Coletti Warlords: Vexing Voss

by Gail Koger

  Spike snarled, exposing pointy metal teeth with bits of bloody flesh stuck in them. He answered my father in a bunch of weird honking quacks.

  “No!” my father yelled. “That wasn’t our deal. I gave you the codes to shut down the planetary defense systems. You culled thousands of women and children in the last raid. That cost you extra, and I brought Malik a Siren. Ticktock, assholes. The price is going up again.” The translator spewed out a bunch of quacking.

  Cold horror gave way to terror when the Spike’s voracious gaze swept over me. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind we were on the dinner menu. “Voss! You can’t get dead on me. I need you, goddammit! Now! I don’t want to die this way, and a swarm of those creepy wormy things are heading our way.”

  Voss invaded my mind. “Enough. Warriors do not shriek.”

  “Wanna bet? That Benedict Arnold injected me with some kind of drug. I can’t move. I can’t fight. I thought you were dead,” I wailed.

  “I’m not that easy to kill. The Drakash only temporarily blocked our link. Your father and Malik are unaware of our mating or that my blood now runs through your veins. It will quickly neutralize the drug,” the Battle Commander answered. His mental hand stroked my back soothingly. “Now be silent and let me listen to them.”

  “Yes, sir.” I clung to his comforting presence.

  Honking incessantly, Spike walked over to Hothar and took his laser pistol. Drool splashed my face as he leaned over and studied me for a long moment.

  “I know she looks like a man. It’s a disguise,” my loving father snapped.

  The pirate groped my chest and quacked.

  I shuddered in disgust and tightened my hold on Voss.

  A menacing growl filled my head. “Once I am done with them, they will beg for death.”

  “Works for me.”

  My father painfully ripped off my mustache and goatee. “It’s a disguise, you fucking moron. She’s the Siren Malik wants.”

  Who was the fucking moron here?

  Spike honked another question.

  My father yanked up my shirt and hissed in anger. “You bitch, that armor cost me two million credits. I should have slit your throat when you were born.”

  Love you too, Daddy.

  The general rolled up my armor and used a knife to cut off the elastic bandage I had bound my breasts with. “See? It’s like I told you. It’s a disguise.”

  Cold, slightly slimy hands pinched my nipples and kept squeezing my breasts until I wanted to hurl. “Please tell me you’ve got a plan.”

  “I always have a plan, but for this one to work, we must merge and become as one,” Voss answered a tad arrogantly.

  “Okay, that pirate’s lookin’ a mite hungry. Let’s get to it.”

  “You must embrace me, my power, and my memories.”

  “What do I do?”

  “Open yourself to me.”

  The minute I did, his power flooded into me, filling me. Whoa, what a rush. A vortex that held millions of images and memories suddenly spun through my head. I reeled as every bone, every muscle in my body screamed in protest. “Stop! It’s too much, too much.”

  Voss forced his own inner calmness and rationality on my mind like a warm, comforting blanket. “My power is yours, my memories are yours. I am yours for all eternity.”

  “Aw, that’s so sweet.”

  “A warlord is never sweet,” Voss grumbled, somewhat embarrassed.

  “I am yours for all eternity too, sweetie,” I promised. A fleeting second later, our minds fused together, and we became as one. Everything abruptly clicked into place. His memories became mine. His power became mine.

  “I want you to tell Malik I got the bitch for him, and I want my payment!” my father shouted at the pirate.

  With a furious honk, Spike stepped over to the control console and hit a button.

  Malik’s badly battered image formed in midair. “You want to be paid for destroying my base? For getting over two hundred of my men killed?”

  The general blanched. “No! It wasn’t my fault. Zoey’s responsible.”

  His gaze venomous, Malik asked, “You could not control one tiny female?”

  “Zoey’s a sneaky bitch just like her mother. She brought the Battle Commander here.”

  “No. You did that when you destroyed the Alliance cruiser.”

  Anger swept through us. He had murdered our friend Captain Rio and his men.

  “I had no choice,” the general whined. “They were tracking our ships.”

  “You have disobeyed my orders for the last time,” Malik snapped and gestured to the pirates. “He’s yours to do with as you wish.”

  “No!” The general pulled his laser pistol like a quick-draw artist. Sizzling laser beams shot out and struck all three pirates. Their mouths opened in silent screams, and for a brief second their bodies radiated a fiery red, and then they were gone. Vaporized.

  We were surprised at his accuracy.

  Malik laughed unpleasantly. “You are trapped.”

  Our father ran over to the transporter controls and typed in a coordinate. “No, I’m not. I have another buyer eager to use my daughter’s gifts.”

  The power to the transporter control died suddenly.

  Someone on the bridge must be listening in.

  “You killed Anhui’s mate. Expect no mercy from her. She will eat you slowly, piece by bloody piece, until you beg for death,” Malik advised.

  The color drained from my father’s face. “You can’t do that. You need me. Drake and Burns are fools. Besides, I’m the only one who knows where the shipments are.”

  “Oh, you will tell me anything I want to know to stop the pain.” Malik’s eyes were cold with menace.

  “Never,” the general spat. Putting the laser pistol under his chin, he pulled the trigger.

  Voss and I watched in angry disbelief as his headless body hit the floor with a thump. The coward had denied us our vengeance.

  The doors slid open, and a female Tai-Kok stormed in. Her head spikes formed a Mohawk, and two metal horns protruded from her forehead. She honked furiously into a translator, and a mechanical voice asked, “Who killed my mate?”

  “The headless one. The general decided suicide was an easier death than being eaten alive.”

  Her furious gaze fell on us.

  There was a hard note of command in Malik’s voice. “Touch my female or the Coletti and you die. Do you understand me, Anhui?”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “Good. Lock them up.” Malik’s image vanished.

  Anhui honked the Tai-Kok equivalence of “fuck you” and reached for us.

  As one, Voss and I destroyed her mind and then turned our rage on the monsters manning the ship.

  Hothar groaned and tried to sit up. He blinked and stared at the wormy things swarming onto the platform. “By the Goddess! Are those Scorm?”

  “Yes.” Our voice was deep and commanding.

  He shot to his feet and would have fallen if we hadn’t steadied him. “Easy, young one.”

  “Voss?” The look on Hothar’s face was one of stunned disbelief.

  “We have merged to rescue you from the Tai-Kok.”

  “The Tai-Kok?” Hothar surveyed the transporter room, and his gaze fell on the general’s Scorm-covered form. “Your father was working with the butchers?”

  “He was.”

  Hothar eyed the headless body. “He died too easily.”

  We agreed. “The general had no honor.”

  “Where did all these Scorm come from?”

  “An excellent question, Hothar. We think a visit to Joroco will reveal another Tai-Kok base.” We quickly obliterated the crawling worms with the general’s laser.

  Scooping Anhui’s laser off the floor, the young Coletti bounded for the doors like an eager puppy.

  “Hothar,” we snapped.

  He skidded to a stop. “Yes, Battle Commander?”

  “Have you scanned the corridor for Tai-Kok or Scorm?”


  His face fell. “No, Commander.”

  “The ship is infested with hungry vermin,” we growled.

  “My apologies, Commander. It won’t happen again.”

  “Scan the ship until you locate the engine room, and teleport there.”

  “Yes, Commander.” His face scrunched in fierce concentration, Hothar suddenly smiled and teleported.

  We joined him in the engine room. “Download their navigational logs and all ship-to-ship communications to our warbird.”

  He gave a short bow, clamped his right fist to his chest, and said smartly, “It shall be done, Commander.”

  Amusement and love swept through our mind. Hothar was so young and untried. We stepped over to the warp-drive control console and overloaded the coils.

  “Commander, I have located a shuttle without any Scorm,” Hothar announced proudly, flashing us the image.

  “Well done.” We teleported to the shuttle.

  Chapter Eight

  A blinding white explosion filled the view screens as the Tai-Kok ship disintegrated into a cloud of vaporized metal. Shock waves buffeted our shuttle. A quick glance at the control console confirmed we had sustained no damage.

  Voss left my mind, and the cold emptiness of being utterly alone suddenly spread like acid inside me. “Don’t go!”

  “I’m still here, little one, but the merge is no longer necessary. You are safe. Stay on the course I laid in, and we will rendezvous in sixty of your minutes.”

  “Okay.” I fought down the almost indescribable sense of loss. “That was…intense and kinda freaky.”

  “I agree. Your thought processes are quite unique.”

  Was that a slam? An evil smile curved my mouth. “Just think, all your knowledge is now mine. Pretty awesome, huh?”

  There was a long pause, and I caught a fleeting sense of horror from our link before Voss responded, “That is an unforeseen side effect of the merge.”

  “Hey, now I can be a warlord too.”

  “Tiny females are not allowed in the Warlord Guild.”

  “Aw, c’mon, that’s a load of crap. There is no Warlord Guild. I might be small, but I’m great at blowing up shit, and I can be scary too.”

  The jerk actually laughed. “Scary? Not even a petka would be frightened of you.”

  Well that was just rude. A petka was kind of like a bunny rabbit. The image of a sultry half-naked woman suddenly flashed across my mind. “And who the heck is Tinee?”

  “She works in one of the pleasure houses I frequent,” Voss answered warily.

  “Frequent? Oh my God! You’ve boinked over a thousand women!” That did explain his sexual expertise. “Where in the hell did you find the time?”

  Voss let out exasperated sigh. “After a battle, a warrior has needs.”

  “Uh-huh. After bedding that many women, you should have captured half the universe by now.”

  Voss hurriedly added, “We are mated. I cannot touch another female.”

  That was true. To keep him off-balance, I switched tactics. “So why can’t I be a stealth warlord? I mean, no one would believe an itty-bitty female could hurt them. Until it’s too late.”

  His hot mouth closed over mine in a long, voracious psychic kiss.

  Whooeee! The man could kiss, but if he thought it would shut me up, he was in for a big surprise.

  Voss’s wicked tongue teased my nipples. Every lick sent desire raging through me. His ghostly hands caressed my belly and slid between my legs. Wowzers! He was turning me into a nymphomaniac.

  “The Overlord will be pleased to learn he has another weapon in his quest to conquer the galaxy.”

  Huh? Holy hell, that wasn’t even funny, and Mister Sneaky had turned the tables on me. “Wow! How awesome. It’s always been my dream to work for the Overlord.”

  “You would do well to rein in that sarcastic streak around Zarek.”

  A shiver shook me. “But I’ll never be around him, right? I mean, he can’t be interested in me. I’m just a lowly female breeder.”

  “You are not a lowly breeder,” Voss snapped. “You are my mate.”

  A snort of laughter broke from Hothar.

  I gave him the evil eye. The little punk better not be eavesdropping.

  Grinning, Hothar turned back to the shuttle controls.

  “Sorry, your lordship, but I really don’t think the Overlord will be all that interested in making my acquaintance.”

  “Quite the opposite. He is very eager to meet you.”

  “He is?” Oh dear God. “Why?”

  “There are many reasons.”

  “Name a couple.”

  “You caught Zarek’s attention when you were able to elude me and my hunters for over four years.”

  “Oh, so that’s like a big deal?”

  “You are the only prey I didn’t capture within a day.”

  “Are you kidding me? No one has ever evaded you for more than one day?”

  “No. I’m very good at what I do.”

  Oh boy, was he. “That’s pretty impressive, but you’ve never chased anyone like me.”

  “You were an elusive and tricky prey.”

  “If you hadn’t drunk my blood, you’d still be chasing me.”

  “No. I would not. Once I locked onto your brain pattern, you were mine.”

  I scrolled through Voss’s memories. “Damn, you had me from hello.”

  Hothar snorted again.

  “This is a private conversation,” I said in my best mean-mother voice.

  “You broadcast your thoughts,” Hothar countered.

  “Do not.”

  “Yes, little one, you do.”

  Crap. “Was there another reason Zarek wanted to meet me?”

  “You used Diatryman root to disable me.”

  “Well, duh, when I heard it took down the Overlord, how could I pass it up?”

  “Your actions only increased Zarek’s interest. He could not believe there was another female as tricky as his mate, Detja.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “Yes, but do not provoke him.”

  Since I developed a bad case of motormouth whenever I was nervous, that was going to be a problem. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

  “Then I will be looking for a new mate.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “He will find you as fascinating as I do,” Voss answered, his amusement evident.

  “Fascinating? Really?” Was he pulling my leg?

  “You are a truly amazing female, and you make me laugh.”

  Who knew Coletti warlords liked to laugh? “Aw, that’s really kinda sweet.”

  “Sweet? Try not to blow anything up,” Voss commanded and was gone.

  Hothar burst out laughing. “You called the Battle Commander sweet.”

  “He can be.”

  The brat laughed harder.

  “Oh shut up.” Jeez, he was as bad as some of my cousins.

  I stared out at the strange constellations. I was definitely a long way from home. I had never been in deep space before. The moon was as far as I had traveled. Uncle Saul insisted on all of us learning basic piloting skills in case we got captured. Once we kicked their slimy asses, we could take their ship.

  The big guy had better take me back to Earth. I needed my pictures. They were all I had left of Mom and Paul.

  Hothar fingered his swollen jaw. “Is Sargon dead?”

  “If he isn’t, he’s probably wishing he was.”

  His gaze roamed over my bloody and battered face. “The Battle Commander’s and Jaylan’s interrogation techniques are very effective. They will rip Sargon’s rotted mind apart to get the information they seek.”

  A shudder shook me. A pissed-off warlord in your head, tearing through your memories. Didn’t that sound like fun? There probably wouldn’t be much left of Sargon’s mind once they were done with him. Or El Jefe’s either.

  A mechanical voice proclaimed, “Loss of life support is imminent.”

  My
stomach clenched in horror as red lights started blinking on the command console. I exchanged a worried glance with Hothar. “Shouldn’t this piece of crap have a backup system?”

  Hothar quickly scanned through the ship’s systems. “Holy Goddess! This is the backup system.”

  “What happened to the main one?”

  He tapped an icon. “It was removed for repair and never replaced.”

  “That was a bit shortsighted. Now we know why there weren’t any Scorm on this shuttle. How long before we run out of air?”

  “Fifty minutes.”

  “This is bad.”

  Hothar nodded. “Very bad.”

  “There’s got to be a tool kit on this piece of shit. Maybe we can fix it.”

  Hothar jumped up. “I will look for one.”

  Dropping to my knees, I popped the panel off the console. Snap!

  Crackle.

  Pop! Flames suddenly spewed from the damaged relay. “Shit! Hothar, grab the fire extinguisher.”

  Oily black smoke poured out as the flames grew.

  He ran up and handed me a small tube.

  This was a fire extinguisher? The knowledge of how to use it suddenly jumped into my head. Triggering it, I hurriedly put out the flames and started coughing up a lung. God, that was just plain nasty smelling.

  “I’ll do a diagnostic check,” Hothar said, quickly tapping several icons. “Balock’s balls, we’re losing air.”

  “Shit!” I bolted to my feet and instinctively reached for Voss. Maybe he had an idea on how to fix the relay. A jolt of raw fear shook me. An absolutely terrifying power was wrapped around his mind.

  A savagely dangerous voice asked, “You allowed Malik to escape?”

  “I made the choice to save my mate first.”

  My spine stiffened at the pain in Voss’s voice. No one hurt my guy. “Back off, asshole, no one knew Malik was on Earth, not even the high and mighty Overlord. Who, by the way, is doing a piss-poor job of protecting us from the Tai-Kok and Rodan.”

  “Be quiet, Zoey,” Voss hissed.

  My evil twin made an appearance. “Let go of him now, or I will kill you.”

  All that terrifying power was suddenly wrapped around me, and I knew I was an inch away from dying. “And how do you plan on doing that?”