His Woodland Maiden

by Michelle M. Pillow

  They had all faced impossible odds before. They’d been chased by the Federation Military, the Larceny Casino, the Medical Mafia, Dokka traders, criminals and lawmen, and more corporations than he’d bothered to count. They’d escaped capture and death. They’d been strung up, shot up, tied up, beat up, and blown up. They’d nearly run out of oxygen in the deep black. They’d crash-landed a spaceship in a Qurilixen field.

  They were pirates. They accepted this was how pirates lived.

  They were not ready for death.

  Rick was not ready for death. Not anymore. Not since Harper.

  For years he’d lived for one very simple reason—to keep his crew safe while they flew the high skies trying to do good. Family gave him purpose. Now, selfishly, he wanted to live for himself. He wanted more time with Harper. He wanted to wake up for the next eternity in her arms. He wanted to explore every single piece of dirt and metal the universes had to offer—with her. He wanted…

  Rick took a deep breath.

  He just wanted her.

  “Rick?” Harper whispered. “Are you going to answer them?”

  His hands trembled as they hovered over the controls. Violette sat next to him in the copilot seat. Harper had arrived as they neared the surface and stood beside him. The rest of the crew were in position, ready for the attack.

  Ingeniare Three had grown large in the viewing screen. Even from the air, it looked to be a terrible place. The barren landscape was not fit for inhabitants as if someone smudged a layer of dust and sheered metal particles over the sky. His lungs hurt just looking at it. The only sign of life on the otherwise dead planet was the factory. The air was a little clearer above the metal structure as if they ran vent ships to clear the choked atmosphere.

  It wasn’t too late to whip the ship around and head toward the nearest fueling dock. If he overrode Violette’s controls, he could have them out of there before anyone could stop him. It was the only way to ensure they all remained safe.

  “This is Ingeniare Three ground. Identify your purpose,” the voice on the comm repeated.

  Harper slid her hand onto his shoulder. She reached for the comm button as if to do it herself.

  Rick beat her to it, pushing the button to answer, “Delivery.”

  That one gruff word was all Rick could manage. There was a long pause. Harper and Violette looked at him questioningly.

  “We pay six for male prisoners, four for females, won’t take them if they’re pregnant, sick, missing their hands, or defective,” the voice answered. “Head to the center dock.”

  Harper sighed with relief.

  “I don’t know what I find most offensive about this situation,” Violette said from the copilot seat as she prepared the ship for landing.

  Harper leaned over to kiss him. She held his cheek and smiled. “I’ll see you after we land.”

  “Don’t leave until I get there,” Rick said.

  “I’ll do what I have to.” She kissed him again before hurrying out of the cockpit. He heard her running toward the cargo hold.

  “I like her,” Violette said. “Well done.”

  Rick forced an unconcerned smile even as his heart beat a little too heavily. He stared at the factory as they steered the ship closer. Hitting the ship comms, he said, “Buckle in. This atmosphere looks rough.”

  “Hey.” Violette’s hand slid over his as she leaned toward him from her chair. Her eyes met his. “Harper is trained for this. We’re all going to get through this alive. I know it. This is not how we meet our ends.”

  He wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince.

  Rick nodded. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever told you that you’re not a half bad pilot. Not as good as me, but not half bad.”

  Violette slapped his hand before leaning back. “There he is. The spacehole we know and love.”

  “Don’t tell Dev you’re in love with me,” Rick warned, trying to distract his nervousness with banter.

  “I’m more worried about Harper. I see the way she looks at you. If she’s not in love, I don’t know who would be.”

  Rick couldn’t help the grin her words caused.

  “She hasn’t said it, has she?”

  Rick didn’t answer but his smile fell.

  Violette waved her hand as if the detail wasn’t important. “I wouldn’t read too much into that fact. I think it’s harder for women like us. So many alien species treat women like they’re delicate. I think it has something to do with our carrying children that makes most males protective. So when we are raised in a strict environment filled with men—tough men—we feel we have to prove something, that we’re not emotional and that we’re as tough as any of them.” Violette pulled up her sleeve to show the long, ugly scar on her forearm. “This was how my father showed his love. Harper’s parents showed it by sending her away to fend for herself.”

  The ship began to shake as they broke through the atmosphere.

  “Make sure you tell her how you feel,” Violette instructed. “Use the words.”

  “I have,” Rick assured her. “I do.”

  “Then keep showing her.” Violette grunted as they were tossed up against their belts. “Trust her to do what she needs to do. We only get one chance at something great. Harper is yours.”

  15

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Lochlann held the electric cuffs in his hands but made no move to put them on Harper’s outstretched wrists. Dev was already cuffed and waiting by the cargo bay door. Jackson stood with him, playing the part of the captor. Rick and Violette had yet to join them from the cockpit.

  “Are you sure you want to be in here?” Harper returned. “If you want to be with your wife…?”

  “Of course I’d rather be with my wife, but if she says she can do this, I trust her,” Lochlann said. The words were brave, but he didn’t try to hide his worry. It would seem the men on this ship only knew one way to love—completely. He lifted the cuffs and repeated the question she avoided. “Are you sure? This will leave you more vulnerable.”

  “Once they set off the pulse, the current will be disrupted and they should unlatch,” Harper said. “Rick told them you were selling prisoners. So, we need to sell prisoners. If anyone recognizes me as Eloise, Prince Bucky’s fiancée, they’ll let you in. Either they know he is looking for me, or they’ll wonder why I’m unescorted.”

  “And probably kill us for having captured you,” Lochlann said. “It makes more sense to have you with us, commanding us.”

  “Unless Bucky or his gossiping bodyguards made it known that I betrayed him. No, they’ll be too confused as they try to find answers. We just need to buy enough time for Alexis to set off the pulse.” Harper slipped her hand into the cuffs and waited for Lochlann to close them. He hesitated a second before pressing them together.

  The feel of cold metal against her skin caused a small shiver to roll over her. She did not like the sensation of being trapped, but she’d trained for combat many times with bound hands. Aside from Jackson, and maybe Dev, none of the other appeared to have much in the way of formal combat training. There was a vast difference between an all-out brawl and going up against trained guards. Harper had not fought beside any of the pirates but Rick, and the unknown factor as to how they would react made this mission all the more dangerous. At least with HIA, they were all trained relatively the same and could read each other’s signals.

  Harper knew if the guards seized anyone, it would be the prisoners first. That put her on the frontline. Dev was an obvious choice for co-prisoner as he would be a great prize to any labor facility masquerading as a legitimate factory. The sad part was most people didn’t care what happened here so long as they were able to play with their neat bionic toys.

  Harper tried not to think of Rick but it was impossible. She wished him trapped in the cockpit, imagined that Alexis set the pulse off too soon and he couldn’t get out. He’d be safe there until they managed to pry the door open.

  “Don’t forget, if you
get the chance, sever the tubes at the back of their arms if the armor isn’t in the way,” Harper said of the guards’ bionic limbs. “It’s their most vulnerable location.”

  It was also one of the hardest locations to get to in a fight. Normally, if you were close enough to sever the tubes, you were about to be punched to death.

  “It shouldn’t come to that. The pulse should disable their bionic limbs,” Lochlann answered.

  A loud bang sounded on the outside wall, causing her breath to catch.

  Harper nodded to Lochlann that she was ready. The captain’s eyes yellowed with a bioluminescent glow. His flesh tightened, hardening to a dark brown shell. His forehead widened as a ridge grew down the center to create an armor over his nose and brow. Talons formed from the tips of his thickened fingers. When he opened his mouth to draw in a deep breath, fangs peaked from beneath his lips. It only took seconds for him to change into the form of a walking dragon.

  Lochlann swiped his taloned hand over the scanner to open the cargo bay door. The loud creak of metal sounded over the silent cargo hold. No one spoke. They didn’t have to. The stress of anticipation was thick in the air, revealed in the stiffness of stances and the narrowing of eyes.

  Bright light flooded the cargo, covering their feet and slowly moving up their bodies as the door opened. Lochlann grabbed the back of her arm. His grip was firm but didn’t cause her pain.

  She braced herself for an army of bio-guards.

  The door lifted, and she blinked against the light to adjust her eyes. A slender humanoid man with an electronic clipboard stood before them. His arms glowed to show he was fitted with bionic parts, but even that didn’t make him appear to be an opposing figure. His eyes were large and placed closely together on his face.

  Harper leaned her head forward to glance around the loading dock. A few guards loitered by the door. One yawned and the other one fussed with a bio-tube on his arm. Two workers in tattered clothing pushed a supply cart along the edge of the landing pad. They glanced at the ship but did not stop in their task.

  So much for the great army.

  “Welcome to Ingeniare Three. I’m Varin, and I will be assisting you today,” the slender man said, his voice a bored drawl. He glanced up but hardly appeared concerned by the scene before him. “How many on board today?”

  “Two,” Lochlann answered, the gravelly tone to his shifted voice coming out brusque.

  The intake guard frowned and made a big show of sighing in exasperation. “How many on board the ship?”

  “Two prisoners,” Lochlann repeated. If Harper had been on the other side of that gruff voice, it would’ve sent a shiver a fear over her. The intake guard looked jaded enough to have seen it all before.

  “Never mind, we’ll scan the ship,” Varin answered. He took a writing device and drew on the clipboard. “Two prisoners.” He glanced up. “One female. One male. Any cargo to trade?”

  “No,” Lochlann answered.

  “Bring the woman forward,” Varin ordered. Lochlann’s grip tightened slightly as he walked her out of the ship. Jackson and Dev began to move as well, but the intake guard lifted his hand to stop them. “Just the female.”

  Varin pulled a scanner off his belt and lifted it toward Harper. He drew it over her body, starting at her head and working down to her feet. The man stared at his clipboard a few seconds before saying, “Sorry, we can’t take that one. You might try Ingeniare Two. Bring down the male.”

  Harper frowned. What did he mean he wasn’t going to take her? If this wasn’t a prisoner intake, his dismissal of her would have been highly insulting.

  “Why?” Lochlann demanded, and Harper assumed he was buying as much time as he could. “She’s a good female.”

  Yeah, I’m a good female, Harper thought, curious to know the answer herself.

  “She’s defective,” Varin dismissed. “Bring the male.”

  Defective? Harper would show this black hole defective.

  Lochlann’s grip tightened on her arm and he drew her closer to his side as if to stop her from making a scene.

  This time Varin ran the scanner over Dev but didn’t look at the results. “We can use him.” He turned to yell over his shoulder. “I need one side stitch.”

  “How much?” Lochlann moved her closer to where Dev and Jackson stood.

  “We pay six thousand space credits for the males,” the man said.

  “I want eight,” Lochlann argued. “He can do the work of many.”

  Varin again looked annoyed. He eyed Dev, then the scan he took, before saying, “Fine. We can do eight. We don’t get many with Bevlon blood here. If you run across anymore, bring them.”

  Dev growled at Varin. The intake guard had enough sense to step back.

  “Do you need his prisoner documents?” Jackson asked.

  Varin laughed and shook his head in denial as he turned his back on them. Another worker appeared, pushing a hover cart toward them covered with a gray cloth. The circular pattern of the side stitch showed through the man’s threadbare clothing. His eyes were blank as he stared at the floor. Scars slashed his hands and arms and would undoubtedly continue along the rest of his body.

  Varin pulled the cloth back and took hold of an inactive side stitch. “Lift his shirt.”

  Dev growled again.

  “Do you need assistance with him?” Varin asked when Jackson didn’t do as he was told.

  Lochlann nodded toward Jackson who then lifted Dev’s shirt to expose his side. Dev tried to shake the man off. Somehow Dev ended up kneeling on the floor with Jackson pressing into him.

  “Keep him steady,” Varin ordered.

  Jackson stared at the man, not moving.

  Varin held the side stitch between his fingers as he approached Dev. The device’s claws extended like sharp little knives. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn to behave soon enough.”

  “I’d say it’s time,” Rick’s voice boomed behind her, signaling to the team it was time to detonate. So much for him being trapped in the safety of the cockpit.

  “Time?” Varin blinked.

  That moment of hesitation was enough of a distraction. Jackson released his friend. Dev growled and surged to his feet, shoving his elbow upward to knock Varin’s hand. The side stitch flew upward and embedded into the soft tissue beneath Varin’s chin. He screamed as the device dug its way into his face and then flailed on the floor as he tried to pull it out. He screamed again, and Harper saw the tips of the claws piercing through to the man’s mouth as they searched for a place to anchor.

  Rick joined them near the opening.

  Violette rushed from the back to Lochlann. “They’re close but Alexis needs more time. They ran into a problem rerouting the power from the ship’s circuit. We have to hold them off.”

  At the commotion, an alarm sounded, blaring over the facility. The side-stitched worker with the hover cart backed away from the scene, not running but definitely not helping. Guards filtered in from each of the doors, charging toward the ship.

  And there’s the army, Harper thought as she braced herself for a fight.

  She gave the worker a pointed look and yelled, “Hide.”

  To her surprise, he ran into the ship. “Take me with you.”

  Lochlann shoved him into the protective cubby between two crates.

  “What the hell is this?” Rick demanded as he joined her side to see she was cuffed. He gripped several emergency flares in his hand labeled with the logo for the Exploratory Science Commission.

  “Catch,” Lochlann ordered, tossing them each a blaster pistol. She caught it but the design of the cuffs made it challenging to hold the weapon with both hands. She let her left hand dangle as she aimed with her right.

  Shots pinged the metal opening. Rick pulled her behind the safety of a cargo container. More shots reverberated. Harper poked her head up and fired back. She saw a couple of downed bio-guards on the floor. Their buddies stepped over them, not bothering to check if they were alive.

 
; Rick leaned around the side of the container to do the same. More shots answered theirs. They were definitely outnumbered.

  “Blast it,” Jackson swore.

  “Are you hit?” Lochlann called.

  Jackson grunted. “I’m fine.”

  A high-pitched whine came from within their ship. Harper peeked up before ducking to safety. The sound was enough to make the guards stumble in their progress toward them.

  “Here we go,” Rick whispered.

  Harper flinched as the sound became almost unbearable. She pressed an ear to her shoulder while holding her hand against the other one.

  Eeeeeeeeeeee—POOF.

  The sound crescendoed into that of all technological devices shutting off at the same time, with only the faint residual hum of dying engines. Harper lowered her hands. The cuffs fell from her and clanked on the floor. She heard Dev’s do the same. The loading dock lights turned off, leaving the gray daylight from above to cast shadows over the area. The guards fell to the floor as their bionic limbs stopped working.

  A stunned laughed escaped Violette.

  “Holy space balls, it worked,” Jackson exclaimed in surprise.

  Rick led the way from behind the crates. He pulled the trigger on his blaster but the weapon was dead. He set it on a container.

  A combination of murmurs and angry shouts came from the downed guards. A few of them began pushing to their feet.

  Lochlann pulled out a metal container and opened it. A handful of comms, small lights, and Harper’s broken side stitch were within. He tapped one of the comms. It made a popping sound. “I think they’re working.”

  He tossed a couple at Dev and Jackson. They weren’t as lucky with the lights. Lochlann tried turning them on only to find they were dead. He tossed them aside.