As the Venusian stared at her with her giant, protuberant eyes, Mina shivered. She had the sense Mierna saw every vecking thought in her head.
“Yes, bait a thief. You call him, offer him a rare pet-trained Zandian female—the only one in all the galaxies. Tell him I belonged to Dorhock. He will remember me. Tell him you want to meet to discuss terms.”
The old Venusian nodded once. “I will make the call and set up the meeting. But we cannot go alone. It will take an entire team to steal the carriers.”
Relief flowed down her limbs. The Venusian did understand the plan.
“I know. Just get the meeting. Then we’ll tell the others.”
The Venusian took a swig of the foul-smelling liquid in her jar. “All right. Put on your collar, showcat.”
Tingles raced up and down her spine. So. Venusians were the real deal. No being knew that nickname her human friend Leti had coined for Dorhock’s pets. No beings except the other pets.
She stripped out of her clothing. She didn’t have a collar and leash, but she’d found a rope that would work to tie around her neck. She sure as hell hoped this Venusian could be trusted. She knotted it loosely and held the other end out to Mierna. “Can they trace the transmission?”
“No, we’ll record it and send it on a scrambled frequency. You know where to send it?”
“Yes. Well, not exactly. Erick said he can’t find a way to communicate with Neo Lin, but I know a friend of his. And he should be easy enough to contact.”
Mierna brought her jar to her lips and drank, guzzling until she drained it. It made Mina’s stomach turn just watching.
The Venusian gave her a critical up and down sweep of her eyes. “Too tall. You look ready to kick my ass. Squat down. Hands and knees, or make a little ball.”
Mina almost laughed at Mierna’s directions, but she dropped to her knees, placing her hands palm up on her thighs as she’d been trained to do.
“Good.” Mierna nodded. She flicked a button and faced a recording device. “This message is for Neo Lin. I have a very rare item for sale. I think you’ll like it.” The old female tugged on Mina’s rope, shocking her with her strength. Mina flew forward onto her hands and knees, wincing. “Zandian female—one of only three left in the galaxy. This one has been trained as a sex pet by your friend Dorhock. Want her? Reply to my transmission with a meetin
g time and place.” She smacked a button on the console, and the device light went off.
“Ow.” Mina complained, rubbing the grit off her hands from the dirty floor as she stood up.
“Had to make it look real,” Mierna said.
“Well, you didn’t have to break my neck to do it,” she complained as she worked the knot at her throat, but a reluctant smile tugged at her lips. This salty old female knew her stuff. She had chosen wisely.
“Now, you tell me where to send it, and we wait for the reply.”
“Great.” She pulled on her clothing and plunked down beside the Venusian at the control panel.
This crazy plan of hers just might work.
~.~
He’d officially lost his mind over Mina.
The female hadn’t answered his calls or sent him any messages until that morning’s, which had been cryptic at best.
She’d sent a hologram of herself, looking rumpled and beautiful and more than a little bit rushed. I have a meeting with Neo Lin. Can you come to Zandian Freedom to talk about it?
That was all.
No explanation of how she got a meeting. Or what she planned. And as relieved as he was to know she’d made contact, he still didn’t like her being involved. Not if it meant she had to use her connections from the world she wanted to leave behind.
Worse, he apparently was incapable of not responding to a summons for her immediately, because staying at the palatial pod had become an impossibility—despite the fact that he hadn’t finished contacting all the ambassadors in the galaxy to request support and assistance.
But getting the galactacarriers was just as important. Wasn’t it? He couldn’t even trust his perspective. Where Mina was concerned, he thought with his cock. He’d already proven that time and time again.
It didn’t matter. He was getting on his ship just as soon as he finished sending the last transmission requesting a meeting. He could tend to the replies just as easily from Zandian Freedom as he could from the pod.