Page 169 of Galaxy Circus Act One

The detention levels are on the last floor of the mothership just before the circus pod’s docking station. That level still shows as red in the elevator, so it still hasn’t arrived back from Earth. We get off, and there’s an office for security personnel. Normallyit’s empty because we never have anyone in the cells, but today, it’s manned. The guard has his feet thrown up on the console and is leaning back in his chair with headphones covering his ears and his eyes closed. I’m about to tell him off for his attitude when a god-awful screeching sound penetrates my hearing. Xavier’s mist floods back into his body as we both clap our hands over our ears.

“What the fuck is that?” he demands, and I shake my head, not wanting to remove my hands—not that they are blocking out the horrible racket. I bump the guard with my hip, and he startles, dropping his feet to the ground and leaping up. He relaxes a little when he sees us.

“What is that noise?” I demand, and he frowns, pointing at his ears and shaking his head. Right, he can’t hear me. “Can you do something about that?” I ask Xavier, and he quickly waves a hand, and a barrier goes up around us, blocking out the sound. I breathe a sigh of relief and drop my hands, as does the warlock. The guard reaches up, removes his headphones, and sighs with relief.

“Thank you. She has barely stopped for a breath since you brought her in here,” he tells us. “I had to find headphones to block out the racket. It was driving me nuts.”

“That’s the lightning cat?” I ask with disbelief, and he nods.

“Yes, fuck, you would think someone was in there killing her, but I’ve gotten up and checked a few times, and she’s just in cat form, pacing around the cell and blasting it with lightning every now and again. Thankfully it’s warded and protected, so it just bounces back off. It tends to hit her, which then makes her madder. Last time I looked, she wasn’t looking so hot—a bit fried around the edges to be honest.” He can’t hide his glee as he imparts this information.

“I’ll ward her cell against noise so you and this guy don’t have to suffer through it,” Xavier offers, and he quickly agrees.

“That would be great. So what’s this guy done?” he asks, turning to look at the new prisoner before his mouth drops open in shock. He takes a step back involuntarily before quickly recovering. “Is that what I think it is?” he asks, the brief glimpse of fear covered by fascination and not a small amount of bravado.

Most of the time, the detainees from Earth haven’t really done anything wrong except for expose themselves to the wrong person, and usually that’s by accident, which is what this guy apparently did too. Usually, we let them out of the cells, but we need to question him first.

“Yes it is. We’ll just stick Brannock here in the farthest cell away from Natalia, but let’s allow her to have a good look at him as we go past. It might frighten her into silence,” Xavier suggests, and I scoff.

“Not likely. She is a stubborn woman who believes she has been wronged. They don’t scare easily.”

Xavier winces. “No, my friend, you are right, they certainly don’t.” I guess he’s thinking about the harem member he just killed. She wasn’t going to give up her fight, and I doubt Natalia will be any better.

Xavier releases the sound barrier, and the noise has stopped. I sigh with relief as Xavier starts moving our prisoner. He floats the still unconscious man down to the last cell. As we pass Natalia’s cell, she snarls and leaps at the barrier, her claws extended as she foams at the mouth. She smashes against it and slides to the ground. Shaking her head, she picks herself up, her fur bristling and looking a little singed, and tries again. Once more, she hits the barrier and slides to the ground. This time when she picks herself up, she paces back and forth along the length, not taking her eyes off us, that yowling sound returning.

I slap my hands over my ears. “Fuck, can’t you do something?” I demand of my sometimes lover, and he rolls hiseyes at me. “Damn Vilaxian hearing,” he grumbles but waves a hand, erecting a sound barrier around her cell.

“Like you can tell me that wasn’t affecting you as well,” I snap, and he shrugs, but I see his shoulders droop at the lack of noise. He can pretend he wasn’t affected, but I know the truth.

Xavier lays the prisoner gently on the bed before stepping out and activating the cell forcefield. He then waves a hand, unbinding the Aaz’axian and waking him from his impromptu rest.

His eyes are slow to open, but when they do, he jumps to his feet. He groans and puts a hand to his head as he looks around, then he takes a deep breath and drops his hand to his side. Clenching his fists, he returns to his human glamour. “Where the fuck am I?” he demands when he sees the two of us on the other side of the cell.

“Relax, you’re in the containment cells in the mothership of the Galaxy Circus. We have a few questions for you. If you answer them to our satisfaction, we will release you and you can decide where you want to go and what you want to do.” Xavier does all the talking while I observe. The alien’s heart rate is unusual. If I’m not mistaken, he has more than one, like a Vilaxian. In fact, I think he may have three. They beat irregularly, with each one pulsing after the other, making it seem like one continuous heartbeat, and then on the fourth, it pauses momentarily before the first one kicks in again. One, two, three, stop. One, two, three, stop.

I scan his body. His heart rates are certainly fast, and I can see a bead of sweat forming on his brow. He seems nervous and agitated, but I can’t really blame him. I don’t really have a baseline to judge him off of, so I’m not going to be all that much help.

A whisper of a touch brushes across my mind, and I know it’s Xavier asking for entrance. I nod my head, and he projects his thoughts so the alien can’t hear.

What do you think?he asks me, and I shrug.

I don’t know. I have no baseline to judge him, so I’m afraid I won’t be much help.

He has a wall around his mind that is almost impenetrable. I think I could get through it, but it would cause him excruciating pain.Xavier sounds matter-of-fact, like he doesn’t care about that.But I think he may be another case of Smith being a prejudice asshole.

I sneer at the mention of the Earth agent. I have met him before and almost ripped his throat out. It’s why Eric doesn’t allow me to retrieve prisoners anymore.The only thing we really need to know is how he came to be on Earth, so let’s ask. We have no record of him using the GC as transport. If he answers without hesitation, I say we trust him. He is but one Aaz’axian, so how much trouble could he be?

Have you ever gone up against one in warrior form?Xavier asks, still eyeing the alien who seems to understand we’re having a private conversation, but he looks to be getting impatient.

No, never. As far as I was concerned, they had died out after the war.

A few survived, but most of their women died, so the few that were left went into hiding. I am too young to have seen them in action, but my grandfather would tell stories that induced both fear and awe. He did say that most of them were against the war, but their leaders were brutal and would kill off any dissenters. Maybe you should ask him to spar with you one day.

“Well, what the fuck are you looking at?”

I guess he’s reached the end of his patience, and I don’t blame him.

“Why don’t you take a seat and get comfortable? This won’t take long.” Xavier waves a hand, and two chairs appear on our side. He casually takes a seat, crossing his legs as he elegantly adopts a pose of indifference. I know better. I can practically feel the concern radiating off of him, and I know it’s his need to keep Lila safe, and this man in front of us could be the ultimate predator.