Okay, what now, Wren?
* * *
Alarms were sounding all over the bridge.
“Sabin?” Malax barked.
“A Kantos kill squad cut through the hull and boarded near the engine room,” his security commander bit out.
Cren-cursed Kantos. “Why didn’t we see them coming?”
Sabin’s purple-threaded eyes flashed. “Thanks to our Terran hijacker, we didn’t have full scanners.”
Cren. “Get your security team ready. We’ll intercept them.”
Malax’s security commander nodded and turned to gather his best warriors.
Malax commanded his symbiont, and a second later, black scales burst from his wristband. They flowed up his arm, and then down his body and across his chest, all the way down to encase his legs. Gold glinted in places, and he formed a sword on his arm. It glowed with a golden light.
Grimly, he strode into the corridor, Sabin and his warriors falling in behind him.
“Where are the Kantos headed?” Malax asked.
Sabin looked at the small comp screen attached to his wrist. “The center of the ship. They’re moving fast.”
Why the cren would they be—? Malax bit off a curse. No. There was no way they could know about the Rengard’s experimental technology. It was a highly protected secret.
But there was no other explanation for where the Kantos were heading, like a missile with a targeting lock.
He drew in a breath. “They’re heading for the ship’s helian core.”
Sabin’s jaw firmed. “They can’t know.”
“They know.”
Malax picked up speed. The Kantos were desperate to get their hands on any helians and any advanced Eon tech. He’d read the reports from War Commander Thann-Eon that he’d seen Kantos weapons with helian signatures. They’d also stolen sacred Eon gems before Lara Traynor and her warrior, Caze Vann-Jad, had retrieved them.
Malax’s gut tightened. Eon warriors were bonded with helians very young, as part of their warrior training. It was a difficult transition and a sacred bond of trust. The Eon protected the helians, gave them a chance to use their unique abilities, and in return, they aided the Eon warriors in battle.
What the Kantos did to the helian with their twisted experimentation was a perversion.
Somehow, the Kantos had gotten wind of the Rengard’s helian-enhanced systems. It was the only warship in the Eon fleet with the technology.
“They’re in the large maintenance conduits on Deck Alpha-Five,” Sabin said.
The team of warriors charged down another corridor and approached an entrance to the maintenance conduits. These were large enough for them to fit into, but the tunnels still weren’t spacious. As he pushed inside, Malax’s shoulders brushed the walls. He led his team into the conduit, their boots hammering on the metal floor.
Malax wondered where Wren was. He hoped she was well out of the way, and nowhere near the Kantos.
“They’ve moved up a level,” Sabin said. “And out of the conduits.”
Frowning, Malax moved toward a ladder. He climbed quickly, and shoved open the hatch above him. When they reached the next level, he straightened, then shouldered out a door and into the corridor.
At the end of the hall, he spotted the Kantos kill squad.
Each insectoid soldier had four long, jointed legs, two razor-sharp arms, and a torso covered in armored plates. Their flat faces had four beady, glowing, yellow eyes, and a small mouth filled with sharp teeth.
There were six of them in this squad, and the aliens spread into a line, lifting their arms. He knew the edges of their arms were as sharp as swords. Malax raised his sword as well, the blade glowing gold.
A buzzing noise filled the hall, and he knew that the aliens were communicating with each other.
Malax took several steps, then burst into a run. He heard his team following him.
The Kantos rushed to meet them, flowing on their four legs.
With a grunt, Malax swung his sword. The lead Kantos dodged, but Malax was ready. He’d trained his entire life with his helian-based weapon. And he loved fighting. He loved the thrill of pushing his body, of matching wits with an opponent.
He sidestepped, and lunged in again. The Kantos were his enemy and he wanted them neutralized.
The Kantos soldier was fast, but Malax was faster. He sliced through one of the Kantos’ arms. The alien skittered back, blood spraying. Malax leaped up, swung his sword down, and punctured the Kantos’ bony chest.
The soldier tilted wildly, knocking into another Kantos.
Malax landed and spun, raising his sword. He glanced around and saw Sabin and the other warriors, fighting hard. Another Kantos soldier broke free of the fight and rushed at Malax. This one was the elite, the leader of this little band. Malax ducked, then surged up with his sword, power sluicing through his body.
He pinned the elite to the wall.
“You never should have boarded my ship,” Malax ground out.
We will take all you value.
Cren, he hated when the Kantos spoke telepathically. He yanked his sword back, and the elite slid to the floor.
Then he heard Sabin curse.
“There is another kill squad incoming. They have reinforcements!”
By Ston’s sword. Malax’s gut churned. Without the ship’s systems, they had no way to know how many Kantos were aboard.
The new kill squad rounded the corner, moving as one unit, their yellow-gold eyes glowing.
Malax threw his arms out and charged. He lifted his sword like a lance.
As he neared the aliens, he jumped, skewering the closest Kantos. He let the battle haze wash over him. He didn’t think, he merely felt the fight, his body shifting into each move it knew so well.
His warriors joined him. He heard the grunts of his warriors and that low-level, buzzing hum of Kantos communicating with each other.
He watched one of his warriors fall, skewered by a sharp Kantos arm. Blood flowed down the warrior’s chest. The Kantos soldier moved to finish the downed warrior.
No. Grim faced, Malax shoved his way toward them. For a second, he was back on Dalath Prime, in his first command position, with his team under ambush and dying all around him.
He collided with the Kantos, knocking the alien away. With several slashes of his sword, he destroyed the soldier.
Malax rushed back to the warrior. He quickly slid his hands under the man’s arms, and dragged him away from the main fight. He could see the man’s helian was already slowing the blood flow to the wound.
Turning, he watched another warrior get hit. The man’s big body flew backward, blood spraying.
By Alqin’s axe, they needed reinforcements.
He pressed his communicator. “Bridge, send a second security team, now! Bridge?”
There was no reply.
More humming filled the corridor, and he guessed that the Kantos were jamming the signals. Cren. Two more Kantos rushed at him.
He slashed out, and cut off the leg of one Kantos. He turned, dodging out of the way as the other soldier’s arm sliced over his head.
Suddenly, the Rengard shook. Malax spread his feet to keep his balance.
The Kantos ship had to be firing on them.
“WC, look out!”
Wren’s voice made him spin and drop to the floor. From behind him, a Kantos bug leaped over his head. The dog-sized creature glimmered green, and was covered in sharp spikes. Its sharp mandibles snapped together with tremendous force, right where his head had been.
It landed, and before it could launch another attack, Malax exploded into action with a roar.
He swiped out, cutting into the bug’s hard body. It screeched, but he kept pushing on the sword. The tip pierced the shell and slid into the creature.
With another deafening screech, it collapsed.
Panting, Malax rose and scanned the corridor. Where was Wren? Farther down the corridor, he saw a loose panel into the maintenance conduits and Wren
peering out, tablet clutched in her hands. He angrily waved her back.
Another Kantos rushed him and he swung his sword. He slashed at the alien, throwing all his power behind the blows. The soldier collapsed.
“Sir, three Kantos broke off,” Sabin reported.
Malax spun and heaved in a breath. “Where are they?”
“They moved into the maintenance conduits.”
Malax turned, and spotted the ruined panels where the Kantos had entered the conduits. Right where Wren had been hiding.
“Cren!”
“Malax?” Sabin sounded hesitant.
“They’re chasing the Terran woman.” Malax scowled. “Let’s move.”
Chapter Five
The Rengard rocked again.
Wren slammed into the side of the tunnel, muttered a curse, and kept crawling. She’d managed to avoid the Kantos chasing her. Thank God she was smaller than they were.
She reached the helian crystal room and clambered inside.
Phew.
Again, the Rengard shuddered.
“A Kantos battlecruiser is firing on us,” her tablet said.
“Yeah, I got that.” Wren shoved her hair out of her eyes. Dammit, she had to find a way to help. This was her fault. If she hadn’t hijacked the Rengard’s systems, the Kantos would never have gotten aboard.
When she’d seen that bug aiming for Malax, and the wounded warriors…
Shaking off the guilt, she lifted her tablet, tapping on the screen. “Okay, now… Hmm, it would be much easier if you had a name.”
“I’d like one,” her helian-enhanced tablet responded.
“We’ll come up with something. Can you reboot the Rengard’s systems and give full control back to the bridge?”
“Of course. Initializing.” A pause. “Do you really think those big, testosterone-filled warriors are the right people to be running the ship?”
Wren almost snorted. “Yes. It’s their ship.”
A sniff. “But I believe we could do a better job.”
“You’re a sassy thing,” Wren said.
“Hmm. Sassy. I like that.” The intelligence sounded pleased.
Wren shook her head. “I can’t wait for you to meet my sisters.”
“I like sassy. I believe that should be my name.”
“What?” Wren frowned. “No, I… Oh, screw it, why the hell not. Okay, Sassy, let’s do a hot reboot.”
Data scrolled across the screen, and Wren’s fingers flew as she tried to keep up with Sassy. They found a rhythm and soon, Sassy was almost guessing what Wren needed before Wren asked.
Having her own helian AI really helped speed things up.
“There!” Wren cried. She watched as the warship’s full systems came online. “Sassy, I need to talk to the bridge crew.”
“Line open. Hello, bridge, please listen to my human.”
Wren shook her head. “Systems are yours, warriors. Your weapons are online.”
“Thank you,” a cautious female voice said. In the background, Wren heard a jumble of voices as the warriors leaped into action.
“Where’s Malax?” Wren asked. He should have finished with the Kantos soldiers who’d gotten aboard.
“He’s busy chasing down some Kantos who escaped.”
Wren’s stomach rolled. It had to be the ones who’d chased her. “Sassy, where’s the war commander?”
“Traveling through the maintenance conduits one deck below us. He appears to be hunting several Kantos soldiers.”
“He’s okay?”
“He is bleeding.”
“What?” Wren’s voice rose.
“It is a minor injury, Wren Traynor.”
Wren blew out a breath. “We have to help him. Come on.”
She crawled out of the helian room and back into the tunnel. Here she was, crawling again. If she ever had to crawl again after this mission, it would be way too soon.
But first, she had to survive the mission.
“What are the Kantos up to?” she murmured aloud.
“Since they are moving in our direction, I deduce they either want you, which is a low probability, or they want the helian crystals.”
Wren gasped. Shit. They couldn’t let the Kantos get their hands on the helians.
She found a tunnel leading down and started climbing down the ladder. The sound of fighting reached her ears.
Dropping the last meter, her boots hit the floor, and she quickly assessed the scene in front of her. Ahead in the corridor, Malax and three warriors were fighting with several Kantos.
Ugh. The Kantos were ugly.
She switched her gaze from the insectoids to Malax. He leaped into the air, his gold, glowing sword spinning. Her jaw dropped open. Wow, the man could fight. She watched, mesmerized, as he slashed one Kantos and kicked another.
He was power and a brutal, unforgiving force.
She watched him slice that sword so fast it was beginning to blur. He followed through with a punch. As the Kantos soldier slammed into the wall, the metal dented under the impact. A shower of sparks rained out.
“Okay, Sassy, we have to help them.”
“I’m ready.”
Wren lifted her tablet and swiped the screen. “Good. Okay, let’s see what we can do.”
“Perhaps an electrical surge?” Sassy suggested.
“I like it. Okay, we need to get the Kantos together and away from the warriors.”
She scanned the corridor. Between her and the fight, she spied an air vent.
She tapped in a command. “Sassy, I need you to evacuate that air vent closest to the Kantos.”
“Excellent idea, Wren Traynor.”
Wren grabbed the wall and a second later, there was a huge rush of sound. The Kantos buzzing increased and the aliens were sucked down the corridor, away from the warriors. The warriors grabbed onto each other, fighting against the pull of air.
Smiling, Wren gripped tight to stop herself being sucked in as well. She forced back the urge to do a fist pump.
Suddenly, Malax’s head whipped around and their gazes locked. She saw his mouth moving, but over the noise, she couldn’t hear him.
“Surge now, Sassy,” she ordered.
“You are too close to the surge radius,” Sassy said.
Shit. Before Wren could move, one of the Kantos lifted something in its clawed hand. It looked like a small egg, or pod, or something. The soldier tossed the pod toward the warriors.
Wren watched it arch through the air and burst open. A green poison splattered out, hitting the closest warrior. The man shouted in pain.
Oh, no. She saw the other Kantos pulling out more pods.
“Electrical surge now, Sassy!” Wren yelled.
Electricity exploded from the panel in the wall behind the Kantos. The blue surge ran over the Kantos, and their buzzing turned high-pitched and frantic.
Then pain crashed into Wren.
Oh, ow, ow, ow. She dropped to her knees and saw electricity skating up her arms.
Then the electricity was gone and she collapsed. Her cheek hit the metal grate floor, but all she felt was the agony tearing through her body.
She couldn’t breathe or move.
She thought she heard a deep voice shouting her name.
Oh, being a badass really hurt.
* * *
Malax watched Wren crash to the ground.
No.
“Finish the Kantos,” he yelled at Sabin. Then he charged toward Wren, his gut clenched tight.
“Malax!” Sabin yelled.
He spun, just as a Kantos bug leaped out of a vent from above.
He caught the creature, twisted his hands, and, using his helian-enhanced strength, cracked its neck. He tossed it aside, then strode to Wren.
The Rengard shuddered and he realized his ship was firing. Airen clearly had control of the ship’s weapons again.
Bending one knee, he dropped down beside Wren. She was lying on her belly and so still. He realized now that in his cabin earlier
, she’d never been motionless. Not once. She’d vibrated with energy.
Gently, he rolled her over. The side of her face was covered with terrible burns. A muscle in his jaw jumped.
He lifted her into his arms. She barely weighed a thing.
“Call the infirmary. Send Thane to my cabin.”
His security commander gave him a look, then Sabin’s gaze dropped to Wren. The man nodded.
Malax jogged through the corridors, heading to his cabin. He could hear her heartbeat, so he knew she was still alive, but it was weak.
The panic trickling inside him was so unfamiliar that he wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
He burst into his cabin and gently laid her on his bed. He pressed his palm to her chest and felt it rising and falling jerkily.
A moment later, his door chimed and his medical commander entered.
The Rengard’s doctor was several years older than Malax, and wore his hair shorter than most warriors. Thane Kann-Eon’s body was tall and powerful, even as silver dusted his temples. He was one of the best doctors in the Eon fleet. The unmated doctor was dedicated to his work.
“Heal her,” Malax demanded.
The doctor nodded, dropping down on the edge of the bed. He lifted a scanner and pressed his fingers to Wren’s neck.
“She has unique physiology compared to the Eon—”
“I said heal her, Thane, not study her.”
The doctor nodded again and got to work.
“She’s going to be okay?” Malax asked.
“She will, if you don’t continue to interrupt me.”
Malax figured that if his medical commander was annoyed, Wren would be fine. Still, Malax stood by the bed, arms crossed, watching everything the doctor did. Wren’s dark curls were spread out over his pillow, her cheeks pale. He had to fight not to touch her.
The door chimed again, and Airen appeared. Malax looked back at Wren. “The Kantos?”
“We now have full control of the ship’s systems, so we fired on the Kantos cruiser. They retreated. I have several teams doing sweeps for any remaining bugs or soldiers, but now that the scanners are working, we aren’t detecting any Kantos signatures.”
Heart of Eon: Eon Warriors #3 Page 4