“Make him less suspicious.” Tanin approached her. “If I agreed easily, he might think I’m too cocky, and then he might want to interview the whole crew. He expected push back. So, I gave it to him. Come on. Alred, have Goldie meet us in first floor stowage.”
“Message delivered, captain,” he said, robot voice in full effect.
Garnet noticed it but didn’t say anything as she followed Tanin out of the bridge, to the lift, and down to stowage. All the blood had been cleaned out a long time ago – not by Garnet, to her own surprise. None of the others were around, but Goldie was already there, straightening her skirt with a smile.
“The captain will interview you two,” Tanin said to her, speaking calmly. “Be truthful, say what you want. I would only ask that you not reveal two things: The collars and Alred’s presence.”
“Why?” Goldie gave him a curious look.
“I told you before. Those collars are dangerous. They’re best forgotten. Bringing them up will only make a lot of trouble for all of us. Including you. As for Alred, he is an undroitt recall. They are not typically allowed to function as AI the way he is doing. They can, but only with special permission. Which we don’t have. If they realize he’s here, he’ll be forcibly removed and returned to Riut – his home planet.”
“Don’t worry,” Garnet smiled as the ship rocked.
“We won’t tell,” Goldie finished, bobbing her head.
Tanin inclined his head. “Thank you. Otherwise, feel free to speak the truth. I insist you do.”
They nodded just as the door beeped. A moment later, it slid open, revealing two males in all white, helmets covering their heads – except for the horns sprouting from one. They were both large enough to be intimidating, even without weapons.
“Females,” the horn-less one started in a soft voice, “this way.”
“You,” the horned one gestured to Tanin with a harsh bark. “Follow me.”
Garnet and Goldie both turned to Tanin. He indicated with his head that they should do as instructed and the five of them walked into the ship.
In direct contrast to the plain, bare metal of the Humility, the peacekeeper ship was all clean, bright lines. Sleek and modern, white trimmed in pale gold. It was utilitarian, but there had obviously been attempts to make it nice.
Immediately upon entering, they were separated. The two males – who Garnet assumed were the peacekeepers – gestured for them to go in different directions. Tanin did it without complaint, but Garnet couldn’t help but look back at him as they were led away.
They didn’t go far. Just a little way down the hallway. They stopped there, and Garnet and Goldie were each put in small rooms by themselves. There wasn’t much inside. Just a two-person couch on one wall and a single person chair in the corner – both made of a soft, creamy leather. At least she thought it was leather as she sat down, testing it, after the door shut behind her.
Garnet sat awkwardly, drumming her fingers on her knees. Waiting. There was no camera she could see, but she didn’t take that to mean there wasn’t one, just that it wasn’t obvious. There wasn’t any music or a TV or even a clock ticking – not even a generic painting to look at.
She rocked her feet for a bit. Then stood and moved to the chair. Then, stood again and moved back to the couch, sitting on it with her legs laid out on the seat. Her foot bobbed in the air as she waited, impatient.
Was Goldie getting interviewed first? Were they just being iced out? She wished they at least had a magazine or something to thumb through. Garnet wasn’t good at doing nothing. It felt like it had been forever since they put her in here, but realistically she knew it couldn’t have been longer than ten or twenty minutes.
Or years. Whatever.
The door finally opened just as she was about to start pacing, revealing the same guy who had been talking to Tanin on the holo display. He was a lot bigger in person, and more intimidating besides. His skin was the same off-white as the underclothes she could glimpse between the light, white armor. His long, pointed ears were more obvious now, as was the long tail that trailed behind him. It was much thicker than the small, barbed one Tanin had.
How many aliens had tails? Why didn’t humans have tails? No fair.
That inane thought swept through her head as Garnet turned, putting her feet on the floor as Ikvar walked in and took a seat in the lone chair.
“Greetings, female,” he said, his voice still gruff, but a lot softer compared to when he had been talking to Tanin.
“Captain Ikvar,” she nodded her head, then hesitated. “Wait, are you a captain? Is that your title?”
“It is,” he inclined his head. “And if your sister was Goldie, you must be Garnet.”
“That’s me,” she beamed. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” he responded evenly. “I just want to ask you a few questions. As I understand it, you were abducted from Earth.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know by who?”
