Page 31 of All You Need is Alien Love (Tentacular Tales #4)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“You are the most exasperating and utterly maddening scoundrel I’ve ever met!” Captain Starblade blustered as he cradled Vardox’s injured tentacle in his hands.
Vardox tried to lighten the mood. “I’ve been called a lot worse in my life, darling.”
Starblade scowled at him, and Vardox was stunned to see the sheen of tears shimmering in his eyes.
He didn’t like it but he had no idea how to fix things.
Vardox could deal with anger, irritation, and even downright disgust from his sweet captain. But the more tender emotions left him flailing like a newborn Masnok tossed into a lake to sink or swim for the very first time.
“You’re safe now,” Vardox said uncertainly. “There’s no need to be frightened anymore.”
Starblade wiped at his moist eyes with the back of his hand and leveled Vardox with a glare so intense and confusing it left him unable to speak.
“Why the hell did you agree to a duel to the death?”
Vardox’s tentacles flapped around awkwardly. “It was the only way to save you. Katnus are a vicious species. Khamos and his men would have violated and then murdered you and your crew had I done nothing. I couldn’t possibly let that happen.”
Starblade ran a slightly shaking hand through his hair, tugging on it in obvious frustration. “But why? I’ve done nothing but insult you and run away from you.”
In that instant, everything inside Vardox stilled. This was the moment he had to voice his true feelings, even if his sweet captain was almost certainly going to reject them.
Vardox used his uninjured tentacles to gently pull Starblade in closer.
“I thought it was obvious by now, darling. I love you and have for quite some time. You’re the man I want as my life mate. And I would do far worse than fight a Blood Duel if it meant keeping you safe, my dear captain.”
— The Tentacular Tales of Captain Starblade , Ch. 161
Kai
A few weeks ago, when River excitedly explained his idea—through the lens of Star Trek , naturally—it didn’t take long for us to parse through the fannish enthusiasm to realize he was proposing we hijack the situation itself and turn it in our favor.
River was right. Even a seemingly no-win scenario, like an invasion, can be subverted if we think outside the box.
Part of his plan hinged on using the fact that Layne Madison and his supporters consider themselves superior to both us and the humans on this planet to our advantage.
After all, our little outpost is one they had already managed to infiltrate and exploit with their mole for years.
They were undoubtedly confident they had an easy victory ahead.
What they don’t realize is that this “little outpost” isn’t alone or friendless.
In fact, ever since River joined the Alliance, he’s built bridges with powerful extraterrestrials across the universe who were more than ready to come to his and our aid at a moment’s notice.
I can’t help but grin to myself. My husband is the most marvelous being in the entire universe.
When all of this is over, I can’t wait to take him on the epic honeymoon I have planned. By the galactic gods, we’re going to Tentacular Tales Con, and I’m going to blow River’s mind by getting to introduce him to the wonders of the universe.
Here and now I have to keep my head in the game and stay focused. I will do everything in my power to protect River, our future, and Earth itself.
As soon as the lights come on and music starts reverberating through the office sound system, our teams attack.
We’re very prepared for these assholes.
With the help of Nirblob—and River’s brilliant mind, once again—we’ve upgraded our net guns.
As we surround our opponents, we deploy our weapons with strategic timing, and the nets hit their mark, tangling them up and now delivering a powerful taser-like shock. More than half of them go down before they can muster a real response.
Effective but not lethal. Unlike these fools, we have integrity.
Several of the faster intruders manage to take cover behind cubicles and avoid the nets.
“Masks on!” I hear River shout through my earbud.
Hurriedly, we all take cover and obey his orders.
Our opponents are wholly unaware of what’s about to happen. No doubt thinking they have an ideal opportunity to attack when we stop our assault, they emerge from their hiding spots—just in time to be surrounded by the thick, smoky gas that starts churning out of the vents.
River told us he was inspired by Aiden’s pheromones and Nirblob’s kidnapping tactic with him a few months ago. The devious little alien had gassed River and Chewy unconscious and made off with them.
It seems rather fitting to use the same tactic against some of Layne Madison’s people.
I watch with satisfaction as, in shockingly short order, we have the entire situation under control.
Stepping into the fray and taking charge, my mother has several subordinates work on disarming the unconscious assailants before hauling them off to our secure cells.
Could it be this easy? Something deep in my gut says, no. My tentacles agree.
River’s voice comes through my earpiece. “We’ve got incoming. They’re using the teleporters like we expected.”
“Copy. We’re heading there now.”
“Be careful and stay safe, babe.”
Mom, Agent Catengi, Mal, and I sprint toward the transporter room.
A dozen more intruders await us and a melee ensues.
In the narrow hallway, our assailants quickly realize it’s too risky to use their phasers without potentially killing each other in the process.
Those at the front launch a hand-to-hand combat attack against us while their rear unit disappears deeper into the back offices, no doubt heading for our command center and the med lab where Adeline conducted her mysterious research.
“You’ve got hostiles heading your way, River,” I relay through my earpiece.
“On it. Just focus on what you need to do there,” he reassures me.
My mother, who’s been needing to work off some of her anger and frustration for months, is in her element right now.
There’s a reason she’s never been ousted as our Head of Security.
No one’s ever wanted to challenge her for the position.
She’s almost a blur of movement as she takes on multiple opponents at once.
In battle, she could give a Vroknu warrior a run for their money.
My dad told me her battle prowess was one of the things that made him smitten with her early on in their relationship. He wanted a life mate who could kick ass. Literally.
Agent Catengi manages to take down two attackers with his upgraded taser-net weapon, while Mal and I use our extendable staffs to disarm and render several more invaders immobile.
We duck and bob around our attackers with the greatest of ease, taking them down swiftly as we move like dancers who know all the moves in advance.
Teamwork makes the dream work , as River likes to say.
We’re downright spectacular. Perhaps watching some of those action movies with River has rubbed off on me?
When we have the situation contained, I turn back to Mom. She’s grinning from ear to ear as she pummels one remaining attacker with her fists and chokes out another with her tentacles.
“I love the smell of victory in the morning!” she crows, her tentacles tossing aside her now unconscious opponent.
Internally, I’m fretting a little over losing precious minutes incapacitating part of the second attack squad.
I don’t like not knowing what’s going on with those who disappeared in the direction of the med lab.
Once we have these invaders secured and being hauled off by our staff, we fan out as planned to search for the others. I head straight for the med lab.
Phaser out and set to stun, I sneak toward the entrance of the facility, staying as silent as possible. From my vantage point around the corner, I spy a figure moving around inside the room with obvious familiarity.
Rushing forward, I train my weapon on the intruder while they’re in the process of accessing the computer system.
“Put your hands where I can see them,” I order.
When she looks up, our gazes lock.
“Son of a phaser fucking bitch,” I mutter.
Even though her overall appearance has done a total one-eighty, her eyes tell me it’s Adeline.
Gone is the older, seemingly harmless person with gray hair pleated in a braid, and in her place is a much younger, dangerous-looking woman clad in a tight-fitting jumpsuit. Her dark hair is cut in a sleek, layered bob to her chin, and she’s sporting a dark red lipstick and smoky eye makeup.
She flashes me a creepy grin. “Why, if it isn’t my favorite test subject. Hello, Kai. How have you been?”
I narrow my eyes but keep my aim steady. “Step away from the computer, Adeline. I will take you down if I have to.”
With a put-upon sigh, she steps back, hands in the air.
As I move forward to restrain her, I detect an unexpected flash of motion out of the corner of my eye, too fast for me to outmaneuver.
A tentacle comes flying toward me and knocks the phaser from my hand while another sends me reeling to the floor in quick succession.
My head hits the tile floor hard, and I lie there stunned for a moment, unable to respond.
When Fabian appears in my line of sight, hovering over my prone form, I gape at him.
My ex-friend-with-benefits looks even worse than the last time I saw him.
The Fabian I knew was always clean-cut. This one has greasy and tangled hair, and sports a raggedy beard that makes it clear he hasn’t groomed himself in some considerable time. His lips are chapped and there are dark shadows under eyes that possess a feverish gleam.
“I knew you’d come,” he declares triumphantly.
My head’s still spinning, but the sight of Fabian right now is setting off alarm bells.
In the midst of all this, I can hear River’s voice in my earpiece. “Hold on, Kai, we’re coming!”
Adeline squats beside me with a calculating look as she secures me in tight restraints before I can manage to fight back.