himself. Not to mention his peculiar sexual mores.
She shrugged inwardly. Perhaps he was some minor royalty of the mountains.
Besides, her co-commander might be a handsome prince, but that didn’t make him any less irritating.
The royal vanguard was followed by servants with what proved to be a number of exotic space creatures, both leashed and unleashed.
“I thought we didn’t allow pets loose on board,” muttered Panthar, eyeing the menagerie promenading past.
“They allow you to roam free, do they not?” Mra answered sweetly.
The big Tyger grinned appreciatively. As head interpreter, Mra was ordinarily the soul of politeness. Even now her green corn silk-like hair twitched restlessly, revealing her chagrin at her own sarcasm. Leaning close to her, he made a teasing sound like an angry cat “mrrowing” under his breath.
“When it’s the Aquarians, we allow latitude,” Craig answered Panthar. “Prince Azuran is a friend of Stark’s.”
“Although to tell truth, I’m not so sure which are the pets,” he added under his breath as a tall lavender female of some species glided by. She had a single, beautiful golden eye, and long tendrils of dark purple waved about her narrow shoulders. She turned her head suddenly and winked at Craig. The rest of the welcoming crew hid grins as his lean face reddened, and he bowed in quick apology. She had clearly heard and understood him.
Sirena watched a large blue iguana amble past, its jeweled leash held by a small Pangaean. She hadn’t seen such a reptile since she’d vacationed at the huge oasis resort of Dune City a few lunar months ago. She wished crossly that she were there now, lazing in the heat beside the water, with nothing more to do than nap and wake to order another cactus-flower drink.
She frowned as she caught a slight, acrid scent. This one was somehow familiar. It was muddled with the scents of the iguana and the jeweled cages of chameleons she had seen hanging from servants’ hands, but it made her uneasy.
Behind her, Slyde Stone moved restlessly.
“You smell it too?” she murmured over her shoulder.
“Yes. And not for the first time.”
She froze. He really had scented a serpent. And it was close at hand.
Sirena shifted closer to Craig.
“Captain, permission to examine the prince’s pets once they’ve been settled.”
His brows drew together, his piercing blue eyes meeting hers. “Is there a problem?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Just be discreet.”
“Of course.”
Chapter Nine
Izard was waiting for them in the main lobby, however. On every voyage, there were questionable carry-on items to be inspected. On this one it was an antique bomb found on an ancient Boron battlefield by a tourist and packed in his luggage for the voyage home to Carillon. It had passed the initial boarding inspection, but was now emitting a strange sound, as if the mechanism inside was creaking to life.
After a short discussion, the device was loaded on a tiny unmanned space pod, programmed to land on an uninhabitable planet along the Orion ’s route. The passenger was calmed with a handsome gift certificate to a stellar resort.
“Come on,” growled Slyde to Sirena, after they watched the pod disappear in space. “Let’s get back to our other project.”
Sirena nodded, shaking off her anger at the fool of a tourist. How dare he jeopardize the safety of her ship?
“Going up to the command level?” she asked Izard.
Izard’s gaze slid between the two guard commanders.
“You two go ahead,” he said. “I, ah, promised to meet Yvene.”
He was frankly grinning as he walked away. He couldn’t wait to share his latest observations with his lady. Great serpents, the two guard commanders were like seething volcanoes, just waiting to erupt—had been since that first night on Solaria. He and Yvene had a wager as to how long it would take the two Serpentians to break. It had been two months, but now it looked as though things were heating up
She shrugged inwardly. Perhaps he was some minor royalty of the mountains.
Besides, her co-commander might be a handsome prince, but that didn’t make him any less irritating.
The royal vanguard was followed by servants with what proved to be a number of exotic space creatures, both leashed and unleashed.
“I thought we didn’t allow pets loose on board,” muttered Panthar, eyeing the menagerie promenading past.
“They allow you to roam free, do they not?” Mra answered sweetly.
The big Tyger grinned appreciatively. As head interpreter, Mra was ordinarily the soul of politeness. Even now her green corn silk-like hair twitched restlessly, revealing her chagrin at her own sarcasm. Leaning close to her, he made a teasing sound like an angry cat “mrrowing” under his breath.
“When it’s the Aquarians, we allow latitude,” Craig answered Panthar. “Prince Azuran is a friend of Stark’s.”
“Although to tell truth, I’m not so sure which are the pets,” he added under his breath as a tall lavender female of some species glided by. She had a single, beautiful golden eye, and long tendrils of dark purple waved about her narrow shoulders. She turned her head suddenly and winked at Craig. The rest of the welcoming crew hid grins as his lean face reddened, and he bowed in quick apology. She had clearly heard and understood him.
Sirena watched a large blue iguana amble past, its jeweled leash held by a small Pangaean. She hadn’t seen such a reptile since she’d vacationed at the huge oasis resort of Dune City a few lunar months ago. She wished crossly that she were there now, lazing in the heat beside the water, with nothing more to do than nap and wake to order another cactus-flower drink.
She frowned as she caught a slight, acrid scent. This one was somehow familiar. It was muddled with the scents of the iguana and the jeweled cages of chameleons she had seen hanging from servants’ hands, but it made her uneasy.
Behind her, Slyde Stone moved restlessly.
“You smell it too?” she murmured over her shoulder.
“Yes. And not for the first time.”
She froze. He really had scented a serpent. And it was close at hand.
Sirena shifted closer to Craig.
“Captain, permission to examine the prince’s pets once they’ve been settled.”
His brows drew together, his piercing blue eyes meeting hers. “Is there a problem?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Just be discreet.”
“Of course.”
Chapter Nine
Izard was waiting for them in the main lobby, however. On every voyage, there were questionable carry-on items to be inspected. On this one it was an antique bomb found on an ancient Boron battlefield by a tourist and packed in his luggage for the voyage home to Carillon. It had passed the initial boarding inspection, but was now emitting a strange sound, as if the mechanism inside was creaking to life.
After a short discussion, the device was loaded on a tiny unmanned space pod, programmed to land on an uninhabitable planet along the Orion ’s route. The passenger was calmed with a handsome gift certificate to a stellar resort.
“Come on,” growled Slyde to Sirena, after they watched the pod disappear in space. “Let’s get back to our other project.”
Sirena nodded, shaking off her anger at the fool of a tourist. How dare he jeopardize the safety of her ship?
“Going up to the command level?” she asked Izard.
Izard’s gaze slid between the two guard commanders.
“You two go ahead,” he said. “I, ah, promised to meet Yvene.”
He was frankly grinning as he walked away. He couldn’t wait to share his latest observations with his lady. Great serpents, the two guard commanders were like seething volcanoes, just waiting to erupt—had been since that first night on Solaria. He and Yvene had a wager as to how long it would take the two Serpentians to break. It had been two months, but now it looked as though things were heating up
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