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retreating slowly.
    She smiled but did not show her teeth. “He is about six or seven decades old. He has fifty years more before he is out of adolescence. He will get smaller with age.”
    Tazzy knelt in front of the twelve-foot giant, and she reached out with her right hand to raise his left. His hand dwarfed her skull, but the moment they made contact, images flowed between them.
    He was scared, he was upset and she had a clear image of his handler. She calmed him, crooning softly and stroking his hand with hers. Skin on skin would be more effective, and the moment she thought it, her gloves thinned and slid aside to let her make that contact.
    Her crooning took on a low singsong, and she felt him relax. Lotoi was his name, and she sang it to him until he slumped back, murmuring quietly. He fell asleep when she gave him the whispered command, and the moment he was out, she left him and eased the door closed.
    Out in the hall, she gave a concise description of the handler and a likely location. The man was in search of a whore and a drink.
    The peacekeepers dispatched their closest officers and instructed them to be polite and tell him that Lotoi needed him.
    Silver asked, “Are you all right?”
    “Of course. This was actually in my peacekeeper training, but the Hyandu don’t travel much. They may not have gotten the briefing here. Now, excuse me, until his handler returns, he can’t be alone. He will be frightened.”
    She patted Silver on his cheek and slipped back into the holding cell. She stayed and sang to Lotoi for two hours. When the handler arrived, he inclined his head to her.
    The Hyandu shrank and became bipedal with age. Lotoi still walked using his knuckles, so it had been the biggest clue as to his age. His handler was seven and a half feet tall and the same bright pink.
    “Thank you, miss. I did not know what to do.”
    She reached out and cupped his jaw. Seconds later, he was on his knees as she whispered commands to him. When she was done, he was shaking in place and blubbering in Hyandu.
    “Take care of your charge. Get him back to his family unharmed and your body will be yours again.” Tazzy jerked her head, and he nodded eagerly.
    She turned back to Lotoi and caressed his hand. “Wake up, darling. He will take you home now.”
    The young hulk sat up and smiled as he rubbed his eyes. His handler touched his hand, and they walked together, following Tazzy out of the peacekeeper garrison.
    The peacekeepers backed away as they walked, and she kept her head high. The Guardians directed them to the transport, and without any spoken orders, they took off with Halt watching over her charges.
    The Hyandu trading party was in a nearby city. They delivered Lotoi and his handler to his grateful parents. Lotoi’s mother quickly took his hand and crooned to him in the high pitch he found so soothing.
    Quell spoke to the father who communicated through the same sort of implant the handler used.
    Once they were finished, the Guardians returned to their transport and the Hyandu to theirs.
    Halt sat in her seat and looked at her companions. “That was different.”
    Flick smiled. “You did well. I am guessing that those peacekeepers missed the class when it came to dealing with alien species.”
    “It doesn’t get much more alien than Hyandu.”
    “So, you knew that he would respond to a female?”
    “Of course. Keeping the voice high enough is my problem. It tends to drop.” She shrugged. “You have dealt with them before?”
    “They come in to trade for textiles and the tech to make translation implants now and then. They rarely bring their young.”
    Silver asked, “What did you do to his handler?”
    “If he is with a youngling and not doing his duty, he will be unable to get an erection. It is a combination of hypnosis and my chemical influence. I pumped him full of it. He will be lucky to get a boner in the next four years.”
    The three Guardians winced, and she cackled. “Sorry, but Lotoi