Mission: Guardian Angel (Veslor Mates Book 2) Read online

  “I’ve been in the fleet for over twenty-eight years. I’m damn proud of everything you did while on the Gorison Traveler. You went above and beyond. Everyone who survived long enough for rescue to arrive is alive because of your actions, and those of Vivian Goss. The truth also came out because of you, under hellish circumstances.”

  Tears filled her eyes but she blinked them back. “Thank you.” She glanced around. “Where did the server disappear to? I don’t see him hovering over there anymore waiting for us to order.”

  “He’s probably avoiding me since I complained about breakfast. Scrambled eggs shouldn’t have the same consistency as my coffee. That reminds me, request we get a new first-shift cook.”

  She shook her head. “Stop being super picky. The cook was probably having a one-off this morning. Make that request next week if the food still sucks.”

  He chuckled. “Assistants are supposed to blindly follow orders.”

  She scrunched her nose at him. “I’m not really an assistant, though, am I? You shouldn’t have hired me.”

  “You’ll keep me on my toes, Abby. I take it you’re going to keep me in the loop on what you’re doing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you for trusting me. For that, I’ll give the cook another chance.”

  * * * * *

  Drak sat with his males in the training room and held back a growl. The human team leader needed a good claw slashing.

  Roth moved his leg, bumping his, and drew his attention. “Let it go,” he murmured.

  “Rogers angers me.”

  “What do you think of that female?” This from Gnaw. “She was something.”

  Drak remembered her winking at them, and his amusement returned. “She put the human in his place and put him in fear of us. I wonder why?”

  Roth shrugged. “Our human team leader wasn’t kind to her.”

  “He’s not kind to any of us,” Maith added. “Remind me why we were sent here.”

  “To make nice with the humans,” Roth stated, taking the time to make eye contact with each member of their grouping. “The new treaty between our planets is important.”

  “I don’t understand why. They are a weaker race and their technology isn’t as good as ours. What are our people getting out of this deal?” Maith softly growled.

  “Better trade negotiations,” Roth whispered. “They pay well for the food our people have been selling to their stations. Veslors profit. Humans also don’t cause the fleet as many problems, now that they aren’t going hungry.”

  Maith snorted. “We’re fighters. I also don’t see why we are here.”

  Drak silently agreed. Some of their race did grow and sell food to other races, but mostly, the Veslors were known as fierce fighters. They had a reputation for being strong allies and they were not the types to take over worlds. They defended the weaker species who lived near their solar system and were willing to battle for injustices. But United Earth seemed to be doing fine on handling their own conflicts. He couldn’t understand why they’d hired their grouping.

  “We’ll do our time, help the humans with their colony problem, and leave when our help isn’t requested any longer. Our king will be grateful. He promised us our choice of unclaimed land once we’re done here. Our future will be secure when we grow old, and we’ll have our own territory.” Roth stood. “I have a feeling we’ll be sent to the planet again only too soon.”

  Drak knew it was a generous offer from their king. Most Veslors had to purchase unclaimed land if they didn’t want to return to the original family grouping in which they had been raised. He definitely didn’t want to go back to where he’d been born and raised. No one in his grouping did.

  None of their families had been understanding of their choice to become fighters, leaving their grouping, and the planet. The few visits they’d made to see blood relations hadn’t gone well. His own parents had tried to guilt him into growing food with them and the others. They said it was safer, and he was selfish to make them worry.

  Drak wasn’t a farmer. He was a fighter.

  “We already pulled an early shift and killed many Cadia today.” Gnaw grumbled his displeasure. “We should eat before they send us down to the planet.”

  “We’ll fill our bellies,” Roth agreed.

  Drak stood, not looking forward to taking on the creatures that were attacking the colonists on the planet. To kill them while they slept was easy, but night shifts were dangerous. That’s when the alien beasts were active. It was stupid that the humans had built a large settlement near where the flesh-eaters lived. It was apparent they hadn’t studied the biological aspects of their new world before trying to claim it…or they had drastically underestimated the threat.

  The cafeteria was full of humans when their grouping entered. Conversations halted. Drak ignored their stares. They got in line, filled their trays with food, and sat together at a table far from the others. It wasn’t as if anyone ever asked them to join them for meals. Being different wasn’t a good thing on a ship full of humans.

  They had just begun to eat when one of the human team members, Fritz, sauntered over. He held a drink in his hand and smirked, glaring at Roth. “Rogers is sending you down to the surface on third shift. Don’t be late.” He glanced around. “We’re all sure you can handle a solo shift, since you think you’re hot shit. You’re on your own.”

  Drak wasn’t surprised. The human teams seemed lazy to him.

  Roth gave a sharp nod, acknowledging the order. “Third shift. Understood. Is Tiggs our pilot?”

  “Yeah.” Fritz took a sip of his drink and burped.

  “Do we get functioning weapons?” Drak couldn’t resist asking.

  The human’s face turned red, and he glared at him. “So that bitch was right. You could hear that far away. Rogers was just kidding. Nobody would mess with your weapons.”

  Gnaw swallowed his food. “You call your females bitches? I thought only animals did that.”

  “Like us,” Maith added. “Isn’t that what you call us? Animals?”

  Roth gave a low warning growl, an order for his males to be quiet. He always tried to keep the peace.

  “We normally don’t,” Fritz spat. “But Abby Thomas is a bitch. You don’t know anything about her. She helped another bitch forcibly take control of the Gorison Traveler. The only reason she’s not rotting in prison is because Commander Bills and a bunch of other high-ups wanted to either fuck her or kiss ass to D Corp. Her parents own it. Never trust that bitch.”

  Drak knew the name of that vessel. It was the reason humans had signed a peace and trade treaty with his people. A Veslor trade ship had picked up a distress signal and gone to give aid. The Ke’ters had turned against the humans during flight and murdered some of them.

  “Ke’ters, right?” Gnaw shook his head and made a sound of disgust. “Everyone knows they see other aliens as food. Your king was naïve to allow them on one of your vessels. It was Veslors who had to clean up that mess.”

  “We don’t have a king,” Fritz snapped. “And what in the hell does that mean? You had to clean that mess up?”

  Drak lifted his drink. “Veslors responded to the distress signal and exterminated your Ke’ter infestation. We all studied the details of that conflict before coming here.”

  “Abby Thomas helped that other bitch use stolen codes to take control of the entire ship and kept all the crew locked in their quarters, otherwise our people would have killed them.” Fritz’s face turned even redder. “It’s half her fault we even needed help.”

  Roth slowly stood. “The only reason so many humans still live is because they were protected and the Ke’ters couldn’t reach them. A human had locked down the entire ship, putting protective barriers between the crew and the enemy. You’re saying it was the female we saw earlier?”

  Fritz looked unhealthy, with his face such a deep shade of red. The color traveled from his face down to his neck. It was fascinating to watch for Drak. Maybe the male would have a me