Chapter 7

~ Arac ~

Leaving his transport with a group of similar vehicles, Arac approached the mining area with great caution. A thick layer of topsoil had been pulled back to reveal a harvest site. A clawfull of drones were gathering up gemstone geodes by hand and putting them in crates. Upon seeing his queen, they screeched their disapproval at having her there.

Her eyes got big as she stared at the drones. “Wow, aren’t you guys all kinds of sexy?”

Arac had to do a double take to understand what she was referring to by sexy. The only thought that came immediately to mind was that she enjoyed seeing them with their shirts off. Though different hues and with a slight variation in their insectoid features, every drone had a large muscular torso along with huge biceps. It was simply the way his kind was made.

Arac began tearing off his shirt, unwilling to be found lacking in her eyes. He tried not to seem prideful when her eyes landed on him. It was difficult to stand still for her perusal. He fought to keep a smug expression off his face as her eyes skimmed up and down his body, as if seeing him for the first time. It occurred to him that the beautiful queen was seeing him as a breedable male for the first time.

“Well, Arac, when they were handing out sexiness, you must have gotten in line twice.”

Though he didn’t fully understand her comment, it felt like the human female was saying he was twice as sexy as the other males. “Thank you, my queen.” Grabbing a crate, he jumped down into the shallow pit and held up his hands to help her down.

Again, the males screeched their disapproval. Arac screeched for them to quiet and allow the queen to gather her gemstone. The other males grudgingly went back to their task, occasionally shooting him disapproving looks.

They kneeled down into the soft soil and Arac explained. “There are several types of gemstone but they are all locked in geodes. The larger the geode, the more gemstone you will find inside. You should gather more than you think you will need because about a third of the geodes have poor quality gemstone or are fractured beyond repair.”

“Alrightie, I’m gonna get started. Get yourself another crate. I want to gather my own.”

“If you insist, my queen.”

“Jax, get your claws down here. You are allowed to help.”

Preening a bit, Jax jumped down and raked his huge claws through the dirt, bringing up several large round geodes. They looked a bit like rocks. Arac watched as the two of them worked together, Jax digging and the little queen quickly grabbing the geodes and laying them gently inside the crate. Arac leisurely dug some geodes and tossed them into his crate as he watched the pair working in perfect unison.

The little queen kept pace with her sentinel, never slacking off or stopping to rest. When their crate was nearly full, Arac brought another. She allowed him to trade out her crates until she had a clawfull of them.

Arac encouraged her to take a break by bringing her a hydration pouch.

Reaching for it she murmured, “Thanks, that was really nice of you.”

Being thanked for service was new occurrence for Arac. Maruvian queens never thanked a drone as it was understood that their purpose was to serve. It felt nice to have his service acknowledged, even in such a small way.

Shock tore thorough him as he watched the queen dump some of the hydrating liquid in the mouth of her sentinel. It was a gesture of kindness and it loosened something in his chest. She stroked the creature’s long snout before going back to work. How many gemstones was she going to dig today? The drones around them came and went as she continued working on her knees. As it neared dark, he spoke.

“Little queen, you’ve been gathering gemstone the entire afternoon. You must have your heart set on something costly?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you here all day.” Reaching up, she allowed him to pull her from the pit. “I do have my heart set on something. It’s something really big that will give me peace of mind and help me feel secure.”

“May I know what that something is?”

“If you don’t mind, I would like that to be my secret for now. I have no wish to make you angry with me.”

“It will be as you say.”

Dusting her hands off on her soiled uniform, she asked quickly, “Are the traders still available or is it too late to meet with them?”

“You have much work ahead of you before you can meet with the traders.” Gesturing to the large stack of crates, he explained. “You must crack and sort your gemstone if you wish to get the optimal amount of credits. Since there is no way to scan geodes properly, each one must be cracked and the gemstone carefully removed. I have done this several times since arriving. If you like I could assist you.”

“That won’t be necessary. If you could show me how to open them properly, Jax and I can work our way through the lot.”

“All will be as you wish, Queen Tara. I will have the drones load your gemstone into one of the shuttles. You can accompany me to my home for dinner and I will show you what you wish to know. All my equipment is there. I will loan it to you for your first venture.” He keyed the request for drone support into his handheld, and they watched the flying drones whiz over and begin grabbing crate after crate of gemstone.

“I feel like I’m monopolizing your time. I’ll have to figure out a way to make it up to you.” Arac pressed his lips together as he thought of all the ways such a pretty queen could repay him.

As two drones stowed his bike safely in the underbelly of a shuttle, they climbed on board.

“Wow, this is a nice shuttle.”

Arac smiled as they both clicked their safety harnesses into place. “This is one of our basic models. The queens have small sleek models just big enough to hold a small family unit.”

“Spending so much time on a ship, I supposed shuttles hold little interest for you.”

“I love all kinds of transport devices. I can remember when I was a small child. The Maruvian home world just upgraded all our service drones. I went outside each morning to see the shiny red and yellow drone that visited our home. It had large arms and could carry large metal cubes. I remember flying up to get a closer look and almost being run over by it.”

Tara smiled at his story, clearly enjoying hearing him reminisce about his home world.

“When I told my father that I wished to be the one responsible for controlling such drones when I came of age, he promptly informed me that they were sanitation drones and that I should set my aspirations a little higher in life.” Feeling his face heat and his antennas constrict with embarrassment, he added, “I do not think he was pleased to hear that I spent my time dreaming of collecting household garbage and recycling for a living.”

Laughing, Tara replied, “That’s about the cutest story I’ve ever heard. Want to know what I dreamed of being when I was a little girl?”

Immediately intrigued, he quipped, “I’m going to guess it was not a queen.”

His new queen laughed so easily with him. “You got that right, handsome. I always wanted to be a law enforcement officer.”

Making a sound of disbelief, he gaped at her.

Patting his arm, she nodded. “It’s true. I liked watching the crime shows about detectives who investigated all manner of dark deeds, tracking the villains to the four corners of our world.”

“Your world is round.”

“It just a human saying, Arac. I fancied myself searching for clues, investigating leads, and solving cases in order to keep the world safe.”

“You have the heart of a warrior and lush body of goddess.”

Her mouth fell open and Arac regretted his words. “I meant no insult…”

Moving closer to him, she murmured, “That’s no insult. In fact, it’s really sweet. Are you always so nice?”

Smiling slightly, he admitted, “No. Perhaps you bring out my good side.”

“At least you have a good side. I think I’m all worry, work and aggravation for the people around me.”

Looking down at her hand still resting on his arm, he covered it with his own hand. “You are not. I enjoy your company greatly.”

“Really?”

“I have isolated myself since coming to this world. You are the first true friend I’ve made outside my immediate family.”

“Jesus, we’re in the same boat. I haven’t really made any friends either. It’s just me and Jax.”

Not sparing a glance at the creature who was lying on the floor licking his claw some twenty footsteps away, Arac spoke. “About your sentinel, he is very immature?”

Looking sheepish, she lowered her eyes. “I know he can be a handful, but he doesn’t have any family either. We kind of take care of each other.”

“I believe he will become increasingly difficult until you find him a mate.”

Her head came up, and she shot the creature a glance before bringing her eyes back to look at Arac. “What?”

“Jax looks to be coming into his prime years. The Golugua are intense creatures. I have been told they take a mate early in life but grow into their ability to breed many solars later. They have a strong need for companionship and affection as young adults.”

“Jesus, I did not know that.”

“Their families normally arrange pairings. As he has no family, that responsibility falls to you. If you wish it, I will render what assistance I can.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start with something like that.”

“I’m sorry to say, golugua families expect a dowry. Jax’s dowry will need to be larger to attract a good mate, because he is not from a prominent house and the family he attached himself to is inconsequential.”

Grinning, she asked teasingly, “Did you say I’m not terribly important?”

Glancing away, he responded, “I think something may be wrong with the batch of translation bacteria I took. Doesn’t inconsequential mean a female who is astonishingly beautiful, playful, hard-working and compassionate towards others but not from a politically influential family?”

Laughing again, she leaned her cheek onto his shoulder. “If it doesn’t mean that, it should, ‘cause I like your definition better.”

Looking down into her upturned face, he murmured, “You are very easy to talk to.”

“For some reason I don’t feel so overwhelmed around you. The things I want to do, almost seem manageable with you at my side.”

“It’s nice to feel useful to another person.”

Sitting up, she turned to face him, tucking one leg underneath her body. “We need to talk about boundaries. I’m clearly a needy woman. If you don’t set some boundaries with me, I’m probably going to eat up all your spare time whining about my lot in life and plotting interesting adventures.”

“I’m up for some plotting adventures but no whining please.”

“Want to hear my big secret?”

“You know that I do. I already tried to get it out of you once.”

Leaning forward, she whispered, “I want my own shuttle.”

“Whatever for, my queen?”

“Think about it. If I had a nice big shuttle, with a master suite, it would open up a world of opportunities for me. I could live on it if I wanted, hire myself out deliver goods to remote locations, or give guided tours to visitors. I could even shuttle people and goods to and from the tarmac.”

“Can you fly a shuttle?”

“Nope, but I can learn. Do you know anything about shuttles?”

“I can fly and I have enough of an engineering background to help you make a good investment.”

“You’d help me?”

Nodding, Arac couldn’t help but be impressed with the queen’s enthusiasm. “You will need to choose an assistant. I have a younger brother who seems to be drifting aimlessly through life unsure of his place. He’s a mechanic who can repair anything that flies.”

Throwing her arms around him again, she hugged him. It was different this time. Her slight form was filled with excitement and since they were sitting her arms didn’t fit all the way around him. Her response lifted his spirits even more.

Rubbing her face on his shoulder, she murmured. “I never knew you smelled so good.”

Gods of Chaos, his mating scent was rising. Disengaging her from his body, he stood. “I’m afraid my body has sweated profusely while I worked in the sun today. If you will excuse me, I’ll freshen myself.” Spinning on his heel, he headed for the cleansing room. As he pulled off the standard drone uniform, he tried to get a handle on his feelings. Splashing a cool mist onto this skin, his mind clicked through his options with the lush queen.

She was young, smart, and interested in adventure. Nothing about the staggeringly beautiful female led him to believe she would consider the scarred widow of a vengeful Maruvian queen a proper mate. He had enough young to overwhelm a stable queen. Queen Tara was already overwhelmed. Seeing them all in the same room would send her running, of that he was certain.

Still, what could it hurt to enjoy her company for a bit? Human females were known to gift males with their company and share their bodies, then turn around and select an entirely different person to mate. He could be the person she shared a little of herself with before selecting a mate. Looking at himself in the shiny reflection, he thought that sounded right to him.

Tossing his utilitarian uniform into a recycling bin, he fingered through a supply cabinet and pulled out a fresh uniform. Walking around smelling like he was in heat simply would not do. Neither of them was looking to draw that kind of notice. Shrugging into the uniform, he fastened the front, before stepping into the main compartment again. Jax had jumped into his seat and his new queen had cuddled up to the creature and fallen asleep. Taking a seat across from them, he watched the sleeping pair with a growing sense of affection. There was something about two creatures alone in the ‘verse with no one to rely upon but themselves that really tugged at his need to protect.

Taking out his handheld, he began to scroll through the newest models of shuttles. Marking the ones he felt that his queen might find interesting, he made notes about features of interest. He shot Drale a short text.

I have encountered a queen who aspires to purchase her own shuttle. She is in need of an assistant. Do you think little Haroc would be a good fit for her needs?

If you are serious, I will speak to him.

I am quite serious. She spent the entire day collecting gemstone to trade. I’m bringing her home with me now. Please alert father that she is one of his former patients. Her name is Queen Tara.

You spent the entire day with a human queen? Now, I think you really are joking.

You know I am not.

Only because I am aware that you have no sense of humor.

Though you are my brother, that statement proves you know nothing about me. My new queen has known me but a day and she says I have a wonderful sense of humor.

Your new queen? I look forward to meeting her.

Tell father to bring out only one of my young. I don’t want her overwhelmed with my entire brood swarming her.

You are serious!

Shutting down the line, Arac wondered why had he said she was his queen? He didn’t want a queen. There was no room in his life for a female. Besides, he was quite certain this one would not be interested in his rather sedate life of caring for his young and seeing to the security of their world.

Looking up at her sleeping form, his wheels began to turn. Queen Tara had mentioned an interest in becoming a law enforcement officer. Planetary security was a close match for her stated preference. Since she liked the idea of running her own business but also had an interest in security, perhaps being part of a reserve contingent might draw together their interests.

Getting back on his handheld, he sent a message to Helena, who was now responsible for coordinating their military. His brother’s mate answered right away.

Arac, how are you today? Did your meeting with Queen Carolyn go well? I can’t wait to see your defense plan.

It was so like Helena to rush from one sentence to another.

I am well. I met a new queen today. Queen Tara is set on purchasing her own shuttle and making a business for herself. She has long been interested in law enforcement and I thought that she might be receptive to the idea of joining a reserve contingent of some sort. I didn’t want to mention it unless we have a need for such.

I never thought of something like that, but I can easily see the benefit of having a last line of defense in place. It would be invaluable in preserving lives in the event that something slips through our security or if one of the traders go rogue. I can also see it being helpful in situations where search and rescue might be needed. Having someone close by who can respond at a moment’s notice could really save lives.

I will broach the subject with her. If you and Raec are free, please join us for dinner tonight. Queen Tara will be joining us.

Jesus Arac, I recognize that name. She’s the woman who almost died after our battle with Kabelda. She was a real scrapper. As I remember it, she cut off one of Kabelda’s lashes before another tore a hole in her leg.

She is well now but says she does not remember the great battle. I did not ask why, but I suspect it was the trauma of her injuries.

We’ll come and meet her if we can.

Bring your little ones if you like.

We’ll see. I’m up for a night out with Raec without the little curtain climbers.

Our little ones tend to stop climbing on everything once their wings are strong enough for them to take flight.

I’ll bear that in mind.

Sliding his handheld shut, he heard the pilot on the overhead stating his home was within sight. Deciding to allow her to sleep until the last minute, Arac thought over his options.