That stopped me cold. “How? You’re a fine pilot, but how are you going to get past the Hive security protocols?”
Var tapped the side of his head like that was an answer. When I stared, waiting, he shrugged. “Ask Helion. I can fly it. Trust me.”
I looked from Var to Sambor. Obviously being a diplomat didn’t mean I knew all the secrets. “You know about this?”
“Yes.”
His response made me numb. I knew Helion kept things confidential, but having a Coalition fighter able to hack the Hive security protocols and take over one of their ships? That was something I should have been told.
“Get me down there. I can help.” Bahre clenched both of his hands into fists as if summoning his beast for one last hurrah before dying.
“No. You’re not going anywhere.” I wasn’t in charge here, but it was clear Bahre could be of no help. That only made his injuries worse since he knew they hindered him and potentially put all of us in danger. He was a weak link, but I sure as fuck wasn’t leaving him behind. I had no doubt Sambor and Var thought the same. My gaze locked with Sambor’s. “I can help.”
Sambor climbed to his feet and handed me his long-range ion rifle. “You aren’t going anywhere near those Hive. But you can shoot.”
“Indeed.”
“The Hive have been cycling through every sixty-three minutes.”
“What?”
“Exactly every sixty-three minutes,” Var confirmed.
Sambor sorted his gear as the Prillon watched. He, apparently, was ready to go. Sambor checked the power setting on his ion blaster, a second blaster, a blade designed to cut through armor, and his air supply. We only had a few hours left before our suits ran dry. We hadn’t eaten anything in over a day. It was now or never.
When he was satisfied, he looked at me, then Bahre.
“I’m going down to the wreckage, lure them out and away from their ship. I’m going to come at them from the rock formation at the rear of the craft. Niklas, you wait until I give you the signal, then take down as many as you can from up here.”
“What about me?” Var asked.
Sambor’s focused gaze shifted. “You are going to locate the nearest ship and steal it. Then you’re going to get it up here, load up Niklas and Bahre.”
“And you?” I asked.
“If it’s clear, I’ll signal you to drop down and open the hatch. If not, you get the fuck off this rock and don’t look back. I’ll kill as many as I can.”
Fuck. No. “No, Sam.”
I purposely used Lucy’s nickname for him to remind him that he had to get off this rock as well. We had a mate to take care of. A life to live. Dying on this stupid asteroid was not part of the plan. “I’m not leaving you here. It’s my fault we’re here. My duty put us in danger.”
Sambor’s rage rushed through the collar until I nearly choked on the strength of his feelings.
Rage. Anguish. Determination. No fear. There was no fear.
“And it’s my duty that will get us out. Later you can evaluate your priorities.” He leaned in close, our helmets nearly touching. “You listen to me. We’re here because of the Hive. Sure, maybe you need to consider taking some days off, but you’re seeing what’s important now. Lucy. And she needs one of us to survive. You are her mate. You claimed her. You put the Lorvar collar around her neck and named me your second. You will survive. You will take care of her. That is your job, your duty. You will get off this rock.”
“And what of you, Sam? You are not going to sacrifice yourself to save me. I won’t allow it.”
“If we pull this off, we’ll all be going home. But if you need to leave to ensure Bahre gets to care and Var gets his ass out of here for another mission, you will.” Sambor checked the ion rifle and held it out to me. He pointed up. “There. Right where I was. Maybe three paces to the left. That should give you the best view of the wreckage. Don’t shoot until I give you the signal.” Sambor held out the rifle until I took it, but I wasn’t done with this fight.
“What about Lucy? You will break her heart. She can’t lose you.”
Sambor ignored me, began to walk away, Var on his heels. I tried to stand, but Bahre’s huge hand settled in the center of my chest and shoved me back to the ground. “Let him go.”
“I can’t.” He was Lucy’s second, my lifelong friend. I was not worthy of this sacrifice.
“You can and you must,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Is this not the very reason you Prillons choose a second? So that one of you always remains to take care of your female?”
I didn’t respond. It was not an actual question. The Atlan already knew the answer. I watched Sambor and Var walk away and disappear around one of the black rock outcroppings I knew would provide a place they could safely scramble down into the crevasse where our ship had crashed. Where they would set up an ambush for at least six Hive, maybe more.
I leaned back against the rock and stared up at the twinkling stars spread overhead like billions of sparkling jewels. Space was the ultimate in opposites. Extreme beauty with extreme danger. The time we’d spent on this asteroid was a prime example. “We haven’t claimed her yet.”
“But she’s yours.” Bahre grunted in pain, the first sign of weakness he’d given, and my heart jumped with concern. We had to get off this asteroid. No one was coming. No one knew we were here.
“She’s mine. Mine and Sambor’s.”
“Is your second capable of defeating six Hive alone?”
I considered the question. “Yes. He is.” The words were not a lie. Sambor had been trained in the Coalition’s special forces program. He’d fought the Hive for years before settling into what he considered a life of luxury, guarding me. He’d done it because I’d asked, and because the IC had begun sending me into more and more dangerous situations. Prime Nial had demanded someone go meet with the legions on Rogue 5, scout out Sector Zero and the other lawless regions technically within Coalition space. He’d sent me. I’d taken Sambor with me. “He’s saved my life more than once.”
“Then let him do his job and go home. His strategy is sound, and you know it. Take care of your female. Do you wish her to lose both of you?”
That made the blood run cold as ice in my veins. I could not allow Lucy to feel such loss. Such pain. “No. That is unacceptable.”
Bahre grunted. “That’s what I thought. Get your head on straight, Prillon. Fight like an Atlan, like a fucking beast to get back to her.”
“I am no beast.” I was a fucking Prillon warrior with a mate and my second to protect. I would do what Sambor ordered. He would trust me to be in position, to cover him. I would not let him down.
Cold and calm, I climbed to the top of the boulder Sambor had indicated that would give me the tactical advantage. I waited patiently as the minutes passed, thinking of nothing but killing. Surviving. Making sure Sambor and I both returned to our mate.
Lucy deserved no less than what I had promised her. All of me. Every cell and fiber and ounce of will was hers. I would fight until my dying breath to get back to her… and to take Sambor with me.
He wasn’t going to have to kill very many Hive. I was going to wreak havoc on those fuckers from here. Every. Last. One.
Bright light appeared overhead, and I watched as three Hive ships landed within easy walking distance of our ship’s wreckage, most likely sensing Sambor’s presence. Hidden in the rocks nearby, he remained still as the stone around him, his armor shifting color to match the black rocks at his back. He was nothing more than a shadow.
I could not see Var at all but knew he would be nearby, watching the Hive land, deciding which ship to take.
As expected, three Hive exited each ship and walked toward the wreckage. One was a trio of very large and heavily armed Hive Soldiers, most likely captured and integrated Prillon warriors. The second group of three were Hive Scouts. Small, fast and aggressive. They looked as if they could have once been human, Viken or even Everian fighters. Then there was the last group.
One of them was taller than anyone I’d ever seen—and that included Atlans in beast mode. He was dark blue and was not wearing armor. His face looked like his skin had been put together in pieces sewn with silver thread, and his entire body was a patchwork of different shades of blue.
I’d seen this kind of pattern before in just one creature—the Nexus unit Helion kept locked up at Core Command. This one looked almost exactly like that Nexus unit that had been imprisoned on our ship before we crashed, the blue fucker that Helion had been so desperate to crack that he’d arranged the meeting in deep space with Gwen.
But this Nexus unit was not the same male as the prisoner. This one’s silver streak bisecting his face was in a diagonal slash from forehead to ear, not vertical, as Helion’s captive’s was.
What the fuck was a Nexus unit doing on this worthless asteroid? Inspecting our ship?
Then Makarios’s words returned to me. They fucking track her like Elite Everian Hunters.
The Nexus unit and his team were hunting Gwen, thinking she was here, looking for clues. My breath caught. Rage filled me at the desperation they had to track her. No wonder Gwen and Mak were so uncomfortable and cagey about meeting.
The blue Nexus unit was taller than the Scouts and Soldiers by at least two feet. Large, black bulbous additions ran along the base of his skull and connected to his spine like fingers digging into the flesh of his back. He walked freely, no armor necessary, despite the lack of atmosphere and freezing temperature on the surface of the asteroid. I watched him through my rifle’s scope and shuddered at the pure, lifeless black of his eyes. Walking with him were two more Hive the likes of which I had never seen before. They were huge—not as big as the Nexus unit himself, but larger than the others. Thicker. Taller.
Fuck. Those two were Atlans. Or they used to be. The three moved together, the Nexus unit in the center and the integrated Atlan Hive bodyguards on either side of him for protection. The other six Hive, the Soldiers and Scouts, fanned out along the ground surrounding the wreckage, picking up debris and running scans.
We were fucked. Nine Hive in total. We might have been able to take them out, but not with two integrated Atlan Hive who were beast sized and a Nexus unit. I didn’t say a word, not wanting our comms to alert them to our presence, but I wanted to shout at Sambor to get the fuck out of there and wait—wait for a different batch of Hive to arrive—one without a Nexus unit. Without integrated Atlan Warlords.
Just… wait.
But we had no choice. We were all running low on air, and our suits would last one more day at the most.
What if the Nexus unit left and no Hive ever came back? What if there was not another chance to steal a ship?
We had to fight. An Atlan in full armor was nearly impossible to take down with standard weapons on a good day. These were integrated Atlans who appeared to be permanently frozen in beast mode.
I would have to aim for the head… and not miss.
Fuck.
How did the Nexus unit control the integrated Atlans? And not just one, but two?
There was nothing I could do now. Sambor had, no doubt, seen them as well. Even if I risked warning him about the integrated Altan Hive, I knew my warning would fall on deaf ears. He was doing this, one way or another, no matter the odds. No, he was doing what his training dictated, what he’d been taught, practiced in battle. He was doing his job, despite the odds. If I argued with him, I was being insubordinate, and stupid. Deep down I knew he was correct in his plan. He was determined to get me—all of us—off this planet alive, and I had to respect his command. His honor. Doing anything else would not only undermine his command but show disrespect to my second. I would not dishonor him in such a manner.
Sambor waited until the Nexus unit entered the hull of the wreckage and disappeared from view, taking one fully integrated Atlan bodyguard with him. The other beast stood at the entrance as if guarding the Nexus from his own Hive Scouts and Soldiers.
Interesting.
With a bellow worthy of any Atlan, Sambor leaped from hiding and opened fire, taking down two Scouts closest to him before dashing behind a boulder.
The three heavier Hive Soldiers moved as one to surround him. I could have finished one of them out, but I waited. Sambor had not given me his signal. Stubborn bastard.
Breathing slowly, keeping calm, I kept my rifle aimed at the entrance to the wreckage, hoping the Nexus unit would show himself.
Seconds later he did.
“Now!” Sambor screamed the command, and I pulled the trigger.
The Nexus unit took the hit to his chest and staggered back but did not fall. I fired again. Again.
The integrated Atlan Hive with him bellowed with rage and raced after the Nexus unit, who was moving like… fucking incredible. I’d never seen anything move that fast, especially after being shot with an ion rifle. Not even an Elite Everian Hunter.
He was coming for me, following the trajectory of the ion strike.
I fired again, but the shot seemed to bounce off the Nexus unit as if I were throwing pebbles, not hitting him with one of our strongest weapons, even as he moved closer.
Scrambling back, I made my way to Bahre and helped him to his feet. “We have to move. Now!”
Bahre stumbled for a moment, then righted himself. “What is happening?”
“Sambor is taking on three Soldiers and a Scout. He got two of them.” I tugged at him to force him to move toward the far edge of the small outcropping where I could take cover on a slight overhang and try to kill the Nexus up close and personal. “We have a Nexus unit and two integrated Atlan Hive in beast mode coming at us faster than I’ve ever seen anything move.”
His pained gaze met mine. “Two Atlans?”
I nodded. “Yes. And they can’t keep up with the Nexus unit. Move!”
Bahre leaned on my shoulder as we moved toward the rocks I knew would be the best place to make our last stand. Bahre leaned against the rock, his bulk partially hidden behind me as I positioned myself and my ion rifle to shoot the moment the Nexus unit cleared the boulders in front of us.
Seconds later the Nexus unit appeared like a wild animal chasing prey.
I fired. Direct hit to his abdomen.
Nothing. It didn’t even slow the fucker down.
He stood in front of me and yanked the rifle from my hands, then snapped it in half like it was a twig. “Where is my female?” His voice was deep and mechanical, and there was not an ounce of emotion or battle rage in the question. His female?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I thought to stall him with my response as I motioned Bahre with my hand to move. Get the fuck out of here.
Run.
“My mate,” he added. “Her name is Gwendolyn. She was here, on your ship. Where is she now?”
This was more words than the Nexus unit Helion had been interrogating had spoken in the months we’d had him captive. I avoided looking the blue monster in the eye, but it was hard. The pull to do so was strong. I remembered those dark, lifeless orbs would suck me in and drown me. I’d learned that the hard way, staring at our captive the first time Helion had taken me to see him. Sambor had saved me, knocking me to the side, breaking the Nexus unit’s hold on my mind.
Wiser now, I stared at this one’s chest, not daring to glance up, not for a moment. Once he had control of my mind, I’d tell him anything he wanted to know. And I knew a lot.
I’d fought the Hive my entire career but had never been face-to-face with one. Never fought one. Up close, this one was… blue. Focused. Not real. The metal integrations gleamed in the starlight, reminding me this thing was not… one of us. It moved and spoke and killed, but it did not live.
Behind him, the two integrated Atlans appeared, clawing and climbing their way to stand where Bahre and I had been just a few moments ago. Bahre hadn’t moved. Damn him.
“Get the fuck out of here, Bahre. Sam. Take their ship and go.” Silence was no longer important, and one of us had to live. “Get bac
k to Lucy.” Reaching behind me, I wrapped my palm around the handle of a blade I kept on my hip for emergencies.
“Who is Lucy?” the Nexus unit asked.
“None of your fucking business.” I wanted to scream at this thing but knew it would be futile.
In my peripheral vision, I watched the Nexus unit tilt his head to the side as if curious. “I sense no fear. Good. You will be one of us now.”
I swiped up with my dagger, aiming for what I hoped would be the Nexus unit’s heart. Or central processing unit. Something… critical. The Nexus unit looked down to where my blade was buried in his chest and pulled it out slowly, the metal coated in thick, black liquid that looked more like tar than blood. “You resist.” He tossed the blade aside and reached for me.
“No!” Bahre bellowed and stepped forward, moving fast, faster than he should have been capable of with his injuries. He was in full beast mode, his body huge, his rage like a volcanic eruption. “No, Atlans!”
The Nexus unit looked up in shock, and I realized he’d been so fixated on me that he hadn’t seen Bahre hiding behind me. Ah, the Hive did have emotions, of sorts. It had not calculated that I had company.
Bahre took the Nexus by the neck, lifted him from the ground and… pulled his head off his body with a sickening slurping sound. Black tar blood spewed from the neck of the creature, spraying Bahre’s armor and helmet, covering his shoulders and chest.
Behind the Nexus, the two Atlans fell to the ground as if suddenly released from a trance, screaming inside their helmets, their agony making Bahre’s beast roar in response. In challenge? I didn’t understand what was happening, but even inside my helmet, the sound made my head ring.
“What the fuck is going on up there?” Sambor’s voice was crystal clear and calm. Shockingly calm.
“Bahre just ripped the head off a Nexus unit. The two integrated Atlans with him are responding. They’re free of Hive control.”
“That would explain it.” Var’s relief was clear in his own voice. “I’ve got a ship. There were three more Scouts inside. They just dropped dead.”
“Same here,” Sambor replied. “I had one more Soldier to take down. An integrated Prillon. He just hit his knees. If he survives, we’ll have to take him with us.”
Surprise Mates: Interstellar Brides® Program: Book 21 Page 12