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T he next evening, Grulen approached the females in the dining area.

“Ladies. I understand Commander Durek rescued Lady Talia earlier.” He looked at their group. “How is she feeling? Is she resting in her quarters?”

“Jevax,” Lady Rachel said. “Sit with us.”

“Talia isn’t onboard,” said Lady Lin with a trembling lip. “She’s recuperating on a shuttle with the Commander.”

“Recuperating? Was she hurt?”

“We’re not sure what happened,” Lady Emmy said. “I think she’s suffering from PTSD.”

“PTSD?”

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” said Lady Natasha. “It’s common for humans to suffer heightened stress responses after traumatic events. Nightmares, anxiety, moodiness, depression, and an inability to sleep are several possible symptoms.”

Lady Rachel said, “Right now, it sounds like Talia is experiencing increased anxiety near crowds, especially after being poisoned on the ship.”

“Is there anything we can do to help her?” A growl left his chest.

Lady Ava shook her head. “She needs to cope in her own way for now, Jevax. Everyone deals with trauma differently.”

“Would you pass along my well wishes for her recovery?”

“Of course,” said Lady Lin with a small smile.

Grulen stepped back as others approached and helped move furniture so that Lady Emmy could take a picture of the warriors for something called a greeting card for Lady Talia. Afterwards, he slowly walked back to his quarters with a frown. I hope Lady Talia heals soon.

A few weeks later, Grulen found it difficult to concentrate on his training forms. Despite the peaceful scents, sounds, and sights of the aquiponics area, his mind spun at the recent attack against Commander Durek while on the Intrepid where he had been staying with Lady Talia.

He saw Lady Lin kneeling in one area working on some plants.

Due to her Earth job as a botanist, she spent much time studying Costonian flora and comparing them.

Lady Emmy jogged along the gravel path circling the aquiponics area several time.

His tail stiffened when he heard a shrill screech of distress from a female, then ran toward the sound.

He found Lady Emmy on the ground and squatted next to her.

“Lady Emmy, I heard you scream. Are you okay?” He gestured to the metal sticking out of her legs. “What are those?”

“I don’t know, but don’t touch them. I already comm’d Tolvex to come with a healer.”

“Stay still, Lady Emmy. There are more on your back.” Where did these come from?

“Emmy? What happened?” Lady Lin approached from the opposite direction.

“Stop, Lin! I think there’s a tripwire on the path. Be careful where you step,” Lady Emmy said.

“What?” Lady Lin’s footsteps slowed.

Grulen’s eyes traced the wire. His thighs bunched as he stood and carefully placed his feet as he searched for the trap. He squatted again and pushed aside some leaves before finding an end.

“I see one side. Some of the needles are still embedded in the source.”

Pounding boots on gravel sounded behind Lady Lin.

“Slowly. There’s a tripwire that shoots something from it,” Grulen said to Tolvex, who checked his speed.

“I see it,” said Tolvex angrily. Moments later, he knelt next to Lady Emmy. “Are you alright, milara ?” His chest rumbled and his tail swished.

Grulen’s nose twitched as he caught their combined scent. Ah, the two are pleasure mating.

“I might’ve twisted my ankle, but I’ve got these things sticking out of me,” she said quickly.

Rivezt crouched on her other side and pulled an instrument from his pouch.

“Don’t move. Let me scan you first and get these out of you.”

“Good plan.” Lady Emmy grimaced.

“Do they hurt?”

“They sting like paper cuts…a whole crapload of them.”

“I need a sterile container to collect these to ensure they weren’t coated with anything.” Rivezt looked up at them. Grulen’s nostrils flared. Hmm, he and Lady Lin as well?

Lady Lin said, “I’ll be right back with my bag.” She ran off quickly.

“Your right ankle is sprained, but not broken,” Rivezt said after he scanned his patient. He pulled something that looked like long curved tweezers out of his med kit.

“Here. I have collection bottles in different sizes. Which do you need?” Lady Lin asked breathlessly.

Rivezt used the tweezers to pull out a needle and hold it up.

“Do you have one that can hold something this long?”

“Yes.” Lady Lin rustled in her bag and held out a bottle. Rivezt dropped a bloody needle tipped in blood into it with a tinny clink.

“Lady Lin, if you could hold the bottle while I remove the remainder, it would help.”

“Of course.” Lady Lin knelt next to Lady Emmy and gently touched her hand. “How are you doing?”

“Fine. Just uncomfortable.”

“This shouldn’t take long.” Rivezt continued to remove the needles with the forceps.

“Lieutenant,” Grulen said from where he was still crouched. “Assuming the configuration was the same as what is left on this, twenty-seven needles were released from here.”

Tolvex checked out what Grulen had found and took images before moving to the other side of the path. He growled when he found a similar thing there.

“We’re looking for a total of fifty-four needles.”

“I’ve removed fifteen so far,” said Rivezt. “I do not think all of them impacted Lady Emmy.”

“I see some on the gravel.” Lady Lin pointed.

“Don’t touch them with your bare hands. We don’t know if they’re safe to touch,” said Tolvex.

“Was it a tripwire?” Lady Emmy asked.

“Yes.”

After Rivezt finished removing a total of thirty-three needles from Lady Emmy, Grulen helped Tolvex and Lady Lin find the remaining ones either on the gravel or embedded in nearby plants.

Lady Lin put on gloves and gently removed impacted plants and placed them in other collection containers.

She took off her gloves, leaving them inside out, and put them in her bag.

Lady Emmy sat up and Rivezt treated her scrapes and ankle. Tolvex used some of Rivezt’s sealant on his hands, then detached the tripwire at both ends and put it in another container.

“Tolvex, does it seem to you that there have been too many incidents involving the human females? I think someone is trying to harm them.” Grulen’s tail flicked in short movements.

Tolvex nodded. “It appears that way. We’re investigating.” He leveled a stare at the male. “Do not speak of this to anyone, Jevax. We have our reasons for not making it widely known.”

“As you command, Lieutenant. If you need any assistance, I am happy to volunteer. I do not like knowing someone is trying to hurt females.” An angry rumble emanated from Grulen’s chest.

“I’ll inform the commander,” said Tolvex.

“Uh, about that. I’d rather Talia didn’t know about this, Devik,” Lady Emmy said.

“Why not?”

“She and the commander have had a couple of rough days and he was just released from the med bay. I really don’t want to cause her any more stress right now.” Lady Emmy frowned. “They’ve been through a lot recently.”

“I’ll brief Wurvez and let him know your concerns.”

“Let’s get you back to the med bay, Lady Emmy, so I can treat you properly,” Rivezt said.

“I’m not sure I can walk.”

“Hold on to me,” said Tolvex as he picked her up. “Jevax, check the remainder of the path to ensure there aren’t any more traps.”

“If I find anything, I will notify you.” Grulen appreciated the task to ensure the females’ safety. He heard the others depart for the med bay. It doesn’t make sense to me that someone, especially a Svesti, would hurt the humans.

“Jevax!”

Grulen lifted his head and turned toward his team lead.

“Yes, sir.”

“Grab your go bag and meet Lieutenant Tolvex in Hangar Bay Alpha. You are on special assignment for the foreseeable future.”

“What is my assignment?”

“I don’t know. I assume the Lieutenant will brief you. You are expected there within the hour.”

“On my way.”

Grulen met Lieutenant Wurvez, who also had a bag, leaving the lift. They st r ode in silence to the hangar bay where Tolvex awaited them. An assignment with our head tactical officer. This might be fun. But there’s only two of us.

“Here’s a list of what I put onboard the Tenacity in addition to what is normally stocked,” Tolvex said as he forwarded the info to their comms. “The commander has also ordered emergency trackers for each of you.” He held up two syringes.

Wurvez frowned. “We can inject them when we’re on our way.”

“No, not taking the chance you’ll disobey orders.” Tolvex shook his head.

Wurvez grunted. He opened his mouth wide and Tolvex injected the tracker underneath his tongue. Wurvez looked disgusted and moved his jaw in exaggerated circular motions.

“I hate these things. They make me feel like I’ve got a pebble in my mouth.”

Grulen’s laugh mixed with Tolvex’s and he opened his mouth without comment for his tracker. Wurvez is right; the sensation of something hard under the tongue is uncomfortable.

“These are the upgraded trackers. We received a lot of complaints about the heat from the old ones as well as the fact that it was too easy to inadvertently activate them with the shorter codes. The activation code for these is clicking your teeth in a three-two-two pattern or tapping it directly with a claw in the same pattern. You should feel a minute of cold under your tongue to let you know the activation was successful. Inactivated, they should pass any frequency scan for trackers,” Tolvex explained.

“With the Goddess’ favor, we won’t need them,” said Grulen.

Tolvex nodded and stepped back. “Let me know when you finish your preflight checks and I’ll open the bay doors. The engine signature you’re following is already loaded in the Tenacity’s computer. Stay safe and good hunting.”

Grulen and Wurvez boarded the shuttle, stowed their bags, and headed to the cockpit.

The lieutenant motioned for Grulen to take the pilot’s seat.

Grulen ran his preflight checks, then requested clearance to depart.

Once the Tenacity left the Invictus , Grulen entered a course to the last known location of the Frezzian freighter and sat back.