The fighters were not able to get a lock on the shuttle because the shuttle was being thrown around the Dinavri skies like a mad fly. Every time it seemed that their superior speed and agility would give them the edge, Jerri would do something unexpected to dodge and dart out of their path.
Things swiftly became even more dangerous and reckless, and it made Atlas absolutely furious. The shuttle was not rated or designed to perform well in terrestrial atmospheres. It was absolutely not rated to perform high-speed maneuvers around spires and buildings of incomparable beauty. If a fin so much as clipped one of those constructions, she would be dead in an instant, leaving a massive interspecies diplomatic incident in her wake. Atlas was finally forced to beg.
“Call them off. She won’t stop until she’s wrapped the damn thing around a house. Please, Lord Sithren. Call the fighters off.”
Sithren laughed. “You are attached to this human.”
“I want my shuttle in one piece. Can you get communication with the shuttle? I’ll speak to her, talk her down.”
Sithren waved to an aide. “Call them off. See if the animal lands. And bring a communicator to the commander here.” Sithren shook his head. “Human females are closer to beasts than they are to sentient beings.”
“And males?”
“The same. But females even more so.”
The interspecies prejudice was quite astonishing to Atlas’s ears, but the Dinavri had never cared what anybody thought about their opinions.
A communicator was pressed into his hand. He lifted it to his mouth and tried to pick words that wouldn’t give the entire game away instantly.
“Jerri, land that shuttle now. Without killing yourself, preferably.”
“Atlas! You’re alive.” Jerri’s voice came over the device. “I was so worried about you!”
Her words were so sweet, but not so sweet that they’d get her out of the trouble she deserved to be in. Atlas was very well aware that the Dinavri were listening to them, hearing the obvious relief and emotion in her voice, coming to the obvious conclusion.
“Let’s get you back on solid ground,” he said. “Back to port, Jerri. Now.”
“Roger roger,” she replied, her voice crackling over the radio.
“I think we’ve caused enough disturbance and trouble for one day,” Atlas said. “I think it best if we take the prisoner and leave.”
“And deny us the spectacle of the human who has so insulted us being thoroughly punished? I think not.”
Well. There it was. Worst case scenario. Atlas wondered why he had ever imagined things would go any other way. When Jerri was present, chaos was guaranteed. And as indignant as he might have chosen to be about the Dinavri demanding public retribution for her flight through the spires of the city, an act that had about as much cultural sensitivity as sitting on someone’s birthday cake, the truth was Atlas wanted to punish her. She had to understand that there were consequences for her actions, even the ones she thought were justified.
She had not only made it appear that he was barely in control of her. She had made the Authority itself seem chaotic and out of control. If this got back to anybody further up the chain of command, heads would roll. Probably both of theirs, and possibly Captain Janus’s as well.
It was imperative to placate the Dinavri and give them no cause for complaint. The diplomatic situation was so delicate it was possible that this single outburst from Jerri could put negotiations back by decades.
The shuttle landed without incident. The entire Dinavri contingent accompanied Atlas to take custody of Jerri. He really wished they wouldn’t. There was going to be little to no opportunity to warn her about what was coming.
She’d obeyed orders. What else could anybody ask for, Jerri wondered to herself as she was escorted out of the ship before her commanding officer and a contingent of Dinavri.
Her first impression was that Atlas did not look proud or happy. He looked worried, an expression she had not seen on his features before, and wasn’t sure how to process. If he was concerned it might have been because she had fucked up like she’d never fucked up before.
“You’ve really done it now,” he growled in her ear as he dragged her from the shuttle.
His annoyance was concerning, but not as attention grabbing as his companions. Jerri stared at the Dinavri. Holy shit, they were impressive. And terrifying. It was like being faced with the living embodiments of snake gods, each and every one of them more forked tongue and serpent-eyed than the last.
“How am I in trouble? They tried to break into the shuttle!” She whispered the words back, trying to maintain some kind of diplomatic decorum even though it was obviously arguably far too late.
“It is a great insult in Dinavri culture to fly among their ancient and treasured spires. You almost killed yourself and damaged the shuttle in the process,” he said, lowering his voice even more. “I told you things could get messy. Now you’re going to need to accept the consequences of your actions. This is going to hurt.”