Zar

by Alana Khan

  Because of the Marauder attack, we know the layout of the ship and the way to the bridge. We move swift and sure in that direction.

  “Tyree says she’s losing control,” Shadow announces. “She says she can’t keep the collars disabled much longer.”

  “Drack!”

  We quicken our pace, but I’m fearful of making too much noise.

  One of the mechanics is absentmindedly wandering toward a storage area when he looks up from the portable vid he’s engrossed in, sees a well-armed and deadly contingent of gladiators bearing down on him and runs toward the nearest alarm button. He manages to press it before Steele nearly cuts him in half with a burst of laser fire.

  The red lights now flashing, klaxons screaming, we have no reason for stealth. We burst into a run, heading straight for the bridge. When we round the corner the doors are closing. Steele takes quick aim and blasts the doors with continuous fire until the left one is disabled and yawning open.

  We barge in, ten armed and angry career warriors. The captain is in his chair, surprise clearly written on his face, eyes wide in fear. Four gladiators point laser weapons directly at his chest and he raises his arms in total surrender.

  The first mate is at a computer station, his fingers flying on his keyboard. I turn my weapon and full attention to him.

  “Stand down,” I order. When he doesn’t immediately comply, I focus my weapon on his chest. “Stop!”

  He continues to type, probably sending a request for help along with our coordinates. I don’t hesitate to shoot him, and he falls over his keyboard, bleeding from a gaping chest wound.

  “Anyone know computers? Any way to terminate his last communication?” Before the words are out of my mouth, Axxios is pushing the first mate’s lifeless body to the floor, commandeering the computer station and typing frantically.

  I give another visual sweep of the small bridge to ensure there’s no one else to contend with. First mate down, captain well under control. I walk around and find little Tyree in the kneehole of one of the workstations. I reach in and help her out. She looks awful. More than scared, she looks off color and her face looks misshapen, almost as if she’s been slapped or punched.

  “I’m fine,” she tells me almost as if she can read my mind. I guess she can.

  “Steele, Dax, stay here while we secure the rest of the ship. Axxios, can you keep working on that and take the helm if need be?”

  He nods, completely preoccupied with the computer.

  Theos has already checked the captain for arms, grabbed the first mate’s weapon and is ready to roll.

  “Let’s go room to room. There’s one more Urlut, two service staff, and a mechanic. We need to find the doctor and keep him safe. When everyone is rounded up, we’ll take the prisoners to lockup and free the females.”

  Anya

  Well crap. I’d believed we had thought this through completely a thousand times, but we didn’t take the timing fully into account. Tyree just told me the collars are deactivated. Now every step I take on my way to medbay I’m waiting for shouting, laser fire, or klaxons. I hope I get there in one piece. I think at this point the safest thing for both myself and Dr. Drayke is for us to stay together until this thing is over one way or another. I’ll just have to stall during the exam, which shouldn’t alert him in any way since I do it every day anyway.

  Just as the Urlut drops me at the exam room the alarms erupt. Not the brightest bulb in the string, he looks confused for a moment as he considers whether he should stay here, or go find where the trouble is. He makes his decision, pushes me into the room with the doctor and closes the door. Did he just lock us in together?

  Dr. Drayke looks panicked. “Another Marauder attack?” he wonders out loud.

  I consider spilling the beans, but if this insurrection goes south I don’t want him to know anything. He can claim innocence and stay alive.

  My heart clenches in terror. The next hour will probably be the most important in my life.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Zar

  We make short work of exploring every hallway, bathroom, and closet. Two uniformed workers who must be cleaning/cooking crew are already on their knees, facing the wall, hands behind their heads when we barge into their berth. It wouldn’t be sporting to kill them. We tie their hands behind their backs and march them with us as we continue our search.

  The remaining Urlut tries to sneak up behind us, a ridiculous attempt considering his lumbering steps could be heard long modicums before we saw him. He’s dead from laser fire before he hits the floor.

  If Tyree’s intel was correct, there is one more crew member, a mechanic. We’re moving fast toward the engine room, investigating nooks and crannies along the way.

  We hit the medbay and find one locked inner door. Axxios’ stolen passcard gives us quick access. Now we’ll see if Anya’s doctor is going to fight us or not. We barge into the little exam room and find not only the doc but my sweet Anya. Both looking wide-eyed and scared to death. He swiftly raises his blue hands in surrender.

  I let my men handle the doc, then pull Anya into my arms. After a brief hug, I step slightly away and inspect her. She looks unharmed, just scared. She grabs me and squeezes me tightly. “I was so worried about you.”

  “And I you.” My chest clenches in emotion. I’m so glad she’s safe and in my arms. I can’t wait to finish the sweep of the ship, lock up the enemy and figure out what quadrant to speed off to.

  Now that I have my precious Anya in tow, I slow our pace a bit. We can’t be too careful. All we have is the engine room and our first recon will be complete.

  I open the engine room door, leaving Anya in the hall with Stryker, Theos, the doc and the two captives. Shadow and I enter the engine room, guns drawn. I’m on full alert; we’re missing a mechanic, and it doesn’t make sense for him to be anywhere but here.

  I’ve never been in an engine room and don’t know what to expect. It’s dirty and cluttered, with tools scattered on the floor. Shadow moves left, I move right. This place is so messy, with so much machinery, there are all sorts of places to hide. There’s literally a wall of food ration boxes cocked at a random angle near what appears to be a storage room. I vaguely wonder if the mechs are running a black market food sales operation under the captain’s nose.

  I hear a noise behind the wall of boxes and before I can get close, Shadow approaches from my left to run point. I think it’s another misguided attempt to protect me.

  I hear a steady stream of laser fire and see it sear through the boxes from behind. I volley back, but I’m firing in the dark. Whoever is shooting is completely hidden and knows our position far better than we know his. I keep my finger on the trigger, firing a continuous burst of laser fire, but he has the advantage. Suddenly I’m hit. In the chest. This isn’t good.

  Anya

  I’d expected laser fire to erupt from the engine room. I figured there would be a straggler in there. I did not expect to hear my lion roar in agony. Stryker and Theos have to physically hold me back from running in, although I don’t know what I could possibly do to help.

  I hear more gunfire and in only a moment Shadow shouts, “Enemy dead, Zar’s down.” When I break free from the males and run forward, Dr. Drayke is already halfway through the doorway, hurrying to assess the situation.

  Drayke is kneeling next to Zar’s crumpled and bloody body.

  “No!” I cry, then shove my knuckles in my mouth. My chest feels tight and heavy, tears are welling in my eyes. I don’t want to distract even one iota from the doctor’s concentration. I want to ask if Zar will be okay, but there’s no possible way the doctor could know anything at this point. I’m impotent, just a nuisance.

  I kneel at Zar’s side, trying to stay out of the doctor’s way. I stroke his hand, murmuring nonsense. What do you say when you see your male gravely injured only inches away from you? I smell charred fur and flesh. This is so real and yet it’s as if I’m seeing it from a distance.

  I’m
barely aware that Theos and Stryker are hustling the prisoners to the cell block to secure them and check on the other women. I’m too busy paying attention to Zar’s chest as it weakly rises and falls.

  It seems hours before Theos returns, running at full speed with a wheeled gurney. The men pick Zar up and put him on it without him making a sound. He’s completely unconscious. No muscle tone, head lolled to the side. And blood. So much blood. A crazy part of my brain tells me Zar is dead, but the sane part of me says they wouldn’t be doing this if he was no longer alive.

  I trail behind as Shadow speeds the gurney to medbay. Before the wheels are even locked in place, the doctor shifts into overdrive. He orders the medbot to turn down the room temperature, administer IV fluids and compatible blood while he intently examines the medical information streaming in on a nearby screen.

  I stand at the head of the gurney, as out of the way as possible, and stroke Zar’s immobile face. My God, I feel half dead myself. This can’t be happening. If even a tiny part of me had still wondered if I really loved Zar, there is absolutely no doubt now. My heart wouldn’t feel as if it had been plucked, still beating, out of my chest if I just kind of liked this guy because we were in a dangerous situation together. It’s love all right, and with him lying so close to death on that gurney, it’s the downside of love for sure.

  What if he dies? Did I tell him I loved him? What if I never talk to him—never see that rare, beautiful smile beam at me again?

  I can’t bear what I’m feeling. I shrink back into myself and put all of these worries and thoughts out of my head. I witness as if through a fog—my vision is blurry. I hear the doctor’s staccato commands as though I’m underwater.

  I observe every movement the doctor makes. I watch as the medbot performs what looks like intricate surgery on Zar’s abdomen. I see the doctor’s tense face as he announces, “Perforated bowel. Worst case scenario!”

  I clamp my teeth shut, but no amount of pressure keeps my grief from spilling out. Tears are raining down my face. I experience the unbearable pain of hearing that the man I love might not make it through surgery.

  Shadow pulls a wheeled stool up behind me and presses my shoulders down so I’m sitting. I never take my hands off Zar’s face and mane as I stroke him gently.

  “Nothing to do but wait,” Dr. Drayke finally announces. “Anya, we’ve done everything we can do. Several internal organs were damaged, but the medbot patched things up. The perforated bowel means there are nasty bacteria everywhere in his internal cavity. This could lead to infection or sepsis, especially because the germs infiltrated many injured internal organs. If this had happened any farther from an operating room, he’d already be dead.” He sees me blanch. “But he has a chance, Anya. He has a chance.”

  They move him from the operating room into one of the smaller, exam rooms, cover him with a warming blanket and leave us alone.

  Now I allow myself to fully experience the grief and fear I’ve been trying to control. My hands are shaking so badly I press them between my thighs and try to settle down. I can’t see Zar at all through my watery eyes. I wish I could just disappear.

  I love this guy. He’s so medically compromised we don’t know if he’ll live or die.

  I’ve seen enough TV medical shows to know that comatose people are supposed to be able to hear their loved ones talk. So by God, I’m going to keep up a steady stream of chatter. Zar is going to know that I’m here, and how much I love his beautiful, whiskered face.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Anya

  It’s been touch and go with Zar for two days. I’ve barely left his side. I’ve been eating bars when ordered by the doc, and even had some soup he had delivered to me. Yippee, the first food other than bars (and that fantastic Sweet Sue knockoff) I’ve had in… I have no idea how many days it’s been since I was kidnapped from Earth.

  I’ve taken a shower every day and Grace, bless her heart, brought me some actual clothes that were found in the laundry area. I never thought I’d be so thrilled to be wearing blue coveralls, but I am. Blue is the new orange, BTW.

  Grace tells me Axxios had to make some executive decisions about where we’re going. We’re bound toward planet Numa in some star system I can’t remember. Why I would care is beyond me. What difference does it make?

  We know we’re probably being chased. After all, we’ve absconded with a well-equipped ship and a bunch of expensive livestock—namely us. The Trans-Galaxy consortium aka the MarZan Cartel is probably plenty pissed. We’re going to have to pay heavily to get help changing our ship’s name, vehicle ident numbers, and hailing signal.

  I’ve only half listened to all of this because I’m not leaving this room until Zar is better. So I have no say in any of the decisions. Do I sound like a junior high school girl if I say I don’t particularly care where we go or what happens if Zar isn’t with me? I know I’m a strong, capable woman who is in charge of her own life, but I’m bonded to my lion guy and can’t really think of life without him.

  Dr. Drayke says he still doesn’t know if Zar will regain consciousness, but that it’s a good sign he’s still with us. Well, yeah, that’s ridiculously obvious. The medbot has done everything it can, as has the doctor himself. He says all we can do is keep pumping him full of antibiotics and wait.

  I’m sitting at Zar’s side, my head resting near his heart, and dozing on and off even though it’s daytime. It’s kind of boring just sitting here with no one to talk to. I have to say, with access to the broadcasts from most of the known planets in the universe, I still think Netflix has better programming. I can’t find one thing on the portable vid they gave me that’s worth watching.

  I must be fast asleep when Zar’s breathing changes. I startle awake and sit up quickly to see how he’s doing. Those gorgeous, golden cat’s eyes are looking straight at me. He gives me a weak smile, but it is a smile.

  “Zar, you’re awake!” Duh, but I’m almost speechless knowing he’s back among the living.

  “Anya,” is all he can croak out through a scratchy voice.

  I raise the head of the bed and scramble to get him some water as I just keep telling him over and over how worried I was and how much I love him. He’s weak as a kitten and can hardly raise his hand to grab the glass, but there’s a little sparkle in his eyes as he looks at me.

  Better hydrated now, he says, “I love you, too,” and drifts back to sleep.

  ~.~

  Over the next day, he’s been waking regularly and has begun to eat. Axxios came to visit, and helped Zar shower; he’s still far too weak to stand by himself.

  Now Zar is clean, looking slightly refreshed, and sitting up in bed. Axxios sits down with both of us to give us an update. This is the first time I’ve heard anything other than secondhand news from Grace or the doc.

  “It’s been a shitshow,” Axxios begins. “I won’t go into every detail, suffice it to say we’ve been patching problems since I sat down at the controls four days ago. We aren’t being pursued now as best we can tell, but it’s only a matter of time until MarZan comes looking for their property, and they are going to be pissed.

  “We’re going to planet Numa, several days from here. It’s at the ass-end of the universe and a far grittier place even than Hyperion. There’s a lot we’ll need to do including changing the name and call number of this ship, as well as paying off authorities so we can hide there for a while.

  “Savannah, the female who roomed with Theos, was a mechanic on the primitive aircraft on her planet. She says she was military. She’s located a tracking device, shimmied into a crawl space in the engine room and disabled it. A brilliant move. It will take the cartel a while longer to find us without that signal broadcasting our location.

  “There are a lot of gladiator fights on Numa, with little to no Federation presence. I think that’s the only way we can pick up some quick credits to pay for the work and supplies we’re going to need. Every gladiator on board is volunteering for that duty. It will be the f
irst time any of us have fought as free males; making our own choice to fight sweet indeed.”

  “Winning will be even sweeter,” Zar interjects. “Make sure you choose our best to fight. We’ll need the credits.”

  “Absolutely, we’re on top of that. On a different note, we all agree, including the women, that even if we could make our way back to their home planet it is not an option. Someone would inevitably talk, and the shitstorm it would produce would make life intolerable for them all. A few of them are convinced they’d be painfully vivisected and studied.”

  I feel a pang of sadness at the finality of his pronouncement, even though I’ve had this same thought for days. It’s still depressing to know I’ll never go home again.

  “We’ve got some decisions to make,” Axxios continues. “We have three captives: captain and two cleaning crew. The moment we let them go they’ll be contacting MarZan or the authorities, or both. We’d better be dracking sure we have everything in order before we cut them loose. We could...dispose of them otherwise if necessary; it’s still an option.”