Stars Above The Willow Tree

Chapter 43 - Negotiations

***Hello my readers! Please enjoy this bonus chapter in celebration of U.S. Labor Day! (I know, I know. It's late. I was camping where there was no Internet or cell reception so I couldn't post anything until now. But I still got you!!)***

The Admiral had commanded in a clipped tone that no human was to show themselves directly to anyone on the station. So, despite the fact that she'd already stuck her face into a camera, Willow stood beside Dethrhhek in a costume similar to what she'd worn to Ahenao Station. The Admiral didn't know that she'd shown herself and she was okay with leaving it that way.

Flanking them, waited Derek and Yoon in their massive, intimidating mechs. Tothetto, Jencheo and Tareh waited behind them so the airlock was uncomfortably crowded.

Yellow lights lined the doors on both sides and when they clicked to blue, the door cycled open.

Willow could practically feel the anxiety from the welcome party roll through the entrance like an electric wave even if they hadn't had an arsenal of guns pointed at them.

“Well,” Dethrhhek said, “this is unwelcoming.”

Sill stepped forward and flared his wings. “You really threw your lot in with the machines,” he said in disgust, glancing at the massive mechs. “The federation is going to skin you alive.”

Slowly, Dethrhhek stepped out of the airlock and Willow paced him, not daring to be anywhere but where she could shield him if they opened fire.

He kept his hands out, clearly visible and away from his weapons.

Sill frowned at her, curiosity sparking in his eyes, but he didn't pay her mind for long. Not when the mechs stepped out of the airlock and rose to their towering, full height.

Every alien in sight took a step back, except for a bulky fellow with greenish gray skin shot through with what looked like veins of gold. He had two large tusks jutting from his bottom lip and Willow wondered if this was one of the magical space-orcs or space-trolls she'd heard about. He didn't budge. His eyes flared with hatred as he inhaled a long, slow breath, focused on the mechs. His hands balled into fists.

“They're not machines, Sill,” Dethrhhek said. “I've learned so much about them. And I didn't throw my lot in with them. It's more like I was swept up by them.”

Sill swallowed and jerked his chin toward the mechs. “You expect me to believe those aren't pitten robots? They're killing machines, Dethrhhek!”

Dethrhhek nodded sagely and said, “Yes. Those are killing machines. With humans inside them. They're going to help us load the supplies we came for. We're in a bit of a hurry, Sill. I've already sent you a list of our needs.”

“Yeah. DDs. How the pits did you manage to run out of DDs?”

“You haven't been face to face with a human, Sill. They're… alluring.”

Someone over the com huffed while someone else started singing Do Ya Think I'm Sexy. It had been remixed and covered so many times in the hundreds of years since it came out that most people didn't know it was originally by some guy with a name as mundane as Rod Stewart. But she knew. Jonah used to sing that song and do a stupid little dance every time he got drunk.
The sudden memory of him singing that song and doing the pelvic thrust in his Transformers boxers made her smile, despite the ache it caused.

“Shut up,” Derek said.

Dethrhhek cleared his throat and said, “Keep the line clear, please.” Then he shook his head, looking at Sill and said, “You wouldn't believe how goofy humans are.”