Game On Askole (Coletti Warlords)

by Gail Koger

  My question was: how had Lilkee and her wannabes gotten by the satellites without being blown to smithereens? Was there was a traitor in the Overlord’s ranks?

  Speaking of the devil, the image of the Overlord popped on my view screen, and in an extremely menacing tone, he babbled something.

  Gotta say, he had intimidation down to an art form. I pushed the Communications icon. “Hello?”

  The Overlord’s response was to pull his sword, point it at the camera, and spout more nasty gibberish.

  Like I had a freakin’ clue what any of it meant. I pressed the Communications icon again. “I’m from Earth and I don’t speak Coletti. Please don’t blow me up. I’m Sarah Jones, Kaylee’s cousin. You know Kaylee, the woman mated to your son, Talree? I just escaped from the Lilkee’s Legionnaires, and I’m supposed to land on Tanith.”

  The Overlord vanished and was replaced by a grim-faced Coletti warrior in full battle gear. His harsh voice filled my head. “You are approaching Coletti territory. This is restricted space. Without the proper code, you will be destroyed.”

  “Okay. Okay. Give me a second.” I hastily entered the password Tihar had given me and prayed they hadn’t changed it.

  “You are cleared to proceed.” The screen went black.

  “Wait. Where do I land this baby?” Silence was my only answer. I knew they were in battle status, but really. I hit the Communications icon. “Hello?”

  A voice jabbered something.

  “What part of I don’t speak your language don’t you get?”

  “Planetary air command will contact you. Stay off this frequency,” the warrior practically bellowed.

  “Sorry, but I don’t know your protocols.”

  “I suggest you learn them quickly.” He broke our psychic link.

  What a dickhead. I threaded my way through the satellites. I’d make a run for Earth, but I didn’t know the coordinates, and I wasn’t sure how spaceworthy the Marauder was.

  KeeKee’s legs twitched. “Are we there yet?”

  “Almost.”

  “Me hungry.”

  “Me too. Let’s hope there are some chips and salsa left.”

  “Want bug.”

  “I’ll have Aunt Tess summon some sand flies for you.”

  “’Kay.”

  I watched Tanith grow larger and larger in the view screen. The bright orange glow was a legacy from General Tigres’s lethal Gall bombs. I zoomed in on the charred metal superstructures of a once-bustling city. Billions of people had died in a single night. For a moment, the wails of the dying filled my head and the need for vengeance churned in my gut. I knew I would protect Tanith and her people with my life.

  What had made Lilkee and her sick-ass brother, Malik, decide to wipe out half of the Tanith’s population again? Bigotry, greed, the quest for power? Or all of the above?

  A flicker of movement caught my attention. I focused the screens on what had been a heavily forested countryside. Something was running among the flash-burned trees. A shudder shook me. It was a pack of naugers chasing a smaller critter. Their bulbous bodies and long snakelike necks were hideous.

  Tihar popped into my head with, “My father has been advised of your arrival. He needs to do another blood test.”

  “Did you blow up the destroyer?”

  “We did.”

  “Was Lilkee captured or killed?”

  “She escaped.”

  “Bet that made Talree happy.”

  “The hunt continues.”

  “You’re okay?”

  “I am Askole.”

  Guess that meant his ship was intact and he wasn’t hurt. “Where do I land?”

  “Tanith air command will contact you.”

  “Okay. Be careful. Lilkee might be a ditz, but Malik sounds like a badass dude.”

  “Askole fear no one.”

  My internal radar went on alert. About the same time, red blips appeared on my ship’s battle display. “This can’t be good.” I reached out with my mind. Damn. The sneaky bitch Lilkee had been on Tanith the entire time.

  A note of concern in his voice, Tihar asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “I know where Lilkee and her wannabes are.”

  “Where?”

  “They’re heading right for me.”

  “Contact air command for help,” Tihar instructed.

  Like they would listen to a mere female. On the view screen, I watched as eight bright-red fighters released a relentless rain of laser bolts at my borrowed ship.

  The Marauder shook violently. “Too late.” I let loose with an answering salvo and put my ship into a radical vertical descent.

  I scored two direct hits, and the enemy spacecrafts vanished from my tracking scanner.

  Two hundred feet from the surface, I pulled my ship up and skimmed over the devastated landscape.

  The lead Legionnaire ship slammed into the ground. A fireball rose high into the sky.

  KeeKee quivered in my hair. “We crash?”

  “Not today.” I had made her a promise, and I was damn well going to keep it. “Be very quiet. Momma Sarah needs to concentrate.”

  “’Kay.”

  Tihar interjected, “I have notified air command. They are sending a squadron to intercept the Legionnaires. If your hull is breached, the radiation will kill you within twenty minutes.”

  “Good to know.” I increased my speed and made a run for the shattered city.

  The Legionnaires’ ships were right on my tail, blasting away at my shields.

  The readout screens were feeding me combat information at a high rate of speed. Too bad I couldn’t read Tai-Kok or Rodan. Wrapping my right hand around the laser cannon’s controls, I started shooting.

  The view screen lit up like the Fourth of July. Hopefully, I had gotten every one of the bastards. One look at the tracking scanner and I groaned. There were still three bogies in pursuit.

  “The Coletti squadron is five minutes out,” Tihar said.

  “The fight will be over by then.” I hit the city limits, rolled the ship on its axis, and shot under a badly damaged bridge. “Yee haw!”

  A Legionnaire craft hit the bottom of the dangling metal span. Boom! It disintegrated into a searing inferno.

  One down. Two to go.

  “A daring maneuver.” Tihar seemed inordinately proud of me.

  “Let’s find out how good they are.” I tipped the Marauder to one side and zipped down a wide debris-laden street at Mach 1.

  The Legionnaires’ ships followed. One pilot let his wingtip clip an exposed girder. The ship spun wildly and crashed into the remains of a building. Blinding explosions ripped through the structure. Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

  A warning light flared to life on my control console.

  Tihar stated a little too calmly, “Your starboard deflector shield has failed.”

  “No shit, Sherlock.” Exchanging laser fire with the remaining Legionnaire ship, I shot out of the street and climbed for altitude.

  Bang! My Marauder pitched radically as it took a direct hit. Warning lights danced across the command console. On the rear screen, I could see a trail of thick black smoke. Stressed metal shrieked and groaned. The cold fist of reality hit me in the stomach. We were going down.

  What did Aunt Tess say when all hell broke loose? Oh yeah. “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For I’m the baddest motherfucker in the valley.”

  “My father is positioning his ship to transport you.”

  “He is?” Color me surprised.

  “You are my chosen.”

  “No like glitter light,” KeeKee whined.

  “The alternative is dying of radiation poisoning.”

  “Glitter light good.”

  “Land your ship and surrender,” Lilkee suddenly snapped in my head.

  “How about you surrender instead?” I switched to my psychic link with Talree. “This bitch has a death wish.”

  “Air command has been notified. They want her t
aken alive.”

  “What?”

  Lilkee literally hissed like an enraged cat. “You cannot refuse me. I am a Coletti princess.”

  “With the brain power of a gnat.”

  “Obey me now, or I will destroy your mind.”

  “Fat chance.”

  A slight stinging sensation hit my mind. “Now you die.”

  “No. Now you die.” I had one missile left, and I was putting it to good use. Screw Coletti air command. Centering the crosshairs on the Lilkee’s ship, I launched it.

  Whoosh! It streaked toward the Legionnaire’s ship. Kablooey! Flames and smoke belched from the ruined vessel as it spiraled down to crash dramatically into an archway. “Bye-bye, bitch.”

  “Lilkee teleported off the ship before it was destroyed,” Tihar commented.

  “Damn. She’s got more lives than a cat.”

  “Your hull has been breached.”

  And I had developed a severe left yaw. Before I could look for a landing site, a glittering blue light engulfed me. It felt like my molecules were being taken apart.

  Chapter Ten

  My molecules abruptly stopped whizzing about. The light faded, and I was sitting on an ice-cold platform. I quickly checked to see if I had all my parts. Two hands, ten fingers, two arms, and two legs. The best yet, no foreign objects protruded from my forehead, and I hadn’t transformed into a human fly.

  I could feel KeeKee mucking about in my goopy hair and let out a big sigh of relief. We had made it, and maybe I should cut back on watching old horror movies. “You okay, KeeKee?”

  “Me ’kay. He scary.”

  I looked up. Sariel, the Askole High Commander was studying me intently. He bared his rather awesome fangs in a ferocious smile. “Your piloting skills are unusual.”

  “I’m alive. The wannabes and eight hundred Tai-Kok aren’t.” I got to my feet.

  “An interesting claim.”

  “Fact. Ask Voss if you need verification on the Tai-Kok kills.”

  “Female warriors are rare.”

  “Not on Earth.”

  “Your species is unique.” Sariel’s tentacles knotted and unknotted. The High Commander didn’t seem happy to have me on his ship.

  “Why did you save me? I thought I wasn’t proper mate material. You know, being child-size and weak.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You are my son’s chosen.”

  “Don’t you need another blood test to prove that?”

  “The mental connection has already been completed.”

  It had? Yikes! That did explain my growing attraction to tentacles. They were soft and silky and doubled as sex toys.

  KeeKee dropped down on my shoulder. “Me hungry.”

  Sariel pointed a scanner at me. “No food until you have been decontaminated and your injuries healed.” He pushed a lever. The transporter light grabbed us and presto! We were standing in the Askole version of a sick bay.

  “I could have walked.” I knew my tone was surly, but my give-a-damn button was busted. I didn’t like my molecules being spread hither and yon. If there had been a transporter malfunction, my cells would be lost in space. Forever.

  Sariel’s voice was equally surly. “I cannot allow you to contaminate my ship.”

  Or taint the Askole race? “Take me back to Earth, and you’ll be rid of me.”

  “It is too late for that option. You have started the change and will soon be Askole.”

  Fuck. Tentacles, scales, and fangs. A horrible thought hit me. “My hair!”

  “Serves no purpose.”

  “I like my hair, and I don’t want tentacles.”

  “What you want is irrelevant. Do as Yann commands.” Sariel broke our link.

  My jaw dropped as a pygmy Askole walked up to me, a bio scanner in one hand. At five foot two, I was a couple of inches taller than him.

  “I am Yann the medic.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I held out my hand.

  He ignored it and pointed to a regen tube. “Remove your clothing and climb inside.”

  Guess Askoles weren’t into shakings hands. God, the cultural differences between our two species were enormous. I’d probably piss people off without even knowing it. “What about KeeKee? She was exposed to the radiation too.”

  “No wanna die,” KeeKee cried pitifully.

  With a sigh, Yann inputted data into his scanner. “Place the Tabor in the smaller tube.”

  “Thank you.” Stroking her grungy fur, I put KeeKee in the regen cylinder. “It’s gonna be okay.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.” I stripped down to my underwear.

  “Remove all your garments,” Yann ordered, his gaze never leaving the scanner.

  Basic training had cured most of my modesty, but getting naked in front of strangers still bothered me. I pulled off my panties and bra and scrambled inside.

  “Lie down,” Yann directed.

  Reluctantly, I complied. I knew Tihar would never hurt me, but this guy? I didn’t know or trust him. The instant the lid closed, a thick white smoke swirled around me. With one breath, I was so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I floated off.

  Angry grunts, groans, and clucking jerked me awake. Tihar? I reached out psychically. No. Someone else. An Askole. Make that a very angry Askole. Wonder what had crawled up his butt and died?

  Then I realized Yann was making awful, gurgling noises.

  My eyes popped open. A horrifically scarred Askole was choking the life out of Yann. “Tihar! Get your ass to sick bay.” I pushed at the glass imprisoning me. How did I get out of this thing? I randomly hit icons until the lid slid back. Grabbing a scanner off a metal tray, I hurled it at Scar Face. Thunk! It bounced off his head.

  Damn. He hadn’t even flinched. I flashed Tihar an image of Scar Face. “He’s killing Yann!”

  A clanging noise erupted, followed by a bunch of grunts, cackling, and groans. Must be the Askole version of an intruder alert.

  Yann’s skin turned a sickly gray, and he hung limply in Scar Face’s grip.

  “Hey, asshole! Let him go.”

  The asshole dropped Yann. He bared his fangs and bellowed his battle cry.

  “Mwah-hah-hah,” I shouted back, scrambling out of the tube.

  Scar Face blinked in disbelief.

  I summoned every ounce of power I had and hurled it at him. His head snapped back, and he toppled over like a pole-axed steer.

  The little Askole wasn’t moving. “Yann?” Dropping to my knees, I put my ear to his chest. Shit. He wasn’t breathing either. I started CPR. “C’mon, breathe.”

  With a roar, Scar Face shot to his feet.

  “Oh crap.”

  The sick bay doors slid open, and Tihar zoomed in. His terrifying war cry echoed around the room.

  Scar Face yelled something and attacked Tihar.

  I quickly dragged Yann into a corner and continued CPR. His thick armored skin made mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions difficult. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught brief glimpses of the fight. Both warriors were moving so fast, all I could see were black blurs as their terrifying claws flashed in a dizzying display of death.

  Blood sprayed across the room. Thud. Scar Face’s head rolled to stop by my foot.

  “You got any more medics? ’Cause this one isn’t doing so good.” I hastily wiped the blood out of my eyes and continued doing chest compressions.

  Tihar watched me for a moment. “What are doing?”

  “CPR. He’s not breathing.”

  Tihar grabbed a medical scanner and ran it over Yann. “His trachea is crushed.”

  “Will the regen tube help?”

  “It will.” Tihar picked Yann up and placed him in the cylinder.

  “Momma Sarah,” KeeKee wailed from the tube.

  “It’s okay, sweetie.” While Tihar programmed the regen tube, I freed KeeKee and cuddled her. “You’re okay. The bad man is dead, and he can’t hurt you.”

  “Wanna go home.”

 
“Me too, but it ain’t happenin’ any time soon.” I spotted my underwear. Yay. Clothes. Putting KeeKee on my head, I scrambled into my panties and bra.

  Sariel shot into the room. He sized up the situation and started spouting a bunch of Askole gobbledygook at Tihar.

  Whatever Tihar told his father made him furious.

  Nothing like being ignored. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”

  “Shandev is a rebel assassin we have been hunting,” Tihar answered, pointing at the head.

  “So, the billion-dollar questions are: how did he get on this ship, and why did he try to kill Yann?”

  Tihar’s tentacles squirmed wildly. “We believe Shandev was sent to capture you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  Sariel responded, “The rebel Askole warriors have joined forces with the Legionnaires, and Malik wants you badly.”

  “Right. I’m the perfect Coletti breeder.”

  “Not once you become Askole,” Tihar growled.

  Sariel nodded in agreement. “The conversion must be completed. Once Zarek arrives, we will begin the negotiations.”

  “Are you nuts? The last thing we want to do is let the Overlord know about us.”

  “We have a treaty. It is necessary,” Tihar stated.

  It was? Detja was going to be so pissed, and I wasn’t ready to become an alien. I needed more time. “Wait! We’re still in the courting stage. Remember?”

  “No longer.”

  Think. Think. How did I stop this? “I’m human. I don’t know your customs.”

  “You are becoming Askole, and you will learn our traditions,” Sariel replied gruffly.

  “I’d make a horrible mate. I’ve got a bad temper. I’m always getting in bar fights. I like killing monsters. I can’t cook, and I snore.” I gave myself a mental head smack. Snoring? That was the best I could come up with?

  Tihar gently wiped the blood off my face. “You are perfect.”

  A smile curved my mouth. He thought I was perfect? That was so sweet. Other than being an alien, Tihar was my ideal man. A strong, sexy warrior who stood by me no matter what, and he actually listened to me. I’d snap him up in a heartbeat if he were human, but he wasn’t.