Forged in Shadow

by Anna Carven

  He was grinning at her, not at all bothered by his nakedness.

  Cocky bastard.

  “Ahem!” Riana’s nervous voice made her turn towards the doorway. Her dark eyes were wide with fear, and her arms trembled as she raised her bolt-gun. “S-sergeant, what’s going on?”

  Riana, too, was staring at Rykal.

  Feeling strangely protective, Arin shed her flight jacket and draped it across Rykal’s nether regions.

  “Riana,” she said gently, “he’s not a threat to us. Put the gun down.”

  “H-he’s the one I told you about,” she whispered, “the one who…”

  “I know.”

  “I’m going to call for backup.”

  “Don’t bother, Riana. Just get your ass into the chair and do as I asked, or we’re all fucked.”

  “But…”

  “That’s an order, Riana.” There wasn’t time for freaking out or screwing around or ogling naked Kordolians, although the latter two options were mighty tempting.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I’m in.” Riana swiveled in her chair, glancing warily at the Kordolians before she met Arin’s gaze.

  “Patch me through to the FSS Marcia,” Arin said.

  “You want me to connect you to a military warship,” Riana said in disbelief. She was speaking in English, so the Kordolians couldn’t understand. There were two of them now. Rykal had called for backup, and some other Kordolian had shown up, a real cold fish with strange ritual scars on his face who had barely spared them a glance. Arin didn’t even know what he was called.

  The newcomer spoke exclusively in Kordolian and paid attention only to Rykal, speaking in a low, sarcastic tone. Rykal was smiling as his buddy injected him with some mysterious substance, but the new Kordolian’s expression never changed.

  “If I get hauled before the infotech court again, they’ll suspend my rank and send me to prison,” Riana complained.

  “You’re acting under orders,” Arin said. “When they court-martial you, just say I held a gun to your head.” She shot a meaningful glance at the dead Xargek, and Riana followed the direction of her gaze. “I’d rather serve a cryo-sentence and get a dishonorable discharge than be taken down by one of those. You get my drift?”

  “I hear you, sister.” Riana sighed, running a hand over her shorn hair. “One illegally hacked top secret military comm, coming right up.”

  “Thank you, Miss Genius.”

  “If I was a genius, then I wouldn’t have been caught in the first place and coerced into military service.” Riana’s fingers flew over the input pad, and moments later, the comm line opened. When it came to anything involving the Networks and hacking, Riana truly was a genius. She made it look so easy. “And there you are. You don’t have any spare Juvi sticks, do you?”

  “You know I gave up years ago.” Arin shook her head as they swapped places, Arin sliding into the seat in front of the holoscreen.

  A spine-chilling scraping sound echoed through the room, coming from above.

  “Not now,” Arin groaned. “Rian, stay by my side. Don’t go anywhere.” She faced the holoscreen. “FSS Marcia, this is the Hendrix II, requesting urgent assistance. I repeat, this is a distress call. Patch me through to command.”

  There was a pause, and then crackling static.

  “Hendrix II, your request is in breach of Federation protocol. This is an unsanctioned communication. You are ordered to clear the line immediately.” The voice that greeted her was monotonous and lifeless.

  Anger surged through her, but Arin suppressed the emotion. She’d been expecting this. “Listen, asshole. You tell General Varga that her daughter’s trying to reach her, that it’s a life-or-death situation, and that if she doesn’t get on the line right now, she might never speak to me again.”

  There was another pause. It seemed to drag on as the air was split by those awful harsh scraping noises.

  Arin wondered whether her mother was cold enough to cut her off.

  “Sergeant Varga, what’s the meaning of this?” The holoscreen flickered, and General Alison Varga appeared. Behind her, the lights of the FSS Marcia’s command center winked as military personnel swarmed all over the place.

  “Mother.” Arin tried to ignore the small lump that had formed in her throat. The general stared back, her steel-grey eyes revealing not even the slightest trace of emotion. Above Arin’s head, the scraping noise had turned into loud tapping.

  “Oh, fuck,” Riana whispered, drawing her bolt-gun.

  Arin couldn’t see what was going on behind her, but there were two Kordolians in the room. She prayed the cold-eyed newcomer would prove to be every bit as protective as Rykal.

  There was a crash, and Riana screamed.

  “Arin, what’s going on?” Her mother’s voice turned sharp.

  “So now you’re concerned?” Arin began bitterly. She glanced behind, saw a Xargek claw penetrate the roof, and saw the cold-fish guy draw his twin swords, preparing to face it head on. Rykal appeared at her side, Riana swore in English, and Arin turned back to her mother, swallowing years of resentment. They hadn’t spoken in two years, but now was not the time. “I really, really hate to play the ‘mother’ card, but it’s kinda urgent.” She waved a hand at the scene behind her, just as the fully sized Xargek smashed through the ceiling, shrieking loudly as it met the twin swords of the nameless Kordolian warrior, who had donned his full armor.

  Riana fired a few bolts at it, before Rykal placed a hand on her trembling arm.

  “See what I mean?”

  Her mother’s entire body radiated tension. “Arin, get the hell out of there, now!”

  “And go where, exactly? As long as we’re on this freighter, we’ve got nowhere to go. These things can cut through metal and survive without oxygen. They’re practically invincible unless you’re a Kordolian. Meanwhile, the Federation are wasting fucking time debating useless politics in that little bubble of theirs. We need a mass evacuation, General Varga. I’m asking you as a peacekeeper and as a daughter. So what are you going to do, mother?”

  A glob of foul smelling yellow gunk landed on the input pad, just as a bit of chitinous exoskeleton whizzed past Arin’s face and lodged itself in a nearby wall with a thunk.

  As Arin looked back in alarm, Rykal’s hand whipped out and snatched another bit of insect-shell out of the air, just before it hit her. “See what I mean?”

  Arin watched her mother’s face as the stern woman stared at her, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes growing deeper as she tried to come to a decision. Alison Varga gave away nothing, and for a heartbeat Arin worried that her mother would condemn her and her people to die in the cold vacuum of space. Everything General Varga did was calculated, even when her own daughter was involved.

  Rykal grunted as he threw his large dagger, helping his buddy out in a difficult spot.

  The Xargek shrieked again, the sound so loud and horrible that Arin cringed, a feeling of impending doom washing over her.

  Her mother’s eyes widened. “These Kordolians are… protecting you?”

  “Yeah. It’s like I told the Committee. They’re the only ones who can handle these things.”

  The general took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Arin wondered whether her mother was going to be the next in a long line of official Humans who didn’t fucking listen to what she was saying.

  “Hold on, Arin,” General Alison Varga said softly. “I’m on my way.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “We’re going,” Rykal snapped, grabbing Arin’s wrist and pulling her up out of her seat. There was no way he was letting her remain here while Kail went at it with a fucking red-stripe.

  The red stripe running down the front of the Xargek’s head marked it as one of the oldest and most dangerous of its species. Kail was uninjured and itching for a fight, so Rykal left him to it, even though his blood sang with the need to kill something.

  “Wait! I need to put out an announcement.” Arin bent over and pre
ssed a button, although she didn’t try to release herself from Rykal’s grip. She blinked, furrowing her brow, an expression that Rykal found rather delicious. “Actually, forget about it. If I announce it now, it will just cause chaos down below. I’ll wait until the cavalry gets here.”

  Rykal had no idea what she was talking about, and he didn’t care. “Come, Arin.” He pulled her out of the way just as one of the Xargek’s severed limbs crashed into the instrument panel, sending sparks flying.

  Her friend had curled up into a ball, trying to shield herself from the debris.

  “Come on, Riana.” Arin steadied herself and shouldered her dragging her friend along as Rykal positioned himself behind them, his long sword drawn.

  Together, they exited the room, Rykal nodding at Kail as he backed away defensively.

  That was two fucking favors he now owed the big guy.

  The plasma-protein shot Kail had given him had reinvigorated his nanites to the point where he was able to maintain a full bodysuit of armor again, although he wasn’t a hundred percent healed, and he wasn’t sure he could take another Xargek claw through his sternum.

  But if that was what it took to keep Arin safe, he would do it and deal with the consequences later.

  The women started to run towards the elevator, but Rykal touched their shoulders, causing them to whirl. Arin frowned. The other one, Ria-something, just looked at him as if he were the most terrifying thing in all of the Nine Galaxies. Clearly, this one believed all the stories about his kind, which were mostly true, anyway.

  “No elevators,” Rykal snapped. “They’re swarming with the things. Let’s find another way. After you, ladies.” He gestured with his hand as if he were some stuffy noble in the Kythian Court.

  Arin looked back at him and her blue eyes were calm. In the midst of all the chaos, she rewarded him with an expression of trust.

  That look sent a jolt through Rykal, because no creature had ever looked at him like that before. Suddenly, he felt stupid for cutting her off in his moment of weakness, when he’d experienced that terrible flashback.

  He felt stupid for being cold to her.

  And he wanted to take her into his arms and cherish her. He wanted to tell this brave, fragile female, who had proven herself to be so much more noble than he could ever hope to be, that her world was not collapsing, and that her green-and-blue oasis of a planet would be safe from the Xargek, and the likes of him.

  But of course, he couldn’t guarantee that.

  In the big bad Universe, nothing was guaranteed.

  “Let’s go, Rian,” Arin shouted, dragging her friend by the arm as they started to run in the opposite direction. “We’ll take the emergency stairs.”

  “Let’s do that,” Rykal agreed, following them towards the stairwell. His booted feet crunched Xargek larvae as they ran, and several times he had to draw his plasma gun and pick them off, leaving bits of gunk and shattered carapace in his wake.

  They reached a red emergency door with odd Human language script emblazoned across it along with a strange triangle symbol. Arin slapped her palm against the panel and began to enter the dark cavity, but Rykal stopped her, shaking his finger. “No. I go first. The only place these things can come from is below.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, you’ve just recovered from all that…”

  Rykal flexed his left hand, making a fist then releasing it again. “Good as new,” he informed her.

  Arin shook her head, a slight smile tugging at her lips. The sight warmed Rykal’s heart, even as the Xargek larvae swarmed around their feet and he heard the sounds of brutal combat echoing from the comm room.

  Fucking red-stripe.

  Kail could handle it, though. Like all of them, he relished the fight. The reclusive warrior was a grumpy bastard at the best of times, and when he’d come up to give Rykal his plasma-protein injection, he’d told Rykal he was a fucking idiot for consorting with Humans.

  Hey, they weren’t all as warm and fuzzy as Rykal was.

  “Follow me,” he said, peering down the stairwell into the darkness below. There was a clear route down to the lower levels. He drew his sword and started down the metal ladder, which groaned and creaked under his weight.

  This freighter really was an oversized piece of junk.

  Arin went after him, still carrying her pack over one shoulder, although her rocket launcher thing had been left behind. It started to slow her down, its bulk rubbing against the narrow walls of the stairwell shaft.

  “You need to lose that,” Rykal called.

  She hesitated, then shrugged the thing off. “Ah, fuck it.” She let it drop, and it fell down the shaft, landing with a dull thud somewhere in the darkness below.

  Rykal glanced up. The other Human had followed them too, but his eyes were only for Arin. From down here, he had a good view of her legs and ass.

  She had such muscular, shapely calves. They flexed as she climbed, clearly outlined under the thick black material of her suit. His eyes traveled up to her lean thighs and her beautifully rounded ass.

  This view was like a gift from the Goddess herself. Rykal savored it as he descended, his erection pressing painfully against the rigid plate of his armor.

  Her scent drifted down to him, driving him just a little bit nuts.

  “Arin,” he said, resisting the urge to reach up and caress her magnificent calves, “where are we going?”

  “Docking levels. If there’s going to be a retrieval, it will be orchestrated from there. We need to figure out an evacuation route from the central to lower decks and make sure there aren’t any Xargek waiting in the wings.” She’d flicked on that little blue light at her wrist again, illuminating the shaft in artificial light. There were markings on the walls, indicating the levels of the ship.

  “You know you’re driving me nuts right now?”

  “Excuse me?” Arin paused. Above her, the other Human made a little choking sound in her throat.

  Rykal wished they were alone right now, but it was good that they had company. It kept him somewhat decent.

  “I’ll explain further when we’re alone,” he said teasingly as they continued their downwards climb.

  “Hmph.” Arin said nothing; she just aimed a little kick in his direction, her boot grazing the top of his knuckles. Rykal grinned. He liked teasing her. Her surly response energized him, because he knew she was trying to hide her true feelings. He’d seen how she’d reacted when he’d been naked in the comm room, his nanites having retreated into his body to repair his severed organs. Being injured hadn’t stopped his dick from working, and Arin had noticed.

  Oh, how she’d noticed.

  She hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away.

  And that had made him feel fucking brilliant, even with a severed left hand and a hole in his chest.

  They passed a few more levels, and every step was torture for Rykal, because each step seemed to make his dick harder until he feared he would explode if he didn’t get release.

  Soon.

  Soon he’d get his way with her.

  Rykal clenched his teeth, trying not to lose focus as they continued their descent.

  He wrinkled his nose as a strange smell permeated the air, and moments later, Arin and her Human companion started to cough. The scent was unpleasant and harshly chemical, but Rykal’s biologically enhanced lungs weren’t as sensitive to such things. Whatever it was, it was proving harmful to the Humans.

  “Out!” Rykal snapped, as they reached the doors of another level.

  “It’s a gas leak,” Arin coughed, holding her hand over her nose. “Wait, Riana, what the fuck?”

  The other Human slumped, losing her grip on the ladder. She started to fall. Arin reached out to catch her with one arm, grunting with exertion, but it wasn’t enough. The unconscious Human fell through her arms.

  “Rykal, do something!” She coughed again.

  He caught the Human by her arm. Her limp legs dangled as he held her out over the empty space. That�
��s when Arin began to waver.

  “Open the doors, Arin!”

  She managed to pull the manual release lever just before she passed out, her fingers slipping away from the metal rung of the ladder.

  “Kaiin’s balls,” Rykal swore as Arin began to fall. Without thinking, he stabbed his sword into the wall and snatched her with his free hand, grabbing her by the leg. She swung upside-down, her body bumping gently against the ladder with a soft clang. Rykal grunted in frustration, annoyed that he hadn’t been able to catch her perfectly.

  As he started to feel a bit lightheaded, he activated his helm. The nano-structures formed a porous network that was able to filter microscopic particles out of the air, and he breathed a little bit easier, although he was starting to fall backwards.

  With two unconscious Human females dangling from his hands, he only had his legs free.

  Rykal’s mind raced. He could drop the other Human and rescue Arin, but when she came to, Arin would be annoyed with him. He sensed the two females were friends, and he didn’t want to destroy the small amount of trust that had flourished between him and his ashika.

  “Ah, fuck it.”

  In one fluid motion, he fell so that he was dangling upside-down from with his legs hooked over the ladder rung, like some fucking Veronian acrobat.

  Holding a Human in each hand, he was the only thing standing these women and certain death, and he had to hurry. If they were this sensitive to the gas, there was a chance it was harmful to them. Time was critical.

  “Fuck,” Rykal growled. He was completely exposed. If a Xargek came across them now…

  He had to get the Humans out of the shaft. Above him, light filtered in through the door Arin had managed to open before she passed out.

  He couldn’t see her face. She was hanging upside down, and his hand was clenched tightly around one of her calves.

  If only he could reach the fucking doorway. He needed to be about four rungs up to get there, and he was all but immobilized.