If he touched her, if he came in contact with her blood, it would almost certainly provoke a mating behavior. It was more dangerous than coming into contact with just her skin. It made him angry that she knew.
“We do not discuss such things, even among ourselves,” he snapped.
“Yes, sir. I know that, sir. I’m very...sorry, sir.” Her voice was getting weaker.
He rubbed the crystal again. “Hahnson, where the hell are you?” he demanded, sounding so much like Dtimun in a temper that Edris just stared at him.
“Five clicks away. Four. Three,” Hahnson was counting.
Two seconds later, he landed in one of the small scout ships, piloted by Ensign Jones. “Hold it there,” he told Jones. “We’ll be right in.”
He ran to Edris, examined her and grimaced. “You have a knack for accidents,” he pointed out as he extricated his tools from his wrist unit. “You couldn’t treat this yourself?”
“Used up all my meds treating a renegade Rojok.”
“And they shot you?” Hahnson added coldly. “Some gratitude!”
“His men shot me when they saw the uniform, Doc,” she replied, wincing. “We need bigger medical devices on our uniforms...”
“I’ll put in a suggestion. Hold still.”
He had to go close to work on her. Rhemun turned away. It was incomprehensible that he suddenly wanted to throttle Hahnson. A growl rose in his throat. He suppressed it by activating his comm ring and trying to get a message through to the crew at the refugee camp.
“All fixed.” Hahnson chuckled. He hadn’t noticed Rhemun’s strange behavior or he might have remarked on it.
Edris got to her feet and drew in a long sweet breath. “Thanks,” she said warmly.
“Back to the camp,” Rhemun said icily, and gestured them toward the ship.
Mekashe was waiting at one of the preformed huts. He grinned when Mallory came into view. “You went looking for me,” he exclaimed with a laugh. “You thought I was wounded and you were concerned?”
“She was wounded looking for you,” Rhemun snapped. “A loss of time and efficiency.” He glared at Mallory. “Your department would benefit from the same drills I require of command line soldiers. I’ll initiate them when we’re back aboard.” He turned to Mekashe. “We have no time for pleasant conversation.”
“Yes, sir,” Mekashe said, saluting. But he had green eyes when he glanced at Edris.
She only nodded. She didn’t want to see any more of the commander’s temper. She was uneasy enough already. He didn’t want Mekashe around her. She’d have to find a kinder way to deter his friendliness.
EDRIS CONTINUED TO use the hormone suppressant that Hahnson had prescribed for her, but ironically, it seemed to increase the hunger she felt when she saw her commanding officer. It was much worse after her experience on Ondar, saving the Rojok commander. It had irritated Rhemun that she knew so much about his culture’s intimate behaviors. Which didn’t help his attitude toward her; it grew more acrimonious by the day.
His temper was unpredictable, and it escalated. He infuriated the human crew members by assigning them to off-duty education programs, reducing the already-small recreational time they were permitted by over half.
Stern, on behalf of the rest of the crew, protested.
“If you find the tasks aboard a Cehn-Tahr vessel too arduous, Captain,” Rhemun said with faint contempt, “perhaps you would be more content to return to a Terravegan brigade.”
Stern stared at his superior officer with cold eyes. “As I’m certain you already know, Commander,” he said with quiet pride, “I would be used for spare parts, in such case.”
“No military body would tolerate such abuse of its personnel,” Rhemun discounted it. “You exaggerate.”
“I assure you, it is no exaggeration of the facts,” Stern replied. “Perhaps you might ask Commander Dtimun to acquaint you with Terravegan military protocols.”
Rhemun lifted his chin. “I command the Holconcom. Not Dtimun.”
“I know. Sir.” The words conveyed enormous disdain.
“The adjunct educational requirements will be met. Or else. Dismissed!”
Stern saluted and went back to his friends, who were waiting for him in one of the storage areas.
Hahnson activated his white ball. “What did he say? Do we still have to do it?”
Stern nodded. “He’s just looking for ways to provoke us. It’s obvious we don’t need retraining in our respective professions. There’s not even that much new tech to learn, besides that nightmare of an updated astrogation program he dragged me through. Even that isn’t much of an improvement over the software we’re already using, as far as I can see.” He huffed. “Listen, the guy’s a ground pounder,” he said shortly. “He led the emperor’s bodyguard. Great job, he was good at it, but this is the space marines! If anybody needs retraining in his damned profession, it’s him!”
“No argument there,” Hahnson said. “He’s grinding poor Mallory into the ground, for sure. He goes out of his way to stand on her.”
“I noticed that,” Stern replied. “He’s baiting all of us, hoping to start a fight so he can kick us out of the Holconcom.”
“It does seem that way,” engineering exec Higgins said.
“Certainly does,” Chief Communications Officer Jennings seconded. “He’s ticked off most of the comm department with his new requirements and duty stations. Like he knows how to run a starship!”
“How the hell did he end up with Dtimun’s command, anyway?” Stern wanted to know.
“Each military position has a Clan requirement,” Hahnson said. “That’s all I know, so don’t start asking more questions. He was obviously next in line for this post so he got it. End of story.”
“Suppose we pretend we don’t know Dtimun is the emperor’s son.” Stern grinned. “Would they give him back to us?”
“Fat chance. He’s got a son now.” Hahnson chuckled. “He’s not going off into space combat, not if Maddie Ruszel has anything to say about it.”
“Well, back to the subject at hand. Just how long do you think we can hang on here?” Higgins asked Stern. “I mean, he’s going out of his way to push us. He wants us off the ship!”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but he’s right,” Jennings seconded. “He couldn’t make it much plainer.”
“It’s still early days,” Strick Hahnson commented. “He’s not used to a combined command, and he has deep prejudices against humans. He was thrown in headfirst when Dtimun’s real identity
