by Gail Koger
“Do you have a ship?”
“We do.”
And you’re not worried about taking on the Rodan?”
“We are Bjarke mercenaries. We fear no one. Not even the Coletti. We have fought the Rodan many times and won,” Loki replied.
“And all I have to do in return is steal that object?”
“Yes.”
Was he telling me the truth? Who knew? I had two options. Stay with CeeCee and her warlords or go with Loki and hope for the best.
CeeCee turned to Jake “The Rodan must have a cloaked ship nearby. Were you able to track the transporter beams?”
“Sariel is pursuing the Rodan ship now,” a deep, authoritarian voice answered.
Pepe let out a warning growl.
I turned and gaped at the menacing Coletti warrior standing behind me. He looked like someone you never wanted to aggravate. His black battle suit emphasized his massive frame, and on his right arm, he wore a large gold warrior’s bracelet with an elaborate design. An etched gold headband held back his gray warriors’ braids. My stomach clenched in dread as I recognized Zarek, the Overlord of the Coletti Empire. The meanest bastard in the galaxy.
“Shhh. Easy boy. He’s a friend,” CeeCee told Pepe.
I looked at CeeCee like she had lost her mind. “Friend?”
“Jia, this is Zarek, the Overlord of the Coletti Empire.”
“I know who he is, but he’s no friend of mine. I curse you. Xan tu e Ruv!”
CeeCee frowned. “The wolves shall eat you is a curse?”
“It’s an old Romany curse,” I spat.
Zarek didn’t seem too concerned. “This is the one you have chosen for Trayon?”
“She is, but I think Central Command’s records on her are incorrect,” CeeCee said.
I bristled. “What? Wait. You said I wouldn’t be given to a Coletti warrior.”
“And you’re not. Trayon is Askole,” Jake responded.
“Askole?” The image of an alien nightmare petting a sheep appeared in my mind. Merda! He was huge with tentacles squirming about his snakelike features. His black skin was armor-plated, and he had gleaming white fangs.
CeeCee said brightly, “He seems to be good with animals.”
“Dio Mio. You want me to mate with that alien freak? He has tentacles! Our parts won’t fit,” I protested.
Jake laughed. “Oh, they’ll fit. My cousin is mated to an Askole. According to Sarah, Tihar is hung like a bull elephant and is an excellent lover.”
“I don’t care if he’s Don Juan himself. I won’t do it,” I cried.
Zarek’s tone was at once intimidating and amused, “Not even to save your brother’s life?”
“I don’t need your help to save Adam,” I said defiantly.
Jake chuckled. “Got a spaceship, do ya?”
I gave him the one-finger salute.
“Do you know the location of the Rodan base or have enough soldiers to successfully attack it?” CeeCee asked gently.
“Do we have a deal?” Loki asked.
“We do.” I gave CeeCee a grim smile. “No, but I know someone who does.”
“Who?” Curiosity filled CeeCee’s eyes.
A glittering blue light formed around me. “Bjarke mercenaries.”
Pepe clung to me. “No like the glitters. No like.”
The icky sensation of having my cells rearranged rolled over me and poof! I was standing on a platform.
A growl rumbled deep in Pepe’s chest.
Chapter Four
The first thing I noticed was the cold. The room felt like a meat locker. The next was the enormous humanoid male with long purple braids standing behind the control console. A massive bruise marred his bronzed cheek. Give him a horned helmet and he could pass as a Viking. His body armor also looked like it was from 790 AD and had been pieced together from left over scrap metal. “You’re Loki?”
“I am.” He surveyed me from head-to-toe.
The possessive look in Loki’s eyes made me think I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.
Pepe bared his teeth. “Him stink.”
Loki did smell like stale cigarettes and booze. Who knew aliens smoked? I stroked Pepe’s head. “Sssh.”
Loki raised an eyebrow. “What is that?”
“This is my friend Pepe.”
“You should have left it behind,” Loki grumbled.
“Where I go, Pepe goes and he’s not an it. He’s an intelligent lifeform.” I stepped off the platform. “Were you able to track the Rodan ship?”
“We are pursuing it now.” Loki held out his hand. “Come.”
Pepe snapped at him. “No touch Momma.”
Muttering a curse, Loki snatched his hand back. “Keep him under control or I will discipline him.”
“You harm one hair on Pepe’s head, and you’ll regret it,” I shot back testily.
Loki sneered. “The Coletti do not allow their females to have pets. Neither do we.”
“Pepe’s not a pet, he’s my friend. And for your information Zarek wasn’t giving me to a Coletti warrior. The bastard was turning me over to an Askole by the name of Trayon,” I corrected.
Loki stiffened. “Are you sure he said Trayon?”
“I’m positive.” I flashed the image of the sheep petting Askole to Loki. “Do you know him?”
“Yes.” Loki stepped backed as if I had suddenly become radioactive. “We are acquainted. He is the Askole High Commander’s youngest son.”
“High Commander as in the head honcho?”
A calculating expression filled Loki’s eyes. “I am sure they will offer a reward for your return.”
And the idiot would jump at the chance to collect it. “You promised you would help me free Adam. Were you lying?”
“We do not have a formal contract.”
I gritted my teeth. “You failed to mention that I needed one.”
“Your ignorance of the laws is not a valid complaint,” Loki retorted.
I’d fry his ass, but I didn’t know how to pilot a spaceship. “I thought you needed me to steal an object for you?”
“I must discuss this with my brothers.” Loki abruptly shoved me into a small cell and touched a control panel. Snap! A shimmering yellow energy field appeared.
“Wait!”
Totally ignoring me, Loki strode off.
Merda! I was such a fool. I let my need to save Adam cloud my judgment. The thought of being forcibly mated to some freaky alien gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Pepe looked up at me. “Want me to eat him Momma?”
“Not yet, sweetie.” I kissed his head. “But soon.” I hated weasels. Loki hadn’t taken my weapons, so I assumed there was a suppression field. Escaping the cell would be easy enough, but that didn’t get me any closer to finding Adam.
“I give you my word, I will find your brother, kill the one known as Giovanni, and destroy the Rodan base,” a growly voice suddenly announced.
Alarm swirled through me and I spun around looking for the source. No one was there. Merda! He was in my head. How were all these aliens getting past my mental shields? “That’s what Loki promised too, and it was a lie.”
“I never lie.” Ghostly fingers caressed my cheek. “Know this soft skin. I will protect you and the small furry one.”
“My name is Jia not soft skin, and I don’t need protection. I can take care of myself. Who are you and what do you want?”
“I am Trayon. I have come for you.”
Cazzo! It was the sheep petting Askole. “I’m not sure what Zarek promised you, but I’m not looking for a mate. So, go away.”
“I cannot. You are my chosen. It is my duty to care for you.”
I threw my hand up in the air “We’ve never even met. How can I be your chosen?”
“Your mind readily accepts mine and soon so will your body.”
“No! Not happening. Ever.”
“Once the mating dance has begun it cannot be stopped,” Trayon stated calmly.
&nb
sp; “Arrrgh!” I banged my head against the wall. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”
“What’s wrong Momma?”
“Men who don’t take no for an answer and refuse to listen to reason.”
“Me listen.”
“Yes, you do, sweetie.” I switched my attention to the idiot Askole. “What did they do? Show you a picture of me and wham bam you suddenly know I’m your soulmate? How is that even possible? Mental osmosis?”
Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! The floor pitched violently, throwing me off my feet. “Are you attacking us?”
“No. We are still a light year away.”
An alarm began to wail, and some alien gibberish sounded from the speaker. Probably warning everyone the ship was under attack. Duh.
I mentally scanned the other vessel. The lifeforms weren’t Askole or Coletti or Rodan.
“They are Nal Rishi pirates. A human female is a valuable commodity.” Fury filled Trayon’s voice as he shouted commands to his crew, “Battle stations. Go to warp twelve. Squad Rio prepare to board an enemy vessel.”
Kaboom! Kaboom! It was like being on a wild carnival ride. I hung on for dear life. Trayon wasn’t going to make it in time.
Pepe whimpered.
“Sssh. It’s okay. I won’t let them hurt you.” Of course, if we had a hull breach, we’d all be dead, and it would be a moot point. C ’est la vie.
The walls creaked and groaned ominously. Clank! More alien gibberish spouted from the speaker. The lights flickered, the gravity field failed, and we were suddenly floating. Cazzo! “I think we are being boarded, Trayon.”
“We are fifteen of your minutes out. Delay them.”
“I can do that.”
Trayon vanished from my mind.
Pepe growled. “Male comes.”
I could sense him too. The rest of his pirate buddies were fighting with Loki and another guy. I air swam over to the control panel, placed my hand on it and fried the system. The energy field vanished.
Heavy magnetic boots thudded down the corridor.
Hmm. Hopefully, his gravity boots would fit me. Air swimming was hard work. I let myself float to the ceiling and pulled my laser pistol.
A warrior with a bubble gum pink goatee and troll hair stormed into the room. He was short, kinda skinny and wearing badly dented body armor. His weird milky green eyes surveyed the room. Huh? His eyelids were tattooed with a symbol of some kind. He checked his scanner and looked up.
I tucked my pistol behind me and waved at him all friendly like.
Pepe wagged his tail.
Pretty in Pink babbled something.
I shrugged. “No speaky alien.”
More babbling and he pointed to the floor.
“Sorry, no comprende.”
The warrior walked up the wall and reached for me. I stunned him. His teeth chattered like castanets and violent muscle spasms had him literally vibrating in his armor.
If looks could kill, I’d be dead. I reached out psychically and did some mental snooping. His name was Yoopew. I grinned. The name fit. He smelled like rotted cheese. Trayon was right. Mister Stinky was from Nal Rishi and he wanted to bag himself a human female to sell. I smirked. Bad decision.
My internal alarm went on alert. Another ship was rapidly approaching. Hopefully, it was Trayon’s, not another pirate coming in for the kill.
Loki ran into the room, grabbed my leg, and towed me away. His boots clunked loudly on the metal floor.
“What’s going on?”
“The Askole have found us.”
It was Trayon’s ship and once he got his claws on me, I would be an alien bride. “How do you plan on outrunning the Askole?”
Loki pulled me into a landing bay. “We cannot outrun them, but we can slow them down.”
“How?”
“When they drop out of warp speed, we blow up our ship.” Loki hauled me into a battered shuttle.
“But… We need a spaceship to find Adam.”
“We will steal another.” Loki belted me into a seat. “Go.”
My eyes widened. The Bjarke warrior in the pilot’s seat was even bigger than Loki. “Who’s that?”
“My brother Ivan.”
With a tremendous roar the shuttle catapulted out of the landing bay, slamming me back against the seat. I stared out at the strange constellation filling the viewscreen. How far from Earth was I? Would I ever see Sister Sarah again? The cold emptiness of being utterly alone suddenly spread like acid inside me.
“No alone. You have me, Momma,” Pepe said, licking my chin. “We find Adam.”
The knot in my stomach loosened. I kissed his head. “Yes, we will.”
A heavily armed Askole battle cruiser appeared suddenly on another viewscreen.
Brilliant billows of orange and yellow flames erupted from Loki’s disintegrating spacecraft. Shock waves buffeted our shuttle.
I frowned. “I don’t see any damage to the Askole ship.”
“There is minimal damage, but Yoopew has no choice but to fight,” Loki replied.
Giving us time to make a run for it. Loki wasn’t as dumb as he appeared. “I think pretty in pink is outgunned.”
Loki’s eyebrows rose. “You find Yoopew attractive?”
“Hell, no. I was being sarcastic.”
The blackness of space was filled with ribbons of dazzling red energy beams as the Nal Rishi pirates and the Askole battled it out. It was like the American’s Fourth of July.
“The Askole have boarded the Nal Rishi ship,” Ivan announced.
“That was quick.”
His mouth a grim line, Loki said, “The Askole are very efficient hunters. Only fools attack them.”
Or steal from them, I added silently. “Where are you going to find another ship?”
“Threll,” Ivan answered.
“What’s Threll?”
“It is the armpit of the galaxy. Where the worst of the worst gather.”
Oh, kinda sounded like the Moroccan black-market Mateo had dragged me to. I was still surprised we had made it out alive.
“Won’t the Askole figure out that’s where we’re headed?”
A grim smile formed on Loki’s mouth. “Even the Coletti and Askole avoid Threll.”
“That bad, huh?”
“The last time the Coletti raided Threll they needed over a thousand warriors and they sustained heavy casualties,” Ivan replied.
“And you’re just going to waltz right in there and steal a ship?”
“Yes.”
All that testosterone had damaged his itty-bitty brain. “There has to be another place you can steal a ship.”
Loki shook his head. “There is not. The Askole are now pursuing us.”
One look at the main viewscreen and dread clenched my gut. They were rapidly gaining on us. “Can this shuttle go any faster?”
“No.” Loki pointed at a viewscreen. “See that buoy?”
I spotted the big metal ball bristling with spikes and nodded.
“Once we pass it, the Askole will not follow.”
I let out a relieved breath. “Good to know, but what’s stopping the powers-to-be on Threll from shooting us down?”
“We have the passcode,” Loki answered.
In our line of work, everyone needed a bolt hole. I had a couple myself. I watched the viewscreen and sure enough the Askole battle cruiser came to an abrupt stop. That had been way too close.
I glanced at the second viewscreen. Threll was a flat, desert world with an ocean of onyx sand. No trees, no bushes, and no oceans. A hodge-podge of buildings sagged under the unforgiving sun.
A harsh voice spouted some alien gobbledygook.
“Who’s that?”
Ivan responded in the same alien gobbledygook.
“That was their air traffic controller. We’ve been instructed to land on pad nine,” Loki advised as Ivan sat the shuttle down on badly cracked concrete.
“Now what happens?”
“We wait until the Askole battle cr
uiser leaves and then we find another ship.”
“That could take days,” I cried.
Loki shrugged. “Or longer.”
“Adam could be dead by then.”
“He could be dead now,” Loki countered.
I clenched my jaw and fought back the urge to scream. No. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. I was certain of one thing. Giovanni was a dead man walking. I didn’t care if it took me the next hundred years, I would kill him.
Ivan lowered the landing ramp. “Welcome to the ninth hell.”
Chapter Five
I released my seatbelt and stood up.
“Human females are worth their weight in Ditrim crystals. Unless you want to be sold to the highest bidder, keep your head down, and your mouth shut.” Loki handed me a dirty brown cape. “Cover your friend too. They will consider him food and try to take him from you.”
“Anyone stupid enough to try will regret it.”
“Me eat them,” Pepe said, baring his fangs.
Loki’s big, callused hand closed painfully around the back of my neck. “That would be a mistake that would get all of us killed.” He shook me. “Understood?”
“Yes.” Giving him the stink eye, I pulled the cape on and covered Pepe with it.
Ivan added, “Does your friend understand?”
“Me does.”
“Pepe understands.” I followed him down the ramp.
Threll’s spaceport was a dung heap of barely space worthy ships. One vessel in decent shape had a screaming skull painted on the hull.
“How about stealing that ship?”
“It’s a slave ship and heavily guarded,” Loki responded.
“Oh.” Several bullet shaped Rodan marauders set next to a cluster of plasticrete bunkers, repair hangers and warehouses. “What are the Rodan doing here?”
Loki studied them warily. “Difficult to say. Probably buying slaves to eat or weapons.”
My stomach roiled.
The unceasing rumble of arriving and departing ships showed Threll did a brisk business in illegal items. You’d think with the Askole battle cruiser hanging around, they’d stay away, but nope, not happening.
The intense heat was suffocating. To my surprise the cape seemed to reflect the sun. I surveyed the area carefully. Everything seemed black, bleak, bent or broken. Some people scurried about like frightened animals while others strode confidently. Of course, they were the ones armed to the teeth.