Del
didn’t look convinced, but he moved back just a little to let Devlin come closer. G’baena turned back to Devlin.
“Sarah is currently dealing with a patient with more urgent medical needs, and Tee-ani is…” She smiled as a blush crept up her face. “Tee-ani is reassuring Ben and Trey that she was not damaged by their actions while working undercover.”
Devlin felt the heat crawling up his own neck. Even though he and Jordan had concentrated the cameras on
Del
, and not on what Ben and Trey and Tee-ani were doing, it had been quite difficult to ignore the noises coming from the trio. It may have been disturbing for someone like Del, who didn’t know how deeply Ben and Trey loved Tee-ani, but for Devlin it had been rather…er…stimulating.
G’baena smiled at him, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.
He hesitated, uncertain what to say next. What he wanted to do was pull G’baena into his embrace and never let her go. He didn’t even know where that feeling was coming from. He’d lived in space most of his life. He was content here and had never once considered doing anything else or wanting more, but since meeting G’baena, something had shifted in his priorities. Confused by his own feelings, Devlin took half a step back.
“I’ll just go check when Tee-ani will be available.” He turned and left the room before G’baena could stop him. He was halfway to Ben and Trey’s quarters before he remembered what the trio was most likely up to.
Devlin shook his head sharply. How could one small woman twist him in so many knots?
* * * *
G’baena raised her eyebrow as Devlin left the room quickly. There was more to his behavior than simple concern over injuries that didn’t exist, but she couldn’t quite interpret his emotions. He seemed to be feeling so many different things at the same time that G’baena’s head was starting to spin. Goddess, how did humans cope?
She hadn’t met a human before, other than Tee-ani months ago on the slave ship, and now she found herself surrounded by them. Ben and Trey had suggested that she do some training with G’ntriel so that she could learn how to interpret the emotions of humans. Right now that seemed like a very good idea. It didn’t, however, explain her own disappointment that Devlin had left the room.
Sarah finished with the other patient and then moved toward G’baena and
Del.
Her smile encouraged them to relax, and G’baena felt the young man beside her tense even further. Obviously he’d been betrayed by a friendly smile more than once in his young life.
“Hi, Del. Welcome to the crew. We’ve set up living quarters for you next to G’baena’s, but if you have any problems, just let me know. As soon as we’re finished here, I’m sure G’baena would be happy to show them to you.”
Del
nodded tightly, barely more than a small, twitchy dip of his head, but G’baena sent a relieved smile in Sarah’s direction. Considering their lack of empathic skills, the humans on this ship seemed to intuit the needs of others quite well. Having
Del
close to her might just be what the young man needed to be able to find his feet and build a life for himself.
G’baena moved onto the medical bed so that Sarah could reverse the vicious-looking injuries they’d faked earlier.
Del
moved to the other side of the bed, grabbing hold of G’baena’s hand as he did so.
“Is the other slave here?” he asked in an anxious voice. His eyes kept darting around the room, his anxiety not lessened by his surroundings or the reassurances he’d been given.
“Her name is Tee-ani, but she’s not a slave,
Del.
She’s the ship’s doctor,” Sarah said. G’baena nodded in agreement when
Del
turned to her.
“The two men with her, they were her mates, Ben and Trey. They care very deeply for her. Everything you thought you saw or heard was faked, Del. I’m really sorry we had to put you through that, but we needed to know if you were on our side or not.”
“Well, I, for one, am very glad that you’re on our side,” Sarah said with a friendly smile. “You might even be able to help us stop Keytark from hurting anyone else.”
Again, G’baena marveled at human instincts. Sarah had known exactly what to offer
Del
to make him a part of the crew and give him something that would make him feel useful.
Del
shifted from foot to foot in either agitation or excitement—probably both. “Keytark wanted me to contact him after sixteen revolutions,” he blurted out. “I don’t know how long that is now that I’m away from the planet.”
“No problem.” Sarah grinned. “I have planetary information in the database, so it shouldn’t take too long to translate it to Earth hours. How did Keytark expect you to contact him?”
Del
looked really uncomfortable again. “I have a tracking device implanted in one of my teeth.” Sarah’s head snapped up from where she’d been working on G’baena’s leg.
“I didn’t find a tracking device. Tee-ani and I went over you with all of our equipment. We would’ve at least picked up a broadcasting signal.”
Del
shook his head, his eyes glassy as he slid towards panic. “I don’t know how it works.” He shook his head angrily and quavered all over, his anxiety and fear taking over once again.
“It’s okay,
Del
,” Sarah said in a soothing voice. “We’ll figure it out. Did he tell you what to do after sixteen revolutions?”
The young man nodded several times as he pushed his fingers into his mouth and pointed to one of his back molars. “He said ’ull ’at ’un ’ere. And it’ll contact him automatically, and then I can tell him if the slavers were really slavers or criminals trying to rip him off.”
“Which tooth?” Sarah asked as she grabbed an instrument G’baena had no way of recognizing.
“This one,”
Del
said again, this time managing to talk around his fingers a little more successfully.
“Okay, how about you and G’baena go get settled in your quarters. I’ve got a few more things to do here, but I might see you in the mess hall for dinner.”
G’baena could feel Sarah’s agitation, even though, outwardly, the woman appeared calm and happy. Realizing that the problem with
Del
’s tooth was probably more complicated than she knew, G’baena pasted a smile on her face and eased herself off the medical bed.
“Come on, Del. Let’s go see your quarters. I wonder if they’re the same as mine.” She grabbed
Del
’s hand as they left the medical bay, sensing his confusion but unsure how to comfort him without letting on what she knew. She kept up the noisy prattle as they walked through the corridors and hoped that
Del
hadn’t heard the first words of Sarah’s intercom call as they’d left the room.
Even now, G’baena shuddered at the words she’d heard. “Tee-ani, we have a big problem.”
* * * *
Devlin sat at the conference table practically grinding his own teeth. A tracking device on a slave wasn’t exactly unheard of, but from the description Tee-ani and Sarah had just provided, this was no ordinary technology.
“So what you’re saying is that it will activate as soon as the tooth is pulled and will not only send a sub-space tracking beacon, but also a voice signal. Can he just leave it where it is?”
“Unfortunately, this is the part where Keytark shows why he’s the leading slave trader in this galaxy.” Tee-ani swallowed heavily, clearly disturbed by the information she was about to divulge. “If
Del
doesn’t pull the tooth as ordered, it has a fail-safe. Basically, it’s filled with a toxin that will release shortly after the deadline and kill him over several days. This particular poison will cause intense, prolonged pain, and there is no known cure. I’m not even sure we’d be able to give him painkillers strong enough to make him comfortable.”
Devlin glanced down the table at
Jordan
. The captain had always been hard to read unless you knew him very well, but today he seemed even more stone-faced.
“Do we have any ways to neutralize it? Maybe stop the toxin from being released?” Devlin asked as his brain whipped through a dozen scenarios, none of them pleasant.
“No,” Sarah replied, shaking her head. “Any tampering will release the toxin. If we pull the tooth early, we’re not sure we’d be able to interrupt the broadcast quickly enough to hide our position, and as soon as
Del
doesn’t answer, Keytark will know something is wrong.”
“And everything we’ve worked for will be gone,” Ben said grimly.
“What if,” Devlin said quickly, still trying to work out details in his brain, “he pulls the tooth at the right time and we are exactly where we are supposed to be? What if Del reports to Keytark that Ben and Trey are in orbit around G’trobia and have been talking about all the money they’ll make when they set up the trade route for Keytark?”
Sarah smirked happily, like she looked forward to getting back into undercover work, but a quick glance from
Jordan
dimmed her smile. Devlin had heard on the ship’s grapevine that Sarah was pregnant. Judging by
Jordan
’s possessive look, Devlin guessed it was probably true.
He didn’t miss the look Ben and Trey exchanged or the way they both looked at Tee-ani. She smiled at them, some sort of private message that Devlin had no way to understand.
“Looks like we’re in agreement,”
Jordan
said. “Sarah, how long do we have?”
“
Del
said sixteen revolutions. A revolution on Keytark’s planet is forty-nine point seven Earth hours, so sixteen revolutions less the fifty-two hours since we left there gives us just under thirty-one Earth days to get to G’trobia.”
Jordan smiled. “Ben, Trey, looks like you get that trip home after all.”
* * * *
Several days later, G’baena sat on the lounge in her small living quarters trying to read a data file on basic human psychology. G’ntriel had suggested it as a way for her to try and interpret the emotions emanating from the humans who made up the majority of the crew. Some of the things she’d learned so far had just proven how complex humans really were. G’baena had spent quite a bit of time talking with some of the human women as well as Devlin and Ben and Trey over the last few days, so the quiet felt a little strange. Feeling restless, she glanced over to
Del
where he worked on a computer program designed to teach him how to read the standard trade language used in this galaxy.
“How old are you,
Del
?” G’baena almost wished she hadn’t asked when the young man’s pale blue complexion paled even more.
“I don’t know,” he mumbled. Judging by his appearance and churning emotions, G’baena guessed that he was likely considered an adolescent by Pendarian culture. Maybe not yet an adult, but certainly more than a boy. His protectiveness over her undoubtedly hinted at the man he would become.
G’baena was deep in thought, wondering if Tee-ani had a medical test to determine a person’s age, when the door chime startled her. Both she and
Del
stared at each other a moment before she realized that they had a visitor. Laughing quietly—this new life was going to take getting used to—she moved to let in their guest.
Devlin stood at her doorway, a friendly smile on his handsome face.
“Hi, G’baena. Hi,
Del
,” he said to the young man hovering close to her side. “I’m headed to the gym for a workout and wondered if you’d both like to join me.”
G’baena hesitated, unsure if
Del
was ready to mix with the rest of the crew. He’d been such a quiet young man, so his reply surprised her.
“Can you teach me to fight?” Even Devlin seemed surprised by the request, but his face relaxed again into that confident smile.
“Of course, Del.”
More than two hours later, G’baena felt exhausted just watching. Devlin had patiently taught
Del
how to use all of the gym equipment and talked to him about training routines and regular practice. G’baena had worried when the young man had inquired about weapons training also, but Devlin had handled it well. Obviously, life on a pirate ship required a certain amount of self-defense skills, but G’baena worried for the young man’s emotional health—throw a weapon into the mix, and it could lead to disaster.
Devlin had reassured
Del
that he would teach him everything he needed to know, including weapons, when
Del
was ready.