by Tana Stone
He raised his blaster as he proceeded further. Another laboratory held high tables, with other species of aliens, clearly dead and being studied. He recognized the body of a Vexling and a Noovian, both being examined by a Kronock wearing protective gear. Were they performing experiments or autopsies? Either way, why was Bridget here? He wondered if she’d been injured in the abduction, and felt a rush of anger at the thought. He passed the room without being seen, and continued creeping down the hall.
Another glance at his wrist told him to turn left, and he almost ran over a Kronock fighter. It took him less time to react than the startled fighter, and he jammed his blaster into the waist-level gap in the enemy’s armor and fired. The Kronock collapsed to the floor with a crash, which seemed to echo off the walls of the corridor.
He needed to hurry. If they didn’t know he was there already, they would soon. He ran to the end of the hall and pressed his palm against a large button next to a set of doors. They slid open, and he stepped into an empty inclinator car, letting the doors close before staring at the symbols on the control panel. His Kronock was rusty but after looking at the red dot on his wrist monitor, he located the word for ‘lower level’ and pressed the button.
When the doors opened, he saw another empty hallway, although his wrist told him Bridget was nearby. She must be in one of the rooms, he thought, as he spied a pair of doors a few feet away. He stepped toward them, but felt something crash into his shoulder.
“Grek!” Spinning around, he pulled something dangling from the impenetrable fabric of his suit and tossed it to the floor. He raised his blaster to shoot, but stopped when he saw that the creature lunging for him wasn’t a Kronock warrior.
It was Bridget, still wearing the dress she’d had on at the wedding, although it now hung on to her by one tiny shoulder strap. He felt overcome with relief at the sight of her, until she threw a kick forceful enough to make him stagger back against the wall, his ears ringing.
“That’s for stripping me naked, you pervert,” she said, as she cocked her fist back to hit him again.
Chapter Seven
Bridget knew the Kronock came in different versions, and the huge creature in the white suit was no doubt one of the scientist creeps who’d strapped her down and taken her clothes. She’d been dismayed when the needle had done no more than prick it, but had felt a surge of satisfaction as it recoiled from her punch and hit the wall, giving a quick shake of its head. The creature may have been significantly bigger than her, but it felt good to land a blow. She was about to hit him again when he held up his hands and said her name.
“Bridget, stop.” The voice was muffled behind the mask. “It’s me, Kax. Dorn’s brother.”
Bridget dropped her fist. “Kax?” She peered through the transparent window in his hood and recognized his honey-brown hair and green eyes. “Is that really you?”
He unzipped the hood and let it fall back from his face. “It’s me. I’m here to get you out of this place.”
Bridget’s shoulders fell, and all the fight drained out of her, although she couldn’t deny the hitch in her breath as she met his eyes. Damn, he was hot, even when he wasn’t in the sexy uniform she’d seen him in on the Drexian station. “Good. I wasn’t sure how I was going to steal a space ship and fly off this thing. Where am I anyway? A space station? A battleship?”
Kax shook his head. “You’re on a planet the Kronock decimated years ago, and it looks like they built a research facility on the ruins. It doesn’t seem to be heavily populated.”
“That makes sense. I was hooked up to machines when I came to the second time.”
Kax pressed his lips together, and took in the ripped dress barely hanging on one shoulder, looking away just as quickly. “Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?”
Although she felt okay, Bridget didn’t know what they’d possibly done to her, but she wasn’t about to delve into that now. “I’m fine. Just get me away from here.”
Kax kept his eyes averted as he pulled out a tight roll of fabric from the pack on his back. “You’ll need this once we get outside.”
She held up the suit—an exact match to the one he wore and almost as big. The Drexians didn’t have much need for petite sizes, she thought, as she stepped into the baggy jumpsuit and pulled the torn dress off once she’d zipped the suit up halfway. She saw Kax’s eyes widen. Years as a dancer had wiped out any shred of modesty she’d once had. It was impossible to be shy about your body when you had to do quick costume changes backstage, in front of male dancers. And even though she was a bit curvier than most ballerinas, she’d always been proud of her body.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to shock you.”
He looked up when she had the suit on, but didn’t say anything. He snapped a metal band to her wrist, and the suit shrunk to fit her.
She patted his arm. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell my fiancé you got a peek.”
Kax cleared his throat, pulling his arm away from her. “Follow me.”
Bridget tried not to feel stung. She was used to men reacting to her, of being able to make them respond with a flick of her hair or a touch to their leg. It was second nature to her, and even if she wasn’t interested, the men always were. Except this one, obviously. She tried to remember what she knew of him aside from the fact that he was Dorn’s brother. She knew he was a big shot, which made her wonder why he was here rescuing her. It seemed like more of a thing for someone like Dorn, or one of the other Drexian warriors from his Inferno Force—rough around the edges, and tough as nails, with unkempt hair and tattoos. Not that Kax wasn’t big and brawny. He was all that and more, but he was clearly all business, with his close-cropped hair and unmarked skin. The only change she noticed was the stubble on his face that hadn’t been there at his brother’s wedding.
They stepped back into the elevator and rode in silence. Kax flipped his hood up, and motioned for Bridget to do the same. When the doors slid open again, the scene was much different.
A pair of Kronock fighters with scaled armor and red, flashing eyes stood in front of them, and another few were approaching from the far end of the corridor. Kax fired at one of the fighters, but the blaster hit the metal armor and only knocked him back a few feet. The other fighter lunged for Bridget, but she kicked her leg high and caught him under the chin, sending him stumbling.
Kax fired at the stumbling fighter, and this time, the blaster fire hit him in the stomach and the creature fell. Kax grabbed Bridget by the wrist and ran, holding the blaster over his shoulder and shooting behind him.
Bridget heard the pounding of footsteps closing in on them but concentrated on running as fast as she could. They rounded a corner, and were met by more Kronock. Kax dropped his hold on her wrist, pulled a curved blade from his waistband, and began slashing at their midsections, while still firing with his blaster. Enemy blaster fire seared his shoulder, but he kept firing as he pushed Bridget behind him.
She smelled burning wires and scorched flesh, hearing shrieks as another Kronock dropped. Sirens wailed, and lights began flashing, making the hallways glow red as more fighters advanced on them. Bridget noticed her suit changing color from white to red, but didn’t have time to dwell on it.
“Where’s the backup?” she screamed.
“There is no backup,” Kax said, as he fired at another Kronock. “At least nothing that can arrive quickly.”
“What? Are you crazy?” She ducked as a blast of laser fire shot over her head.
“We didn’t want to attract attention with a full-out assault,” Kax said, panting as he dodged blows and blaster fire.
Her ears rang with the sound of the sirens. “Good plan.”
He dropped low and fired up into the neck of the closest Kronock warrior, and the alien collapsed at his feet. “Glad you approve.” He grabbed her hand again. “Mind if we discuss this on the ship?”
They ran down another hallway, and she saw an exterior door hanging open, and beyond that, brown scraggly t
errain. She was already running hard to keep up with Kax’s long strides, but she pushed herself even harder as they closed in on the door.
“You are mine.” The voice behind her made her falter and nearly trip. Kax tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her up, his face grim.
He must have recognized the voice, too. Bridget spared a glance over her shoulder as they reached the exit. The black-armored Kronock was advancing on them, his huge fists balled and his eyes burning with fury. Her mouth went dry as her gaze met his, and she stopped moving. Unlike the other Kronock who were fighting with precision but no passion, this one clearly took it personally.
“I expected more of you.”His voice echoed off the walls, and seemed to reverberate in her bones. “Let her go, and I will make your death quick.”
Kax didn’t slow down to respond, but pushed her through the door and fired behind him, missing the huge alien but making him pause.
“Don’t look back,” he told her, as they ran out of the building and across the hard-packed dirt.
Her lungs burned as she tried to keep up with his pace as they ran, but she gritted her teeth and pushed herself, matching each of Kax’s long strides with two of her own. When she saw a ship materialize in the distance, Bridget felt like crying with relief.
Kax jabbed at something on his wrist, and a door on the gunmetal-gray side of the ship slid open. They dove for it, Kax closing the door once they were inside and firing up the engines with another poke at his wrist. The ship rose from the ground and hovered for only a moment, long enough for Bridget to see a fleet of ships lifting off from somewhere beyond the medical building and swiveling toward them. Below them, the dark Kronock warrior stepped out of the building and looked up, his long jaw clenched in obvious fury.
“Strap in,” Kax yelled, pulling off his hood and throwing himself into one of the pilot’s seats.
Bridget did the same, her hands shaking as she pulled the seat’s straps over her shoulders. She felt herself jerked backward as they shot away from the surface and burst through the atmosphere into space.
Kax’s fingers flew across the console. “They won’t be able to track us once we jump.”
Bridget nodded, but didn’t say anything. The ship was already going so fast she felt like throwing up.
Kax pushed forward on a throttle, and the ship shook violently, before lurching forward and catapulting them through the atmosphere.
As soon as they’d broken through the brown haze covering the planet, she gasped. Dozens of ships began appearing around them—popping into existence as if by magic.
“Grek!” Kax yelled, and she assumed he was cursing in Drexian. She also assumed the ships were not friendly.
Kax punched something on the console and the ship shot forward again, forcing her head back and making it hard to move.
“Shit!” Bridget clutched the arms of her seat as the ship spun. Lights blurred around them, as if they were passing through a tunnel. A very bumpy tunnel.
When the ship finally slowed, she let out a breath. “That wasn’t so bad.”
Kax didn’t reply as he pressed several buttons on the console, and then shook his head. “This isn’t right.”
Bridget noticed flashing red lights on the screen in front of him. “What isn’t right?”
He turned his head to her, his expression serious. “The Kronock hit us as we were jumping. Not only did it damage one of our engines, it affected our trajectory.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we’re in a damaged ship, still far away from the Boat or Drexian territory, and we’re very much in the heart of Kronock space.”
Double shit. That wasn’t good.
Chapter Eight
Kax focused on the console as he rerouted power from the damaged engine, and the engine failure alarm stopped wailing. He scanned the blinking star chart as the lights flickered on and off, searching for the nearest place he could land that wasn’t a Kronock planet. The last thing he wanted was to be floating dead in space. Kronock space.
He swallowed hard and tasted blood, a parting gift from the Kronock fighters, he was sure. He rubbed his chin and shifted in his seat. At least nothing was broken, and he hadn’t been shot. He touched his fingertips to the scorched fabric on his shoulder and amended his assessment—not shot badly. He stole a glance at Bridget next to him. She looked to be in one piece, even if her shoulder-length, black hair was disheveled, and there were smudge marks on her face. He noticed a tiny cut on her bicep, confirmation the enemy had removed her tracker. Luckily for him, not quickly enough.
Up until that point, he’d been focused on getting his younger brother married and then focused on getting off the Kronock research facility in one piece. He hadn’t spent too much time considering Bridget. She’d been the pretty tribute bride promised to a fellow Drexian warrior, and the woman he’d escorted back to her suite when she’d had one too many cocktails at the tiki bar. She’d also been off-limits for more reason than one.
It was hard to deny she was beautiful, and he recalled reading she’d been a performer on Earth. A dancer. Now that he’d been around her it made sense. Kax had been impressed the female had kept up with him, and thrown a few serious kicks of her own. She was tougher than her willowy body would have led him to believe, although he hadn’t been able to miss that she had curves where it counted.
He felt the heat rising in his body, as he thought back to her taking off her dress and exposing her pert, round breasts, the light-brown nipples small and hard. He reminded himself that this female was not for him. Even if her original mate had been killed in battle, she would be matched to a virile Drexian. Not one who was damaged goods, like him. She’d be taken care of back at the station. He swallowed the taste of blood and focused on the readouts.
If he got her back to the station, he thought, his eyes taking in the limited options on the screen. They were far from safe, and he suspected the Kronock would be coming after them very quickly. Something in the face of the Kronock commander told him this was about more than provoking a battle, and that made his stomach clench.
He and Dorn had arranged a rendezvous point as well as a dedicated and secure communications channel, but it looked like his communication systems were fried, and they would never make it to the rendezvous point at this rate. Dorn wouldn’t be able to locate them using Bridget’s tracker, either, since that was now gone. Luckily, Kax had sent the station the coordinates of Choor Dar during his approach. At least that was something.
“So what’s the verdict?” Bridget asked, her face searching his.
“We aren’t going to crash,” Kax said. “That’s the good news. The bad news is we can’t coast forever. Right now, we still have one functioning engine, but once that goes we’ll be sleeping ducks.”
“Sleeping ducks?” Bridget asked, cocking one eyebrow, the edge of her mouth quirking up.
“Isn’t that an Earth expression? Like sleeping ducks?”
Her face broke into a smile. “I think you mean sitting ducks.”
“Oh.” He returned her smile. “Then we will be sitting ducks.”
“That’s not good.” Bridget’s smile faded.
Kax didn’t want to tell her they couldn’t send out an SOS. Their best bet was to try to evade their enemy and hide out until the Drexians could come for them. Dorn would come as soon as Kax didn’t make the rendezvous. Knowing his impatient brother, he might not wait that long. Kax was counting on it.
Engaging the engines at maximum thrust, he set a course for the nearest planets. Maybe they could hide out while he tried to repair the ship, although his mechanic skills were even rustier than his field skills. “If we can make it that far, there’s an abandoned mining colony,” he said, clearing his throat. “Our intelligence shows the Kronock stripped it bare years ago, but it’s the best chance we have.”
“I’m just glad to be out of there and away from them.” Bridget shivered and rubbed her arms through the environmental suit she still w
ore, which was now black against the dark copilot chair. “Thanks for coming for me. Alone.” Her mouth quirked at the corner. “You’re either really brave or really stupid.”
Kax noticed her half smile and gave her one of his own. “Or my sister-in-law was very convincing.”
“Mandy,” Bridget said, letting out a breath. “Are she and Dorn okay? Did those alien creeps hurt anyone when they kidnapped me?”
“Everyone’s fine,” he said. “There was no attack. Do you remember anything about when you were taken?”
Bridget rubbed her head. “Nothing. A pain in my neck, and then nothing. When I woke up, I was in a cell of some kind on a ship. I could feel we were moving, so I figured it was a small transport ship.”
Kax nodded to keep her talking.
“The big alien in the black armor told me they needed my DNA to enhance their biodiversity and make it easier to invade Earth. He also told me he’s called Krav.”
“Krav,” Kax repeated, swinging his head around. “He said that? They’re going to invade Earth?”
Bridget bobbed her head up and down. “Yep. Apparently if they add Earth DNA to theirs it will make it easier to assimilate our people. Something like that.”
Kax let out a slow breath as he thought. This was worse than he’d expected. Not only were the Kronock more advanced than they’d led everyone to believe, it appeared they had a master plan. A plan that included invading Earth and, if past invasions were any indication, harvesting all natural resources and inhabitants. The knot in Kax’s stomach tightened. Not only would this mean the end of Earth, it would mean the end of the Drexians, since the treaty with Earth and the tribute brides were the only way his species had continued to thrive.
“Kax?” Bridget touched his arm. “Did you hear me? Are you okay?”
