Planetary Parlay by Cameron Cooper

Author:Cameron Cooper [Cooper, Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stories Rule Press Inc.
Published: 2020-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

—17—

I stepped out of the Assembly hall and into a swirling cloud of Drigu in their tunics and bare feet, and in the very center of them stood Keskemeti. I had failed to notice him leaving the hall, which was a slip on my part. I needed to keep track of when people came back. Not that I thought the Terrans might try to snatch one of us when we slipped out for a bio break. It would be far too cynical to consider such a possibility and I was such a reasonable woman…

Just because I couldn’t think of a reason why they might do something that inane didn’t mean such a reason didn’t exist. I would monitor everyone’s movements until we all stepped back on board the Lythion once more.

The insane negotiations going on in the room behind me had distracted me. Keskemeti being out here, when I had thought him to be in his chair, watching the proceedings with his fingertips together in front of his mouth, told me I needed to smarten up.

He was the only one not dancing about and shouting. Everyone else was screaming at him and from the look of it, they were within thirty seconds of physically beating him.

I waded into the group, pushing bodies aside and shoving, until I was in front of Keskemeti. He actually looked relieved to see me.

“What the hell did you do?” I shouted at him.

“Nothing!” he cried.

I rolled my eyes.

Keskemeti rubbed the back of his neck. “I told Mercia she was free to go.”

“Go? Go where? And how the hell did you manage to communicate that to her?”

He waved a hand back toward the assembly hall. I twisted and looked over my shoulder. The Drigu were still pressing in around us, but they were quieter now I was there. My confronting Keskemeti with my hands on my hips would have communicated to them that I was as upset with him as they were.

Some were still chattering in semi-loud voices, but I couldn’t tell if they were wound up, because Terran always sounded fast and angry.

Behind them, crowded up against the wall beside the big hall doors, was Slate. He’d taken himself out of the scuffle. Smart android.

I beckoned to him and he moved cautiously and slowly toward me. The Drigu parted for him, this time. Many of them babbled at him as he made his way toward me and Keskemeti.

“They are very upset,” Slate said.

“No kidding,” I replied. “Now, Keskemeti, what exactly did you tell Mercia?”

“That she was free to go,” Keskemeti said, his tone flat.

I tilted my head. “Go…where?”

“Just go,” Keskemeti said.

Behind him, I saw the young girl that had to be Mercia. She had been crying, and other Drigu crowded around her, one with her arm around Mercia, consoling her.

It clicked into place. “Slate, did Keskemeti tell you to explain that the girl was free…no longer a Drigu?”

“Yes, Danny,” Slate replied.

Keskemeti sighed.

“You fool!” I raged at Keskemeti. “You told the girl you didn’t want her, that she was fit for nothing, and had no future.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.