Pulled by the Tail

Chapter 1-3

Talen

Mr. T. Achaval,

Your presence is requested on the 30th level, in the private gaming rooms. We wish to discuss your brother. Please visit the concierge at your earliest convenience.

-Noxu Station Management Team

“You what?!”

“It’s a sure thing,” Quil said, tail curiously still.

Talen stared down at his elder brother. Quil’s tells were so obvious. How did everyone at the card table not know Quil lied? His body practically screamed that he played a poor hand and winning was far from guaranteed.

Take care of your brother, his mother commanded the last time he saw her. Never mind that Quil was the elder and by all rights, he should be caring for Talen, not the other way around, but their mother had been a practical female and didn’t expect miracles.

It had been twenty years since an assassin took Talen’s parents from him, but he tried his best to abide by his mother’s words. Talen tried to take care of Quil, but his older brother made it so hard.

“We only have each other in this universe,” Quil said, resting a hand on Talen’s forearm. Invoking the words of their nursemaid—the female who smuggled the young males off Talmar and raised them as her own—was a dirty trick.

“The ship is our home,” Talen said. His ears pressed flat against his head and his tail twitched in agitation. His claws itched just below the surface at his fingertips. “You’re gambling our home.”

“And Lerrence is gambling his family’s ancestral estate.” Quil’s greedy eyes flash as he took a sip of his drink. The dark amber liquor complimented his pale amber complexion. “Besides, the collateral had been certified by the casino already. It’s too late.”

With a growl, Talen knocked the glass from his irresponsible brother’s clutches. He knew how he appeared, a large brute about to lose what little control he had.

The liquor splashed a Corravian male seated at the table. “I say! Watch yourself.”

“Forgive my brother. He’s in a mood,” Quil said, laying on the charm thick and easy.

“I’m not in a mood. I’m furious.” Quil rolled his eyes, which only ratcheted up Talen’s fury. “The ship is our transportation, our livelihood, and our home. How could you be so reckless?”

“That rusted old beast?” The seated Corravian male snorted. “I’ll be paying the junkers to haul it away.”

“You’re Lerrence, then?” Talen knew the male’s identity. They had played cards before, in another gambling hall. Of course, Quil had lost spectacular sums of money to the male, no doubt boosting the male’s confidence about a win.

“And that estate is nothing but a money pit. I’m doing you a favor taking it off your hands,” Quil said, taking his seat at the table.

“Yes, and your ship is bringing down the property value of the entire station. I’m surprised you can even afford the docking fees,” Lerrence retorted, his tone practically dripping with money and privilege.

“I don’t like this,” Talen growled. His fingers flexed, claws extending and retracting. The crowd of spectators around the table took a collective step back.

“As the gentleman said, it’s too late now. The bet is placed and the collateral certified. The only way to finish this is to win,” Lerrence spoke with the confident tones of a male used to winning. Of course he was. He lived in the luxurious sky palaces above Corra, where the ultra-rich fled when ecological disaster struck their homeworld. They lived the literal high life in orbiting stations, indulging in every available vice while the less monied struggled on the surface.

Not that life on Corra proved to be a hardship. Talen had grown fond of the planet on the far edge of the galaxy. It was free from many of those pesky Interstellar Union rules and regulations, and the provinces had contained the mornclaw problem. Well, the civilized regions were secure from the monstrous creatures that wrecked the Corra ecosystem and slaughtered nearly half the planet’s population. He was sure the money pit Quil gambled everything for was far from civilization and infested.

Judging by Lerrence’s smug expression, of course it was. They really would be doing him a favor if they won the property.

“I need a drink,” Talen growled, snagging a glass from a passing tray.

Lerrence rolled his eyes at the uncouth behavior and then picked up his cards. Those very same cards would determine whether Talen rested his head in his familiar bunk that night or hustled to find a new berth. He had little but he had his own ship and a trade. He’d rather be in his bunk, reading, than scowling over Quil’s shoulder.

Lerrence motioned to the dealer for another card and examined it with an impassive expression. Quil, however, practically shouted his distress with his flattened ears and twitching tail.

“You bet everything on a bad hand,” Talen muttered. He didn’t have to see the cards to know the truth.

“Not now, dear brother. I’m working,” Quil hissed.

“You’re losing.” His frustration grew. With his jaw clench, he was surprised the entire room couldn’t hear him grind his teeth.

Quil ignored his obvious agitation and motioned to the dealer.

“I won’t let you ruin us,” Talen said, grabbing Quil by the ear and yanking him to his feet. “We’re leaving. Now!”

Large Tal males in expensive suits moved to block the door. If they had any loyalty to the planet of their shared origin, they gave no sign of it.

“No one leaves until we finish our game,” Lerrence said.

Talen curled back his top lip in a hiss. He sized up the guards, believing he could take one, perhaps two. Larger than the males and with military training, he had an advantage, but if Lerrence alerted the station, soon every available pair of fists on the payroll would be involved, and that was a fight Talen could not win.

So he resorted to verbal fighting. “Typical. Rich Corravian sources his protection off-world. How much does he pay you to pretend you’re not disgusted with him?” They gave no indication of hearing him, let alone of being affected by his barbed comments. He turned his ire to Lerrence. “And you! Fleecing my brother. You know he’s terrible and you know our pockets are empty. How dare you accept such a bet? Is your pampered life so empty that you have to t*****e a stupid male for entertainment?”

“Stupid? Hey now,” Quil said, taking offense.

Tough. Talen called his brother a lot worse.

Talen turned to Lerrence, knocking his tumbler of no doubt expensive alcohol into the male’s lap. He jumped to his feet and a casino employee appeared out of nowhere with a towel. “Watch yourself! You damn hot-headed fool.”

“And what happens when you take our home? You plan to make us beg? Grovel for your amusement?”

“You Tal are all alike,” Lerrence sneered. “Happy to spend money like there’s no tomorrow, full of growls and threats when it’s time to pay the bill. Your kind is good for nothing but being hired muscle, and even then, I wouldn’t put it past you to steal the silverware. Everyone knows the Tal are nothing but thieves.”

Talen tossed a scandalized look to the two Tal males at the door. “You let him talk about your people like that?” A shifting of weight from foot to foot was the only indication of unease. “So, it’s like that then,” Talen said, disappointed that negative Tal stereotypes thrived in the modern world.

“You bore me,” Lerrence said. With a flick of a finger, the nearest guard grabbed Talen and shoved him out the door.

“You think you’re better than me! Because you have money and pedigree.” Over the guard’s shoulder, his brother gave a mournful shake of his head. Before he could continue his rant, the door slammed in his face.

Finally.

Talen ran a hand through his hair, unconcerned about making a mess of it. His hair refused to cooperate, always appeared tousled. He had started to wonder what he had to say or do to get thrown out of the private room. Smash furniture, perhaps. Marks like Lerrence usually had a pricklier disposition. The first insult, and they tossed Talen out on his tail. That was one advantage of size: no one wanted to see him angry.

He sauntered up to the nearest bar and ordered water. The next bit required a clear head.

He didn’t know what Quil saw in Lerrence’s parcel of Corra, but his brother wouldn’t let an opportunity pass him by. They had encountered Lerrence before and knew enough about the male to know he played a decent hand but had a cocky attitude. Talen played a solid if unremarkable hand and won consistently enough to barely notice. That was the second advantage of size: no one ever suspected Talen of being more than dumb muscle.

Quil, however, was all flash. He lost in spectacular fashion, always paid his debt, and got invited to the exclusive tables. Once the marks—and to be honest, Quil always knew who could afford to lose the most—were well and truly comfortable, all but ignoring the poor sucker losing a fortune while gloating and congratulating themselves, Quil would place an impossible wager.

Why not take the fool’s money? Or his ship? Or anything else he owns in the universe?

Quil won. He always won. Talen played the furious brother, upset at the gambling losses, and used his bulk to create a distraction. With attention diverted elsewhere, Quil cheated.

No one should be surprised, least of all the people at the table with Quil. They were all cheats. Stations like this one, Noxu, were tax dodges for the ultra-rich, so that was the first cheat there. The same tax-evading ultra-rich snobs avoided rebuilding their homeworld, instead chasing pleasures in a floating palace. Their lifestyles cost a fortune and only the smallest percentage ever funneled back to planetside. Moreover, Corra could not afford to police Noxu, instead relying on private security to keep the peace.

Stations like Noxu were fiefdoms, ruled by kings and aristocrats. There was no justice for the everyday person. Crimes committed by the wealthy were swept away but crimes against them—mostly theft—were pursued to the point of obsession. Stories of a maid caught with stolen jewels or a footman caught in bed with an heiress filled the news cycle.

Talen did not worry about Lerrence crying to the media once he realized he’d been conned. The brothers counted on embarrassment to keep him silent. Lerrence would be more likely to sic his private security on them. Talen’s biggest worry was making it to the ship and warming up the engines for a quick exit.

He had a book, a murder mystery, waiting in his bunk. The story just got to the good part and he had his suspicions as to the identity of the murderer. The family had secrets and secrets always clawed their way out of darkness into the light.

He felt a heavy blow connect with his shoulder before that person hooked their arm into his elbow and took off at a run.

“What are you still doing here?” Quil’s eyes had a manic gleam to them.

Talen didn’t ask if there was trouble. The brothers wouldn’t be running for any other reason. They dashed through the crowd, nimbly avoiding security by ducking behind a row of slot machines. The bright lights and constant noise provided enough cover for Talen to weave his way across the casino floor and reach the exit.

The concourse left them too open. Talen ducked into a service corridor that ran behind the shops and would bring them nearly to their ship.

“I never thought I’d be glad you memorized the station’s layout,” Quil said.

“Always have an exit strategy.” Talen knew his elder brother often acted first and worried about the consequences after, which was why he took it upon himself to over-prepare.