Page 36 of Space Daddy’s Guide to the Galaxy (Villains in Space #2)

36

ZIGGY

Without Micah physically in the Opertum with me, I was no longer able to move to defend my mate—at least, not without exposing my true form.

It was tempting to do just that, but the last thing I wanted was to be a lone Stellarian facing off against three Lacertus. This wasn’t because I was scared, but because the sight of me would most likely ruin whatever plan Micah’s beautiful brain had come up with.

And I need to show him respect by letting him lead.

My stellar collision disguising himself as an Eki lessened my anxiety for his safety, but only slightly—especially as our opponents finally appeared. It was difficult to explain exactly how large an adult Lacertus was, but the newer Earthling Godzilla movies came fairly close.

Just add horns and wings…

And intelligence, as loathe as I am to admit it.

I could feel my mate's instinctive terror at the sight of the beasts, but luckily, the hood of his robes hid his reaction.

“Holy shit, Zig… You weren’t kidding when you said Zion is a miniature version of these lizards.”

Of course, I wasn’t kidding!

“What do we have here? An Eki?” a deep green Lacertus boomed in the trade language. “And what brings you to our planet today with your… Well, we have not seen one of these in many moons. An Opertum!”

They lowered their massive head to sniff at my skinsuit while I made myself as undetectable as possible. One of the Stellarians’ greatest defenses against Lacertus had always been our ability to stay several evolutionary steps ahead, so I assumed—hoped—this species hadn’t suddenly developed the ability to smell my kind.

That would be inconvenient.

“Yes!” Micah shouted, drawing the curious lizard’s attention back to him. “The Opertum is simply a… creation of mine. But, to answer your question, I am here to check on the barrier containing this Hydrassian—to ensure everything is secure.”

All three Lacertus stared at my mate with so much predatory intensity, it was all I could do to not star hop him all the way back to Earth.

I hope you know what you’re doing, Micah.

The largest of the pack, a gigantic purple beast with coloring like Micah‘s eldest brother in his true form, shifted their attention to the Hydrassian in question.

“You told us your visitors would be a Stellarian and an…Earth-ling, whatever that is. You also insisted they would have a Trol with them. Do you dare lie to us again, Uuktar?”

Again?

I wanted to take advantage of the distraction to discuss this eerily specific intel with my partner, but Micah jumped on the chance to discredit the seer before I could check in.

“Can a Stellarian do this?” he huffed, expertly crafting a katana out of thin air to demonstrate his Eki-like matter manipulation powers. “Last I heard, Trols went extinct.”

“Good riddance,“ the third, umber-colored Lacertus muttered under its breath, and the other two nodded in agreement.

What in Stellaria’s name…

I could sense Micah’s surprise at this statement as well, but I didn’t have the chance to ponder its meaning before Uuktar joined the conversation.

“They are the ones who are lying!” they shrieked. “Check their ship for the Trol.”

Micah scoffed. “Why would I require an entire ship when I can star hop to my destination? Not to mention, all I needed to bring with me for this maintenance visit was my powers and the shell of an Opertum— for protection purposes.”

My mate was clearly making up his story as he went along while also being extremely careful in his responses. He wasn’t quite lying, but he also wasn’t completely telling the truth.

Dr. Micah would call it redirection.

The purple Lacertus cocked its head, observing my mate shrewdly. “I do not recall any mention of ongoing maintenance being required. In fact, the alarm system the original creator installed supposedly ensured no one would be getting close to our prisoner without our knowledge—not even a fellow Eki.”

Fuck.

This did not look good, but I forced myself to defer to Micah’s ability to handle it. As I’d hoped, Commander Babygirl had the situation under control.

“Our shields have improved over time,” he elaborated. “So the focus of this visit is more of an upgrade.”

Does he intend to fortify the shields?

Or just fool the Lacertus into thinking that’s why we’re here?

My mate had been undecided on what to do with Uuktar as we left the Lodger, although he'd also mentioned he didn’t fully believe the Hydrassians’ story, which was surprising coming from my normally trusting mate.

Either way, we both wanted to return Pedro to their home planet—for slightly different reasons—so we’d decided to assess the situation as it evolved.

Han Solo-style.

At the moment, we seemed to be at a standstill, as the Lacertus were still squinting suspiciously at my mate.

Micah sighed heavily. “If you prefer, I can leave the shields in their current state… That is, If you’re unconcerned how your prisoner is somehow gathering intel…”

The Hydrassian froze as all three enormous reptiles swung their heads to peer into their transparent cage.

“Now that you mention it…” the head Lacertus snarled. “You never did name your source, Uuktar.”

Perhaps I was being generous, calling these creatures intelligent.

The seer sniffed haughtily, even as they shifted on their feet. “Why would we share such information with those who’ve unjustly kept us prisoner?”

“Unjustly!” Micah scoffed, as if either of us knew the reason for the Hydrassian’s imprisonment in the first place.

Sly smiles stretched across Uuktar’s many reptilian faces. “However, we’ll give you a hint. Our source is someone capable of not setting off the Eki’s alarm, and who else would be able to accomplish that, aside from an Eki or a Stellarian… since both species are able to star hop?”

Micah laughed incredulously. “Before the Lacertus arrived, you implied you were receiving information through psychic means, and neither?—”

“Oh, wait…” the Hydrassian interrupted as their smirks grew. “Star hopping is what the Stellarians call it. The Eki refer to it as ‘particle leaping.’ Odd that someone who claims not to be a Stellarian would use their term for the ability…”

“Is that true, Zig?”

“I… have no idea.”

Cold dread skittered up my nonexistent spine as the Lacertus turned their unwavering focus back to my mate.

This is all my fault.

If I had simply allowed Micah to finish his training with Leeloo, he would have been better prepared for this confrontation. Instead, I allowed my false sense of superiority to put the man I loved more than anything at a severe disadvantage.

A disadvantage that could get him killed.

Despite the fear and anxiety swirling in our bond, Micah stood his ground. “Are you implying I am a rare hybrid of some kind—an Eki overtaken by a Stellarian who is still able to utilize my powers? Everyone knows Stellarians take complete control of their vessels, leaving nothing but an empty shell for them to inhabit, like a single-minded parasite.”

Uuktar didn’t reply, but what shocked me the most was the Lacertus not immediately agreeing with Micah’s outdated assessment of my kind.

Interesting…

The seer made a disgruntled noise before their multiple gazes grew distant. “It will be simple enough for us to learn more about what you are…”

For a moment, I feared they were reading my stellar collision’s thoughts, but Micah looked unconcerned. This led to me recalling how he’d formed shields around his own mind to block psychic infiltration on Dionaea— causing Uulvin to comment on how my mate’s shields were “more advanced” than the ones surrounding their cave.

The ones created by the Eki…

That lying set of snakes!

Suddenly, I understood exactly where Uuktar had been getting their intel from, and I desperately hoped my mate hadn't already activated his mental shields so I could warn him.

“Micah! Uuktar’s communicating with ? —”

“I know, Space Daddy. I’ve got this.”

Of course, my incredibly impressive mate was already ten steps ahead of everyone else. Then, he turned his back on the Lacertus to face his opponent, because my greatest enemies were not his.

The Hydrassian was.

Both of them.

“So, you've been psychically communicating with Uulvin all this time, hmm, Uuktar?” Micah tauntingly ran his fingers over the surface of the shielded prison, causing the air to ripple between them. “Scheming to send us here to do their dirty work for them.”

Do their dirty work for them…

“You were sent here by Uulvin?!” the head Lacertus growled, baring its fangs and causing my protective instincts to spike.

“Yes,” Micah calmly replied, and my proverbial blood ran cold. “They sent us here to free their sibling.”

Nonononono…

While I agreed the Hydrassians were the true enemy here, Micah wasn’t completely understanding how volatile the situation still was. As “intelligent” as the Lacertus were as a species—still far less than Stellarians—if they sensed a threat, no amount of logic would get through to them.

“PUT UP YOUR GODDAMN SHIELDS!!!”

Luckily, I felt Micah instinctively obey despite his confusion, but my relief was short-lived. With a roar, the purple Lacertus grabbed my mate, bellowing with rage when they failed to crush him in their powerful grip.

“ZIG!!!”

Micah’s cry of terror wasn’t for himself. The claws of another Lacertus closed around the vessel I inhabited, but before I could escape, a violent jolt of electricity shot through me, whiting out my vision and rendering my powers useless.

Oh, fuuu…

Besides star hopping making us difficult to catch, Stellarians had long ago developed a resistance to the Lacertus’ ability to drain another’s powers on contact. Unfortunately, it appeared the Opertum’s metallic skinsuit was enough of a conduit to make that resistance useless as well.

…uuuuuuck.

* * *

“So you were lying about the Trol.”

I groggily regained consciousness, only to find Uuktar glaring at me from behind the safety of their shielded prison.

Why couldn’t they have gotten trampled during the idiot lizard rampage?

The next thing I registered was the sound of claws scraping against metal, along with a familiar pspsps.

Peering out from what was left of my skinsuit, I discovered Pedro scratching at the vessel in a desperate attempt to reach me.

This does not bode well for the nanny bot.

Or my ship…

By some miracle, my powers had recovered, so I star hopped out of the mangled Opertum and scooped Pedro into my tendrils. In sharp contrast to the first time the little creature had encountered me in my true form, they chittered happily and snuggled as close to my core as possible.

Ugh.

Cute.

I could still feel Micah— alive, thank fuck —because of our stellar collision bond, but I couldn’t check in with him otherwise.

He must still have his shields engaged.

All his shields…

This meant our mental connection was also disconnected, probably left over from Micah shielding his mind from Uuktar. While I understood the precaution, the current lack of communication was alarming, and with no clear sign of my mate in the surrounding wreckage, my gaze warily drifted to the deep, uninviting waters sloshing against the pier.

Looks like it’s time for a different skinsuit…

I’d only just begun mentally flipping through my options, determining which aquatic species would be best for the battle ahead, when the Hydrassian spoke again.

“They did not take him underwater. At least, not here…”

I spun on the seer, ready to interrogate them until they cried for mercy only to remember they most likely wouldn’t understand my native language anyway.

Sigh.

Apparently, Uuktar was feeling generous, as they pointed toward a far-off cave on the far end of a seemingly endless strip of sandy beach.

It’s time for another skinsuit either way.

“Be sure to come back and rescue us!” the Hydrassian called out in a sugary sweet tone that grated on my nerves. “After you have rescued the… whatever they are.”

My mate, you mean?

Seeing no need to acknowledge their ridiculous request, I star hopped Pedro and I back to my ship. Our first stop was the skinsuit closet, then the arsenal of weapons still scattered around the Lodger’s kitchen, where I chose only the best artillery for confronting Micah’s kidnappers.

It’s time to reclaim what’s mine.