplement to see where they went wrong," growled Midnight. "I have seen it with my own eyes and have downloaded it onto my personal computer if you need proof."
"I don’t," said Da’kea with a shake of his head. "But the other Elders might need it, so it is better to have too much documentation than not enough."
"Pippa Flynn, one of the human females kidnapped about a year ago, had her ship, Stargazer, erase all of the information about Earth from every system, but it is only a matter of time before it is found again," I added, for once impressed over Pippa’s decision. Then again, I guess a broken clock is right twice a day, too.
"So, you have no idea how to get back to your planet?" asked Da’kea, his voice holding a sympathetic tone to it.
"I wouldn’t go that far; more like I might be the only one who knows how to get there. Well, me and my ship."
"Pippa Flynn," mused Da’kea. "Wasn’t she the first person to free an AI-powered ship and is the Human Representative for the Alliance?"
"Sure, let’s go with that," I grumbled. "But if you are going to spend any time around me, you are going to have to understand that she doesn’t represent all human females," I continued, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. "Back home, in the South, we might say that there are tree stumps out here that have a higher IQ."
"I don’t understand," said Da’kea, cocking his head to the side. I tried to think of something else I could say, but ’Dumber than a brick wall’ wouldn’t work either.
"She means that craobh are more intelligent than Pippa Flynn," interjected Midnight. I forgot that he had some of Earth’s languages downloaded onto his implant.
"How is that possible? They don’t even have a brain?" asked Da’kea, confused, but GA and Ye’tab chuckled.
"Yeah, that seems about right," grunted GA as he came up to the side of my nest. "Do you want any food? I can get you food, something hot to drink, anything you might want. How about some more furs? You love furs."
"I am good," I said, looking at him confused. "What’s going on?"
"He is just upset that he didn’t help you out during the fight with Pahn’thill," interjected Da’kea.
"Why would he? I didn’t ask. And I thought I held my own just fine," I said, not sure why he felt upset over it.
"I shouldn’t have stood aside," grunted GA. "I acknowledge my shortcomings and know that even if it is a Saalistaja law, it doesn’t necessarily apply."
Midnight grunted in agreement, and I could only assume that he had mentioned something to the other male.
"Okay, I am only going to say this once, so I would like you all to pay attention," I started, not too sure where my brain was going with this. "I didn’t ask for help. I never ran into a corner and hid. If I had and you guys didn’t help me, then I would be pissed. But as it stood, my armor withstood anything that she threw at me, so there was no need to interfere. I am completely out of my depth, but I cannot grow and become stronger if you are always trying to protect me."
I looked at the four men and saw them nodding. "Besides, none of you interfered in the fight, so you shouldn’t be the only one feeling guilty about it," I pointed out.
"I’ll go out and get some konjin," said Midnight suddenly as he got out of the nest and bolted toward the door.
"I have furs over at the other ship," said Da’kea, following quickly behind Midnight.
"I’ll try and get the environmental systems up and running," added Ye’tab, turning back around to the console and doing whatever he did on that thing.
"What do you want me to do?" asked GA, looking at me.
"Cuddle?"
