Argurma Monster (The Argurma Chronicles #2)

Chapter 8

Talech followed the male into the ship, craning his head to peer at it as his mandibles clicked. His vibrissae remained alert and twisting erratically with threatening hisses from the rattles at the end. The other male—Zoreth—did not seem inclined to pay them any mind even if Beverly cast him uncertain looks. He tried to reassure her with soft purrs, but it was difficult when his systems were entirely focused on protecting her from any potential threat or attack.

This was not his ship, Vanesga —although much of his memory was offline and disconnected from his current existence, he felt a small amount of relief when the name whispered from the dark depths of his memory. He could recall little of his past and cared little about the minor details of kin and house, but he also understood that having access to what he knew would help him more effectively protect and care for Beverly. It was because he understood the difference between Vanesga and this ship that he knew to be wary and processed that he could not be certain as to this vessel’s operation or programming.

What if the idiot male tried to trick them and put Talech back in stasis? He did not believe the male would kill him. It teased the depths of his memory that he would not, or could not, but the exact reasoning eluded him. But he did not put it past the male to remove him as a rival so that he could win Beverly’s favor unopposed.

Talech gnashed his mandibles, the angry clatter finally drawing Zoreth’s attention. The male tensed warily, and Talech could not resist a smug smile. The warrior was uncomfortable with his presence. He could not scent or taste it along his mandibles—his rival had better control over himself than that— but it was still betrayed in the tiniest muscular movements as the male regarded him.

“This way,” Zoreth hissed from between his teeth. “ Garanga is of a standard model designed for traveling through deep space. The layout should be similar to the explorer vessel that you operated.”

An explorer? Was that what he was? Talech hummed quietly to himself as he considered it and probed into the seething mess of his mind. As usual, it did not yield any result, but it was probable. There was a vague sense that he had traveled far. Constantly engaged on a wearying trek. And the endless march of loneliness.

A shiver ran through him as the yawning bleakness within the depths of his mind rushed forward through his processors. Alone was pain. Alone and strapped to a table. Alone and left broken and wounded in a small room. The terrible memories crowded his head until he shoved them back with a snarl.

The male in front of him dropped his hand to his blaster, and Talech shook his head, his vibrissae snapping as he instinctively stepped back and closer to the warm comfort of his female. His Beverly had become familiar with the monster within him and immediately reached for him, her hands coming to rest on the spurs of his jaw. She dragged his head down so that he was forced to crouch—but eagerly so—as she hummed comfortingly to him and ran her hands along the bony structure of his jaw, cheekbone, and brow as she had the first time that he had awoken from a night terror.

“You don’t need that,” Beverly snapped at the warrior. “Talech is in pain, you dick. Something in here, or something you said or did, set him off. His memory is a mess, so he doesn’t even know why he’s suffering the way he is. You don’t need to make it worse.”

Talech breathed her in as her voice dropped and she continued to whisper to him, reminding him to focus on his breathing. He did as he instructed, drawing her further into his system’s memory with every breath, reminding himself that he was not alone now. He had Beverly. Zoreth would not trick him or separate him from her. He would not be alone again.

A disgruntled look crossed the other male’s face, but he relented with a sigh and dropped his hand from his weapon as he spun away. “It may be kinder to leave him,” he growled as he stalked down the corridor, leaving them to follow after him. He narrowed his eyes as he glanced back at them. “We cannot calculate the extent of the male’s damage or if he will even be able to adapt to the mental stress of being confined within a ship in space.”

Talech growled softly, but Beverly’s sharp voice rose above it. “We are not leaving him. Yes, he needs help, but I won’t abandon him here.”

“Noted,” Zoreth hissed, his displeasure evident in his bearing as he stormed down the corridor taking them to the inner ship.

Where the crew cabins are. The memory arose out of nowhere and slipped away just as fast, but Talech’s tension eased a little from the familiarity in the ship’s design that some part of him recognized. It was enough that, when Zoreth suddenly stepped into a room, Talech knew that they were entering a residential cabin. A place that promised rest. Exhaustion crawled through him. It had been difficult to rest on the island. Although there were no other predators like E-302—he could not think of it as Griiga—he was always on alert. It was that awareness, and the extra sensors that seemed somehow new and overwhelming as they brought everything into such full focus to the point of nearly crippling his mind before he learned to control it, that had alerted him to Zoreth’s arrival on the island.

Now he just looked forward to sleeping curled around his female.

His eyes tracked the male impatiently as Zoreth demonstrated the operation of everything in the room. These things were also familiar, but since Talech could not swear that he would have recalled it before being shown he did not issue a complaint, especially when Beverly was being so attentive to the instruction. Information was power, and he processed that she understood this as well and was quickly filing away everything that she needed to know for her own safety and ability to live on the ship. He could have told her that he would help her and do what she required, just as he had on the beach, but he also processed to keep silent so that she could learn what she wished to, even if he was impatient and wanted the male out of the quarters so that they could both get some much-needed rest.

“That should be sufficient information,” Zoreth observed as he finally turned toward the door. “Beverly, come with me. I will key you into your quarters. Talech will remain here.”

Talech straightened with a snap, a loud hiss reverberating from his chest as he spun on the male and stepped protectively in front of his female. It was as he suspected! A trick! His spinal limbs and mandibles spread wide, the latter preparing to envenomate the male should he get any closer. He could feel the small soft fingers of his mate on his forearm. It was only for her sake that he refrained from attacking. Instead, he swept her into his arms and closed his spinal limbs around her completely so that she was shielded behind their metal cage. Although her words were lost beneath the fugue of his rage, he was distantly aware of her voice’s calming tone as she ran her hands along his chest and up to the dominating spines along his shoulders before trailing along his arms in gentle, repetitive sweeping motions.

Talech focused on her alone as he had done so many times when he had been lost in disorientation, fear, or rage. His sensors, including his extra ones, reassured him with the feel of her against him, the soft brush of her breath, the soft texture of her fingertips and palms—even her words grew distinct again. He began to purr as he curled around her, allowing her words to wash over him.

She was his. The other male could not take her from him.

“Hey, big guy, it’s okay. I’m here, Talech. We will stay together,” she murmured over and over again until she felt him relax, and she gave him a comforting pat before he felt her turn slightly to address the other male still standing warily by the door. “You’re a fucking idiot,” she snapped. “What part of our current scenario made you think he would just let you separate us without warning? You saw for yourself just a little while ago how much he depends on having me nearby.”

Talech could hear Zoreth’s teeth grinding. He was certain that level of sensory input was unnatural and pushed it back from the forefront of his awareness as he had with so many other sensory issues that his new additions had “gifted” him with.

“You are not mated,” the male protested. “Unmated females are always provided their own quarters. To allow you to remain here with him—”

“Changes absolutely nothing from how we’ve been living for months before you came,” Beverly finished.

Talech watched his rival stiffen with displeasure.

“He is not the only male here with an interest in courting you,” Zoreth bit out.

Talech could not fault him for that reasoning. Talech would have the preferential place at Beverly’s side, which would give him an unfair advantage. Did he care? Something faint deep within the recesses of his memory whispered that it would be expected for him to care and respect it. It was unfortunate for his past self that the Talech of now was not of any mind to do so.

Beverly let out a disgusted sound. “So what would be fair? Unless you have an extra-large bed that we can all cram into, I don’t know what to tell you.” She gestured to the bed that Zoreth had pulled out to demonstrate how it worked. “As huge as that thing is for a human, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be flattened by two huge aliens who will both barely fit on one.”

Zoreth growled, and Talech stiffened, his vibrissae whipping as the male stalked toward them... and then right past to where the bed was mounted.

“ Garanga , release the moorings on the bed in cabin three,” he snapped at the ship’s AI as he grabbed ahold of the side.

The locks on the bed’s mounting came undone with a hiss, and Zoreth turned it as he shot Talech an annoyed look.

“Make yourself useful and assist me,” he growled.

Bemused, Talech slowly disengaged himself from his mate and cautiously approached. He did not like the idea of sharing a bed or cabin with the other male either, but Beverly had suggested it and he would do as she wished. Grumbling quietly, Talech went to the bed and gently nudged the other male out of the way. Using all of his available limbs, his spinal limbs spread wide to support the weight, he hefted the bed up and glowered at Zoreth, who peered at him in surprise.

“Where do I put this?” he growled, and he turned his head as his gaze followed the male as Zoreth quickly headed back toward the door and led the way out to the primary cabin.

He might have growled the entire way if his female had not offered him a smile before she followed Zoreth into a cabin that was over twice the size of the crew cabins. There would not be a lot of excess room, but both beds and all three occupants would fit.

It only took a zec to secure the new bed to the bed already locked in before Zoreth was heading out again. He cast a frustrated look at the chair and gestured to it.

“There is still only one flight chair and no additional room for a second. Someone will have to be secured in another area.”

“No,” Talech rebutted as he snatched Beverly up in his arms and dropped on the chair. The automated straps secured around the both of them, pressing his mate firmly against his lap and torso. He grinned triumphantly at the other male. “We fit.”

The male did not reply other than to faintly tip his head in acknowledgment before storming out of the room. “We depart in ten,” he barked as the door slid shut behind him.

Talech purred as he curled his spinal limbs around his mate, and she laughed softly.

“You really need to stop antagonizing him. I’ve told you before that I’m not yours. I can’t be your mate. It wouldn’t be right, all things considered,” she admonished him.

He did not understand, but this was a conversation that they had many times, and he never comprehended why her position at the lab hindered their mating. She was his light in the darkness of his mind and the most terrible of his memories that haunted him at night. And she had been a good companion on the island. Fun, patient, and understanding. She processed his needs just as he processed what she needed even when she did not give voice to it.

“I have to admit that this isn’t uncomfortable, though,” she sighed as she settled more fully against him.

Talech hummed in agreement as he stroked her arms and sides. “Rest,” he purred as he folded himself around her, sinking into her comfort even as Garanga’s engines roared, and the ship vibrated with impending takeoff.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” she mumbled sleepily. “Just so you know. I’m not your mate.”

He grunted, acknowledging her words, and continued purring. It was enough.