Hold the Star: Samair in Argos: Book 2

by Michael Kotcher

  Dark-fur fired again with her assault rifle, but again she missed. Jax heard her curse in frustration, but he barely had time to think about that now, Silver-fur was upon him. He sighted down the barrel and fired, and the slug hit her in the chest, dead center in that damned armor. She growled at him, but didn’t slow. He fired again, sidestepping left and kicking off of the bulkhead, leaping at her and swinging his knife at her face in an icepick grip. Silver-fur arrested her charge, stopping as his blade whistled bare millimeters from her muzzle.

  The two took one second to size each other up and then they both were moving, their bodies and limbs moving with a speed that was almost a blur. She flattened her hand and chopped down hard on his right wrist, knocking the pistol from his grip, while his knife sliced down, cutting the shoulder strap on her rifle and cutting a shallow gash in her wrist. Silver-fur gasped and dropped the weapon, but she was far from defenseless. Her left hand swiped at him, but he parried with his open right hand, deflecting the blow downward, bringing the knife around again for an overhand, downward stab.

  Dark-fur was just visible in his peripheral vision, trying to get a shot, but Silver-fur was blocking her. As Silver-fur swatted Jax’s arm aside, the blade nicked her right ear, but she didn’t even notice the wound. Jax flicked his right hand and a four-inch blade dropped down into his hand, concealed up his sleeve on a cunningly-designed wrist sheath. His weapons certainly weren’t going to allow him to overcome her height and reach advantages. But Jax was used to being the underdog. He was used to facing taller and larger opponents, to use his speed and cunning to outwit and outfight them.

  Of course, he’d never faced down a lupusan before and he had to admit, he was fighting for his life against her. She was far faster than he’d anticipated and skilled in fighting arts. It was taking every bit of his own not-inconsiderable abilities to avoid getting ripped apart. His blades clashed with her claws, their forearms and wrists thumped together and they each blocked and parried, all the while, Jax made sure that Silver-fur was always blocking Dark-fur’s shot.

  Another slash and this time Silver-fur got through his defense. Three of her wicked claws sliced through his upper left arm and he hissed in pain. Silver-fur barked a laugh moved forward to press her advantage. She lunged and snapped her teeth at him, actually tearing a chunk out of the man’s nose. Jax yelped in pain, but he wasn’t fazed for more than a second. Jax leaned back and kicked out, catching her in the leg, just above the kneecap. She grunted in pain and he turned and sprinted off. Dropping one of his knives, he bent and snatched up one of the sidearms as he raced down the corridor.

  “Down!” he heard just an instant before a fusillade of gunfire tore after him. He threw himself to the right, dodging into one of the alcoves where he nearly fell down a metal staircase (known in spacer lingo as a ladder). Catching himself by banging hard against the bulkhead, Jax winced and barreled down the stairs as fast as he could, taking the stairs four at a time. The thumping of feet on the deck behind him told him that the lupusan were in close pursuit.

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  “Fuck, he’s slippery!” Saiphirelle bellowed, tongue lolling out of her mouth in a grin. She grabbed up her rifle and pelted after him, Corajen shoving past her sister and charging down the ladder at breakneck speed. “But, damn was that fun! I want to nail his hide to the Security office door!”

  “Pin him to the plate with your fork before you try and carve him up,” Corajen told her, her rifle held in close, sighting down the ladder and into the compartment beyond. He had already scampered off, but her sensitive nose was easily tracking him. She didn’t stop once she reached the deck, she ran full tilt for the hatch, then skidded to a halt. She sniffed, looked and listened and then bolted through the hatch, Saiphirelle right on her heels.

  “He’s heading aft!” Corajen said, and her sister’s ears twitched in acknowledgement. The two of them continued pursuit, but at a slightly slower pace than his breakneck speed. He could stop to ambush them if they weren’t careful. The lupusan smiled to herself. Saiphirelle had been right; it had been so long since she’d been in a good hunt, a good chase.

  Corajen caught sight of him as they rushed past several of the cargo compartments. These were smaller rooms that acted as antechambers into the main cargo holds, interconnected so that cargo could be transferred between the bigger bays, in case they needed to trim out the load mid-flight and couldn’t use the main doors. There were other compartments, multipurpose rooms, but Jax (and his pursuers) bypassed those.

  Where is he going? Corajen thought. He can’t get off the ship, and even if he does take a shuttle or one of the fighters, there’s nothing out here. He’ll be dead in a few days when his life support runs out and he has to know that. Unless he’s heading for the engineering spaces, she mused, sweeping a doorway as they passed. Going to try and take us with him? Damage the reactor or something else critical? That would have to be his plan. He can’t hope to hold the ship, not by himself or with however many of his men are still alive. Her smile broadened. Oh, this will be a sweet kill.

  Gunfire erupted ahead from one of the hatchways, Corajen dove to the deck, her weapon trained forward, Saiphirelle ducked and spun to her right, pressing up against the bulkhead. Corajen fired a quick three-round burst, forcing Jax back and allowing Saiphirelle to charge out from the wall and after him. He was running full tilt down the corridor but was forced to stop because the hatch at the next compartment was closed. He skidded to a halt and glancing back over his shoulder, he keyed the hatch with the hand holding the knife and emptied the clip in the gun with the other.

  One of the bullets hit Saiphirelle in the shoulder and another in the hip; she was dancing like mad to keep from getting hit. But by the time the hatch opened, she was on him. The knife flashed out, but she fired her own weapon and he squirmed aside, but not far enough. The bullet grazed his stomach and he made a gasp of pain. Saiphirelle depressed the trigger and let the weapon go on full automatic, three of the bullets catching him just under the ribs. He slammed back against the jamb of the hatchway, his free hand pressing against his abdomen, but he wasn’t done yet.

  Saiphirelle threw her empty gun aside, it clanged against the bulkhead and then to the deck. She advanced slowly on the man, who made a dash at her just as she raised her arm to strike. The two went into their dance again, but with each strike or parry, Jax was getting slower and more desperate. But even though he was fighting for his life, he managed a strike on his attacker, slicing her forearm and then another parry with the blade of his knife that nearly severed a finger. Finally, the silver-furred lupusan made a little yip of triumph and made a lightning fast sidestep right. Recognition and laughter shone in Jax’s eyes for one instant; she was retreating, the silver-furred bitch. But why? He was faring the worst in this fight. Up to this point he’d thought he had been holding his own, but now he realized she’d been playing with him. His arms, cheeks and right shoulder were festooned with light cuts and gashes from where she’d nicked him. Nothing serious, but enough to continue to slow him down. Her step right was followed by a strike to his throat that he never saw coming. At the exact instant, Corajen’s assault rifle opened up, knocking him back into the jamb of the hatch as a dozen projectiles tore open his chest and stomach.

  Jax actually managed to remain on his feet for another five seconds, until his knees gave way and he slumped to the deck. He made gurgling sounds and his left hand looked to be reaching into his pocket for something, but Saiphirelle stomped on his forearm. There was a loud crack and he gurgled again. Blood fountained from his throat, he gave another bubbling gasp and then lay still. The silver-furred lupusan threw back her head and let out a blood-curdling howl that reverberated throughout the corridor and the compartments beyond. With a smirk and a flick of her ears, Corajen joined in a second later. Hatches opened and nearby crewmen peeked out to find out what that terrible noise was. Gunfire they understood. They’d never heard the sisters bay like that befo
re, it was a haunting sound.

  “What happened?” came a voice behind the two of them, once they’d stopped. Corajen turned, just as Saiphirelle kneeled down at the kill. The dark-furred lupusan made a yip of pleasure. Taja came out from the cargo compartment, her legs visibly quaking. She gasped when she saw the ruined body lying on the deck.

  “Good to see you,” Corajen said. The howl had felt so good, so… primal. There were many times when her sibling’s feral nature was a detriment both to security and to maintaining control. But then there were times like this when Saiphirelle knew just what to do. And from the sounds coming from behind her, her sibling was indulging in another activity that was perfect for the situation. “It’s all right, he’s done.” Then she laid her ears flat on her head. “I don’t know how many of the pirates are left within the ship. We need to do a full sweep and we need to reestablish communications.”

  Taja nodded weakly. “What… What is she doing?” the tiny woman asked, pointing to the silver lupusan.

  Corajen yipped again. “She’s performing a ritual. An important one.”

  Taja blanched, she looked sickened. “She’s ripping him open!”

  There was a crunch and a series of cracks. Corajen glanced down. Sure enough, Saiphirelle had indeed ripped open Gideon Jax’s chest, snapping his ribcage. She rooted around with one of her hands for a few seconds and then with a smile, extracted her prize. “There we are!” she said, standing. She held the man’s heart in her hand. With two claws, she tore off a piece, and lay it on her forearm for safekeeping, then expertly tore the rest in half. Taking one of the bigger pieces, she handed it to her sister. “Here you go.”

  Corajen took the chunk of heart, nodded her thanks, and then devoured it. Saiphirelle did the same, looking around for a place to save the smaller piece, but not finding anything. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s for Samair,” the silver lupusan replied, her long tongue licking the blood from her muzzle. “He tortured her more than anyone. I think she deserves a piece of the kill.”

  Corajen grunted. “But who knows where she is. Don’t have anything to keep that in. And,” she said, “She’s human. I’m not sure she’d approve of that particular aspect of our culture.”

  Her sibling shrugged. “Won’t know until we give her the opportunity.”

  “Here,” Taja said, holding out a piece of flimsi. It was a transparent piece of plastic used for hard copy; this one was blank and looked clean. “I was going to use this as we started a survey of the ship, but I think you could use it more.”

  “Obliged,” Saiphirelle replied, taking it in her claws delicately. She wrapped the piece of meat in it, and tucked it into her belt. Grabbing up her discarded weapon, she checked it over; it appeared undamaged, despite her rather spirited throw. “All right, where to next?”

  Corajen changed out the magazine on her weapon and flicked her muzzle to her sister, who did the same. “Main Engineering,” she said after a moment’s thought. “With Jax dead, we can restore communications. Then we can muster the crew and sweep the whole ship. I don’t think you and I can do everything alone.” She sniffed. “You need to get that looked at.” She gestured to her sister’s hand, which was bleeding freely.

  Saiphirelle licked the bloody appendage, wincing in pain. “Yeah, I’ll talk with Turan after.” She opened one of the pouches on her belt, which held a cauterizing agent and a vial of Combat Heal. After a moment, the bleeding had stopped and she had injected her hand with the Heal, hackles rising a bit with the burning sensation of the nanite solution. She shook herself, as though she was removing a large amount of water and Corajen laughed. “It burns!”

  The dark-furred lupusan’s tongue lolled out in amusement. “You will get that looked at later. You ready?” Her sibling nodded. “Good. Let’s go.”

  “Wait!” Taja cried, horror struck. “You’re just going to leave… that there?” She pointed to the eviscerated corpse.

  The sisters shared a look. “Does seem a bit unfriendly to just leave that filth there for someone else to have to clean up,” Corajen admitted.

  The silver-furred lupusan sighed. “Very well.” They both reached down and grabbed a limb. They easily hoisted the body up, dripping gore and blood onto the decking, but they carried it out into one of the cargo compartments and deposited it out of the way. “We’ll police up the rest of the bodies once the ship is secure and toss them into space,” Saiphirelle said to the revolted cargo specialist. “In the meantime, I’d recommend getting a cleaner bot out here to mop up the mess.” She indicated the trail of blood and the large pool at the hatchway.

  Taja gagged, but managed to hold it in. “I’ll get someone to… to… clean that up.”

  It was only a matter of three hours to sweep the ship. The sisters mustered up half a dozen cargo people and a dozen more from the deck division and stopping briefly at Security, they armed them all with stunners. With communications throughout the ship reestablished, it was a simple matter of going through the ship, checking every compartment, every cubby hole, every conceivable hiding place. Even after a headcount had been confirmed, Corajen insisted on checking the rest of the ship. It wasn’t that she was concerned that they’d missed anyone, but more to be sure there weren’t any surprises left behind by the pirates. Thankfully, they seemed to have gotten lucky. Jax either hadn’t had the forethought or the ability to set up any traps in the computer systems or explosives in the reactor.

  The captain and Tamara were found and rushed to sickbay. Tamara was near to passing out when the lupusan found her, but had been delighted at the gift of a piece of the Armsman’s heart from Saiphirelle. In a rare showing of a primal nature, she popped the cold chunk of meat into her mouth and ate it. She gagged a bit as it was rather cold and slimy by the time they’d found her, but she smiled winningly at the silver-furred lupusan before passing out. Saiphirelle had looked on her with pride before gently picking her up off the deck and carrying her to sickbay.

  Kutok’s body had also been found. Serinda was beside herself with grief and guilt. She kept repeating “I left her. I left her.” The young woman was crazed in her weeping and had to be sedated for fear of hurting herself seriously. She already had bloody gashes down her cheeks where her fingernails had scraped down in her mania.

  The pirate bodies had been loaded into one of the undamaged airlocks and blown out into the void, unlamented. Surprisingly, there were no surviving pirates left. Even the ones that Cookie had stunned amazingly didn’t survive the process. The fact that a number of bloodstained kitchen utensils had to be cleaned with bleach before being run through the dishwasher, as well as three sets of blood-splattered shipsuits being tossed in the laundry was immaterial. The crew was just shaken by the momentous events of the last few hours. It seemed as though one moment they were continuing along on the grind, and then suddenly, it was all over. No one thought it had been easy, however, not after seeing Tamara, the Captain, or especially poor Kutok. More than one of the crew had given the bodies of the pirates a good kick before they were all loaded into the airlock. But it wouldn’t bring back Kutok. Or any of the others who had died.

  “So what’s the butcher’s bill?” Quesh asked, coming into sickbay after several hours. The ship was in good condition now, considering, but as the senior officer left on the ship, it was up to him to take over command, at least until the Captain was back on his feet.

  Turan came over, his face looking particularly grim. “Tamara is going to be fine. I got the regen tube off and she’s getting pumped up with nutrient IV and fluids to deal with the dehydration. She should be on her feet tomorrow.” Then his face drooped. “There’s nothing I can do for Cookie. He died almost instantly. The damage to his heart and lungs was just too much.”

  The Parkani’s legs felt as rubbery as they had when his nerves were damaged. “What about the tank?” he asked, pointing to the regeneration tank. “Can’t it save him?”

  “It can’t fix the dead, Chief,” the Guura said q
uietly. “He’s gone.”

  The Chief growled and pounded the bulkhead with one meaty fist. “Damn them, damn them all.” And he slammed the metal again.

  Turan reached up and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’ve got to get back to the Captain. His leg is in bad shape. In fact, he’s going to lose it. I’m going to have to grow him a new one. Luckily Corajen and Saiphirelle found him when they did.” He brightened a little. “I wish I’d stop getting so much work.”

  Quesh grunted, which almost came out as a sob. He nodded and then went over to the biobed where Tamara lay. “How you holding up?” he asked gruffly.

  Tamara turned her head to look at him. Reaching up slightly, she took his hand. “I feel like shit,” she answered, her own voice husky. “I didn’t know about Cookie. I was locked in that box for so long. And I… He…” But she couldn’t continue.

  But Quesh understood. “He cared about all of us, you know. And I don’t think he was too keen on the Captain’s plan, but he did his part. Saved three crewmembers’ lives.”

  Tamara nodded, a little too quickly as she was fighting back tears. “I heard.”

  “But that’s over now. I understand you’ll be back on your feet tomorrow.”

  “That’s what Turan tells me.”

  “Good,” he replied, clearing his throat. “Because I have to get back to getting the ship ready and you need to take command.”