The Spider Queen (The Space Merchants Book 5) Read online

  From out of each fighter, a passenger climbed out and joined us. Inquisitor Drex Licinius glittered with sharp-edged knives. General Luca Braga began analyzing the aliens for weaknesses.

  Alien soldiers surrounded us. One hissed at Jazon and motioned at his weapons as though insisting he remove them.

  I laughed and moved to stand in front of Jazon. Staring at the alien guard, I sent him my feelings of rage unsure of whether or not he was capable of empathic awareness. From his widened alien eyes and opened mouth, I assumed he was.

  When Thunderdrop hissed furiously at the alien to move, it stumbled back.

  “Go,” I ordered Jazon. “Do not step on my dress,” I warned Eli.

  “They are terrified, but attempting to appear brave,” Xavier said loudly enough for all of us to hear.

  “They should be, because if they kill my brother, I will destroy them all.”

  Behind me, my Imperial Guard marched behind me, keeping Dr. Savelli and his medical bag between them. The aliens stared at us as we passed.

  “They are curious, afraid, elated, and horrified,” Zared told us.

  “Elated?” Dr. Savelli asked.

  Zared said, “Until they arrived in the Talpa system, they did not know that aliens existed.”

  “Oh, too bad. Now, they’ve gone and pissed us off,” I said.

  Alien guards with sharp knives blocked our entrance to their leader’s throne room. A shrill call from within had them moving aside. Thunderdrop crawled from my shoulder, across my back, and to the top of my head.

  “Within their ships, they are only armed with knives. They do not possess projectile weapons or blasters,” Eli reported.

  “I am detecting poison on their blades. It may be crippling to them, but it would only cause us a mild rash,” Dr. Savelli stated.

  The alien guards parted. Thunderdrop hissed at them. They wore simple brown jumpers with red stitching to symbolize their status as their king’s guard.

  “Jazon, allow me to approach their little king. If they threaten to attack, kill them.”

  “Yes, your highness.”

  “Luca, make certain that no further harm comes to our men. Dr. Savelli….” I gestured to Phillip and my pilot, who seemed aghast that I had come for them in person.

  The aliens made no moves to interfere with my men as they cut through Phillip’s and my pilot’s restraints. Phillip began conversing in doctor language with Dr. Savelli.

  Without taking my eyes from those of my adversary, I walked forward. The red silk of my dress floated across the floor. I made sure to keep my chin held high as Fitz had taught me.

  “Decide if you will be my enemy or my friend.”

  A small alien standing nearby made a series of trills and a hiss as though he were attempting to translate.

  I gestured at my pilot. Then, I walked to him and pointed to the bleeding gash across his back. Turning in a fluid swirl of fabric, I hissed loudly and angrily.

  An alien guard moved toward me, and I reached for my blaster. The alien king raised his clawed hand, which showed the membrane connecting his arm to his body, and hissed at his guard, who obeyed and moved back into position.

  I held out my palm to Eli, and he placed one of the aliens’ deactivated mines on top of it. Thankful for all of the exercising and baby lifting I had been doing, I held the mine level in front of me without struggling. Then, I dropped it and let it roll toward the alien king.

  Nervous whistle-like noises came from the alien guards. I began thinking that the aliens reminded me of squirrels.

  The Squirrel King bent down, picked up the mine, and stared at me. Then, he made a series of short trills. A guard moved to a display and activated it, showing us the other ships in the alien fleet. Soon, the screen split between the images of four of his captains, who wore red hoods that were attached to their brown jumpers.

  Thunderdrop hissed at them, too.

  The Squirrel King began to speak to me.

  Thunderdrop chirped at me and crawled from my head to my chest. He blinked his eight eyes as he listened intently. Thunderdrop copied the trilling sound of the Squirrel King, who stopped and repeated the noises back to Thunderdrop. Thunderdrop moved his eight legs and turned to look at me. I stoked his back. He repeated the noise and showed me an image in my mind of a planet as it seemed to implode before exploding.

  “Their planet was destroyed?”

  “Chirp.”

  The Squirrel King whistled and trilled.

  Again, Thunderdrop mimicked him. This time, Thunderdrop showed me a small cocooned bug.

  “They eat bugs?” I asked.

  “No, they have begun running out of food. They need Talpa to survive,” Zared explained.

  “Chirp,” Thunderdrop agreed as he moved his legs up and down excitedly.

  “Then, why didn’t they try to make friends?” I asked angrily. “What did the Squirrel King just say?” I asked Thunderdrop.

  Zared said, “Izaac understands how to communicate with them, your highness. I will speak Izaac’s words aloud.”

  “Tell the Squirrel King that if he hopes for the survival of his people, he will cease his aggression against us.”

  “Chirp!”

  I waited while Izaac sent my message into the alien’s mind.

  The Squirrel King responded with whistling sounds, a hiss, and a few trills.

  Zared spoke Izaac’s thoughts. “They followed a fragment of their planet in the hopes that it would be attracted by the gravitational pull of a hospitable world. Finding Talpa, they found salvation.” There was a long pause as Izaac interpreted more of the king’s thoughts for Zared to vocalize. “However, his scout ships discovered two races. One alien race has superior technology and greater numbers. They set the mines to protect themselves from annihilation. Their ships cannot make it to another system.”

  “Why didn’t they simply ask for help?” I asked.

  Izaac telepathically asked him my question. The alien squirrel spread his clawed hands wide in what passed for the universal version of, “What the hell was I supposed to do?”

  Izaac answered in my mind, and Zared said, “We have been unable to understand their speech. We disabled their communications devices in case there were more of the space warriors, but you came anyway.”

  “Ask what their people eat,” I said.

  “They are omnivores,” Zared answered.

  “Tell him we have emergency rations on our ship. His physicians can test our food to see if they can ingest it.”

  Izaac told him.

  Xavier ordered Wyatt, Zac, and Zergio to escort our pilot, Phillip, and Dr. Savelli to our stealth ship and to return with its rations.

  I said, “Explain that we saved this planet from destruction and that its inhabitants are under our protection.”

  Wyatt and Zac returned. One of the aliens came forward and took a crate of food. Wyatt demonstrated how to open a package and then ate the contents.

  Their scientists scanned another opened package, and then one of them sampled a few bites. I began to notice that all of the aliens seemed thin.

  Sensing my thoughts, Zared said, “They have been rationing their food.”

  “Tell him to deactivate the mines. Should I destroy them with my blaster cannons, his ships might be damaged. If he wishes to begin diplomatic negotiations with us, we will share our food.”

  Izaac sent my message.

  “He agrees,” Zared said. “He wishes to seal your alliance.”

  “With a contract?”

  “They have a gesture that they hold to be more binding,” Zared said.

  “What?”

  “You aren’t going to like it,” Zared said.

  Worried, I exclaimed, “I’m not having….”

  “No, of course not. Rather than shaking hands as humans, touching foreheads as Laconians, or clasping arms as Parvacs, they exchange air through their nostrils,” Zared explained.

  “Oh, for fucks sake,” I grumbled. “What if the Squi
rrel King bites me?”

  “Then, I would pull each of his teeth from his jaws before severing his head from his body,” Zared answered calmly.

  Thunderdrop crawled to my shoulder and then up to the top of my head. The alien came closer and slowly leaned forward. Hesitantly, I copied his actions. I realized that I was taller than him.

  “Breath in and out through your nose,” Zared said.

  I did. I wondered if I should attempt twitching my tail.

  “Teagan, now as you rise, each of you is to feel the fabric of the other’s tunic.”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Just touch the material at his chest.”

  Reaching out, I touched the course fabric and wondered if it was made from a plant. The Squirrel King reached out and felt the skirt of my red Arachnean Silk dress. He made trilling sounds and didn’t seem inclined to let it go. Eventually, he did. Extending my hand, I taught him how Parvacs grasped each other’s arms and noticed his sharp, clawed fingers. Then, the Squirrel King and his guards walked us to our ship.

  Once we were free of their vessel and in space, I asked, “Can you squeeze us down through the mine field and to the surface and establish communications with the Diocletian?”

  “Yes, your highness,” Eli said.

  The twenty fighter ships remained with us as we descended to Talpa’s surface.

  “I can’t believe you strode in there like that,” Phillip said.

  “What happened to your fighter?” Eli asked the pilot.

  “I followed orders and waited until Dr. Svenson was at a safe distance before destroying my fighter, sir.”

  “Very good, Olson,” Eli said.

  Realizing that the pilot had put Phillip’s safety above his own, probably for my sake, I teared up a little. “Olson, you can use my fighter, if you don’t mind the color and lack of weapons, until we get you a new one.”

  “I am honored, Princess Probus.”

  “Locked onto the Diocletian. Requesting permission to approach,” Jazon said.

  Instructions for our ships were relayed to the pilots.

  Chapter Six

  The sky of Talpa was slowly turning from red to black, and the stars were dim. We flew over dense vegetation covering an unpopulated expanse of alien jungle. Aside from their green coloration, none of the plants seemed familiar.

  “It will take years for the asteroid’s dust to settle. One day, Talpa may have the same pink and orange sky of the Parvac Empire,” Eli said.

  I could feel Phillip’s relief when his father’s ship became visible through our viewports. A wide swath of jungle had been cleared around the massive deep space starship. It towered up three-stories into the alien sky. Jazon lowered our stealth ship where Galaxic Militia crewmen indicated. As he powered down its systems, I could see the Diocletian’s ramp remained lowered for crew members who came in and out of the bays. Zared opened our hatch. I rushed to Phillip’s side to steady him. Together, we stepped from our vessel and out onto the soil of Talpa.

  We had walked only a few feet when I heard a loud, “Son? Phillip!”

  Emergency medical personnel had rushed out to offer assistance once we had landed. Among them was the Diocletian’s chief medical officer, Dr. Victor Svenson. He rushed forward leaving his captain behind.

  One of Phillip’s arms went around his father’s neck, and the other went under his arm as he let out a strangled sob against Dr. Victor’s uniformed shoulder. “Is Momma okay?”

  “Yes, yes, my boy. I’ll never let anything happen to her. Did you come all of this way from Parvac after us?”

  “Yes, sir. Teagan gathered up a fleet, sped me out here to find you, and just beat some aliens into submission.”

  “She kept thinking of the alien leader as the Squirrel King. It made me glad that I wore a helmet to hide my laughter,” Jazon said.

  The captain of the Diocletian bowed over my hand. “You convinced them to remove their mines?” he asked.

  “I suggested they might prefer their way of removing them to how I would do it.” I worried how Phillip would react when he found out that I had ordered the destruction of ten of the alien fighters, killing ten of their pilots, or if he had heard it from the alien throne room.

  Zared slipped his arm around my waist. He and the others had removed their helmets and a few of their weapons. “You did what you had to do. Many lives would have been lost had Vice Admiral Valen and Captain Merick opened fire as they planned to do,” Zared said.

  “What did they plan to do?” I asked as I looked up into my husband’s solid black eyes.

  “Defensive netting would be laid above the alien ships and lowered in increments until they were driven into their own mines, all while being fired upon by our warships. Traditionally, Parvac cares little for diplomacy,” Drex said.

  “Then, our troops would hunt down any of them who made it to the surface in escape pods,” Luca added.

  “Eric was not pleased with my diplomatic efforts. We were both so angry that I don’t even remember what we said to each other.”

  The Captain and Dr. Victor began guiding us into the lift. Our two fighter ship pilots and a few of my Omnes Videntes remained outside examining the flattened jungle of the alien world and the vegetation that had already started to climb the Diocletian’s landing gear. Dr. Victor pressed a command that would take us to the infirmary.

  Pressing another button, he said, “Lulu, please, report to sickbay.” Dr. Victor looked Phillip over. “Your mother is going to have a fit.”

  My pilot, Olson, had his arm over Luca’s shoulder, but as soon as he entered sickbay, doctors took him away.

  “Princess, the captains of our grounded warships will soon arrive at our location and beg an audience,” Drex said.

  I nodded.

  A cute little lady with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped inside of the infirmary. When her eyes fell on Phillip, they and her arms went wide, and she ran to him. “Oh, my baby! My baby! Is that you?” She hugged him, kissed him, patted him, and fussed all over him. “Oh, my sweet boy. How did you get here? What happened to you?”

  When she took a breath, Phillip said, “I came here to find you, Momma. I was worried.”

  I raised an eyebrow at that. Dr. Victor saw and asked, “Was Phillip truly worried about us?”

  “I’ve never seen him so distraught. He wouldn’t eat or sleep. Finally, I had to beat him up and make him take care of himself.”

  Dr. Victor grinned at me. “You beat him up, huh?”

  “Yes, I did,” I answered smugly.

  “Phillip, were subdermal hematomas visible afterwards?” Dr. Victor asked.

  Phillip laughed. “No, sir. Her punches feel like iced cupcakes being thrown at you, and they’re just as cute and sweet.” I scowled at him. “Momma, this is Cupcake, also known as the Princess Teagan Alaric Montgomery Lee of House Probus of Parvac.”

  Lulu Svenson smiled at me and curtsied.

  I curtsied back but blushed furiously. “Mrs. Svenson, please just think of me as Phillip’s friend and nothing else.”

  Phillip snorted. “Friend? Teagan’s the baby sister I’ve always wanted. She even just stormed an alien ship to rescue me. Why are you wearing red? Do you even like that color?”

  Looking down, I made a face at my dress. “Meh. The squirrel leaders wear red. I was going for symbolism.”

  “That was quick thinking,” Lulu said.

  “I had to speak with my actions since I don’t speak rodent.”

  “Chirp!”

  “Yes, thank you, baby. Your help was invaluable. Just wait until I tell Papa how good you were.”

  “Chirp! Chirp!” Thunderdrop knew toys were in his future.

  “Squirrels?” Phillip asked.

  “Yeah, come on. They don’t have tails, but don’t they look like they’ve descended from them? They are human-like, but they have claws, weird little ears, a human-shaped rodent-like face minus the whiskers, the way they sound, and all of that gross armpit skin.” I
pretended to have each of the characteristics. “What’s with the single nostril?”

  “Patagium,” Phillip said.

  “No way. I’m not patting anything on that critter ever again. It’s bad enough that I had to exchange nostril air with King Squirrel.”

  Phillip slapped his palm to his forehead while his dad saw to his cuts. “Patagium is the fleshy membrane between their arms and bodies.”

  “Oh, okay. Good to know. That’s what we’ll call them.”

  “The Patagium?” Lulu asked.

  “Why not? I’m not gonna call them the whistle hisses, and they won’t be translating anytime soon.” Stepping closer to Phillip, I kissed his cheek. “I love you. I have to go talk to captains. Will you take care of Olson? I think he should rest here.”

  “I love you, too. Yes, I’ll see to him.”

  “I’m going back to the Empress in a little while. I’m sure Eric is furious with me. Also, I have serious apologies to make to Yukihyo, Nico, and Fitz.”

  “What did you do?”

  I cringed. “I ordered my husbands to stay aboard my ship and protect my babies.”

  Phillip busted out laughing. I pinched him. He laughed harder. I frowned at him. “It was nice meeting you Mrs. Svenson. Phillip cried like a tiny little baby when he thought he’d lost you. I had to hold him on my shoulder and everything.”

  “Is that true, sweetheart?” Lulu asked in a soft loving voice. Phillip looked into her blue eyes and shrugged. “Oh, my sweet boy.”

  Phillip stuck his tongue out at me. I couldn’t flip him off, or Lulu would see.

  The grounded Parvac captains were indeed waiting for me outside. They saluted, assured me that they had been in contact with Vice Admiral Valen, and had sent messages and reports to Parvac.

  “Gentlemen, I am glad we could be of assistance. However, now, my guard needs to return me to Prince Niklos Tavere Cassian.” My breasts were swelling painfully. I curtsied and returned to our stealth ship on Zared’s arm.

  I worried about Yukihyo the entire trip back to the Empress. As soon as I entered the Imperial Deck, Niklos saw me from his highchair at the dining table and started crying and reaching for me. Lorca had been attempting to feed him a runny rice cereal.