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A plan had formed in my mind by the time we reached the double doors that led to the rhino’s living quarters.

When they opened, it became obvious that the impressive ceiling was indeed some kind of transparent dome.

It was still light inside these quarters, the Serant skies visible through the domed roof.

An extravagance not normally installed on a simple Long Hauler like this.

So this rhino alien was truly wealthy, and possibly used to having a lot of power.

He wasn’t going to like this new situation. Not at all.

He came storming from an open doorway leading to his sleeping quarters.

His huge body shook and jiggled in the tight confines of his black battle armor.

Gold edged the collar at his throat and sat in stripes along his shoulders, making him seem even wider and bigger.

His long snout, with two sharp horns, swung left and right so he could pierce us all with his beady black eyes.

“You!” he screamed when he lit on me, a fat finger pointing my way, thick gray skin wrinkled into deep grooves around each knuckle.

“You!” he repeated, but he seemed incapable of forming a sentence.

The Krektar holding me was apparently even more scared of this guy than he was of the Kertinal.

He shoved me forward—straight into the path of his massive boss—while he backed away.

I stumbled, clutching my broken wrist to my chest, and ducked under the swinging arm of the rhino guy before he could strike me with that massive paw.

Squeaking out protests as I avoided the blow did not stop him from hauling back and trying again.

It roused Artek just enough for him to lift his head, his hair matted with blood from a gash over his temple, gold eyes flashing with fury but muted with pain.

“I didn’t lie! How was I to know that barbarian liked me enough to try that?

Look at him! You think he’s capable of taking down your Krektar single-handedly?

If their stupid weapons hadn’t failed, he never would have gotten close,” I shouted at the top of my lungs, pointing at Artek to indicate his wounded state.

Then I jabbed a finger at the Krektar who had abandoned me to get out of the path of his boss’s wrath. “It’s their fault.”

The rhino alien paused, his fury evident in every tight line of his huge, armored body.

His expression turned calculating as his eyes flicked from me to the Krektar and back to Artek.

“How did the power and all the weapons fail at once?” he asked me.

But he straightened and lowered his dangerous hands to his sides.

Feeling like I’d somehow managed to subdue some of his rage, I shuffled a little to the side, out of his direct grabbing range.

“How did the ship crash? Something’s wrong with this planet.

” Boldly, I added, “I’m a cartographer. I saw the stars at night—we’re in the Zeta Quadrant, and this is Serant.

It’s known for bringing down ships!” I wasn’t actually sure if that was true, but considering the landscape was dotted with wrecks, most much smaller, and Artek’s casual acceptance of the crash, I had to assume it was a common occurrence.

“Who decided to fly this close to it? They’re the ones you should punish for stranding you here! ”

The rhino alien barked out a furious, sharp sound of exclamation.

“Oh, believe me, I have.” He abruptly turned and sat back down in one of his lush chairs, groaning as he sank into the deep pillows.

“You still lied, human. And Katifo does not like to be lied to. Your savage over there is a threat. Who’s to say he didn’t do something to my ship? ”

My belly went cold, and I clutched my arms more tightly around it.

“Have you seen him? Of course, he didn’t do that.

How? His species has stone knives and spears, that’s how advanced they are!

” I jabbed a finger at Artek, and he glared at the rhino, but also at me.

The rhino seemed to contemplate that with a thoughtful expression, nodding as if it made some kind of sense.

But when my eyes landed on the Kertinal, who’d kept silent and stayed close to the door, I knew he didn’t buy it.

That one was the real threat, I realized; he was smart and not easily fooled.

“Hmmph,” the rhino guy responded, tapping his chin.

“He looks awfully civilized with that dyed cloth and those gold chains… Stone knives, but able to craft chains like that?” He pointed at Artek’s neck, and I tried to hide a wince.

That was true. The jewelry was far too refined to be made by a society still in the Stone Age.

One of the Krektar held out the stone knife Artek had carried as evidence, but the rhino wasn’t interested in that.

“I think I’ll punish you, teach you a lesson,” he said.

Then, with what was clearly excitement in his eyes, he added, “I was getting bored anyway, and I’m told humans are very sweet in their softness.

That’s probably why he came after you, am I right? ”

Tossing back his head, he laughed as if he’d said the funniest thing, but my stomach was turning.

If he was saying what I thought he was saying…

he’d crush me. Break me. I’d rather die than let him lay his huge paws on me.

Artek had not been able to understand anything the rhino guy said, of course, but he got the meaning—or at least the danger to me—just fine when Kretkar closed in on me, herding me toward their boss.

With a roar, he jerked himself free of his captors and went absolutely wild trying to get to me.

I’d never seen him as feral as that, his sigils glowing across his body, his fangs bared and dripping, tail bucking and twisting.

They didn’t think he was barbaric enough?

Well, they certainly did now. Krektar had to pile onto him, one after another to try and restrain him.

Their giant boss backed away, almost disappearing into his sleeping chambers to get away from the fighting mob.

It wasn’t until the Kertinal suddenly waded into the fray that things finally calmed down.

I did not see what happened—just that the black-and-red-streaked male reached down toward Artek, and suddenly my Shaman went limp.

The Krektar kept whaling on him, but a sharp slap of the Kertinal’s tail made them subside, too.

“Put both of them in a holding cell until they’ve cooled down.

Right now. Got it?” he ordered, then shoved the nearest wart-faced alien in the shoulder, yelling at him to pick up the savage and start dragging.

It took all of them to push and shove an unconscious Artek out of the room and down the hallway, so I had the great pleasure of the Kertinal grabbing hold of my arm and escorting me.

I knew he was breathing—I could see his chest rise and fall as they dragged him by his arms—but how badly was he injured?

I’d stood by and done absolutely nothing while they pummeled him this time, but it had all happened so fast. I stumbled when the hallway became progressively darker, and I feared where we were headed.

The hold? A cell? I knew the Kertinal had said where, but now I couldn’t remember.

I didn’t realize I’d been pressing my good hand to my stomach until the Kertinal tilted his head down toward me.

In the dark, I saw the glow of his red eyes and the lightning bolt streaks of red that bisected his skin, because both glowed.

“If you keep cradling your belly like that, I’m going to start thinking you’re pregnant, human.

” It was not a question; it was a statement, a warning.

I didn’t know what to make of it. Was he telling me he knew and threatening me?

Was he warning me not to give it away? What?

Then there was the sound of a door clanging open, and the Krektar cursing and grunting before a thud followed.

If I had to guess, they’d thrown Artek’s body into a cell with very little care for his health.

“Get back to work,” the Kertinal snapped, and I heard the sound of boots thudding away.

But I could not see it, it was that dark here.

My escort had no issues with the gloom, though.

He urged me forward by my arm, then warned me gently about a step.

“We’ll come get you in the morning to continue this interrogation.

Don’t think Katifo will forget about you,” he said.

In the dark, his sub-harmonic voice sounded utterly terrifying and foreign.

A dual vibration that hummed through the air around me, becoming hard to localize as it echoed against the metal walls of the ship.

I nearly screamed when something was pressed against the fingers of my good hand, but it was only the smooth wrappers of several ration bars.

Then the door creaked and groaned as it was shoved shut behind me, the red glow of the Kertinal disappearing behind the portal. I had only a brief, disorienting moment to realize this was a room with four solid walls, and then he was gone and we were alone.

I had more questions than answers—many more questions—but that was nothing new.

My hand tingled around the bars of food I’d been given, and my coat pocket was suspiciously heavy on one side.

The Kertinal had given me food and water, and when I sat down, I discovered a water bottle wasn’t the only thing he’d slid into my pocket.

There was a small first aid kit too, which I recognized by the embossed metal cross on the front.

Was he foe or ally? Bad guy or good guy? Now I really wasn’t sure. But I was certain that I needed light to see Artek, and possibly help him with his injuries. There was no answer for that, though, not in my pockets or among the things I’d been handed. Smuggled?

Sinking to my knees, I tucked everything back into my pockets, where I’d be able to find it, then began crawling across the floor to locate Artek. I found a coil of his tail first, and when I touched it, his sigils began to glow. Finally, there was light.