Page 26 of Two Aliens Are Better Than One (Bodyguards in Space #1)

Vaelu

I tugged the blindfold off of Lucky’s eyes with a flourish and she let out a squeal of laughter. Her new lab took up four of the sleeping rooms on the ship I’d bought for us, but that was fine. We had plenty of space.

“So this is a surprise and a request,” I said, running a hand down her spine, suddenly feeling nervous and wanting to communicate that to her. My push of emotion was met with her steadiness as always, reassuring me that she’d do what she could to help.

“Spit it out, babe,” Relzo said, wandering around and poking at the delicate science equipment in a way that made Lucky yelp and race forward, taking a glass beaker out of his hand.

“Right, so I bought state-of-the-art genetic testing equipment, and I’ve hired two post-doc researchers from the school you went to. Both women.”

Lucky snorted. “Did you really hire me female scientists because you think I won’t be able to resist the guys?”

“The guys were, like, really hot nerds. Exactly your type,” Relzo stage-whispered.

“You guys are exactly my type. And two idiot men is all I need,” she stated. I frowned. “In my head, that sounded more romantic.”

“Anyway,” I interrupted. “I’d like you to do some more research on the velasu trait — on how many people have it, on why it’s stronger in some than others. You can pick your specific field of study. But the purpose would be to shed some light on whatever the Council is trying to hide. As you know, they’ve stepped forward and announced that I’m not as gifted as they first thought, and picked another to be their golden boy.”

“Your brother, right?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Who would I test on?” she queried.

“We have a group of Chokreini citizen volunteers, led by your old boss Jaia, willing to provide whatever information you need. She has her own motives, of course, and is hoping to tie your research to some of her own, which is intended to dispel notions of Chokreini superiority.”

“And velasu subjects?”

“Well, we kinda rescued a guy,” Relzo said. “It’s a long story, but his name is Moslu and now the Kavax Crime Syndicate extra super hates us.”

“Okay,” Lucky said, frowning. “Well, I suppose I can let you know if I need more data points, which I probably will.”

“So you’ll do it?” Vaelu asked, beaming.

“Of course. Let me do research and determine what exactly we’ll need to study to understand this. And I’ll reach out to Jaia to see what she can do.”

“If you need more subjects, we plan to kidnap Vaelu’s brother.”

“We do not!” Vaelu opined loudly.

“Do too.” And they wandered off, bickering lightly as they left me alone with my lab, apparently forgetting that we were mid-conversation. But it didn’t matter. I wanted to explore my shiny new lab, anyway. Life was so damn good.

“Love you guys!” I called after them, and they turned and waved.

“We love you more,” Relzo said, then they turned back down the hall and left me to my microscopes, knowing I wouldn’t want to be disturbed.

***