Arach by C.M. Simpson (books to read for 12 year olds TXT) 📕

and we both knew he was referring to the delay there’d been in notifying the cruising security company.

“They kinda locked us down, boss. Cutter had to deal with that. If she hadn’t, we’d have been toast.”

Well, that was nice of him.

“Enjoy it while you can, kiddo. It’ll be back to ‘hands off my system’ in no time flat. Speaking of which…”

But he didn’t get to finish. I became vaguely aware of what sounded like someone knocking, and then Mack and Tens were gone.

“Hurry up, Cutter. I want you with me, when we talk to her.”

Oh, he did, huh? Well, this day just got better and better.

“At least they’re not trying to kill you anymore.”

Tens had a point.

I surfaced up and out of my head in time for Mack to pull me to my feet. I looked down at where Rohan was sleeping against Cascade’s side, and wondered how he was going. He opened his eyes, and looked up at me.

“Don’t worry about the hangar-bay doors,” he said. “I’ve got them. Whatever Askavor did to clear the system worked.”

Askavor! And I glanced over to make sure the spider was okay.

“It’s okay,” Mack reassured me. “I’ve decided he can live… for now.”

Askavor ignored him, having turned slightly so he was facing the doors. Two of the vespis warriors that had accompanied us to rescue Tens were standing to either side, and slightly in front of him. Tovy caught my frown as I noted how much it looked like they were guarding him, and hurried to explain.

“The queen’s guard is fiercely protective, and their ichor will still be boiling.”

Boiling ichor, huh. I wondered if that was anything like boiling blood for humans, and received a slight gesture of acknowledgement. Right. Like Mack when he runs out of enemies in a battle.

“Right,” Tovy agreed, and I felt Mack’s hand tighten on my own.

“You need to open the door, Cutter.”

I what? Oh. Oh! Oh, dear.

I’d jammed the door.

I probably should have remembered that while they were still fighting outside. Given I didn’t want to sit down, again, I leant against Mack, and closed my eyes. It was a good thing he understood that I couldn’t be inside the system, and paying attention to the outside, too, or he might have been thinking I was seeking something else entirely.

Even so, having him wrap his arm around my shoulders wasn’t funny.

“Mack!”

“I need to keep my gun hand, free.”

I wanted to ask him why, but Tek was starting to look anxious, and I remembered bad-tempered, blood-boiling, vespis bodyguards, and didn’t want to cause any trouble.

“Give me a minute.”

Unfortunately, it took more than a minute. I’d pretty much destroyed the operating instructions for the lock. Well, oops. I built a new set, and tried to insert them into the code, but the ship’s security system was having none of it.

“Tens!”

“What? Oh, I see,” and he grabbed my piece of coding, gave it a bit of a twist, slapped the security program, hard, and jammed the new instructions inside. “There. Try that.”

I was blinking my way back to reality, when the door slid open, and the first of the queen’s guards moved into the room. They made a lunge for Askavor, and their blades were turned, as the two vespis guarding him, blocked their path. They stared into each other’s eyes for a good, long moment, and the two guards shook themselves all over, and stepped back.

After that, they paid the rest of us some attention.

I truly had not understood just how big they were until they came and stood in front of me. Compared to Tovy and Tek, or any of the others, these bu…wasps were massive. They still carried the same black and orange-yellow markings as the others, but theirs were tinged with red, and had a core of pure gold running through their center.

“It is how we know they will be guards,” Tovy told him, his voice muted inside my head, and, even so, the guards snapped their heads towards him. “I meant no disrespect.”

They stared at him a moment longer, and then returned to their inspection of all those waiting in the room. I stiffened, as they ran their antennae lightly over my skin and combat suit, and Mack went rigid. I don’t know how Tens reacted, but I guessed he was about as relaxed as the rest of us. Whatever. The guards took no offense, and went on to complete just as thorough a check of the vespis squad.

It was interesting to see that the vespis stood just as rigidly as we had. These guards must be really something!

One reached out a wing as she passed, brushing it along the top of my chest on her way to inspect the wounded.

“Care for a demonstration?” she asked, her voice edged in fur and power, and I shivered, glad, for a change, that Mack hadn’t taken his arm from my shoulders.

I shook my head, pressing closer to Mack’s side, as I lowered my eyes. The vespis gave a short series of buzzes, and continued on her path towards the first crewman. I felt Mack shift beside me, his arm leaving my shoulders, as he turned.

“Don’t move!” Tek commanded, and Mack hesitated. “They will not harm your people.”

Tension vibrated through Mack’s chest, and I held my breath. It was more than a relief, when he turned back, and tucked me under his arm, once more. Domineering bastard.

“Never forget it,” he said, and there was something in his voice that was more than a commander stating a fact.

It was not something I cared to explore. Not right, now, anyway. I turned my attention to the bodyguards moving amongst our crew. At first it was hard to understand why our people weren’t doing more than the initial flinch when the guards bent over them, but, as the inspection progressed, I caught the faintest change to the air around me.

It was… a creeping sweetness, somehow as soothing as it was tantalizing. I both wanted to find its source, and just stand