Warrior Revealed (Cadi Warriors #7) - Stephanie West Page 0,1

it lacked the depth of fresh air. Every planet smelled different. This region smelled earthy, because of the decaying vegetation in the marsh. But he could also scent the salty humid air blowing in from the nearby ocean.

“That’s good.”

Cautiously he stepped off the ramp. The ground was soggy but it held. He casually walked around his cloaked cruiser, panning the tangled glade and slow-moving water. A flock of long-legged birds abandoned their bath and took to the sky the instant they saw him. Aculus smiled as the mass darted this way and that, chattering wildly, obviously disgruntled with him.

Sudden movement in the shallow water, followed by a flurry of motion in the tall grass captured his attention. His eyes widened seeing the long scaly reptile emerging from the water to stalk its prey. The slow-crawling beast had knotty ridges running along its back and down its tail.

I think that’s the thing they call an alligator.

While waiting to hear from his Cadi friends, he’d tapped into the human’s communication network, hoping to learn more about the area. Past missions taught him it was important to know the landscape, and since the humans freely projected their information network, he took advantage of the intel. Although most of the information he’d found was dedicated to commerce and socializing, he had located some useful data on the flora and fauna of Florida. This scaly beast was one of the predatory creatures that were common here. Though not nearly big enough to keep him at bay.

“Did you find yourself a meal?” He strode toward the curious beast to get a better look.

The alligator swung toward him, its long mouth full of pointy teeth opened wide in a threatening display. The moment the scaly beast was distracted, the tiny creature it was hunting made its escape up a nearby tree. It was little more than a ball of fluff.

Aculus looked from the menacing alligator to the trembling furball doing a terrible job scaling the tree and instantly felt sorry for the prey.

“Take off,” he growled at the alligator. “That scared thing wouldn’t even be a decent snack for a beast your size.”

The alligator lunged, its jaws snapping closed on his calf. Its sharp teeth shredded his pants, but couldn’t make a dent in his shell, no matter how hard the beast bit down.

“Stop, that tickles,” he chuckled when the alligator attempted to tug his leg out from under him.

After another failed attempt, the ill-tempered beast swung around with a thrash of its tail and disappeared in the shallow water.

“Sorry,” he called after the skulking reptile.

He turned toward the furball. It hadn’t fled or made much progress up the tree trunk.

“You’re going to end up a meal if you can’t climb any better than that.” He approached the little thing.

The tiny beast hissed, a weak, high-pitched raspy sound, bravely demanding he stay back. But when it did, it lost grip on the trunk and tumbled to the ground. The furball wobbled as it struggled to its feet.

“I can’t just leave you like this,” he sighed.

His brow furrowed when the miniature ball of fluff didn’t even make an attempt to escape as he scooped it up.

“I don’t think you could flee if you wanted to. You’re skin and bones.” Despite the furball being totally foreign to him, it was obviously starving.

He studied the beastie as he headed back to his cruiser. Underneath the mud, there was tan fur with dark spots all over its back. It had a long tail tucked up under it, and four paws with retractable claws that were currently trying to dig into his arms. Like the alligator, it couldn’t even scratch the surface of his shell.

“I don’t think you’re in any shape to protest.”

He held the creature up so it was eye level. Large, fearful blue eyes stared back at him. Its whiskered dark muzzle open revealing a pink tongue and pin teeth as it attempted another raspy little growl.

“Easy. You’re going to get a meal for your trouble.”

He made an educated guess and had the replicator produce a bland protein-rich broth. The beastie’s little nose starting making loud snuffling noises as it scented the treat.

“Hold on,” he instructed and headed toward the small sleeping quarters at the rear of the cruiser. “I’m not about to let you have free rein of the vessel. This cruiser might not be as big as the frigate but you’re not very big either. You tuck yourself into a corner of the loading bay and I’ll never