StarSet (The Warrior Prince's Claim - BBW Science Fiction Romance) by Calista Skye Page A
Authors: Calista Skye
Tags: alien romance
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arrived, but it wasn't certain that there weren't more of these unnaturals lurking and laying in wait for a chance to attack.
“Yeah, they probably are,” Shala sighed. “Have you called the cleaners?”
“They're on their way up with a guard.”
Smart of him to think of that. Once they left the cleaners to do their thing, someone would need to linger in close proximity to keep an eye on the floor. If the acquisitioners who'd sent this one were close, it was likely they were planning to make a run for the ship, and well, that just wasn't good for anyone. There'd been a time when acquisitioners handled things head on, but they were smart... adaptive. Learning what little bio-engineering they could, they'd begun to make their own soldiers. The humans they refashioned were saved for the bidding wars their low-market customers clamored over.
Shala's lip curled at the thought.
The whole business of it was disgusting. The galaxy needed to be rid of their ilk already.
Lowering to a crouch, she inspected the thing, running the bio-scanner over its dismantled body with a serious set to her jaw. Clean. Sadly pretty, too. Relieved to find the thing hadn't been sent over with bio-contaminants, she rifled its pockets, retrieving little but the nutripackets they relied on to run.
“Yeah. Nothing to see here. I'll write up the report. Who took it down?”
“One of the Telerans. He's coming out of the medical bay. Probably in processing now. Took a good slash to the stomach. That thing's got razor sharp nails.”
Shala frowned.
“Lovely.”
Taking a last glance around the thing, she couldn't help but be impressed that a Teleran took it down singlehandedly. And by handed, that also meant weaponless in this instance. There were no taser burns. Nothing that even indicated a blade had disturbed the AI's body.
Brow rising, Shala's focus stopped just at the AI's cheek. It was already discolored. Like it was made of organic material.
“Can you... have some tissue sent over to Tana?”
“Sure, why?”
A frown touched her lips.
“Let's make sure this one was actually an AI. If they're sending their human-remakes in now, we've got a whole kettle of regulations to wrangle with.”
Jake shook his head with disgust.
He was still extremely sensitive to death, a new recruit, as it were. This was his first mission, in fact. Shala remembered when she was that easily shaken. Life in the stars had seemed ridiculously dark then, with perils lurking at every corner. So many species to keep track of, all of them with their own quirks, features, and defenses (or offense in too many cases before the allied territories were implemented).
It was quite a lot to process, and not something that was typically done quickly.
“Take a load off, Jake. The best way to get this sort of thing out of your head is in the promenade. First drink's on me.”
He was a moment turning his head, but then his big, brown eyes found hers, and she saw him relax just enough that she felt alright leaving him alone until she could get the interview with the Teleran over with. He'd be fine. Just a little green around the edges. Something that would easily be fixed with time.
“Meet you there in 60 ticks?”
She gave him an encouraging grin.
“Yeah. Yeah. Meet you there.”
Shala's smile deepened, and she stepped back then, not wanting or needing to look at the AI's body again. A shiver passed through her when she considered that it might not be an AI at all, but a remade human controlled and fully reprogrammed by the worst fiends in the galaxy.
Jake wasn't the only one who needed a drink. She was going to the promenade tonight as much for herself as she was for him.
3
“Tarik Kraeg?”
The data sheet cast a blue streak of light across Shala's cheeks as she lifted it, and she pursed her lips when she set it down in front of her. Lowering to a seat across from him, she gave the Teleran warrior a good long look. He was unusually
“Yeah, they probably are,” Shala sighed. “Have you called the cleaners?”
“They're on their way up with a guard.”
Smart of him to think of that. Once they left the cleaners to do their thing, someone would need to linger in close proximity to keep an eye on the floor. If the acquisitioners who'd sent this one were close, it was likely they were planning to make a run for the ship, and well, that just wasn't good for anyone. There'd been a time when acquisitioners handled things head on, but they were smart... adaptive. Learning what little bio-engineering they could, they'd begun to make their own soldiers. The humans they refashioned were saved for the bidding wars their low-market customers clamored over.
Shala's lip curled at the thought.
The whole business of it was disgusting. The galaxy needed to be rid of their ilk already.
Lowering to a crouch, she inspected the thing, running the bio-scanner over its dismantled body with a serious set to her jaw. Clean. Sadly pretty, too. Relieved to find the thing hadn't been sent over with bio-contaminants, she rifled its pockets, retrieving little but the nutripackets they relied on to run.
“Yeah. Nothing to see here. I'll write up the report. Who took it down?”
“One of the Telerans. He's coming out of the medical bay. Probably in processing now. Took a good slash to the stomach. That thing's got razor sharp nails.”
Shala frowned.
“Lovely.”
Taking a last glance around the thing, she couldn't help but be impressed that a Teleran took it down singlehandedly. And by handed, that also meant weaponless in this instance. There were no taser burns. Nothing that even indicated a blade had disturbed the AI's body.
Brow rising, Shala's focus stopped just at the AI's cheek. It was already discolored. Like it was made of organic material.
“Can you... have some tissue sent over to Tana?”
“Sure, why?”
A frown touched her lips.
“Let's make sure this one was actually an AI. If they're sending their human-remakes in now, we've got a whole kettle of regulations to wrangle with.”
Jake shook his head with disgust.
He was still extremely sensitive to death, a new recruit, as it were. This was his first mission, in fact. Shala remembered when she was that easily shaken. Life in the stars had seemed ridiculously dark then, with perils lurking at every corner. So many species to keep track of, all of them with their own quirks, features, and defenses (or offense in too many cases before the allied territories were implemented).
It was quite a lot to process, and not something that was typically done quickly.
“Take a load off, Jake. The best way to get this sort of thing out of your head is in the promenade. First drink's on me.”
He was a moment turning his head, but then his big, brown eyes found hers, and she saw him relax just enough that she felt alright leaving him alone until she could get the interview with the Teleran over with. He'd be fine. Just a little green around the edges. Something that would easily be fixed with time.
“Meet you there in 60 ticks?”
She gave him an encouraging grin.
“Yeah. Yeah. Meet you there.”
Shala's smile deepened, and she stepped back then, not wanting or needing to look at the AI's body again. A shiver passed through her when she considered that it might not be an AI at all, but a remade human controlled and fully reprogrammed by the worst fiends in the galaxy.
Jake wasn't the only one who needed a drink. She was going to the promenade tonight as much for herself as she was for him.
3
“Tarik Kraeg?”
The data sheet cast a blue streak of light across Shala's cheeks as she lifted it, and she pursed her lips when she set it down in front of her. Lowering to a seat across from him, she gave the Teleran warrior a good long look. He was unusually
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