Chapter 208: Infestation
Raguk looked at me, and I could swear there was a softening to his face for just a moment before it was gone.
"You are taking this much better than I thought you would," he admitted, and I let out a bark of laughter.
"How were you expecting me to take it? Run around screaming? Burst out crying? Or maybe I could collapse into a puddle on the floor?" I asked, raising my eyebrow as I stared at him. "If anyone is dumb enough to follow through on what the Alliance is trying to accomplish, I can promise you, they wouldn’t live long enough to regret their decision."
The Uugazt stared at me, studying me for a moment before nodding his head. "You have me and my horde at your side," he said, raising his head and puffing out his chest. I noticed that he hadn’t bothered to put on that monkey suit he was wearing the first time we spoke.
"Are you hoping to lay a claim?" I asked, raising my own chin to stare at the orc. If the Alliance thought that that could break me, then I would have to disappoint them. All they have done is tell me exactly who they didn’t mind dying.
There was a pause long enough to capture my attention. "No," said the orc after a moment, but the time for me to believe him had long passed. "Orc males don’t lay claims," he continued, his eyes never leaving mine. "We put out a notice to a female that we think might be willing to bond with us, but at the end of the day, it is the female that makes the final decision."
"Huh," I mused. "And all the males just accept this?"
"Those who don’t are tortured for a minimum of five planetary rotations, one organ removed for every moon that passes since their disgrace. The female is then gifted the organs of the male that didn’t respect her and can then do with them what she wants. We learn at a young age that all females are to be revered as they are the only way for life to continue," explained the orc, and I was duly impressed.
Maybe I should work that torture into my plans for the Alliance. After all, it isn’t like they respected the female’s choice.
"You are welcome to fight at my side if that is what you choose. But you need to be made aware that I am not unclaimed, as the video suggests," I said, allowing Jun Li to pan the feed out to the rest of the bridge and my men standing there.
The orc’s eyes traveled over all of the men before turning his attention to me. Bowing his head, he took in a deep breath. "I still offer all my horde for your disposal."
"Thank you," I answered, touched that he would still do that. Then again, I wasn’t too touched, seeing as the two of us had a deal going. "The Alliance will be falling sooner than expected, so you shouldn’t have any problems returning to your planet."
That reminded me I still needed to get in touch with the Hive. I needed assassins, and they were the best. Just add it to the list, I guess.
"I have also heard that the Chirzaeh are trying to ambush you with a distress call. Make sure that you take your men if that happens. They tend to be a bit... stupid," growled Raguk, clearly not a fan of this Chirzaeh.
"Do you know what the human definition of insanity is?" I asked with a smile on my face. "It’s doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. I can assure you that I will not be answering any distress call from anyone."
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I think it was Murphy’s fourth law that stated if there was a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that would cause the most damage would be the one to go wrong.
I had just gotten off the link with Raguk when another incoming call started buzzing uncontrollably. Not sure why I was so popular all of a sudden; I let Jun Li complete the link so I could see who was trying to get my attention.
When the feed was first initiated, I thought that Jun Li had the wrong code or something. I was staring at a podium in a dark room. White mist flowed over the floor, making the whole thing look like something out of a bad B-grade movie.
"Hello?" came a voice through the screen. "Are you there, Sweetie?"
"Sha Shou?" I asked, completely confused.
"Oh good, it is you. I was worried. I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for a few days now, but I am afraid that I just couldn’t figure things out," said Sha Shou in her new body. I turned to Da’kea and raised an eyebrow.
"That is the inside of Pahn’thill’s ship," confirmed Da’kea with a nod.
"Is everything okay?" I wondered. I mean, I wasn’t too sure what to expect when Sha Shou said that she wanted to be a ship instead of my armor, but this wasn’t even in my top five possibilities. Honestly, I thought that she would be long gone, discovering everything that the universe had to offer.
"Of course it is," she replied, but there was a definite catch to her voice. "It’s just that I seem to have a problem."
"Is there anything that I can help with?" I offered, not too sure how a ship could actually be having a problem. "Or is it something that Jun Li could guide you through?"
"Umm... nope, I don’t think Jun Li can help with this issue. Is it possible to meet up someplace?"
"Please, just tell me what is going on," I said with a sigh. I would love to help her out, I really would, but at the same time, I was tired and still had a crap ton of things on my list of things to do.
"Apparently, the previous owner had an infestation problem that I didn’t know about when I was trying to learn all of the new settings. It is really hard going from armor to ship, you know," said Sha Shou, picking up Jun Li’s old habit of beating around the bush when he needed to tell me something important.
