Page 4 of Arakiba (Alien Legacy Brotherhood #3)

Chapter Three

A ri studied the strange spider-looking contraption. The more he observed the bot, the more his throat tightened as a creeping sense came over him. The urge to do something hit him hard. No, not something. To find someone. He glanced at Morgan. Her bright eyes followed him. He returned her stare. For some reason, being in the same room with her calmed his nerves. How strange was it that this particular woman calmed him? And, he suspected, she did it like no one ever had before.

Well, okay. At least as far as he knew.

Keeping the little bot nestled in his palm, he stood. “What do you think is wrong with it?” An inkling of a memory floated by. It was him looking at this droid surrounded by other bots that looked very similar to it, but in different colors and sizes. He frowned when nothing else came to him.

“I’m not sure,” Morgan stated, looking at the unmoving bot. “But I have some experience in computer mechanics, and I thought I’d try to repair it.” She smiled. “I’m hoping it has a working knowledge of how to fix Elemi , or at least tell me what I can do to help her heal. That ship is our ticket out of here.“ She held out her hand, palm up.

With a grunt, Ari pinched the bot between his fingers and thumb and carefully dropped it onto her hand.

The small thing remained unmoving.

“Now that you’re here, it’d be helpful if you do some cleanup while I thinker with Charlotte.”

Ari’s eyebrows rose. “Charlotte?”

Morgan nodded as she turned the spider-bot one way and then another as she examined it. “You know, after the popular book about a spider of the same name.”

Ari shrugged. Like he knew what she was talking about. “Works for me,” he hedged.

With careful, exaggerated deliberation, she placed the bot into the large pocket on the chest of her overalls. Patting it closed, she again focused on him. “I’ll show you around, and we’ll make a place for you to sleep.” She grimaced. “I’m afraid I can’t take you around the rest of the ship since we’re confined here. We’re not allowed to step out of this room without an Ozevroc escorting us. If we do, these stupid things will activate and blast us into dust.” She tugged on the large, black, leather-looking collar around her neck. “Or just knock us out. Depends on their mood.”

Reaching up, he fingered the thick material covering his neck. Yeah, staying here sounded good. At least the place was big enough.

It didn’t take Morgan long to show him the main room, then the alcove where she slept. She handed him a few blankets from the rag-tag pile of bedding and linens she used, assuring him there’d be more if he needed them. Then, she pointed to another alcove not too far from hers where he could set up his own sleeping spot.

But the best thing she took him to was a cramped, separate room for private use. With a mumbled “thanks,” he went inside, grunting when the doors swished closed behind him. It didn’t take long to finish taking care of his personal needs. Once he finished, he used the obvious sink. He turned it on, and a single trickle of water came out of the spout. Cupping his hands under it, he splashed the captured water on his face. At least he hoped it was water. If memory served him right, water was usually clear and not dark green. Above the odd-shaped sink was a vid mirror. Ari leaned in and pushed back his wayward blond hair and studied his image. He fingered a small scar at the edge of his bottom lip before concentrating on his eyes. Their steel-gray color stared back, selfishly hiding many secrets.

Who was this man looking back at him? Would he ever know? He clenched his teeth and fisted his hands. The vid wavered before blacking out. Gilgamesh’s balls. This was getting him nowhere. With a huff, he left the room to search for Morgan.

There she was, back at the workbench she’d been at when he first woke up. Ari took the chance to study her before she became aware of him. Even in her baggy clothing, she was one fine-looking woman with a killer body. Obviously smart, but she also carried a hint of hidden mischievousness. Yeah, and he was just the guy to bring that out of her.

He was?

Damn, this not knowing was getting on his last fruking nerve. Throwing his shoulders back, he tromped over to her. “So, what do you need me to do?”

Morgan turned to him, putting the spider-bot on the table. She nodded at a stack of loose metal parts combined with panels and goddess knew what else piled against the opposite wall. “See that mountain of junk over there?”

He nodded.

“Until we know what you’re good at, you’re in charge of cleanup.” She gestured to the large barrel he’d dumped his plate into earlier. “Put everything in there. When it’s full, you’ll get rid of the contents in the incinerator over there.” She pointed to a large, rust-colored contraption that dominated the far corner of the engine room. “I’m sure that’s something you can handle.” Her attention returned to the spider-bot.

Great. Just call him the King of Clutter.

It didn’t take Ari long to fill the barrel. It hardly made a dent in the pile. The only interesting thing from the clutter was a whiff of an unusual odor coming out of it. The more stuff he removed, the stronger the stench got. It was a sweet and sour smell like… death? It’d been nice if she’d have warned him there’d be disgusting carcasses in there. He’d be damned if he touched any future fertilizer.

“Hey, Morgan.” He made sure his voice carried across the room.

“Yeah?” She didn’t look up.

It shouldn’t annoy him that the tiny bot got more attention than he did.

“Anything dead in here?”

She gave a ladylike snort and continued to work on the bot. “Nope. The Ozevroc eat anything organic, even their own comrades. They believe the spirit of their dead belongs with the living. Believe me, they never get rid of anything they could consume.”

Well, wasn’t that just disgusting? Freaking buzzards. He examined the outside of the full dumpster barrel and located a panel on its side. He was about to push one of them to see what it’d do when Morgan spoke up.

“That’s the controls to make it hover, so it’s easy to move around. The bottom button makes it lift off the ground, the left button guides it to the right and the right button makes it go to the left. When you want it on the ground, punch the top button.”

“So, everything is the opposite of what common sense says it should be? Got it,” he muttered, activating the contraption to move it to the other side of the room. You’d think an advanced civilization would at least have a way to put their discarded parts inside the incinerator instead of throwing things around so someone else had to go and pick it up. But, no…

Ari halted in front of the incinerator and squinted at it. The thing was a rectangular beast made of thick steel walls that absorbed the dim light. He brushed his fingers against the rough, gritty texture of the surface that was coated with years old grime and oil. One side had an embedded narrow control panel with flashing red and orange lights glowing in an erratic pattern. His hand hovered over the symbols he couldn’t read.

“Remember, the idiots make everything opposite,” he mumbled to himself and pressed a prominent blinking red button. With a low mechanical groan, the front panel slid open with a hiss. A puff of hot air made him step back.

Inside was a small, rectangular chamber lined with scorched, blackened metal grates. Residue of countless burnings with charred bits of unrecognizable materials clung to the walls. A conveyor belt ran through the chamber, littered with twisted scraps of metal, burned fabric, and ash.

The smell hit him. A pungent mix of tainted ozone and something acidic, almost chemical. He grimaced. The scent triggered a vague, unsettling memory he couldn’t quite grasp.

“Everything okay over there?”

Thank the goddess Morgan’s voice pulled him out of his musings. He didn’t want to stand here any longer than he had to. “Yep. Having the best time of my life, right here,” he replied without looking at her. Grabbing the stuff on top of the pile, he threw everything into the hot opening of the incinerator as quick as he could. The sooner he finished this, the better.

When it was full, he pushed the steady orange light.

The doors slid close with a grinding noise.

Satisfied it was working like it was supposed to, he hovered the empty barrel back to the junk pile and started over.

Things were going along in a mundane fashion when his fingers brushed against something different. Fur. Fur? He poked it. Didn’t Morgan just tell him the Ozevroc ate anything organic? This one might be squishy as all get out, but it still had some meat on it. He grabbed the surrounding metal parts and panels to expose whatever it hid.

Sure enough, it was an Ozevroc. A really dead one.

“Um, Morgan?” he raised his voice without taking his eyes from the carcass. “Can you come here, please?”

“What? Why?”

Ari flicked a glance in her direction. “I thought you told me the Ozevroc eat anything organic, even one of them.”

Her sigh echoed in the large room. “Of course they do. They save more credits that way.”

“Well, no one told this guy he belonged in his friends’ gullet.”

The sound of her footsteps stopped when she stood next to him. “What are you talking about?”

Damn woman crossed her arms again, causing her plump breasts to lift up. It almost made him forget what he had to show her.

Almost.

The decomposing body of the Ozevroc drew his attention again. The nauseating sweet-sour smell of rotting flesh mingled with the corroded odor of the surrounding iron and rusty steel.

Morgan gasped, with her hand covering her mouth. “Oh my god, that’s Xalgrim!”

Ari covered his nose and mouth with the palm of his hand. Not that it helped to keep the stink out. “Who?”

“He’s in charge of security,” she responded. “Or at least he was.”

“Looks like he sucked at his job, since someone killed him.” Ari pointed to the side of the dead Ozevroc’s head. It looked like it was bashed in with something heavy.

“What? That’s impossible.” Morgan turned to him, keeping her mouth covered. “The Ozevroc may be cannibals, but if one of them went against Welozz, he’d just blast him into dust. They’d never leave one of them like this.”

Ari’s stomach sank. He could see him and Morgan getting blamed for this. And it didn’t take a genius with full memories intact to know their captors wouldn’t believe them when they claimed their innocence. “So, what do you say we throw it into the incinerator and forget the whole thing?”

What a day. Morgan couldn’t remember the last time her emotions scrambled all over the place. Which annoyed her even more. The only thing she craved was sleep and not thinking about the crazy chain of events she’d just lived through. Getting settled in her nest of discarded blankets and rags, she did her best to clear her mind to let slumber take over.

But the last few hours were hard to forget.

She and Ari had wrapped Xalgrim’s dead body in a flammable, raggedy blanket and tossed it into the incinerator. Keeping her lunch down was a struggle by the time they were done. Ari must have felt the same way since claimed he was done with trash and demanded something more important to do.

Knowing a hard wall when she saw one, she relented and led him to Elemi . Coming to the side of the ship, still open, she patted the sleek machine. “Since the Ozevroc don’t care what happens to this ship now, if you screw anything up, they won’t be any wiser.” Turning to him, she narrowed her eyes. “But don’t make things worse. While I believe she’s self-repairing, I’m sure she could use some help. Just tinker around and see what you can do.”

His answering grunt was all she got before he disappeared into the dim interior. Morgan blew out a breath. Maybe now she could concentrate on the little spider-bot in peace.

“Hey, Morgan—“

No such luck.

Ari stuck his head out of the entryway. ”—I don’t know what I’m doing here. It’s not exactly my area of expertise.”

She swore only a few moments had passed. How could he be bugging her so soon? “How do you know? Ari, you need to give it some time before you give up.” Aha! She finally got the small panel on the bot’s belly to open. Now all she had to do was…

“How am I going to fix this ship if I don’t know what I’m doing?” The frustration was obvious in his strangled tone.

Morgan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I get it, but like I said, you’ve got to give it some time. Maybe your memory will come back if you don’t try to push yourself so hard. Go back inside and wander around. If something makes you pause, sit down and study it. Let your subconscious absorb what the ship is trying to tell you.”

“What, you think I’m a psychic or something?” Ari groused.

Morgan grinned. If only. She opened her eyes and peered at him standing in the doorway of the still ship. Once again, his handsomeness took her aback. She’d never been attracted to blond men before, but there was something compelling about Ari’s overt masculinity. And she was a sucker for tall men. “Wait, hang on, Ari. Let me get you something that might help.”

When she first repaired the replicron, she made a copy of her multicorder. While the thing wouldn’t work as well as the original from Aethralis, it had its uses. She’d almost lost her precious device more often than she cared to admit since being kidnapped. Thank the goddess, the thing flattened into a compact, paper-thin mode easy enough for her to shove under one of her breasts to hide it when she had to.

Morgan marched to him with the copied unit in hand. “Here, this might help. You can use it to scan specific areas to see what might be wrong. It should even give you advice on how to fix that area.” She held it out to him. “Want to try it?”

“I guess.” He shrugged his massive shoulders.

Morgan bit back a groan as his muscular chest rippled under his tight shirt.

“Show me what to do.”

Handing him the device, she pointed out the various functions and capabilities, activating the verbal response for him. When her hand brushed against his, an unexpected jolt shot through her. She glanced at him.

He didn’t look at her, his attention absorbed in the handheld.

Pursing her lips, she swallowed her disappointment. She’d never been insecure around men, but for some reason, this one had her second-guessing herself at the oddest times.

The tense lines on his face relaxed as he studied the device, turning it over and back again. “Okay, this I can handle.” He went back inside.

The rest of the day proved uneventful. But various images of Ari doing normal stuff wouldn’t leave her mind. Even watching the man eat made her warm.

She snarled and turned over, punching the pocket of rags she’d made into a pillow to make it conform better. She plopped onto her back and stared at the darkened shadows in the dim light overhead. What was going on with her? She should keep in mind the man suffered from amnesia. If nothing else, she should be looking for a way to cure him, not obsess over the way he looked. Who knew what kind of man he was under all that confusion? For all she knew, he lied about everything. She laced her hands behind her head. Ha, she doubted anyone would go through the painful process he’d endured just to come aboard the Nebula Viper . If the Ozevroc had anything he wanted, all he’d have to do was to negotiate with them.

And that ship. If the Ozevroc had any idea how rare and valuable that organic ship Elemi was, they’d have already sold it on the black market. Even as stripped as it was, the ship would still command a high price. The proceeds would set them up for a whole galactic year. Maybe it’d be better to concentrate on the ship and not Ari. Especially since the only thing he accomplished was making himself angry over his lack of progress. When he came out of the ship, he’d tossed the faux multicorder onto her workstation and announced he was done for the night. He grabbed a pile of blankets and stomped to the other alcove.

Dang man sure was hard on himself. She watched him tug off his boots and lie down, his back facing her. It didn’t take long for his breathing to even out and let her know he fell asleep.

Dang, if only she was so lucky. Sleep was the last thing…

“Human! Today you die!”

Morgan jerked awake. It took a moment before her groggy mind worked. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

“Not today, Chief. Lots to fix.” She yawned and scratched her head. The only thing she wanted was a steaming cup of hot coffee. Not dealing with some egotistical alien.

Rough hands grabbed her forearm and yanked her to her feet.

“Hey! Let go. What do you think you’re doing?” Morgan jerked her arm out of the tight grip of a small Ozevroc. Great, it was Grozzik, one of the nastiest Ozevroc around. She deliberately turned to High Chieftain Welozz and ignored the annoying little shit trying to grab her again. When he placed his grimy hand on her, she stepped on one of his bare foot-paws and ground her heel into it. She smiled when he squealed like a stuck pig and hopped out of her reach.

“Sacred gone!” The navy-blue fur on the Chieftain’s neck bristled. “Return or die!” He thumped his ever-present staff on the metal floor. The two sets of his dark, beady eyes narrowed as a growl rumbled out of his thin, black lips. “Human die!”

Crap. By the looks of him, he might really mean it this time.

She held up her hands, hoping to calm him down. “I’m sorry, Chief. I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is sacred?” It was hard to believe anything was sacred to these guys.

The High Chieftain’s growl increased in volume. “Talon of Ancients… sacred. Must return to Sanctum of Reverence now! You die!”

“Hang on, hang on.” Morgan spied her multicorder on her workstation. “Give me a chance to see what I can find. Okay?” She edged away from the angry alien and shuffled to the workstation, keeping her eye on the furious Ozevroc leader and his handful of protective goons.

Welozz snarled, but that didn’t stop her from moving away. Holding back a sigh of relief, she powered up her handheld and inserted the name Talon of Ancients. Good thing she’d been smart enough to interface her device with the Ozevroc computer system when she found herself their prisoner.

Her eyes widened when the information came back with a picture. She sucked in a breath and skimmed the information.

“Talon of Ancients” is a striking and intricately crafted object that is approximately a foot long, shaped like a curved claw, and made from a combination of precious metals and crystalline materials. The surface is adorned with elaborate carvings and symbols that glow faintly with an ethereal blue light, a representation of its holy stature. The metal is a deep, lustrous black, while the crystalline segments shimmer in shades of blue and green.

The Talon of Ancients is embedded with small, polished gemstones at key points, each representing an element of Ozevroc culture and history. The base of the claw features an ornate handle wrapped in a silken, dark-blue fabric that is both durable and soft. The artifact exudes a sense of ancient power and reverence. Its very presence invokes awe and respect in the Ozevroc.

Aboard the Nebula Viper , The Talon of Ancients is housed in a special chamber known as the Sanctum of Reverence. The Sanctum is a small, dimly lit room in the most secure part of the ship, accessible only to the highest-ranking members of the Ozevroc delegation. The room’s walls have intricate tapestries depicting the history and legends of the Ozevroc people. The air must be maintained with a faint, soothing fragrance of sacred herbs.

At the center of the Sanctum stands a pedestal made of the same crystalline material as the Talon itself. A protective energy field surrounds this pedestal, bathing the artifact in a shimmering blue light. The Talon of Ancients rests on a velvet cushion atop the pedestal, prominently displayed for all who enter the Sanctum to see and venerate.

The Sanctum of Reverence is not just a place of safekeeping, but also a site of ritual and meditation. The artifact is more than just a way for the Ozevroc to pay homage to their ancestors. It’s the absolute seat of their governmental power. Whoever possess the Talon of Ancients has absolute authority over the species. The loss or destruction of the artifact would not only be a cultural and spiritual catastrophe, but would throw the entire Ozevroc civilization into a quagmire of civil unrest. This item must remain secure at all costs.

Morgan gulped. Holy God, if this damn thing was missing…

She peered at the High Chieftain. “You say it’s gone?” Her voice came out raspy. “When did this happen?”

The clank of metal being thrown around made her jump.

The little troop the High Chieftain brought with him was tearing the place apart.

Not that she blamed him. If this Talon meant as much to them as she read, she could understand their single-minded devotion to finding it.

Speaking of finding things, where was Ari? She glanced at the alcove he’d gone to sleep in. The only thing there was a discarded pile of blankets and rags. Where in the hell did the man go?

And how did he leave the room without the nutesh snare zapping him unconscious?

Ari stumbled. Pinwheeling, he righted himself before he planted face-first on the hard floor. Blinking, he glanced around. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was lying on a lumpy pile of mismatched blankets and rags trying to fall asleep. Damn alcove Morgan told him to use barely gave him enough room to stretch out.

It was obvious he wasn’t in the alcove—he wasn’t anywhere in the massive engine/hanger room. He blinked against the dim, artificial lighting, his eyes slowly adjusting to the unfamiliar surroundings. The air carried a metallic tang, mingling with the faint scent of something earthy and musk-like. His footsteps echoed softly on the metal floor. He had to be in the Nebula Viper somewhere. With no other choice, he ventured ahead into the unknown, keeping in mind Morgan’s warning about being found outside without an Ozevroc guide. Lined on the scruffy, unwashed walls were exposed circuitry and conduits. Taking the rhythmic glow as a guide, he kept close to the walls.

With each step, his senses sharpened with cautious curiosity. Each corridor seemed to twist and turn, a labyrinth of metallic passageways. Every once in a while, he’d stop and listen for any sign of movement. All remained eerily silent. The farther he went, the more alien the surroundings became. Strange symbols adorned the walls, and he passed rooms filled with unfamiliar technology—machines that hummed with energy and devices that blinked with erratic lights.

So far, so good. No one was in sight. He just might find something familiar before anyone saw him.

As he rounded a corner, Ari’s breath caught. Damn, he shouldn’t have gotten so happy-clappy.

Ahead, two Ozevroc were in some king of argument, their long snouts bobbing animatedly as they gestured with their six arms.

Ari’s heart raced, and he pressed himself flat against the wall. Tiamat’s titties! The only thing to do was wait. Every muscle tensed, making his headache grow as he watched the Ozevroc continue with their gibberish discussion. When one of them glanced in his direction, Ari held his breath. With every fiber of his being, he willed himself to become part of the shadows.

With agonizing slowness, the Ozevroc turned back to the conversation with his partner, oblivious to Ari just down the hall. Seizing the opportunity, Ari edged backward, retracing his steps with painstaking care. He navigated the maze of corridors, using the gentle hum of the ship and the faint glow of the walls as his guide. He kept each step deliberate, every movement painstakingly slow to avoid detection.

After an eternity, Ari heard voices. Random hisses, growls, and grunts in male tones. When Morgan’s female tenor matched the same sounds, he grinned as his heart raced. Look at him, finding his way back without getting caught.

Peeking around the corner to the open hatch of the engine/hanger room, he spied the dynamics going on. There was that chief guy… Well-oz, or something like that. Boy, this time, the alien really looked pissed. He was spitting more than usual in his language and waving that ridiculous staff around as if he was going to hit Morgan with it.

Ari’s neck burned. He had to get in there and protect her. If only he could somehow create a diversion…

A remaining pile of discarded steel and metal not only crashed into a single heap on the floor, but it captured several Ozevroc under some of the heavier pieces. The chaos that followed came with high-pitched screams among the rush of Ozevroc claws clicking on the floor as the ones not caught in the avalanche raced to their comrades.

By the unending abyss, how did that happen?

No time to wonder, time for action. He quickly assessed the situation and saw his chance to slink across the back wall where no one was looking. He snuck up behind Morgan and placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped, then turned around, her golden-green eyes wide.

“Dang, girl. How dare you have a little party and not invite me? Shame on you.” He smirked.

Morgan swallowed hard to calm her racing heart. She slapped his hand away in reflex. “What the hell, Ari?” she hissed. She glanced around, making sure none of the Ozevroc was paying attention to them. “Where have you been?” The sight of his naked neck made her suck in a breath. “And where’s your nutesh snare?“ How in the hell did he get the damn thing off?

Ari’s gray eyes widened as he fingered his thick, muscular neck. “By the horned crown of Enlil, I have no idea.”

Moran narrowed a glance at him. Enlil? What was with this guy and ancient Babylonian gods?

The commotion was winding down as the Ozevroc dug their comrades out from the mess as Welozz hissed and sputtered commands at them.

Spying a black neck scarf she sometimes wore when the heat was on the fritz, she grabbed it and waved it in front of Ari. “Quick, wrap this around your neck so Welozz doesn’t notice your collar is gone.”

Breathing a sigh of relief when he didn’t argue with her, she watched him wrap the cloth around his neck. As the High Chieftain stomped back, she smoothed her face and looked at his feet after he stopped in front of her.

“Listen, High Chief,” Morgan raised a hand to forestall the alien berating her again. “Have your troops finish searching this area so you know for certain we didn’t take your sacred object. In the meantime”—she gestured between her and Ari—“let us help you find it. You know, a different perspective might be all you need to locate where it went. And the sooner the better. Am I right?”

Welozz snorted, making loose bits of snot flare out. Tense moments passed before he decided. “Human find or human die.” His four black eyes studied Ari, then her. He turned his staff on the shorter, ocher-colored Ozevroc at his side. “Bugurr, watch troops. If sacred talon found, say immediate.” He headed for the doorway. Over his shoulder he snarled, “We go. Follow.” A small group of Ozevroc went with him.

“Does that mean they’re sparing us?” Ari asked.

“Yeah.” Morgan clipped her multicorder to her belt. “Lucky us, we’re going to play Sherlock and Watson.” She could tell he wanted to ask her what that meant, but she didn’t give him a chance. “Come on, we’ve got to find a priceless relic for the Ozevroc so they don’t kill us.”

Ari whistled and shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Sounds like fun. Can’t wait to see how this turns out.”