Free Only Human by Chris Reher Page A

his men hated him and how much each of them
needed him. He made men powerful and wealthy. Regretfully, he could make them
dead, too.
    They had all left the garden now. All, that
is, except Pe Khoja. The Caspian lounged in Tharron's chair, a sacrilege that
no one but him would dare. His golden, furred face was turned to the sun but
his eyes were on Comori, unaffected by the intense light. Ah, that one, Comori
thought. That one was different. Tharron did not own him as he owned everyone
else here. The scholar, the poet, the murderer. Pe Khoja was, perhaps, the only
rebel here that truly was a rebel.
    "Looks like we've botched that one,
eh?" Pe Khoja said, his yellow eyes alive with humor that so far escaped
Comori. He had hooked his legs over the armrest of the chair, dangling large
three-toed feet so endowed with fierce claws that few Caspians bothered with
shoes. In contrast, his six-fingered hands were delicate and nimble. Most
Caspians were amiable, courteous creatures who enjoyed the company of other species.
Pe Khoja was not.
    The doctor glanced around. "We can
still stop it," he hissed.
    "Why?" Pe Khoja said. "This
is beginning to interest me. Don't tell me that you wouldn't like to spend a
few long hours in conversation with this Tughan thing."
    Comori looked at the Delphian’s crumpled
body and nodded. "Of course. But I'm afraid that..." he cleared his throat.
"I'm afraid."
    "You? Afraid that Tharron'll blow up
another skyranch or two? You've done that much yourself." He chuckled over
some unseen joke. "Not with your head, though."
    Comori glared at the Caspian. Of course he
was afraid. He was afraid because Tharron was dangerous and Pe Khoja was
dangerous and neither of them needed another bomb to play with. Yes, he would
have liked to meet this wonderful creation. But not ever while it was on Pe Khoja's
leash. Because Pe Khoja just might find it interesting enough to let Tharron
use it. "I am afraid that Tharron is too obsessed with it to be cautious.
He could endanger us all."
    Pe Khoja cocked his head. "He's
already done that, Mr. Comori. It's what's making us all very rich, isn't it?
You'd just as soon work for the Union as you do for him, wouldn't you? But he ,"
Pe Khoja nodded toward the mansion. "He lets you do things , doesn't
he?"
    Comori closed his eyes, willing this man to
go away. Leave, take his murderous habits and knowing, ever-knowing, eyes and
go away so that he, Comori could take the Delphian body to his lab and dissect
its brain.
    "I must be going," Pe Khoja
sprang lightly from his perch. "I'll leave you to your doctoring, doctor,
and see to my piloting. I think I'll head over to Delphi to see if I can't
figure out where they keep this awesome personage. I seem to remember hearing
something somewhere about that Delphian. It'll come to me, I'm sure."

Chapter Four
    Neither Tychon nor Nova was in a particularly
good mood when the ship’s system woke them on the next morning. Nova was unsure
of how she ended up on the lounger instead of her own cabin and her
recollection of the previous day was hazy. He told her most of what had
happened on Feyd and she felt angry at having come through it like a greenie.
Not only that, but he had jumped toward K’lar unassisted and without even
jarring the ship enough to wake her, making it clear once again that her
presence aboard his ship was unnecessary.
    Tychon was more taciturn than ever. He flew
the Eagle manually and needlessly and barely glanced at her while she sought to
keep herself occupied during the long flight. No doubt he was irritated by her
stupidity that could have delayed their mission, perhaps even endangered it. He
finally left the cockpit when she asked him if he wanted to eat, which he did
not.
    He dug through some bins. “Just got
confirmation and changed course for K'lar. It's on. Going to bust out a friend
who was kidnapped by Rhuwac rebels. Make sure that your guns are working
properly. We will be running into trouble."
    "So you do have