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  “Doctor Hypatia, I mean it when I say I would be pleased if you would avail yourself of my hospitality.” Rawin entered and waited for Emi and Aaron to follow before closing the door behind them.

  Somewhere in the house, a chime sounded. Four males immediately raced into the foyer from different directions. Two of them wore yellow collars, one green, and one orange. But the circular badges on all their collars were the same.

  Rawin allowed the two with yellow collars to kiss her hands. The other two dropped to their feet and kissed her shoes. “There are my pets.” She laid a hand on each head and introduced them to Emi. “Tau’Rawin, Kal’Rawin, Dou’Rawin, and Yee’Rawin.” She spoke to them in Moran. All four males looked at Emi, then looked expectantly at Aaron.

  Emi didn’t miss how he involuntarily took a step behind Emi.

  One of the males with a yellow collar spoke to Rawin, but his eyes never left Aaron. Rawin laughed. “My pet wants to know if he can play with the pilot,” she told Emi.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s against our custom.” Emi grew increasingly tired of repeating it. What she wanted to do was scream, “Keep your fucking eyes off my husband, you damn greedy bitch.”

  But she suspected that wouldn’t be considered very diplomatic.

  Rawin’s eyes flickered. “Come, let me show you my home.”

  It wasn’t very large compared to the Imperial Home, but the eight rooms were quite spacious and well-appointed. When they reached the back of the house, Emi saw it was actually part of a complex of several similar homes sharing a common pool. Two Moran women were sunning themselves on lounges next to the pool.

  Naked.

  Rawin walked over to them and planted kisses that looked more than friendly on their mouths. She spoke to them for a moment in Moran. Both women sat up, eyeing Aaron, who by now was never more than a few inches behind Emi.

  The two women, both with dark hair and apparently unconcerned by their nudity, walked over to Emi.

  “Hello, Doctor Hypatia,” the first said, offering her hand, her eyes never leaving Aaron. “I am Pelatau’tonkin.”

  The other, also greedily eyeing Aaron, extended her hand. “M’lauwey Kealou.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  Pelatau’tonkin whistled loudly, and a different male with a yellow collar and different badge came running. She pointed to the ground in front of her. He dropped to his knees and buried his face in the juncture of her thighs, his hands reaching up to caress the tympanic regions along her side.

  She dug her fingers into his hair. “He is very good, Doctor,” she said in heavily accented standard.

  Emi swallowed hard. “I’m sure he is.”

  Rawin smiled and returned her attention to Emi. “Any or all of our pleasure males,” Rawin said, “free for you to use for the night. We have never had a human male before. We promise to keep him very busy so he doesn’t have time to miss you. And if money is an issue, we will be happy to compensate you for his use.”

  Diplomacy be fucked! Emi pasted a smile on her face and prayed it stayed there long enough to get them out of there. “That is a very generous offer, but I’m afraid I will pass on it tonight. I need to return to my ship as soon as possible. We have a critical mission we were pulled from. It is vital we get underway as soon as possible.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed Aaron’s hand and almost tripped over the four males eagerly waiting behind them. Weaving around them, she nearly broke into a run and headed for the front door.

  “Emi—”

  “Shut up, Aaron. Regulations, smegulations. We’re getting the twins and getting the fuck off this goddamned rock of horny women right now,” she muttered.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Caph knew they couldn’t refuse the errand, since Mauri seemed cheerfully insistent that Emi partake of their planet’s most-desired export on her royal dime. With a map and list, along with a voucher from Mauri loaded into their handheld, they set out on their expedition.

  “I’d feel better if we had a guard,” Caph griped. “Or a tour guide. At least we wouldn’t get lost.” He didn’t like the curious stares they received from both Moran women and men alike. And he felt worse than naked in the getup they had to wear.

  “Oh, hush,” Ford said. “This is a piece of cake and it’s not that far away.”

  They followed the handheld map until they arrived at a storefront a few minutes later. Caph looked up at the sign. Written in Moran, he couldn’t decipher it. “Is this the place?”

  Ford double-checked the handheld. “It says it is on here.”

  Caph took a deep breath. “I’ll be so damned glad to get back to the TB,” he muttered, low enough three Moran women walking past them couldn’t hear him. “I hate this fucking place.” He adjusted the collar on his neck before tugging at the G-string. “This damn thing is squeezing my balls nearly up into my ass.”

  “Yeah, it’s not exactly my cuppa either, big guy. Let’s do this and get it over with. The sooner we do, the sooner we can head home and change. Remember, we’re supposed to be diplomatic.”

  “Hard to do that dressed like this.” He followed Ford inside the store and grabbed a shopping basket from the rack of them by the door. A chime sounded at their entrance.

  It was the right place. Fragrant displays of jars, bottles, and tubes, as well as what looked like candles and potpourri, were tastefully displayed in the busy store, even if the two men couldn’t read a single word on any of the packages. They weren’t the only men in the place, however. Caph spotted one naked Moran man wearing an orange collar and dutifully following behind his owner, carrying a full armload of stuff in an overflowing basket while she took her time browsing. The door chime sounded every time someone entered or left the store.

  Caph followed Ford over to a woman standing behind a counter. Despite the differences, it seemed shops all over the universe had a lot of the same features in common, like checkout counters and clerks who didn’t want to be bothered by customers they considered beneath them. Ford pulled up something on the handheld and showed it to her.

  Caph also guessed disdain was a universal expression. The woman arched an eyebrow at Ford as she glanced at the screen of his device. Then she walked around the counter and led them to a display along the far wall, pointing but not walking them through their list.

  “Thank you. Eh, cah’shleay,” Ford said.

  She let out what sounded to Caph like a snort of derision. “You are welcome, Earth man,” the Moran responded in accented, but understandable standard dripping with contempt.

  “Huh,” Ford said, watching her walk away. “Didn’t think they spoke standard.”

  “Many of us do,” a Moran woman said from behind them.

  Caph turned to find himself nearly eye-to-boob with a tall Moran woman.

  “Sorry?” Ford said as he looked up.

  “Because we are used to hosting people from all over the galaxy, many of us speak standard.” She carried a shopping basket and pointed at the wall display directly behind where Ford stood. “You are not from here.”

  “Oh, sorry.” He moved out of the way so she could reach the display. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

  “You have been on our news. You and your captain, the doctor.” She picked up a jar, looked at the label, and added it to her basket. “She must be a very rich woman to have three men of her own as well as a ship.”

  Caph had a weird feeling at the base of his neck. He didn’t like the way the woman’s eyes kept running up and down their bodies. Especially his. He wanted to get their stuff and get out of there and back to Emi. Ford would stand there talking all day if he let him.

  “Could you help us find these?” Caph grabbed the handheld from Ford and showed her the screen. “Mauri Dob’antu told Emi…eh, Captain Hypatia, she wanted her to have these things as gifts for bringing the ship back for them.”

  The door chime sounded yet again. Caph glanced to see a Moran woman enter. She cast her gaze around the store. Wh
en her eyes met Caph’s, he looked away quickly. He didn’t like the hard, intense stare she gave him.

  The woman helping them looked at the handheld’s screen and turned back to the display. She selected three different items and placed them in Caph’s basket. “They are made here on our planet from what you would call organically grown plants. No chemicals are added to them. Women from various planets, and not just human, pay dearly to have this imported from us. Mauri is very kind and generous to those in her favor.”

  She reached over to another display and grabbed two more items, tubes of what Caph assumed were lotion, and placed them in his basket. “She might also enjoy these.” She smiled, but it held no humor that he could see. “I hope she enjoys them.”

  “Thanks,” Caph said. “We really appreciate your help.” He tapped Ford on the shoulder and pointed at the counter. “Let’s get out of here.”

  They turned to make their way over to the counter when the woman Caph had seen entering the store approached them. He didn’t like the smirk she gave before she started screaming something in Moran.

  Caph and Ford looked at each other. “What the fuck?” Caph said.

  Immediately, two Moran guards rushed up and grabbed Ford and Caph.

  Ford struggled. “Let go of us!”

  The woman spoke quickly in Moran to the two guards, who ripped the basket out of Caph’s hand before slapping their version of handcuffs on them and bodily dragging them from the store.

  “What the hell is wrong with you people?” Caph yelled, trying to fight.

  They were dragged into an awaiting vehicle with a logo on the side that Caph assumed meant it was one of their security force vehicles. When they both continued trying to resist, the cuffs delivered a stunning shock that left both men immobile and disoriented for several minutes.

  Ford groaned. “Aaron’s gonna kill us,” he said from his place on the floor in the back of the vehicle.

  “Screw that. Emi’s going to kill us,” Caph said.

  * * * *

  Emi and Aaron quickly made their way back to the main Imperial Home. Rawin didn’t follow them, much to Emi’s great relief. Once again, every nerve in Emi’s body was screaming in protest, and nothing she told herself would settle her. The only thing that would help, she knew, was getting Ford and Caph and getting the hell back to the Bight.

  One of the guards at the entrance understood enough standard she was able to lead Emi and Aaron back to Mauri’s office.

  Mauri was still on the phone at her desk. Shaking with adrenaline, Emi plopped down on the sofa and looked up at Aaron.

  How he’d managed to not say anything during the encounter proved the strength of his iron will. Maybe she wasn’t the best imitation captain out there. Aaron, hands down, did a far better job of at least pretending to keep his cool. Once Mauri got off the phone, Emi would ask her to send guards after Caph and Ford to see them back safely, and then ask to leave.

  Mauri was still on the phone a few minutes later when a guard rushed into the office, speaking in excited tones Emi didn’t like.

  Even more, Emi didn’t like how the guard glanced at her and Aaron before directing her comments to Mauri once more.

  Mauri ended her phone conversation and frowned as she spoke with the guard.

  Aaron walked over to Emi as she stood. “I don’t like this, babe,” he whispered.

  “Neither do I.”

  Mauri looked distraught. She rounded her desk and approached Emi. “Doctor Hypatia, I have just received troubling information about your other two men.”

  Emi involuntarily reached for Aaron’s hand. “What? Are they okay? Did one of those spider things get him?”

  “Things? No, there was an altercation in the store. I am so terribly sorry, I should have sent a guard with them but I did not want to insult your ownership of your men by doing so.”

  “What happened?” Emi tried not to scream.

  “It appears they assaulted someone in the store.”

  “Assaulted?” Now she and Aaron were doing the twinspeak.

  “No way,” Emi said. “They would never do that.”

  “I do not have all the details, but security detained them and took them to a holding station.”

  “Are they okay?”

  “They are unharmed. We must go. Now.”

  * * * *

  Less than an hour later, they were standing in the station. Caph and Ford looked miserable, sitting on a bench inside a locked holding room. Two uniformed guards were trying to explain the situation to Mauri and Baltin, who’d been called in to help deal with this.

  Rawin showed up with another woman and entered the fray as well after casting triumphant glances at Emi.

  Both Caph and Ford stood up and walked over to the door, motioning to Emi and Aaron. Emi and Aaron could stand outside the cell and talk to them through the door.

  “That’s her,” Caph said, pointing at the woman who’d entered the station with Rawin. “That’s the woman who walked into the store and then just started yelling. We never touched her, and we never touched the woman we were talking to.”

  “I swear we didn’t,” Ford said.

  “Calm down. We’ll get this settled,” Aaron counseled. Emi read the doubt in him, though, which didn’t instill her with confidence.

  After several more minutes of wrangling, Mauri walked over to Emi. “Doctor, I must speak with you.” She brought Emi over to the gathered security officers, Rawin, and the other woman.

  “There is a witness to the claims Ptau’Baegen makes. She claims they attempted to sexually assault her. These are serious charges.”

  Emi struggled to remain calm. “My men didn’t touch her. She’s making this up.”

  “This is what the report says.”

  “I don’t care what the hell the report says. My guys are chipped. It ensures fidelity. Even if they weren’t chipped, I know they would never touch someone like that.”

  “There is a witness.”

  “Is it on video? Witnesses can lie.”

  Rawin’s eyes narrowed. She looked amused. “Ptau’Baegen is my friend, and she does not lie.”

  “You’re behind this, I’m sure of it!” Emi shouted. “You’re pissed off that I won’t let you get freaky with my husbands!”

  Ptau’Baegen got in Emi’s face, which was hard to do because she stood a good half a head taller than Emi. “I do not lie!” She looked at Mauri. “I demand damages for the assault and for the accusation against my honor!”

  Rawin got between Ptau’Baegen and Emi. “Mother, I have a simple solution. Perhaps Ptau’Baegen will be amenable to it?”

  Ptau’Baegen looked like she was thinking. “Go on.”

  “Do any of those men catch your eye?”

  She looked at where Aaron, Ford, and Caph stood. “The free one. The pilot. He would do.”

  Rawin looked triumphant. “I suggest a simple trade. Dr. Hypatia awards the pilot to Ptau’Baegen, and perhaps Ptau’Baegen would be agreeable to letting the other two go free?”

  Ptau’Baegen nodded while Emi yelled and tried to charge the Moran woman. “No fucking way!” She felt hands on her and realized Aaron was pulling her back, trying to calm her.

  She fought him, breaking free and standing on tiptoe to get in Rawin’s face, who stood at least a head taller than Emi. “Listen to me, you goddamned cunt. You are not getting your fucking hands on any of my men. I’ll do whatever it takes, but they all leave with me. This is made-up bullshit and you know it!”

  There was a brief moment of discussion in Moran between Rawin and her friend. Rawin shrugged. “She says she demands a fight of settlement. Winner takes all.”

  “Fine!” Emi screamed.

  “Em,” Aaron warned from behind her.

  Emi ignored him and turned to Mauri. “Let’s do this thing. I can take her.”

  Rawin cleared her throat. “Ptau’Baegen has the right to choose to fight or appoint a proxy.”

  “What kind of bullshit is this?”r />
  Mauri sadly nodded. “It is our law.”

  “And she appoints me as her proxy,” Rawin finished.

  “Or you give me the pilot,” Ptau’Baegen helpfully suggested with a smile, “and you can leave tonight with your others right now.”

  “Fuck. You!”

  Mauri sighed. “Tomorrow, then. At the grounds. I shall announce it.”

  Rawin stared Emi down. “You do not stand a chance,” she whispered to Emi. “Spare your honor and two of your men and be generous.”

  “Fuck. You.”

  “You cannot win against me.”

  “I’m very lucky.”

  “There is no such thing as luck. There is skill and training, and I am the best.”

  “Then why are you eager to get me to settle?”

  “I am simply trying to spare you the pain of losing not one, but all three men.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Very well. It is your loss, Doctor Hypatia.” Rawin turned and left with her friend.

  Aaron watched them go. “Em—”

  “Don’t say it,” she said, her tone growling. “Don’t fucking say it.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  They wouldn’t let Emi take Caph and Ford with her. Because of the charges, and a so-called witness to them, they were required to remain in custody until the settlement fight. Emi and Aaron were escorted back to the hotel by Baltin, who acted mortified.

  “Doctor, I am so sorry I did not stay. I should have made other arrangements and gone with them myself.”

  Emi liked Baltin and sensed her genuine anguish over the situation. “It’s not your fault,” Emi gently said. “I know in my heart Rawin planned this with her friends.”

  “I fear you are right. But she is a fierce fighter. One of the best. She has never lost.”

  “She’s not going to be a match for me,” Emi assured her despite not feeling the bravado herself.

  “I hope you are right. I would truly hate to see you lose. I will return in the morning and bring you breakfast.” She left them alone.