Page 38 of Argurma Warrior (The Argurma Chronicles #1)

M eg was not impressed. Beverly hadn’t shown up to help them at all in several days, keeping herself sequestered in her room. The only sign of life from her at all were the clean dishes that were left in the drying rack from whenever she’d ventured down to have a meal. Otherwise, it seemed as if she were avoiding them.

Since Beverly did little to help other than attach herself to the computer, her absence didn’t really change anything. Although, it still annoyed her since it put yet another thing on Kaylar. He didn’t speak of it much, but she had heard enough to know that he was keeping half of his attention tapped into the security system to watch for E302. Meg cast him a worried look as he suddenly stilled, his massive body straightening as his head cocked as if listening to something. She swallowed as she slowly also straightened. Tearing her eyes away from him, she lifted her gaze nervously to the lights above. They flickered once. Twice. There was a pause and for a moment she almost believed that it was over until suddenly the lights shot out, darkening the room completely for a breath before settling into a flood of short pulses as the lights rapidly went in and out as E302 resumed another chaotic attack upon the laboratory.

Since its first attack, it had fallen into a pattern of returning every two to three days to resume its efforts. Each time it started in a new spot, hitting randomly until it was hurt enough to back away. But each attack was also gradually becoming longer as if the shocks were becoming less effective. She was certain that Kaylar was keeping track of the attacks right down to the minute. Even now his head was tipped back though she watched through the flickering lights as his large body moved across the room to stand protectively behind her. He appeared to assume the position instinctively, his bulk curving around her smaller form as his vibrissae extended and whipped around them to form a defensive halo around her as he tucked her against his body as his head also tipped back to regard the flickering lights with narrowed eyes. Though her heart raced with every pulse of light that plunged them into darkness. And she was able to keep from panicking when those periods of darkness became longer before the lights returned and regained their steady illumination as the power returned to normal.

Meg shivered against him and turned into the warmth of his body. Now that the danger had passed, she allowed herself a moment to take comfort in the press of his body against her. The rumble of a purr filled the air as his hand came up to gently stroke her back and she smiled weakly against his suit.

“The attacks are lasting longer,” she muttered. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Kaylar’s hand stilled and pressed warmly against her back as he rumbled in agreement. She was grateful that he didn’t try to lie or hide that fact from her. He trusted her with the truth and trusted her to hold her own at his side so that he could do what he needed to do, which meant everything to her. She didn’t feel like an afterthought—something he was obligated to care for because it somehow benefited him—but like someone who was necessary and mattered to him. As much as he had become to her. It was a miracle that she somehow she managed to keep herself from panicking whenever he left the laboratory to work on repairs—which had started to extend much later into the evening. Since learning of the existence of the Argurma in the secret lab, he had thrown himself into his work with an untiring relentlessness and still crawled into her bed every night with his civix rising eagerly from between his thighs as he fell upon her hungrily. All the while, she tried not to let it bother her that he hadn’t yet claimed her as his mate. She didn’t know what he was waiting for, but she wouldn’t lie to herself and say that it wasn’t bothering her as day after day passed without that next important step in their relationship.

Should she say something? She relished the warmth of his arms as he hugged her to him briefly, but she bit her lip in consideration when he pulled away the next moment and she watched him return to his workspace. There could easily be a very good reason why he hadn’t yet. Maybe he was too tired. For all she knew, actual mating could require certain situations to be just right, including being properly rested. If that was the case, she didn’t want to bring it up and place more burned upon him. She was already worried that he was doing too much.

At the rate he was going, if something didn’t give soon, he was going to exhaust himself. She’d seen people becoming so exhausted that they sickened and eventually lost the will to live. She personally watched more than one woman in the camp fade away until they had no energy to do anything but lie down to die. She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing that happen to Kaylar. Not him.

Although she knew that he was a big, strong alien—so much more than any human—he was still a living being and she didn’t know how she would protect him if he became sick or injured from stretching himself too thin in an attempt to do everything.

“You are making repairs tonight?”

He grunted in agreement. “I must.” His eyes briefly lifted to meet hers. “I process that you dislike it when I am gone so long—that you worry, but it is of the highest necessity that the repairs be completed. Two more days. Perhaps three. Then this will be over,” he soothed.

That was two or three days too many as far as she was concerned. He needed help now, especially when Beverly wasn’t doing anything at all to help their efforts by reducing his workload while they salvaged even though she was getting a free ride out of there. The thought was a bit bitchy, but she was past caring. She was more concerned for Kaylar. It made her feel worse that she was pretty fucking useless with the machines and so couldn’t even pick up the slack from Beverly abandoning them. She worried at her bottom lip with her teeth before she forced herself to stop by firmly pinching her lips together resolutely. Well, if Meg couldn’t help him that was, then she was going to watch his back out there so that he wasn’t monitoring the beach while he tried to work.

She had a feeling that he was not going to like her suggestion, though.

“Perhaps I could come with you when you go out to make repairs,” she suggested, turning a hopeful smile on him when his head shot up to glower at her. “You know, that way your attention isn’t divided. I’m sure you are worried about what’s happening here, even after installing the extra barrier door the other day to our room.”

The barrier door was installed so that Meg and Beverly would have a safe room to retreat into together should the power fail before E302 made its way too far inside or the Argurma below fully awakened. But she knew that he still worried because she’d seen the stressed look on his face as he entered the room, his gaze immediately searching desperately for her whenever he returned.

“No,” he growled, slamming the parts on the table in front of him. There was a finality in the way he said it but she wasn’t about to give up that easily.

“I could keep watch.”

“Unnecessary. The power systems are back on to form a temporary energy barrier while I repair the hull,” he replied without even looking up as he pried the metal casing away and set to work hammering it out with a sort of mallet that he’d brought back from the ship several days ago.

Probably when he moved on to working on the hull , she acknowledged.

“I would feel better.” She was going right for the balls by being needy, but it was the truth. She hated not knowing what was going on out there as much as he hated not knowing what was happening at the lab while they were separated.

He hesitated, his mallet lowering. “I would have to see if I can locate a battle helmet in that mess… and something to sufficiently pad it with,” he muttered. He turned a sharp look at her. “This is dependent on if I can locate it. You will not accompany me without further protection. I have not required the use of a regulation battle helmet in many solars as I find them too confining. I do not know where I stored it or if it will still be there. And I cannot spend my entire time searching,” he added. “I will search briefly before I return, however.”

“I guess that’ll have to be good enough,” she sighed.

Walking over to him, she stretched up on her toes to tug his head down by his vibrissae and press a kiss to his lips. He purred at the contact, his mouth softening under hers but abruptly pulled away, breaking the kiss when a throat cleared loudly behind them. Abruptly going ramrod straight, Kaylar shot up to peer over her head, prompting Meg to look behind her.

Beverly hesitated within the doorway and brushed a lock of hair behind her ears. “I apologize for interrupting. I guess I caught you at a bad time, but I heard what you were saying and it’s something I think I’ve worked out a solution for in the coding.”

Meg turned to face her fully, fully aware of the heavy weight of Kaylar’s hands coming to rest on her shoulders as she did so. He remained quiet, however. They were both curious as to what she had to say.

“What do you mean?” Meg asked.

“Well, the issue has always been that there is complete radio silence—ah, a lack of communication,” Beverly quickly clarified, “whenever he went out for repairs. I have a small tablet connected to the primary system within my rooms and have spent the last few days learning how to set up a communication code.” Her eyes dropped. “I figured it was the least that I could do with the frequency of attacks so that no one is in the dark as to what is happening. I have it set up to piggyback off the main system codes that Kaylar accesses. I was able to pinpoint him pretty easily in the system mainframe once I knew what to look for.” She licked her lips. “We should be able to send messages back and forth.”

Kaylar made a sound of approval. “This will be convenient. Conceptually it is not unlike the private comm lines in which we use the system links along the intergalactic communication satellites.”

Meg’s eyebrows rose with surprise, and she looked curiously over at Kaylar. She hadn’t imagined that the scientist would actually be able to do anything so useful that he wouldn’t have already figured out how to do. His shoulders rose in his characteristically rolling shrug that he’d picked up by imperfectly mimicking her gestures and he chuffed down at her.

“Do not look so surprised, anastha. I can work with what is there and redirect and add information, but learning the coding to create new codes takes considerably more time and energy than I have had to invest in it, and would require fully understanding the capabilities of the system in entirety. It is natural that Doctor Ryder was able to come up with a solution for this problem.”

“Not as natural as you may think,” Beverly corrected with a wry half-smile. “I had to look up a bunch of stuff and walk myself through it since it has been some time since I did basic coding at university, but I believe I got it.”

“I guess now I have to feel bad for all the nasty things I’ve been thinking about you while you’ve been gone,” Meg sighed.

To her surprise, Beverly laughed. “I can’t say that I blame you. I haven’t made anything easy on you.” She slid a brief glance toward Kaylar. “Including trying to steal your place with your male.”

Kaylar chuffed again. “That would be impossible. An Argurma male cannot be stolen from his mate.”

Meg pressed her lips together, not wanting to get into that particular conversation right now when they were technically not mates. This was not the time.

Beverly shrugged. “All the same, I can admit that it was selfish of me. I will not say I am sorry, because I am not. I was honest when I said I wanted the opportunity to live and not just barely survive. Getting off this planet and having a chance for something better somewhere else is what I want, and I won’t apologize for that. But I can recognize that my actions were… unkind.”

Meg snorted at the understatement and Beverly grinned.

Kaylar’s mandibles clicked thoughtfully as he eyed first Meg and then the other woman. “You have expectations for a better life but that is not guaranteed, not entering as an unregistered primitive species. There will be those that will not accept your sentience untested, and others that will attempt to treat you like livestock or a pet…or enslave you among those civilizations where that activity is considered acceptable, regardless of intergalactic ordinances. It would not be an easy life. Remaining on Earth you will at least have the company of your own species and some familiarity.”

Beverly pulled a face at that and shook her head. “Honestly, despite the really good case you’ve made on why to avoid going out into space, I would rather take my chances out there. At least there is a chance to have some kind of adventure—to learn and experience things that I only dreamed of when I was assigned to this place.”

Meg understood that. It was basically her entire reasoning for leaving the safety of The City. It was about having a chance. It was pretty shitty how Beverly went about it, but she also understood the desperation.

She hazarded a glance over at Kaylar, taking in his grave expression. “What would it hurt to transport her to a space station? If that’s where she wants to go and all.”

He rumbled to himself, his mandibles clicking again though his expression turned doubtful.

"I will think on it," he grumbled as he turned and picked up the flattened sheet of metal laying on the table where he’d left it. He then proceeded to pick up those that he had pounded out and set aside through the morning as they worked. Straightening, he peered down at them. “Do not be mistaken, even if I agree, I am not confident that this is a good plan. You will be alone once you arrive on the space station.”

She straightened, her chin tipping defiantly. “I’ll take it.”

He huffed and shook his head, muttering under his breath about difficult females as he strode past them with his load.

“Hey, I still want to come out with you when you find that helmet,” Meg called after him again and smiled when her words were met with a sullen growl.

Beverly stared at her with an arched expression. “I hate to say this, but I’m relieved that I don’t have to pretend to be infatuated with someone so grumpy. I don’t understand what appeals to you about being mated to him.”

Meg’s smile widened in response. “He’s a sweet, possessive and very protective pussy cat. Hey may get a tiny bit snarly at times when it comes to my safety but I wouldn’t have him any other way.” Glancing over at the other woman’s doubtful expression as she passed, her smile turned wicked. Why not enjoy a tiny bit of payback? “And… he has a fabulous dick,” she added and walked out of the room.