Argurma Monster (The Argurma Chronicles #2)

Chapter 12

Zoreth deeply disliked delivering bad news. He disliked it when it came to reporting Veral, the current head of their mother house, and he disliked it even more when it came to the female he already had begun to consider his mate. His dislike for it mattered little, however. The information had to be shared so that they could prepare to head through the particularly dangerous asteroid belt they had to traverse. All to avoid being detected by an Argurma fleet traveling through that part of the sector.

He had already informed Talech in a rare moment of catching the male alone. Although Talech never strayed far from Beverly’s side, over the past rotations he had been slowly venturing through the ship on his own, within those areas he had access to, to see to his needs as well as any Beverly might have while Zoreth was occupied with the ship.

The male was far more damaged than his outward appearance suggested. Although sensory antenna embedded in his brow and the spinal limbs took time to get accustomed to, Talech still appeared very much Argurma in every way that truly counted. The significant difference had made itself known the moment they had stepped on board the ship and Zoreth had realized that the other male could not tap into Garanga at all.

A quick scan in the med unit several rotations later—which had taken all of Beverly’s considerable charm and reassurance to get the male to submit to—verified that the entire portion of his brain that housed his cybernetic uplinks had been fried irreparably. Among their race, it made him irrecoverably damaged and like that of a youngling in capabilities. Even his databases sustained considerable damage. While Talech was strong and deadly and possessed a sharp cunning, his condition was permanent. That much was affirmed by the scans that revealed the tissue around the brain was also traumatized to a degree that the AI had calculated a high probability of death if implant removal was attempted.

Zoreth was conflicted over that. He had been conditioned to view malfunctions as inferior. The more significant the malfunction, the greater the risk the mother house ran of drawing the attention of the council to them and terminating the entire house as a faulty bloodline. With the high degree of damage that Talech had undergone, damage that clearly included his emotional regulation implants, he would have been marked for termination by the council regardless of past service or the reason for his malfunction.

Everything that Zoreth had been raised to believe on Argurumal told him that he was better than the male. His implants were whole and intact, allowing him to navigate and pilot the ship and connect on private uplinks with his kin—if there had been any remaining to whom he felt that close. His twin brother—the only one he had favored such an intimate connection with—had died while on a mission for the council. After that, he had rejected any other uplinks, unable to tolerate the idea of giving that honor to any of his other kin and, in doing so, keeping his thoughts and the emotional turmoil of his grief private and beyond scrutiny.

As much as he was conditioned to process pity and contempt for a male in Talech’s position, part of him was also envious of it and the freedom that it offered. The male could not access Argurma tech, but he was wholly in and of himself as the gods designed without need to disable communication uplink routes from the council or remain vigilant for any new ones established. He also envied the male his freedom from the conditioning of their people and burdens that had seemingly been mostly wiped clean and buried with his memories. If it was not something that Talech could see or kill, then he accepted events with an unwavering calm. He had greeted the news of the asteroid belt as if it were merely an uncomfortable inconvenience and had said little in response to Zoreth other than not to frighten Beverly with the data.

He was mildly affronted that the other male believed he needed to be so cautioned. He did not enjoy frightening alien females of smaller, more vulnerable species as other warriors did. That said, Zoreth was inclined, due to his own calculations, to process that she would not be easily frightened. She would be annoyed perhaps, as traveling through the asteroid field would force them to travel more slowly out of caution, but she did not appear to be a female who quaked with fear. It was a trait he especially admired about her, but that did not mean that he would not have avoided the situation if he could to spare her the discomfort. Unfortunately, there was no calculation he could come up with which offered another solution without taking them considerably out of the way—potentially far afield from any resupply station—and adding many more lunars to their travel.

Although there was a high probability of clearing the belt without issue, it would still be rough and one that could force them to land and make repairs depending on how much damage Garanga took. More than that, however, he processed that Beverly was anxious to arrive at the mothership, and so the potential for delays did not please him on principle as he wanted just as much to see her happily settled there. He had desired nothing else since seeing her face come alive with interest when he had spoken of the vessel. He had quarters there that he was certain that she would find pleasing, especially since, like so many of his kin, he had taken control of a quad of cabins and remodeled them into a large family suite. Enough room for himself, a mate, and however many offspring they desired. He had yearned for that despite not having any mating prospects, and even idle conversations about the possibility of retrieving humans to mate with had left him uncertain whether he would ever find a compatible human female attractive enough to even wish to mate with. But it had been his hope that they would eventually be filled.

Beverly’s presence had effortlessly banished all of those previous doubts and made him eager in more ways than one. His civix twitched within its sheath for her every night and whenever he moved in close enough for him to taste her natural perfume. He was perhaps more eager than she was to arrive at the mothership quickly, certain that the stalemate that had stretched between him and Talech would settle once they were home. Dealing with the asteroid belt was simply a necessary annoyance on route that would be over with soon enough.

Following Talech’s instructions of where to locate his female, Zoreth frowned as he stepped into the med unit. Seated at a station in the corner, Beverly intently studied the screen in front of her, only looking up at the sound of his footsteps entering the room. She smiled as she tapped the screen in front of her and tugged a small listening device from her ear.

“Zoreth, I figured you would still be on deck plotting our course,” she observed lightly.

He grunted because that was a fair assumption. He usually spent the first part of the rotation going over the projected course and the overnight feed, scanning for nearby ships within the sector. Then there was the never-ending task of listening to warnings broadcasted over private servers, as well as doing an analysis of the system to make sure everything was in working order.

“I was,” he acknowledged as he drew closer. Stopping next to her station, he blinked down at her screen in surprise. “What are you doing?”

Beverly grinned and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m in the medical field... or I was, at least. Admittedly, compared to interstellar medics, there’s a whole lot for me to catch up on given the current situation.”

His gaze fastened on her. “You wish to be a medic?”

“Well, yes,” she laughed softly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Being a doctor and scientist has always been my passion. I ended up in a research field, and therefore it’s been years since I’ve done any practical sort of work that involved patients, but I think I’m actually looking forward to it.” Her lips twisted wryly. “I think I’ve seen more than enough of a research lab to suit me.”

He nodded, a feeling stirring within his chest that sent little bursts through him. “Our mother house has a medic, but we have said before that we need more. Few Argurma aim to be medics when it is more profitable to work in research and cybernetics rather than the bodily needs of our kin.” His lips curled in satisfaction as he became increasingly comfortable with the thought. As a medic she would always be in a position of safety within the mothership, and that idea pleased him. “There is a high probability that the medic will take you on to study beneath them if you truly wish to proceed with this.”

To his delight, her face lit up, sending a tingling warmth through him, and she nodded. “That would be perfect! I’ve been spending time here every day studying medical texts and digital demonstrations, in addition to squeezing in language lessons since I’m dependent on having the text read aloud and translated for me, but it’s slow going. Not that I can say I’ve been bored once. Not with Talech keeping me company. He still has an aversion to being around medical equipment, of course, but he pointedly ignores it every time we come back and never seems to mind the hours of work I do in here when he’s not being a welcome distraction,” she added with a chuckle, and her eyes met his earnestly. “But an apprenticeship would truly be invaluable.”

Zoreth inclined his head, disliking the way his stomach knotted sourly at the idea of Talech entertaining and distracting Beverly while he worked. It was illogical since the male had little else that he was qualified to do on the ship in his current condition. He could not even go over the system alerts and reduce Zoreth’s workload. It was illogical to be resentful, and yet he seethed even as he was grateful that Beverly had company. It was a frustrating conflict that made him want to growl under his breath even as he appreciated that the male was finding a useful niche on the ship. It was a small task, meaningless to some, but one he would give anything to exchange places to have.

“I am pleased to hear this,” he rasped.

She cocked her head and gave him a quizzical look. “Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

He suddenly stiffened, recalling his purpose, and shook his head in the negative. “It is not. I wished to inform you that we are coming upon an asteroid field.”

She paled, and a look of apprehension crossed her face. “Are you certain we have to go through it?”

“If we wish to remain clear of the sensors of the Argurma warship traveling through the sector and not lose lunars of travel time, the asteroid belt provides the best option for keeping us on the proper path to the space station for refueling.”

She eyed him with concern. “What’s the likelihood of running out of fuel if we reroute?”

Zoreth’s vibrissae twitched unhappily. “Thirty percent probability of fuel cell death.” He swallowed at the worried look on her face. “Sixty percent probability of depleting the replicator’s raw material supply.”

Beverly expelled a long breath and gave him a grim smile. “Well, damn. I guess the asteroid belt it is. Just how rocky is this going to get... and when are we due to hit it?”

The ship suddenly jerked and vibrated violently, making Beverly shriek and grab for the console in front of her as Zoreth widened his stance and braced his feet against the turbulence.

“Now,” he growled as he turned for the door, cursing under his breath. “It appears we have arrived.”

“What? Already?” she yelled, jumping to her feet just as Talech barreled through the door.

The male just barely avoided colliding with Zoreth in his haste to scoop the female up into the protection of his arms. She squeaked a little as she was lifted off the floor, and Zoreth hid a gratified smile as he rushed out the door. At least she would be as safe as she possibly could be with Talech cocooning her as the ship was hit by asteroids too small and fast to avoid.

“It seems that I miscalculated,” he rumbled in reply as he ran from the med unit and up the corridor toward the flight deck.

He would see them through this and get them safely home. Whether that home would be as safe and as welcoming to Talech remained to be seen, but it was an eventuality that he refused to calculate at the moment. For now, the asteroids and the distance that remained to be traveled posed a far greater obstacle than worrying about a malfunctioning male attached to a female that neither of them was willing to relinquish.

His cousin Larth, who malfunctioned with an abundance of inappropriate humor, would never stop laughing once they got through this.