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Frag. He couldn’t even project its present location.
“Powluks have a saying. There are many ways to kill the enemy.” Tsadok shrugged.
Strike had to find the enemy before he could kill them.
“Think about it.” The Powluk gave him that unnecessary order.
Strike couldn’t stop his processing.
“And while you’re doing that, know that I’ll help you in any way I can.” The male made him that generous offer. “My guard is a skilled warrior. He’s yours to command, if you wish. And I’ll protect your mate as best as I can while you’re gone. Whether that duration is thirty planet rotations or thirty solar cycles.”
The probability he’d be gone for thirty solar cycles was low.
But it wasn’t zero. And that realization almost brought Strike to his knees.
The prospect of another warrior assuming the role of safeguarding his female also made him want to howl. She was his to protect.
“Your mate will wait for you.” Tsadok reassured him. “I wouldn’t be concerned about that. My mate and I chattered about a lot of things during our imprisonment. We had nothing else to do and plenty of time to do that nothing. And she says your mate is one of the most-loyal beings in the universe.”
“She raced to your planet to rescue your mate.” Strike forced a smile. “And to rescue you.” Though he projected his female hadn’t been as concerned about the Powluk. “Her loyalty and her bravery processes no limits.”
But he didn’t want to test either one of those.
His trepidation about their upcoming parting increased exponentially.
The urge to remain with his female battled with his commitment to the mission, to his captain, to his brethren. And his drive to keep everyone he cared for, including his fragile little human, safe.
And you’re the only being who can destroy the weapon? Tsadok’s question replayed in his processors.
Strike had never delegated a task he had been directly assigned. That wasn’t the cyborg way. While under Humanoid Alliance control, his kind completed missions or they were killed.
He and his brethren were free now, however. Delegating tasks was an option for his kind.
He also now had a female to safeguard.
She modified everything. Including his priorities.
That was part of caring for another being. He had to recalibrate his processing.
Or he would risk losing her. A sense of urgency gripped him.
“Did your mate tell you about the time our mates rode a bovine to their academy?” Tsadok presented that query.
Strike shook his head.
“It was my mate’s idea.” The male said that with pride. “She had to talk your mate into participating. My mate then couldn’t figure out how to steer the creature. The bovine ran with them into a nourishment-bar-processing facility and started eating the treats.” Tsadok laughed.
Strike’s lips twisted. His female’s friend embraced more chaos than his brethren Grid.
“Your mate took over the steering of the bovine.” The Powluk’s eyes glinted. “When the two of them arrived at the academy, everyone assumed she’d been the instigator. Nothing my mate could say would convince them she wasn’t.” He shook his head. “Your mate was given a reprimand and my mate voluntarily shared it.”
Strike processed his female. She would’ve voluntarily shared her friend’s reprimand also.
Tsadok chattered about their females’ pasts, sharing more stories about Strike’s female he hadn’t yet heard.
If he didn’t return from his next mission, he might never hear his female tell those tales.
Strike’s unease about completing his assignment escalated.
