“I told you not to shoot at the outside walls!” Roihan yelled at him.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Valdjan shot back.
NightCrawler turned to find StealthClaw’s dead body against the wall, disbelief in his eyes. He yowled something that was closer to a horrible squeal of pain. It was enough to tell Roihan that he and the dead Ardak had been very close.
She watched his expression change from general dislike to brutal, poisonous hatred. “You fucking cyborgs! Always fucking up our plans!”
His hand went to the knife in his belt as he charged Roihan, murder in his eyes.
Roihan grabbed his sword, glancing around for other weapons. He had never fought an Ardak in hand-to-hand combat, but he knew they were extremely skilled fighters. He moved to the left to put a console at the center of the control between them, but NightCrawler simply charged around it.
“Shoot him!” Roihan yelled at the other two.
“We don’t have positions where we could hit him and not the outside wall,” Mordjan answered back.
NightCrawler finally engaged him, thrusting the knife at him several times. He blocked with his sword and managed to back up, getting the Ardak away from the outside wall.
“I’m going to kill you, fucking cyborg.” NightCrawler came at him again.
Their blades clashed, but Roihan’s was longer. He managed to wound the Ardak, who snarled. He held his forepaw, which was completely limp. Then the Ardak pounced on him, knocking him to the floor and going for his throat.
Roihan tried to hold off his fangs, and the Ardak finally went for his shoulder. Roihan roared in pain as the fangs sank deep into the skin, tearing muscles and scraping against bone.
There was a blast of red light and then the full weight of the Ardak fell on top of him.
He looked over to see where it came from, and Aria stood there, holding StealthClaw’s ray gun at point-blank range from where NightCrawler had just been.
Roihan lay there for several seconds, unable to move from underneath the weight on top of him. But then the others were there, shoving the Ardak off him.
She grasped his arm to help him sit up and then bent to examine his shoulder. “We should get you to the med bay. Ardak bites are notorious for infection in other species. That’s why they try to use their fangs so often.”
Roihan looked toward the transparent ceiling. “Great.”
“We should inspect the rest of the ship to be sure that more Ardaks aren’t hiding anywhere.” Mordjan broke in.
“I’ve already set up the ship’s motion detectors,” Aria replied. “They weren’t on before because I didn’t expect anyone else to be on the ship. But now I have them on in all sections.”
“And you don’t see any movement?” Mordjan asked.
“No. I will let you know the second I do.”
“I’m going to go back to the med bay with Valdjan. I think we should stick together. I’ll sleep on the floor if I have to.”
Aria nodded, and they all followed her to the med bay. Roihan watched her slim hips sway as she took long strides down the hall, leading them toward their destination. He couldn’t believe she’d shot the Ardak.
He tried to control the wild shaking in his limbs, hoping that she wouldn’t see it. He’d been so afraid. Not for himself, but for her. When he’d seen the two Ardaks, the only thought running through his mind was that he didn’t want to lose her again.
She was not meant to be a warrior. He never wanted to see her fight one of them.
He counted himself lucky that he’d even been able to wound the Ardak he was fighting, but he knew it wasn’t because of any skill he had. The other warrior had seemed slow and sloppy, driven by anger and emotion instead of training. If he hadn’t been . . . Another shudder racked him. He didn’t want to think about the alternative ways the fight could have ended.
When they reached the med bay, she spoke as she opened and closed cabinets until she found the one she was looking for. “The medicines and wound disinfectants are located in this bay. The bay where Simban is located houses most of the anesthetics and surgery materials.”
“How did you know what bay he’s located in?”
“I know now because I have control of the ship and all its sensors. When you set Simban on that bunk it activated the med bay computer to monitor his vitals.”
She motioned to a bench along the wall in the room. “Please sit here.” She eyed his armor. “You’d better take off that armor, too.” She reached up to grab a bottle that he assumed was antiseptic.
Roihan began unlacing the leather ties. The simple act of undressing while being alone in a room with her brought back a whole host of memories of their years together. He been injured countless times in practice on the battlefield, and Aria had laughingly patched him up, chiding him for being too slow to dodge a sword.
As he stripped off his shirt beneath the armor, he remembered how her fingers had gently smoothed over his skin, easing the pain, and he’d often ended up proving to her that he wasn’t too slow to catch her or that being slow had its own advantages.
She bent over to grab bandages from a shelf near the floor, and the blood rushed to his groin right before he activated the chip to quell his desire.
Secretly, he prayed that the mission would be over soon because he wanted his wife back.
“Those bandages aren’t where they’re supposed to be according to the ship’s schematics.” She shook her head as she straightened and turned back to him.
“Shall we alter the placement of the bandages, or alter the schematics to reflect the new placement?” he asked gravely, searching her face as she grew closer, holding a cleansing cloth.
Her eyes met his, and her lips parted and she smiled. “You’re teasing me.”
And you’re teasing me, he thought as he closed his eyes and waited for the first touch of the cloth. Even the deep burn of the antiseptic she sprayed into the wounds was just a mild irritant when he focused on the softness of her movements as she cleaned the edges of the wound, wiping away the blood.
Then the cloth disappeared. He was about to open his eyes when her fingers brushed against him. The first touch was electric, and he inhaled sharply.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He opened his eyes to find her clear blue eyes burning into his. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t look at me like the others do.”
He forced himself to break off his gaze. “I’m not looking at you in any way.”
She slammed her hand down onto the bench beside him. “You’re lying.”
For a brief moment, there was a flash behind her eyes of the woman she used to be. His Aria. He inhaled sharply, and against his will, his lips quirked upward at the corners. “Perhaps.”
But he knew if he told her, they were going to spend the next ten hours in one of those Ardak dens together. He glanced around the tiny space. Hell. That bench over there would probably work. He was fine with just using this room. But they didn’t have time for that.
Her voice softened. “Why won’t you tell me the truth? I know there’s more.”
He stood and stretched, his arm reaching over her head to put the antiseptic back on the high shelf behind her. The air was thick with tension. “Because this mission isn’t about us. We have an entire planet to save. And we’re the only hope they have.”
He was trying to resist her, but it was getting more difficult by the nanosecond. Her kissable lips were unbearably close.
So close, and yet, so far.
Suddenly, her face changed.
Several beeps filled the air, and a red light came on in the corner.
He lowered his arm, and the moment was gone. “What is it?”
Her lips turned down into a frown. “I’m not sure. There’s something wrong with the ship—the power, I think, maybe more. I need to get to the command center. Without power, we’re sitting ducks out here. And even worse, we’re on the edge of Ardak airspace just at the edge of an as
teroid belt.”
“What’s an asteroid belt?” He began to follow her toward the command center.
After a few steps, she abruptly stopped and turned back to him. “There’s no time! Go to the laboratory. Download all the files that pertain to the ship before the power fails completely. Hurry. I may need help to fix this.”
“Why did everything just go red?” Mordjan asked over their frequency.
“We’re losing power. And we’re on the edge of an asteroid belt.”
“What’s an asteroid belt?”
“Hell if I know.”
His heart pounded as he sprinted toward Aria’s laboratory at the end of the hall. He jumped into the seat, connecting himself before he was even fully ready.
Inexplicably, he could feel the ship begin to slow down.
Chapter Ten
Aria
Aria leaped onto the captain’s platform, her fingers flying over the keys to determine the source of the problem. Everything had been in working condition before they left Aurora—in fact she’d checked most of the mechanics herself while learning about Ardak ship technology.
They were losing power to both the engine and life-support systems.
Her first thought was that CXV1 had regained control, but she was fairly sure she had put the ship’s AI into hibernation. And as she traced the source of the problem, she didn’t think it was the AI system.
It could have been that there were more Ardaks on the ship, but a scan of the motion sensors told her there weren’t. But, even if there were, it would be illogical for them to try to take out their own life-support systems. Well, that was if they even knew they were messing with the life support, which was completely possible. Ardaks had very advanced training, but they only had it in specialized fields.
She traced the energy failure to somewhere around the emission chamber. And the problem was much worse than she thought. The Ardaks didn’t need as much oxygen as other species to survive, which was an advantage their home planet had given them. But that meant the alarms had gone off much later than they would have on a ship built for cyborgs.
She ran toward the engine room, pulling up the schematics of the system’s power grid with her processors. She took the metal steps to the lower level two at a time, glad of the enhanced visual and acceleratory abilities her cybernetic perception gave her.
From the schematics, it appeared that most of the energy grid was easily accessible. It stretched along the corridors of the ship, bringing power to each of the levels with separate distributors. She checked each of the power lines coming out of the emission chamber, but she didn’t see anything that looked broken or disconnected. The problem had to be there, though.
“I’m finished downloading the programs. Do you know what the problem is?” Roihan’s voice was a welcome relief. Maybe she would have some help fixing it, after all.
“It’s something to do with the way the power is being diverted from the crystal. Meet me down in the engine room on the far side near the emission chamber.”
She hurriedly reached for one of the suits kept outside the room. The Ardaks were much larger than she was, but at least she would be protected.
By the time Roihan arrived, she had the suit on and fitted as tightly as she could make it.
“The problem is outside the ship?” He was watching her with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“The problem is outside the main livable section, but it’s still inside the emission zone where the power splits between the engines and life-support systems.” But as she reached for the helmet, he took it from her.
“I’ll go.” He grabbed the suit hanging beside her empty peg and pushed his legs into the bottom, boots and all.
“That would be silly. I have much more knowledge of the ship. The situation is too dire.”
He stood and zipped the suit up the front. “The situation is too dire to risk your life repairing the energy leak.”
“Without power, we’ll all be unconscious within minutes. It makes sense to have the most experienced cyborg perform the mission.” She buckled a tool belt over her suit.
“No.” Roihan pushed in front of her, unbuckling the tool belt and wrapping it around his own waist. “Let me do it. Risking yourself is unacceptable.”
She watched him head for the door, exasperated. “What’s wrong with you? The risk for you is much greater than it is for me since I know what I’m doing.”
He put the helmet on and locked it in place, but her voice continued inside his head. “My own risk is acceptable. And I’m an engineer. I also know what I’m doing.”
He tried to open the door to the emission chamber, but she stepped in front of him. “Tell me why you don’t want me to risk myself.”
He growled, obviously angry. “We’re losing precious seconds here.”
“Tell me.”
He huffed, but she gave him a level stare that said she was not going to relent.
“Because you’re my wife.”
Her jaw dropped, and the breath left her lungs. “I’m what?”
But as she looked into his blue-green eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. Her chest was tight, too tight to draw in a full breath.
“Just hit the button, dammit,” he ordered. “We can discuss this when I get back.”
A fine tremor went through her as she numbly hit the button so he could exit. “If you get back.”
And, suddenly, it was very important that he did.
Chapter Eleven
Roihan
“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” Roihan cursed himself as he entered the emission chamber. He switched to night vision since the entire chamber was dark except for a faint white light that came from the power crystal. He began the journey along the walkway around the outside of the chamber, going as quickly as he could inside the awkward suit.
Why in the hell did you tell her that?
His brain answered with stubborn logic. Maybe because he didn’t know what the hell he was doing, and if he didn’t succeed, he may not have the chance to tell her later.
But he knew that he couldn’t have let her risk herself.
Better me than her.
He finally reached the opposite side of the chamber, where the entire section of wall consisted of control panels, diverting energy to different sections of the ship.
Just then, the ship lurched, and he grabbed at the smooth wall to steady himself.
“What was that?” he asked Aria, hoping she could still hear him.
“Asteroid field, remember? We’re probably drifting in front the outside edge now. Have you found the panels?” Aria’s voice was clipped with impatience.
“I have.” He searched for the right panel, opened it, and then stepped back in shock, almost falling off the walkway.
“What do you see?”
“You’re not going to believe it,” he answered, staring at the Ardak knife, which severed the energy flows to the life-support and engine systems.
“Do I need to see for myself?” She sounded ready to burst into the chamber at any second.
“No!” He answered quickly. “I’m just trying to decide how to fix it.”
“What is the problem?”
“There is an Ardak knife stuck into the flow, blocking it just at the junction where it splits.” He thought for a moment. “If the first two didn’t do this, there may be even more Ardaks on this ship. Where is Tanis?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice sounded startled. “I haven’t seen him since everyone went to rest, and he never showed up when I called for everyone in the control room to take care of those Ardaks. My sensors can’t find him anywhere.”
“Better get Mordjan on it. But tell him to be careful. We don’t know what the Ardaks might have done to him if he’s their prisoner. Or if there are more still alive.”
“Right.”
The energy from the crystal flowed out of the tube on the right of the knife and split into two tubes on the left of the knife. It was the Ardak amplification
of the crystal’s power that made the job dangerous. If he pulled out the knife and the tubes didn’t align immediately, the energy from the crystal would be so strong that it would cut through anything it touched like a laser. He pulled off his tool belt, examining what he had to work with. There was a putty that might work if he could align the energy tubes perfectly.
Another asteroid hit the ship, the shock waves reverberating through the metal.
“Do you need another person in there?”
“No!” he shouted at her in his mind. “But I’m not going to be able to do this if asteroids keep rocking the damn ship,” he said it aloud so she wouldn’t hear him.
He growled and took out the container of putty, scooped most of it out with his gloved fingers, and put the almost empty container back into his belt. Then he took a steadying breath and braced his wrist against the tube on the right of the knife and grasped the knife handle with his left hand.
Just then, a third asteroid impact jolted the ship, and Roihan didn’t let go of the knife in time. He stumbled back, and the flow tube came loose from the wall. He heard the burning of metal as the laser-like energy shot into the far wall.
“Watch out!” Aria’s voice from behind him sent a shiver of fear through him.
“I told you not to come in here!” The laser-like energy swung wide, almost hitting her. He grabbed for the tube, pointing the energy away from her, but another impact rocked the ship, and he fell into the wall, the tube pointing directly at him.
The laser burned straight through the left side of his chest and his already torn shoulder and he screamed, bringing up his right hand to put the tube back in place.
He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Pain knifed through him, almost shutting down his processors.
Then Aria was there, taking the putty and wrapping it around the tube to hold it in place.
He tried to speak as he sank to the floor but didn’t have the breath for words. Couldn’t inhale. He tried to form the words in his mind to communicate with her.
“It hurts, baby. It hurts so much.”
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