"No. That won't be necessary. I'll find them a place," Nate said, shaking his head. His life had been so simple before the Universe 6 version of Angus had arrived.
"Hello, Handsome. Where are all the aliens? Everyone here looks so normal and boring," one of them said to him in complaint as they got close.
Carleton cleared his throat, let go of Elsa, and turned to stare hard at the man. "This is Admiral Nathaniel Tiberius and he runs the Alien Abduction Services airship. If you don't mind your manners, you'll soon find yourselves doing your tasks from a cell below deck. If you don't believe me, ask Brianna MacNamara. The daughter of the Matchmakers just got out of the Admiral's holding cell."
Nate wanted to laugh when the two men swung startled gazes his way. He glanced at Carleton who turned to him and winked as he cleared his throat again.
"Admiral, this is Evan and Matthew Troy-your kilt makers."
Nate nodded at the intro. "Gentleman, for your safety and the safety of this airship, you will not be seeing any aliens outside of your guards. I suggest you conduct yourself with decorum. Our interplanetary visitors do not react well to humans gawking and staring at them. Don't make me have to explain your deaths to the Provost."
"Sir … yes, sir," they both said, before grinning at each other.
Nate had to work not to roll his eyes. More irreverent visitors meant more trouble. Great. Just what he needed.
"Captain … " he called out. A quick scurrying later brought his wimpy second to his side. "See to it the kilt makers are put in a suite on deck two with a room next door that can be used for their work. Have their supplies from the shuttle unloaded there."
"Yes, of course, Admiral."
"I'll take care of our other guests personally. They'll be staying until I talk to the Provost."
"As you wish, Admiral."
As he wished? What he wished was that Sheena was going to be waiting in his quarters when he returned. That was definitely not going to happen. Nate let a frustrated breath ease out when the quietly chatting cloth wielders followed the man who'd ruined his evening.
"How are the rejuvenated Angus and Erin adjusting?" Carleton asked as they started to leave the shuttle area. "They seem very different from the previous versions."
Nate snorted and chuckled. "Turns out that level of rejuvenation is a very tricky thing," he said, lying as best he could. He wasn't sure how much the AAS director had told the castle keepers. "They're certainly a lot more trouble now to deal with, that's for sure."
"I see. So not really adjusting at all then."
Nate's laughter over Carleton's dry summary echoed through the halls.
Chapter Seven
Sheena couldn't believe Carleton and Elsa were here too. Bri's suite was even smaller with the six of them in it. Outside of her glaring openly at him, she and Nate hadn't even exchanged hellos when he'd delivered the castle keepers. Finding out Nate's meddling mother had zapped her guard droids only made her madder.
She paced the width of the room. "Bringing Carleton and Elsa here wasn't an accident. Nate's mother got involved because of Bri."
"Hey now. I did not instigate this MacNamara reunion ," Bri denied.
Sheena snorted. "I didn't say it was your fault, Bri. I said you were the reason. The Provost doesn't want me recruiting you."
"I'm not letting you recruit me, so that's a moot point."
"Except my former mother-in-law doesn't know that part of our discussion, now does she? What the hell did you see that's got the Provost concerned, Brianna?"
Bri looked around the room and then shook her head. The truth would help none of them. It especially wouldn't help her. "The only person I could possibly tell is Nate, and then only if he showed me a specific set of orders."
"Nate, of course. It always comes back to fucking Nate," Sheena spat.
"If that's true, then why didn't you stay with him when you had the chance?"
"Shut up, smartass. You know that's not what I meant."
Bri laughed at her own joke, but sobered at the concerned looks she and Sheena were getting from the others.
"Before you go tearing my head off … I'm not being disloyal to the family. Until I can understand what I saw, I couldn't answer you honestly anyway. My situation is no different than Nate not being able to tell you the truth about Angus and Erin. Until he decides it's time to talk, we're sort of stuck playing the game by his rules. That's how I am too."