Maker - Michael Jan Friedman [47]
She swallowed, wondering what Dojjaron would do to her. But she didn’t want to mess things up for the captain, so she lifted her chin and braced herself.
“No, you don’t!” came a voice.
Turning toward it, Cadwallader saw Lieutenant Joseph go after the Nuyyad. Though the security chief was armed, he had to that point left his weapon untouched.
Seeing Joseph’s approach, the foremost elder pulled his arm back to swat the human away. But unlike Kirby, Joseph was ready for him. Ducking under the backhanded blow, he plowed his shoulder into Dojjaron’s shins.
The Nuyyad swayed for a moment, arms pinwheeling, and then toppled. The deck shivered with the impact of his fall, and for a fraction of a second, Cadwallader believed that Dojjaron would no longer be a threat—to her or anyone else. Then, more quickly than she would have guessed, the Nuyyad scrambled to his feet and lowered his head.
And charged into Joseph like a maddened bull.
Dojjaron and the security officer both went hurtling into the wall. Somehow, Joseph managed to slip sideways, so that the Nuyyad took the bulk of the impact.
It didn’t seem to matter—not to Dojjaron. He got up just as quickly as before and went after Joseph a second time, making a sound in his throat like grinding gears.
The security chief tried to sidestep the alien’s lunge, but to no avail. Dojjaron hooked his adversary and drove him to the deck hard enough to stun him. Then he raised his clenched fist, obviously meaning to bludgeon the helpless Joseph.
Cadwallader couldn’t stand and watch any longer. She went to grab the foremost elder’s arm, hoping to keep him from landing a blow. But she was beaten to it by Iulus and Refsland.
Dojjaron strove against them, teeth grinding as he showered them with curses. In the meantime, a couple of other crewmen dragged Joseph out of harm’s way.
Finally, the Nuyyad stopped struggling. Glowering at Iulus and Refsland, he shrugged them off.
Joseph was safe. But what had started out as a little horseplay had blossomed into a full-fledged nightmare, and Cadwallader knew she had to do something about it.
Going up to Dojjaron, who still looked angry enough to lash out at the slightest provocation, she said, “Please allow me to apologize. It was all my fault.”
“That’s correct,” the Nuyyad spat, “it was. And culpability requires punishment.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. Still, she meant to endure whatever Dojjaron’s customs demanded.
“What’s going on here?” someone barked, her voice echoing throughout the mess hall.
Cadwallader’s head turned like everyone else’s, and she saw Commander Wu standing there at the entrance. A silence fell over the place, unbroken even by Dojjaron.
The second officer walked into the center of the room, regarded Cadwallader and then Dojjaron, and said calmly but firmly, “I’m waiting.”
Before Cadwallader could get a word out, the Nuyyad made a sound of disgust and spat on the floor. Then he stalked off, jostling anyone in his way.
Wu watched him go, obviously less than pleased. Then she turned to Joseph, who was being helped to his feet, and said, “Are you all right, Lieutenant?”
“Fine, Commander,” said the security chief, though he still appeared a little shaken up.
Next, the second officer turned to Cadwallader again. “Walk with me,” she said.
Cadwallader nodded and said, “Of course, Commander,” and followed Wu out of the room.
Chapter Eleven
OBAL SIGHED TO HIMSELF as he made his way to the Stargazer’s security section.
Iulus might have been trying to spare his feelings when he stopped Kirby from speaking of Nikolas, but he hadn’t taken into account the acuity of Obal’s hearing, which was far superior to that of most other species on the ship. So while the crewmen at Iulus’s table believed Obal hadn’t overheard any of their remarks, he had in fact heard everything.
Of course, Nikolas had become the subject of a great many conversations since the captain’s discovery of his name on the Iktoj’ni’s crew manifest. Everyone who had known him was concerned about him and hoped to be able to help him.