Scarred

by Tana Stone

  "Looks like it," her pilot, Caro, said turning from one of the smaller consoles where she navigated the ship, her straight, nearly black hair flying behind her as she spun back around. "And we're definitely outgunned."

  "Can we outrun them?" Danica asked, as she made her way down to the center console and looked out at the massive ship blocking their escape.

  "What we don't have in size or gun power, we make up for in maneuverability," Caro said. "I should be able to get a little extra acceleration from our impulse drives if I boost the—"

  “Caro,” Danica said, cutting off the woman before she launched into an overly detailed explanation of their engine.

  “Sorry, Captain,” Caro said spinning back around to her console. “On it.”

  "I hope you're right," Tori said from where she stood at the weapons console along the wall, her curly, dark hair pulled up in a topknot and held in place with what looked like metal chopsticks with dangerously sharp ends—almost as sharp as her pointy teeth. A row of hard, raised bumps ran above her eyebrows, down along the sides of her face and disappeared into her hairline—a hallmark of the Zevrians—making her look even fiercer than she was. "Because we're running low on weapons."

  "How low?" Danica gripped the console with both hands as the ship jerked to the right and skirted underneath the larger ship.

  "How good are you at hand-to-hand combat?" Tori asked, her brown, muscled arms braced against the wall.

  Danica had gotten a lot of flak—mostly from her father’s old bounty-hunter friends—when she’d brought on the Zevrian as her security chief, but she’d never had a moment’s regret for making Tori a part of her team. Especially in situations like these.

  "I thought we were supposed to stock up when we were docked at Centuri Twelve," Danica shouted over the roar of the engines firing.

  "I would have, if we had anything to buy them with," Tori said as the ship accelerated.

  Danica sighed. Her crew had been running on fumes—sometimes literally—for weeks. "I know it's been tight, but once we turn over this bounty, we'll be flush for a while."

  "I'm just glad Mourad won't have the satisfaction of beating us." Caro turned to face forward as the force of acceleration pressed her back into her chair. "I hate that guy."

  Danica couldn't agree more. The ship shooting at them belonged to a bounty hunter and mercenary named Mourad, who didn't believe in female bounty hunters and didn't believe in playing fair. Not that Danica was against stretching the rules or pushing her luck, but Mourad had no limits on what he and his crew would do to capture a bounty.

  He was the one bounty hunter her father had gone out of his way to avoid, because Mourad ignored all the usual professional courtesies and accepted practices. He would double-cross anyone. Instead of tracking down bounties himself, he was known for waiting until another bounty hunter did all the legwork, then he and his band of mercenaries would swoop in and snake the bounty. Just like he was trying to do now.

  Over my dead body, Danica thought, as their ship broke through the atmosphere and shot into space, the sky going from hazy yellow to inky blue to black. She thumped the side of the console, mentally thanking the ship for getting her out of yet another scrape.

  When her father died, he'd left everything to her, which meant basically his ship. It had just been the three of them for as long as Danica could remember—her and her father and the ship. Different crews had come and gone, but the ship had been the only constant in their lives, aside from each other. She'd thought about selling it, but only for a moment. The old ship was as much a part of her as her father had been, and she couldn't stand the thought of losing both of them.

  She knew her father had never wanted her to take over his bounty-hunting business. Truth be told, he never thought it was possible, but after spending a childhood chasing after crooks all over the galaxy, she didn't really know any other life. She was good at tracking people and getting out of scrapes and skirting the law. Her father had taught her well.

  Danica shook thoughts of her father out of her head as she glanced at the fuel gauge. "Good work. We should have enough steam to reach the Gendarvian outpost, where we can unload our bounty and get our reward."

  Tori crossed the bridge to stand next to her, the chain belt wrapped several times around her waist jingling as she walked. "I wonder what this one did to command such a high price."

  Danica shrugged, tucking a loose strand of wavy, blonde hair behind her ear. "It's not our business to wonder why. I can tell you it wasn't for a violent offense. I've never had a bounty put up less of a fight."

  "The tracking was the hard part. Dr. Max Dryden did a fucking brilliant job of hiding."

  The women turned to see their engineer, Holly, step onto the bridge. While the rest of Danica's crew favored utilitarian clothes that made them look more like their male counterparts—military issue pants, T-shirts, multi-pocketed vests and jackets—the ship's engineer and resident computer whiz wore color and patterns and combined them fearlessly. Red hair spilled over her shoulders and down the skintight, pink-paisley top she'd paired over an equally snug pair of turquoise pants. Her decidedly feminine appearance didn’t do a thing to stop her from cursing like a space pirate, which usually startled people who thought her girly looks meant she was all sugar and spice.

  "Not good enough to outfox us," Tori said, hand on her hip.

  "Luckily for you, I understand the doctor's research and narrowed it down to the few planets that are ideal for that type of scientific study," Holly said. “And then Bexli did her thing.”

  Bexli was the other non-human in the crew. A Lycithian shape-shifter who excelled at sneaking in and out of otherwise impenetrable places, she was their ace in the hole. Officially, she was their acquisitions officer, but only in the sense that she could acquire any bounty by way of her shape-shifting skills. She was so indispensable, Danica even put up with the pet glurkin that Bexli had insisted on bringing on board.

  "Remind me again what type of research," Tori said, then shook her head. "Never mind, I actually don't care."

  Holly rolled her eyes at Tori. "The study of a rare mineral only found in a few systems. Word on the astronet is that the doctor has figured out a way to harness its power, which would be fucking amazing."

  Caro twisted in her chair to face them. "I'm still not thrilled we're turning over a scientist. Are we sure this is a legit bounty? How many doctors do you know who commit crimes severe enough to command this amount? Should we really be turning in other women? I mean, we’re an all female bounty-hunting crew."

  Danica frowned, partly at Caro’s barrage of questions and partly because she'd had the same thoughts, and had been trying to ignore her inner voice during the entire search. "We don't have the luxury of picking and choosing our bounties. Anyway, if we don't turn the doctor in, someone else will. At least we treat our prisoners well."

  "Not that all of them deserve it." Tori pulled up the hem of her black cargo pants to reveal a thin, red scar running up her calf. "We should have put that Daxian smuggler out the airlock."

  “Agreed,” Bexli said, as she joined the other women on the bridge, a tiny puff of green fur running along beside her. “He was particularly repulsive.”

  “Is the bounty all settled?” Danica asked.

  Bexli nodded, and her iridescent-lavender bob swung at her jawbone. “This one was a breeze. I didn’t even have to transform into something terrifying to keep her in line.”

  She leaned against a console and scooped Pog up in one arm, ruffling its fur and making it emit a low purr. “The Daxian from our last mission only stopped struggling when I morphed into a gorvon.”

  “Remind me again, what’s a gorvon?” Holly asked.

  “A particularly gruesome creature from the Daxian’s home world.” Bexli grinned. “Lots of claws and fangs.”

  Caro laughed, tightening her high ponytail. “That explains why he soiled his cell.”

  "At least he kept us in fuel and rations for a mont
h," Danica said, glancing at Tori. "And you gave him a few scars, if I remember correctly."

  Tori grinned. "A souvenir from the bounty hunter babes."

  "You know I hate that nickname." Danica folded her arms across her chest.

  "Babes is better than the other name they call us that also starts with a b." Holly leaned against one of the consoles, crossing her long legs at the ankles.

  "I don't mind the name so much," Caro said. "At least they're talking about us."

  Danica let out a long breath. "They should be talking about us because we've brought in the two highest bounties in the past astro-year, not because we're all women."

  Holly patted her on the shoulder. "It's just because we're the first—and so far only—all-female bounty-hunter crew. Once the novelty wears off, or another crew comes along, people will talk about something else."

  Danica knew there was truth in Holly's words, but she hated the fact that even though they'd brought in two of the toughest bounties around, the other hunters still didn't respect them. She'd known working in a field known for tough guys wouldn't be easy, but she'd hoped her unorthodox methods and maverick crew would win her respect. So far, they'd only managed to acquire nicknames.

  "I say we own it," Tori said, taking one of the pointy chopsticks from her hair and pressing the needle-like point into the pad of her finger. "We know we can do any job the boys can do and, once we bring in this hot-shot doctor, we'll be rolling in enough dough to outfit this ship so we can blast anyone out of the sky. Let them call us babes then."

  "Um, guys." Caro's fingers flew across the screen in front of her. "We probably shouldn't count our money quite yet."

  Danica jerked her head to the screens above her, slamming her palm against the console when she saw the rival ship closing in on them. "I thought we had enough of a head start to lose them."

  "They're faster than I expected for a ship that large," Caro said, maneuvering their ship so that it dipped to the left.

  Holly slid onto the floor, landing with a thud. "A little warning next time."

  "Sorry," Caro shouted over the sound of weapons fire hitting their hull. "You should probably brace for impact."

  A blast shook the ship and alarms began screaming, red lights flashing overhead.

  "Was that a torpedo?" Danica asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Was a rival bounty hunter really trying to blow up her ship?

  “Shit.” Holly scrambled to her feet, using the nearest console to pull herself toward the door. "I'd better get back to the engine room. If we lose that, we're dead in the water."

  “I’ll go make sure the prisoner is okay,” Bexli said, following Holly with Pog tucked under one arm.

  The entire ship jolted, and Danica heard the sound of metal scraping against metal. Her skin went cold. "They've clamped on."

  Tori's face was grim. "They're boarding us."

  "Maybe they'll take the doctor and go," Caro said, although her voice quivered. Danica knew her pilot had been captured more than once when she was a pilot for a resistance movement, and she suspected it hadn’t always been pleasant.

  Danica squeezed her hands into fists. "They're not taking our bounty or us." She turned to Tori. "Hold them off as long as you can, but don't get yourself killed. I have a plan."

  Tori pulled the other chopstick from her hair and slipped both sharp metal sticks into her chain belt. "You got it, Captain."

  Danica ran off the bridge and down the dimly lit corridor until she reached a steel door where Bexli stood guard. “I’ve got the doctor. Why don’t you and Pog try to hold off Mourad’s soldiers?”

  Bexli nodded, her lithe frame and lavender hair transforming into a hulking beast covered in matted fur, with only the slightest hint of purple at the tips. Pog gave a gruff bark and became a green lizard the size of a human, with short legs that scampered across the floor. Both creatures hurried off toward the noise of the enemy bounty hunters boarding their ship.

  Danica turned back to the steel door and punched in a code. The door slid open with a groan, revealing a petite figure with short, chocolate-brown hair sitting on the edge of a cot in the sparse room.

  "Doctor Dryden," Danica said, her breath ragged. "Some pretty nasty bounty hunters are coming on board to take you. I can promise you they won't be as humane as we've been, but I have a plan that could save us both."

  The woman on the cot blinked her wide, blue eyes a few times before answering. "Call me Max."

  To be continued . . .

  Want to read BOUNTY, book 1 in the Barbarians of the Sand Planet series? Click HERE to keep reading!

  Also by Tana Stone

  Alien Warrior Academy:

  Rogue

  The Tribute Brides of the Drexian Warriors Series:

  TAMED (also available in AUDIO)

  SEIZED (also available in AUDIO)

  EXPOSED (also available in AUDIO)

  RANSOMED (also available in AUDIO)

  FORBIDDEN (also available in AUDIO)

  BOUND

  JINGLED (A Holiday Novella)

  CRAVED

  STOLEN

  SCARRED

  The Barbarians of the Sand Planet Series:

  BOUNTY (also available in AUDIO)

  CAPTIVE

  TORMENT

  TRIBUTE

  SAVAGE

  CLAIM

  TANA STONE books available as audiobooks!

  BARBARIANS OF THE SAND PLANET

  BOUNTY on AUDIBLE

  TRIBUTE BRIDES OF THE DREXIAN WARRIORS

  TAMED on AUDIBLE

  SEIZED on AUDIBLE

  EXPOSED on AUDIBLE

  RANSOMED on AUDIBLE

  FORBIDDEN on AUDIBLE

  About the Author

  Tana Stone is a bestselling sci-fi romance author who loves sexy aliens and independent heroines. Her favorite superhero is Thor (with Aquaman a close second because, well, Jason Momoa), her favorite dessert is key lime pie (okay, fine, all pie), and she loves Star Wars and Star Trek equally. She still laments the loss of Firefly.

  She has one husband, two teenagers, and two neurotic cats. She sometimes wishes she could teleport to a holographic space station like the one in her tribute brides series (or maybe vacation at the oasis with the sand planet barbarians). :-)

  She loves hearing from readers! Email her any questions or comments at tana@tanastone.com.

  Want to hang out with Tana in her private Facebook group? Join on all the fun at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tanastonestributes/

  Copyright © 2020 by Broadmoor Books

  Cover Design by Croco Designs

  Editing by Tanya Saari

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.