Oppuk seized him by the throat so that the human dangled from one hand, choking, arms and legs thrashing. “I weary of you creatures. You are not worthy of serving the Jao.” He motioned to Ullwa. “Take this beast outside and put it down.”
Ullwa moved forward without so much as the flick of a whisker and accepted the writhing human, her own fist closing around the throat in imitation of Oppuk. The creature was able to emit only a single hoarse squawk before its air was once again cut off.
Oppuk’s ears flattened with disgusted-impatience. “Any others wish to instruct me on my duties?”
The remaining human officials shuffled their feet and gave one another fleeting glances, most prudently not raising their eyes to his; which were, he was certain, fiery green with displeasure. The Jao watched him with carefully dampened eyes, each and every one waiting-to-be-of-use.
“Then,” he said, accepting his shoulder harness from a cringing female human servant and speaking only to the Jao present, “go and organize the preparation of our flotilla, small as it is. We will remove ourselves to behind Terra’s moon and wait until after the attack, when the Complete Harmony’s ships have made themselves vulnerable. Though we cannot stop them, we can exact a high price for their targeting of this system.”
The servitor edged back and forth, fastening his buckles, tugging strips of harness into place. “I will board my own vessel,” Oppuk said, “and remain there until the situation is resolved.”
The humans parted as he stalked out, their silence following him down the corridor as he headed for his personal ground transport. His nap was still damp and he regretted that the rapid flow of the situation denied him the opportunity to go back and swim one more time. Really, it had been a most exceptional pool.
Outside, he saw Ullwa dragging Wilbourn’s body toward the disposal unit. By the angle of the jinau general’s head, Ullwa had put him down by the simple expedient of snapping his neck.
Oppuk approved. It would have been absurd to give the human the dignified ending a Jao received when the offer of life was accepted. For a moment, Oppuk fingered the ceremonial dagger attached to his harness, imagining the distasteful task of cleaning human ichor from the blade.
His ears flattened with harsh amusement. Fitting, really, that the humans even had an expression for this situation as well.
Shooting’s too good for him.
* * *
Aille was relieved to touch down in Oklahoma City. There was so much to be done, he hardly knew where to start.
Rafe Aguilera and Willard Belk, who had flown in from Pascagoula along with Tamt, Wrot and Nath, met the ship out on the tarmac. Yaut had squirted a datastream back to Aguilera and Nath at the refit facility for evaluation. Caitlin, Tully, and Kralik fell into their accustomed places before him as naturally as breathing.
Despite the unusual composition of the group—much more variegated than normal in terms of kochan, as well as of mixed species—they were a fine start on assembling a useful service. But they were too few to do what needed to be done. Some of his kochan-parents had kept services of over a hundred.
If only the flow of the situation were less demanding. Desperation tried to insinuate itself into the line of his shoulders and he had to concentrate to amend it to aggressive-concern.
As always at this location, the sunlight was blazing down and the sky was a hard blue bowl devoid of clouds. Aille narrowed his eyes against the unwelcome glare.
“What happened to the hatch?” Aguilera, pale, but walking unassisted, gazed over Aille’s shoulder as the cooling metal popped.
“The Ekhat,” Tully said. “They liked the damn thing so much, they kept it for a souvenir.”
Tamt stepped forward, her big-boned body full of eagerness-to-serve, which no longer seemed forced. “Governor Oppuk has ordered the Jao flotilla into hiding. He will attack the Ekhat ships after they penetrate the atmosphere, as is normal procedure in this situation. Shall I have your courier ship repaired and refueled, or would you prefer to observe the operation from one of the shielded enclaves down here on the planet?”