by Cheree Alsop
My questions cut off at a muffled sound. My pulse quickened. I was well acquainted with the gurgle a throat makes when a person’s breath is cut off. Someone was about to die.
I rounded the corner at a run. I had no plan and no reason to act. I didn’t know a single person aboard the SevenWolf. I had no loyalties. I didn’t even know what I was doing there.
Yet the sight of a slender woman pinned by her throat against the wall at the mercy of a huge, spiked Drakornian made my blood boil. Tears leaked down the woman’s cheeks at the pain and her eyes were wide as she struggled to breathe. Her fingernails scratched the man’s wrists, but he didn’t appear to feel it.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment since I reached this rust heap,” he said in a low voice. “Your captain should be a little more careful who she buys from the slavers.” A deep chuckle reverberated off the wall. “This ship is about to be my new—”
His words cut off when I slipped my chain over his head. He let the woman go and she collapsed to the floor. The Drakornian tried to slide his fingers beneath the heavy links, but I pulled tighter and twisted my hands so he couldn’t gain any purchase. He gave up on the chain and reached for me over his shoulder, but I ducked away. In one last, frantic attempt, he backed into the closest wall. My head rebounded off the unforgiving surface, but I refused to let go. He did it a second time and then a third. Spots danced in my vision, but I could feel him falter.
His legs gave out and he fell to the floor. I held on a few seconds longer, counting my heartbeats until I was sure his had stopped. I rolled him over and checked his thick neck for a pulse. Nothing moved beneath my fingertips.
“Please don’t hurt me.”
I looked up to see the woman still huddled on the ground. Her neck was red and raw where the man had gripped it. When I took a step closer to see if she was alright, she held up a trembling hand. “Please don’t!”
I stopped. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.” I motioned to the man I had killed. “He mentioned taking over the ship; he must not be alone. Are there others with him?”
She stared up at me with wide eyes. I could see the shock of her attack taking over her system. Her shoulders shook. She needed comfort, that much I knew. But I had been away from females far too long to know what she required.
I went with what I did know.
I knelt in front of her and took her chin in my hand gently but firmly so that she had to meet my gaze. “Listen to me. If he has more men on this ship, your crew is in trouble. Are there other Drakornians here?”
She nodded. “Tw-two,” she stuttered.
“Where’s the bridge?”
She pointed to the left. I took off running.
Chapter Two
NOVA
Nova’s fingers thrummed on the arms of the captain’s chair. They were ready to jump. Why wasn’t Junquit back from the engine bay? Surely the ship was clear of the energy-feasting fiests by now. Gardsworn had mentioned there were only a few. It shouldn’t have taken so long.
The ship shuddered as a missile from a pursuing starship struck the hull. She would have to make the maneuver herself. If they didn’t clear the Roan Star System soon, the guards at Roan Seven would be blasting holes into the ship.
She slid into the pilot’s chair and had just set a hand on the thruster limit lever when the door behind her opened.
“Thank goodness,” she said. “I was just about to—”
Her heart leaped into her throat when Kaj stumbled onto the bridge gasping for air. Blood trickled from a cut just below his eyepatch.
“My Lady, we’re in trouble! The Drakornians have mutinied. They’re almost here!”
“Correction,” a voice rumbled from the hallway. “We are here.”
Kaj took several halting steps backwards with care to keep himself between the hulking man and Nova. The Drakornian had to duck to get through the doorway. His meaty hands were clenched into fists that showed off the rows of spikes that ran from his knuckles down his arms. The same spikes bristled above his eyebrows and along his cheekbones. Given the savagery of his expression, it was enough to make Nova’s knees go weak with fear. She kept the pilot’s chair in front of her. It was a meager means of protection, but her gun was hanging from the back of her captain’s chair. Gardsworn would lecture her for weeks about the slipup if he found out. She hoped he was still alive to lecture her.
The second Drakornian enter the cockpit dragging a struggling form. Nova’s breath caught when she realized it was Junquit.
“Why are you doing this?” she demanded. She was grateful her voice held firm despite the tremors that ran through her body. “We haven’t done anything to you except give you a chance at a new life!”
The Drakornian near her grinned, revealing his dark gray teeth. “I’m about to do things to you that’ll make you wish you never gave us that chance.”
The other Drakornian chuckled. “Yeah, and then we’ll take your ship.”
This was her ship and McKy’s only hope. She wasn’t about to give it up without a fight. Nova stood up straight. “You’ll never take this ship.”
Both Drakornians laughed. Their putrid breath washed through the cockpit.
Nova glanced at Kaj. It was obvious the older man was fighting just to stay on his feet. She couldn’t rely on his help. Her gun was up the steps with the Drakornians. Fortunately, neither seemed to have noticed it. Junquit struggled against the Drakornian’s hold, but the huge man didn’t even appear to notice. It was clear by the pallor of the pilot’s face that the tight grip the man had on the collar of her shirt was cutting off her air.
Nova stalled as she tried to formulate a plan. “When we freed you from Roan Four, you said you were anxious to begin a new life, that you had focused these last years on finding the good in yourself.”
“That’s right,” the Drakornian holding Junquit said. “And this ship is the perfect place to start.” His spiked eyebrows lowered menacingly. “We just have to take out the garbage first.”
His hold on Junquit tightened. The pilot’s eyes widened and she struggled, but there was no way she could free herself from the Drakornian’s grip. Kaj stepped forward and the other Drakornian slapped him with a backhand that sent the older man into the secondary computers before he fell to the ground.
Nova’s heart clenched. She knew she was about to watch her crew die. Her hands tightened into fists. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.
A form burst through the door and slipped a chain over the first Drakornian’s head. Nova’s breath slowed when she realized it was the Smiren. His scruffy beard and tattered clothes from the prison planet disguised what the guard had kept reassuring her, that he was a true warrior. His dark brown eyes sparked with anger. Her instincts warned that the Drakornians may have been causing trouble, but the Smiren was truly dangerous. She just hoped she knew what side he was on.
As she watched, he turned so that his back faced the man and bent over. The Drakornian flipped over the Smiren’s back and landed on the floor with a loud thud. The Smiren was on him again in the space of a heartbeat. He didn’t let his chained wrists be an encumbrance. Instead, he slammed both fists down at the same time into the Drakornian’s spiked face. The man’s head rebounded off the floor and he stopped moving.
The Smiren threw himself over the body in a quick, graceful roll and came up on his feet with all the lethality of a trained hunting panther from the Animus Star System. He advanced on the last Drakornian without hesitation.
“What are you going to do?” the Drakornian demanded as he dragged Junquit backwards. The pilot’s lips were blue and her eyes were closed. Nova could only hope she wasn’t dead. “You can’t take us all.”
“By my count, you’re the only one left,” the Smiren replied.
Nova felt her heart skip a beat. Could the Smiren have taken out the other Drakornian before he reached the bridge? What motive did the gladiator have to act? He had no loyalties aboard the SevenWolf.
The
re was a glimmer of malice in the Smiren’s gaze when he took another step forward. His eyes flicked to Junquit. “Drop her,” he growled.
His tone made the hair rise on the back of Nova’s neck. She was beginning to believe she had gone several steps too far in purchasing him.
The Drakornian lifted Junquit by the collar of her shirt. The pilot gave no sign of life.
“You want her? You can have her.” He threw Junquit at the Smiren.
To Nova’s surprise, instead of batting the body away, the Smiren caught her and laid her gently on the ground. The Drakornian was on him before he could rise.
The Smiren struggled to shield his face with his arms as the Drakornian rained merciless blows to his head and shoulders. Every fist that landed sounded like bricks thrown against a wall. Nova took a careful step toward the gun, determined to reach it before the Smiren collapsed and left her at the hands of the Drakornian.
The Smiren took several more blows, then did something entirely unexpected. He slipped the chain from his wrists around the Drakornian’s ankle and jerked upward. The startled Drakornian fell onto his back and was met with a rain of punches even harder than his had been. The Smiren’s knuckles turned a mixture of blue Drakornian blood and his own red blood as they split with the force of his blows.
He then gripped the chain in both hands and brought it down on the Drakornian’s throat. The man struggled, but couldn’t free himself. The Smiren held on until the man’s feet stopped kicking. He waited a moment longer to be sure, then sat back.
Silence filled the bridge that had resounded with chaos. The Smiren’s heavy breathing was the only thing that broke it. Nova looked down and realized that she held her gun in her hand. She wondered when she had reached the chair.
The Smiren rose slowly to his feet and turned. His battered face bled along with his hands. When he stepped away from the body and turned to face her fully, he looked as tired as she felt.
“Well, Captain, I think—”
The Smiren’s body tightened as if someone had thrown him from a ship onto the frozen planet of Thrul. His jaw locked, his arms spasmed, and then he fell backwards. Nova reached out a helpless hand when the Smiren’s head connected with the computer board. He rebounded off the equipment and fell to the floor without moving.
“That should take care of him.”
Nova glanced over to see Junquit struggling to her feet.
“Oh, thank goodness,” she breathed in relief. She ducked under the pilot’s arm and helped her friend.
“You really should hang onto this,” the pilot said in a raspy voice that reflected the bruises on her neck. She held out a small object.
Nova took the electric trigger for the Smiren’s handcuffs. Guilt filled her. She was almost sure the man hadn’t meant her any harm. He had just saved them from the Drakornians. But maybe he would have turned on them, too. With the majority of her crew down, Nova had no way to know for sure.
A moan caught her attention.
“Kaj,” Junquit said.
Both women hurried to the older man’s side. Blood trickled down his brow from a cut near his eyepatch. A dark bruise was spreading across the side of his face.
“Let’s get you to the medical bay,” Nova said.
Kaj shook his head. “We need to jump first. Roan’s security will be on us if we don’t.”
A pang of conscience struck Nova. She should have thought of that. “What is our status?” she asked.
Junquit slid onto her chair. Nova felt a surge of gratitude for the woman’s strength.
“Our shields are down to twenty-five percent,” she announced. “They’re focusing all their firepower on the rear deflectors. We’ve got to jump now or we’ll be lit up like a Lilitian flea.”
“Jump,” Nova ordered.
She grabbed the back of her chair and Kaj’s arm just before the SevenWolf surged forward. Stars flowed past the cockpit windows. When the ship stopped, only darkness showed beyond the deck.
“Where are we?” Nova asked.
“The Navarian Star System,” Junquit replied. “I figured we needed a quiet place to decide our next move.”
“Good idea,” Nova agreed.
Kaj staggered a few steps before she caught his arm and slipped it over her shoulders. “Let’s get you to the medical bay.” She met Junquit’s eyes. “Are you going to be alright here?”
The woman nodded, her golden gaze determined. “As long as I have breath left in my body, nobody will mess with the SevenWolf.”
A shiver ran down Nova’s spine. It had been a close thing. As Nova helped Kaj from the bridge, she glanced at the Smiren’s still form. If he hadn’t helped, Junquit wouldn’t have had any breath left. If Gardsworn and Jashu Blu weren’t in need of medical care themselves, she would send them back for the Smiren.
“What do you plan to do with him?”
Nova caught Kaj’s shrewd gaze and couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. He had always been able to read her. “Lock him up until we need him,” she replied. Guilt followed her cold words. “Or at least until we know we can trust him.”
Kaj shook his head. “I know I’ve told you this, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Nova helped him walk down the familiar hall and turn right at the corner. “I know.” She glanced at him. “But what would you have me do?”
He shook his head without a word.
She stifled a sigh. It was the same answer she always got. That was why she had finally acted. Nobody knew what to do and everyone else was always waiting for somebody to act, but nobody knew what action to take. At least she was trying. It might get them all killed, but in her mind it was better than doing nothing at all.
“Here we are,” she said. She put her hand to the scanner. The door slid aside and the familiar tang of the medical bay filled her nose. “What I wouldn’t give for a true medic.”
Kaj chuckled. “I feel the same way.”
She helped him onto the scanning bed, saw to his comfort with a pillow, and pushed the button. Kaj looked at the ceiling as the machine analyzed his state.
The scanning light slid back and a monotone voice said, “Superficial abrasion of the forehead, mild concussion, and contusion of the ribs.” It paused, then said, “Past injuries include irreversible amblyopia, blindness of one eye.”
“That’s enough,” Kaj said, interrupting the computer. He turned to look at Nova. “And here I thought getting hit in the head would fix my eye.”
Nova gave the older man’s shoulder a fond pat as she pressed a bandage to his brow. “One could only hope.”
He snorted and took the bandage from her. “I can do that, My Lady. You shouldn’t have to.”
“I don’t mind,” she said.
He shook his head firmly. “I can take care of myself, My Lady. Why don’t you see if the others are still kicking?” he suggested. “Thought if Jashu Blu kicked less, it might make my life easier.”
Nova laughed inwardly at that. She put her hand to the scanner on the inside of the door. A beep sounded.
“Contact the mess hall,” she ordered.
“Mess hall,” the monotone voice repeated.
“Guinea, are you alright?” Nova asked.
A high voice answered immediately, “I’m fine, My Lady. A little shaken, but I’ll survive.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she replied with a wave of relief. “Bring one of your concoctions to the bridge, will you? Kaj could use it and I would be happy for something to calm my nerves.”
“I would be happy to, My Lady,” Guinea said.
Nova pushed the button again. “Contact the engine room.”
“Engine room,” the monotone voice repeated.
“Gardsworn, are you there?” Nova asked.
A moment of silence followed. She glanced at Kaj and saw the same worry on his face that she felt.
“Gardsworn, please answer.”
The intercom crackled, then a voice replied. “I’m here. Sorry, My Lady.
I had a run-in with a certain Drakornian and found myself unconscious on the floor.”
“Do you need help?” she asked.
“No, Jashu Blu found me,” he replied. “We’ve got things under control.”
Kaj’s sigh of relief sounded behind her. Nova seconded the feeling.
“I’m glad to hear it,” she replied. “The Drakornians have been taken out.”
Surprise showed in Gardsworn’s voice when he replied, “How did you manage that, My Lady?”
She glanced at Kaj. “The Smiren we just bought turned out to be worth more than we paid for him.”
Gardsworn chuckled. “That’s not saying much, My Lady, but if the rest of the crew’s alive, I’ll consider that a blessing.” He paused, then said, “But do you know if we can trust him? I think precautions might be in order.”
Nova nodded in agreement. “Thanks to Junquit, the Smiren’s currently unconscious on the bridge. I need you and Jashu Blu to carry him to one of the cells and lock him up until we know what we’re dealing with.”
“Yes, My Lady,” he replied without hesitation.
As soon as Kaj was patched up to Nova’s expectations, they returned to the bridge. Gardsworn and Jashu Blu were already there. The Smiren was nowhere to be seen. Nova couldn’t help glancing at the small puddle of blood where his head had been. It wasn’t very kind treatment for someone who had just saved their lives and the ship.
“Did you see the way he used his hip to flip the man?” Jashu Blu said. “I need to remember that!”
“No, no,” the man with the green skin tried to protest.
Jashu Blu grabbed Gardsworn and would have thrown the man to the ground if Nova hadn’t cleared her throat.
The small, wiry young man with the extra set of arms immediately let Gardsworn go. He folded both sets of arms behind his back as if he hadn’t been doing anything.
“My Lady,” he said with a bow. “It’s great to see you.”
Nova’s attention was on the screen. The image had been paused with the Smiren on top of the Drakornian ready to pound him into the ground. Sweat made the man’s dark tattoos glimmer in the light of the bridge. She knew if he had ingested another skull beetle, even the electric handcuffs would have been hard pressed to stop him.