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“I have taken many self-defense courses. As you might be aware, Earth is in turmoil and hard times due to the strict tariffs and drafts of Prexis and the ND. There’s nothing odd about a human woman being capable of more than you might expect. Thinking that way is what you get with blind racism.”
Kressel glared at her, though a smile flickered across his lips. Jasmine responded to it with her own smile, but I knew better.
I stepped in between them nonchalantly but as quickly as possible. That look in my father’s eyes was not a friendly one. His fists were clenched, his chest puffed out, and all he saw in front of him was something he could smash.
Jasmine tried to edge around me, but I kept my shoulder in front of her. She could complain later.
And I was sure she would.
If anything, this human woman had a mind of her own.
My quick step didn’t go unnoticed by my father, and his look of surprise was matched by my own.
Had I instinctively stepped between them to protect something so much weaker than the challenge it faced? It was one of the defining qualities of my tutelage as a soldier and now as a Commander.
Was it protection for my property? Since she was still not technically mine, but she had cost the Prexis Empire a pretty penny. I didn’t need to see her obliterated before determining whether she was truly worth it.
Or, the third thought was, I actually cared what happened to her?
I veered away from that thought, though it was no longer as repulsive as it once might have been.
“You’re saying that there might not be anything to worry about on Earth, son, but look at how this Earthling thinks she can hit above her weight class?”
Jasmine put her hand on my sleeve and tried to sneak around me again, but I thrust my arm out hard to the other side of the hallway, blocking her again. She snorted and pressed her nails into my flesh. I found that I liked that. Then, with a lighthearted snarl, she continued to egg my father on. “Braxl knows how hard I hit, Supreme Entity. You want to give it a go?”
I looked at her in amazement. What did she think she was doing?
My father glanced from me to her, the fire still flashing in his eyes, his Commander’s blaster secure at his hip.
What will I do if he commands me to let him have her? Can I truly stand in his way? How do I deflate this antagonism?
My father took a deep breath and then eased back onto his heels, chest sinking down and fists unclenching.
He had decided she wasn’t worth it. Not a real threat.
That was probably the best-case scenario for both of them. And for me.
“You watch her for anything odd, Braxl. We can’t risk anything happening to the High Command. And we are all here. To celebrate you.”
The sneer in his voice was a gut punch. Then he brushed by me, Jasmine having the wisdom to stay close to my back, as he strode by. Calm fury emanated from his back as he strode away, vanishing to cause someone else hell.
I breathed out through my teeth and raised my eyebrows at Jasmine as she came around to stand in front of me; her hip popped out, and a grin on her face.
“You really do have a lot of nerve.”
“True…” She pursed her lips at me and brushed her fingers down my sleeve. A little trill of pleasure burned up my arm. Her eyes were so distracting, such a different shape than the Krafina women, with sparkles of silver flecks shining from the ebony. Her fingers clutched at my sleeve and pulled me toward her. “Want to see even more?”
My heart rate quickened unexpectedly. Was it curiosity? Was her allure amplified by the stark contrast to my expectations?
“What did you have in mind?”
Jasmine nodded her head toward the door beside us. “Care to play?”
We were on a holodeck level, and she was inviting me into another reality.
The green vacancy light was on. No one was currently engaged in whatever fantastical version of love or war they had a mind to experience.
I shrugged but was strangely excited. “I’m game.”
