Tiny and Fierce Margo Collins (acx book reading txt) 📖

Until Morpheus began banging on the door and shouting for us to come to the bridge.

20

Morpheus

“Blue, what are our coordinates?” I checked over the flashing screens. This wasn’t right. We shouldn’t have arrived already.

“We have nearly arrived at our destination, Morpheus. We are within 1.0431e-13 parsecs of Nimbus Prime.” Blue rattled off the number smoothly, seemingly unconcerned. Of course, why would the ship’s AI be concerned? She wasn’t the one wanted across the galaxies.

My moxyclorate spiked, sending my internal organs into overdrive.

I tilted my head, looking down at the sensor readings. The back of my skull, though typically protected by an outer helmet, was hollowed-out to increase neck mobility. An evolutionary change in my species so that we could see prey from all angles and be ultra-flexible for flying at high winds and reducing the chances of neck and spine injury. I rolled my neck now and flexed my shoulders, hearing the click-click of releasing pressure from my joints.

“Roughly two Earth miles,” I mumbled, doing the complicated mathematical equation while the humming at the back of my throat focused me. I knew a lot about Old Earth science and math. They were required learning when I was young, still considered the pillar stage. “How the hell did we get here so quickly?” I blasted off the question, standing up and leaning forward, hands digging into the top of the control panels in front of me.

“It seems we entered a currently uncharted wormhole. I have gleaned numerous terabytes of useful scientific data.”

“The gods are not shining kindly on us, it seems,” I muttered, bringing the ship to a pause instead of continuing to advance onto the planet that housed the United Galaxies’ headquarters. The Universal Equality Federation had set up the UG as a neutral zone for gathering planets to draft charters of peace and trade. Armed conflict was strictly taboo, but the UG enforcers always found a way to capture anyone who shouldn’t be roaming free.

Through the curved viewing glass that looked out over the uncountable stars of this galaxy, I could see the distinct lavender gases of Nimbus Prime. I wasn’t cleansed of unpleasant odors, and there was no time to hide in Blue’s bolt-holes. And, to add insult to injury, we were approaching the wrong side of the planet.

The dangerous side.

I needed our captain.

“Blue, keep us stationary. And if you have shielding technology, by the gods use it now.”

“My stealth mode has long been in disrepair, Morpheus, new crewman of Lise.” Blue chimed, and though I didn’t like being called ‘new crewman of Lise’, at least the AI wasn’t calling me ‘Altered One’ any longer. “I can use our reflection panels to mimic the space around us, however. It is not perfect camouflage, but it is better than nothing.”

“Fine, do that,” I thought back to when Lise had set us down on the large meteor for shielding and to take a breather. It hadn’t dawned on me then to ask why she didn’t simply ask Blue to engage stealth. Now I knew the ‘why’.

Jolting from the pilot’s seat, I rushed off the bridge, my metallic wings rising and falling so fast that at one point my feet left the decking and I flew in small, uncontrolled spurts.

The inner and outer lids of my eyes flashed open and closed, allowing me to see and keeping the wind from watering my eyes. The hum I used to focus was a loud chorus of buzzing now. I had to think, we needed a plan. I hoped Lise would be as quick on her feet as I thought she was. She seemed good in a crisis.

“Blue, where is Lise now?”

The AI didn’t answer immediately.

“She is in Evik’s quarters, Morpheus,” she finally replied.

It took me precious time to reach the closed entrance, and I very nearly slammed my hand against the access panel to enter, but then thought better of it.

Alder had said Lise and Evik were romantically interested. There were only a few reasons for the captain to be in his quarters. As I paused, my keen senses picked up sexual pheromones and sweat. Two different breathing rhythms. Heartbeats more rapid than normal.

I had been correct. Lise and Evik had been… together.

At the knowledge of that, faced with it beyond doubt, pangs of jealousy hit me. I was not like Alder, I would not show my emotions on my exterior, but it was undeniable that I had feelings for our new captain. That I craved her, in the same way I once craved my wife.

I had thought these feelings were no longer for me. That my time of intimacy had passed. And, until now, I had been resigned to that fact. I could operate and function. And then this small human female had crashed into my existence.

Raising my fist, I banged on the door sharply.

“Evik! Lise! I need you on the bridge now!” It occurred to me as I yelled and slammed my chitinous, membrane-jointed appendage against the alloy, that I could have asked the AI to alert my shipmates. Instead, I’d raced like a mad creature through the belly of the ship to alert them myself. I cursed internally, berating my stupidity. I had wasted precious time.

“What is it?” Lise’s harried voice carried to me through the barrier. “What happened? Blue, sitrep!” she yelled, and I heard scrambling sounds inside the room.

“We are 1.0431e-13 parsecs from Nimbus Prime, Lise.” The AI repeated its earlier calculations into Evik’s crew quarters; the speaker system was loud, piping out clearly despite the door blocking my way into the room.

When the sliding door hissed open, Evik’s scent excretions hit me like flying full force into the thick trunk of a twin Tarangua tree. It was sex, joy, fear, and anxiety roiled into one noxious scent.

I am sorry, my egg sac and chitin sharing warrior as one mate. Evik saw my expression and apologized quickly, ducking his head and gnashing his mandibles to cause a rapid series of clicks.

“Don’t apologize, Evik,”