by Elle Thorne
Why? That was the first question that came to his mind. He had no cargo that anyone would want.
Except for…
The women?
There was no good reason for that. There couldn’t be. What reason would anyone have to intercept three women that were traveling to become brides to Zamanese men on a planet that formerly was a prison colony.
Makes no sense.
Fingers trailing along the corridor’s metal walls, touching the pipes that led to Mn’eth and Rush, he let his feet glide along the flooring, making sure not to raise them high enough to trip over anything.
The lights flickered, once, then came on. With that, he sprinted toward the bridge.
“Caayn!” Mn’eth’s voice came over the intercom system. He was definitely panicking.
Caayn was close. Not far away, just a few more yards.
“On the way!” Caayn yelled, not bothering to stop to speak into the microphones on the walls at intervals.
Two of his crew members were running his way. Spotting him, they hugged the corridor’s walls and made room. Caayn stopped short in front of the door to the bridge, reached for the handle, but never had a chance to touch it. It flew open, and he dove inside, thanking Rush.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Z-Class, unidentified. Missile. Clipped the shuttle behind the cargo bay.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? What about our shields?”
“Didn’t have them up. We’re so close, it’s—” Rush let out a breath. “I’m sorry.”
Caayn nodded.
Understandable.
They were close to Janus. He couldn’t blame Mn’eth. He could see Janus’s green mountains. A stark contrast to the other side of the planet, which was mostly desert.
“Status?”
“It’s worse. The tail of the shuttle that was clipped careened into the engine. Took number three out.”
“Can’t outrun the Z-Class now?”
“There’s no way. We can’t make it to Janus,” Rush spat out.
“Options?” Caayn looked at Mn’eth. “Best case scenario?”
“Only option is to take the Javelin to Reximus.”
Caayn let out an exhaled breath.
Hell. “Did the Z-Class reach out?” he asked Mn’eth.
“Nope. And didn’t answer my call.”
Caayn turned to Rush. “Did you reach out to Janus?”
“Tried.” Rush shook his head. “No luck. The Z put up a scrambler.”
“Cursed bane of sorrows.” Caayn wanted to say much worse, but held back when he noticed one of the women had shown up at the entrance to the bridge. He indicated her with a tilt of his head. “Rush. Kindly escort our guest back to her quarters.”
Rush flew out of his seat. “Katrina. Let’s go back.”
“But I—”
Rush put his hand on her back.
Caayn noticed the tone in Rush’s voice. The way he said her name, and the fact he put his hand on her back. He considered warning Rush against becoming too close to a woman who was betrothed to another, but right now, matters were far direr than a casual flirtation.
He glanced out the side window. “Take us to Reximus,” he instructed Mn’eth.
Then he noticed the two crew members he’d passed a few moments ago. “Gryphix, Marsin. Get up here.” He waved them in.
“Gryph. Assist Mn’eth.” Seeing as how that was his job anyway as first helmsman. He moved out of the seat to give Gryph the spot.
Caayn turned to Marsin. “Check the engine room. See if you can help Bruze.”
He glanced at the door. Again? Another woman. This time, Smyrna. Just the person he was going to talk to.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
He shook his head. “A little setback.”
She stepped onto the bridge.
“Perhaps you should wait in my quarters?”
He didn’t really actually mean to make it sound like a request, but clearly, she took it that way. She stepped in even farther.
He scowled.
“I heard you. Someone attacked us. But, why would they? Are you carrying something that—”
“No.” He cut her off. “And this is not the time for casual conversation. That Z-Class does not have friendly intentions. They’ve cut us off from reinforcements of any kind. They’re unmarked, which at the very least is suspicious, but it’s also illegal. And they aren’t communicating with us. They took a shot at us, but at this range, they shouldn’t have missed.” Caayn took a breath.
Mn’eth picked up where he left off. “They could have—should have—hit something vital. They’re trying to send us off course. Probably want to board, take over the ship.”
A small gasp came from Smyrna. “I need a weapon if they board.”
“We won’t let them board. That’s why we’re going to Reximus.”
“Surely someone on Reximus will help us.”
“Reximus is worse than Janus can be in some ways and areas.”
“Why land? Can you outrun them?”
“No.”
A crunching sound and a jarring bump forced Smyrna into his chest. He fell against the door, arms out to keep from crushing her.
Her body was pressed against his, tightly, and for a brief second, time froze. His eyes locked with her dark gaze, her own wide, but at the same time not scared. She’d paled, the scar standing out.
“Are you okay?” he asked over the sound of metal on metal.
“Caayn.”
Mn’eth’s voice released him from the time-freeze he’d been caught in.
“They’re attached to our ship.”
“Fucking hellfire on Alvas!” This time he couldn’t control the curse. He pressed the intercom button above her head. “Weapons. Individual arms. The Z-Class is trying to board.”
“Why?” she uttered.
“Please. Wait in my quarters. Can you get the other women and wait there? Go to my lavatory. It’s the most reinforced area. It can’t be penetrated.”
“No. Give me a gun. Give me something. I can help.”
“You can’t. I won’t have that happen. I won’t risk the baby.”
He caught Rush and Marsin’s sudden glance in his direction.
He tried to correct the situation. “I won’t risk it, baby.” He hoped that would make Marsin wonder if he’d heard wrong. “Please. Get them. Go hide. Who knows what they’d do with Earth women. You’d get a nice price on the slave market.”
“The hell you say.”
“Please,” he snapped. And instantly regretted it when he saw the hurt look in her eyes.
Chapter Eighteen
Smyrna grabbed his arm. “You don’t understand. Give me a weapon. I can help. You don’t get it.”
“Don’t understand what?”
She sucked in a deep breath. This was her chance to get a weapon. Her chance to get the means to take her revenge out on Baldwin Porter. “You don’t understand the skills I have. How I make a living.”
Maybe that was a stretch. She wasn’t that great a bounty hunter. She had one goal, Porter. She didn’t care about pursuing other bounties.
“How do you make a living?”
It was all or nothing now. “I’m in law enforcement.” Okay, that was a stretch, but not totally, right? Well, maybe it was. He wouldn’t know if she was lying, would he? It didn’t seem like he’d ever even read anything about her.
Heck, he didn’t even know my name.
He rubbed his jaw. “Law enforcement?”
She nodded.
“Come on.”
She followed him, mute and grateful.
A few yards down the corridor, he stopped in front of a door that didn’t look big enough to walk through, then keyed in a code on a panel with symbols on it. Opening the door, he rifled through whatever was in there. She couldn’t see through the door as the way it opened perfectly blocked her view.
He pulled away from the closet, holding an implement she didn’t recog
nize.
“Here. This is perfect.”
Caayn held up what looked like a black and gray puffy athletic glove. The fingers had been cut off between the first and second knuckles. Gray tubes ran along the top of the gloves, starting at the knuckle and going all the way to the end of the glove at the wrist.
“Put this on.” He handed it to her.
She slipped her fingers in, noting that there were buttons on the underside against her palm.
“Hold your hand up, like this.” He raised her arm, closing her fingers into a fist, with the tubes on top. “This is a weapon. It’s a Pulse Hand Cannon. We call it a Pulser, for short. It has six charges. Six shots before it needs to be recharged.”
Caayn reached into the closet again. “This recharges it.” He held up a square with straps and attached it to her wrist, then ran a line to the underside, and plugged it into the glove. “And with this attached, you can shoot indefinitely.”
“Six shots without the charger, and indefinitely with it,” she repeated after him.
“Right.”
“And they’re lethal?”
“Absolutely. Lasers, you’d call them.”
She nodded. If they made it through whatever the Z-Class was bringing, she’d have a weapon for Baldwin.
“Stay behind the crew, at that door right there.” He pointed. “At the first sign that we can’t hold them, you close the door and it will pressure seal. Punch buttons like this.” He demonstrated on the number pad on the closet. “Got it?”
“Got it.”
“The area you’ll be in will be impenetrable. They’ll have to destroy the Javelin to get to you and the other girls.”
A thought she didn’t want to deal with came to mind. “What about you? And your crew?”
“Don’t worry about us. We hold no value as trade.” He studied her face. “Anyway, I plan on delivering you to your fiancé in person.”
He can’t wait to get rid of me. She tried to hide the way that made her feel.
“Don’t you think I should stay out here, where I can help you?”
“No. If they even look like they’re gaining the upper hand, you isolate yourselves.” He gave her a look. “Understood?”
Another nod.
“Bring the other two up to speed, keep them calm. And keep them out of the way.”
She clenched her hand into a fist and made toward the door.
“Wait.” His voice was a terse command. “The safety.”
“What?” She turned to face him.
“Need to show you the safety.” He approached her, took her hand. “These three fingers control three triggers. This one—” he touched her pinky, “–controls the safety.” He pressed it and the button turned red. “Now, it fires.” He pressed it again and it turned black like the rest of the glove. “Now, it doesn’t. You see?”
She looked up into his eyes. Couldn’t pull her gaze away. Would this be her last conversation with him? There seemed to be so many things she’d like to tell him. Though she didn’t even know where to start.
“Go.” He put his hand on her cheek, dragged it downward, the pads of his fingers trailing down her skin, leaving it feeling as if on fire. “And be careful.”
“You be careful.” Her tone was far fiercer than she intended it to be.
“Don’t worry, you won’t lose your ride to your man.” His tone was almost derisive.
“Caayn.” She wanted to tell him something. Anything. To let him know that wasn’t how it was, but she had a job. She had a mission and nothing could stand in the way of it. Especially not emotions she felt for a man she barely knew.
“Smyrna.” His tone was tight.
She half-nodded, half-shook her head and left her words unspoken.
Chapter Nineteen
With her newly acquired weapon on her hand and seeing light at the end of the tunnel she’d been in while hunting Baldwin Porter, Smyrna entered the room where Katrina and Emily waited.
Katrina surged forward. “What the hell is going on? That guy wouldn’t tell me anything. Nothing. Nothing at all.” Her face was red with fury.
Emily was wringing her hands, her own countenance pale with worry. “Did we crash with another vessel?”
Smyrna’s shoulders slumped for a brief second before she regained her composure. She felt badly for Emily, bad for the stress she was going through. “It looks like a vessel is trying to come on board. I don’t know exactly what it is that Caayn does. I’m not sure what he’d have on board that they want.”
“He’s a pirate, isn’t he?” Katrina’s tone was caustic as she made fists of her hands.
Smyrna paused. She didn’t know what to say, it seemed. “I don’t—I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Look.” Smyrna raised her hand to get Katrina’s attention. “I—”
“What the hell is that on your hand?” Katrina pointed to the Pulser.
“It’s for our defense.”
Emily gasped. “Defense?”
“The ship that shot us is trying to board us now. Caayn’s not sure what they’d do if they found out we’re on board. If they are slavers…”
Another gasp from Emily.
Katrina shot her a dirty look. “Emily. Get a hold of yourself.”
Emily’s face fell.
Smyrna continued. “If these guys are pirates, I guess they’d sell us to slavers. If they aren’t slavers. Though, I don’t know why a slaver would attack us, unless they knew we were on board. And, how would they?” Smyrna’s head was spinning as she thought of all that had transpired.
“I want one of those.” Katrina pointed to the Pulser.
“I’ll tell Caayn afterward.” Though Smyrna was damned sure he wouldn’t be giving her one. Was she crazy for even suggesting? Hell, he’d probably take the Pulser away from Smyrna the moment the action died down and the bad guys had been subdued or killed.
Shit.
Taking the Pulser away from her was the last thing she needed. If this ended well, that Pulser needed to remain in her custody.
Now how the hell am I going to manage that?
A plan began to form in her mind.
“So, what are we supposed to do?” Emily’s voice trembled.
“We can go up and watch from the door between the hallway that leads to the bridge and to this area. You know, that big door that has the other glass door right before it?”
Emily nodded.
“Caayn said to stay there, and if they lost against the guys are trying to board, that we were to close that door and seal it with the code—”
“How the hell are we supposed to know the code?” Katrina’s eyes narrowed.
“Caayn gave it to me.”
“He’s got everything figured out, doesn’t he?”
“Katrina, what’s your deal? He’s trying to help us here.”
“Well, excuse me if I don’t completely trust him. Or you. This whole ship switching thing, not being upfront, all that, it’s got me a bit on edge.”
“You said we were cool.”
Katrina crossed her arms over her chest. “We are cool. But color me cautious.”
Smyrna shook her head. She’d thought that she and Katrina were similar, but now she was beginning to wonder. Why was Katrina so contrary? So distrustful? Did she have something of her own to hide? Was that why?
“Let’s watch and see what happens. Caayn said to seal us away from the other guys if he and his team lost. He said we’d be safe there. That no one could do get in. We’d be safe until reinforcements arrive.”
“That makes no sense,” Katrina harrumphed.
Smyrna whirled on her. “Sense or not. He’s the captain. He’s familiar with the environment and the enemies that might be attacking us. I’m not. And you sure as hell aren’t. So, I’m for listening to him.”
Emily’s jaw dropped while Katrina glared at her.
Neither moved.
Smyrna planted her fists on her hips. “Well?”<
br />
“I’m going with you,” Emily conceded.
“I’m…” Katrina exhaled. “Fine. I’ll go.”
The three of them made their way to the spot Caayn had told them to wait.
When they arrived, yards in front of them, Smyrna could see Caayn, Rush, and several of his men waiting with weapons. Caayn glanced back, noticed she was there, nodded to her.
She nodded back, though she noticed there was something in his eyes. Was that concern?
She didn’t get a chance to dwell on that thought.
The vessel pitched, and if it had been on water, she’d have sworn it was going under. But it wasn’t on water.
What the hell made that happen?
Her stomach heaved right along with the ship. With one hand, Smyrna grabbed hold of a set of tubes that ran down the wall to keep from jerking into Katrina, and with the other hand, she seized hold of Emily’s dress so she wouldn’t keel over.
An assortment of noises came from the corridor in front of Smyrna. It sounded like knocking on the side door, next to where Caayn and his men waited. No, actually, it didn’t sound like knocking. It was more like the clanging of metal banging against metal. What were they using, a battering ram?
Chapter Twenty
On the other side of the door, Caayn could hear a sound he knew only too well. They’d not only attached their ship to his, he noted the sound of a seal being put in place. A high-powered metal cutter was being fired up. They’d be through the hull in no time.
Desperate times seemed to call for desperate measures. He took stock of his little crew, and wondered what kind of fire power the Z-Class carried, and how many men, and how well they were equipped.
He chewed on his lip. This wasn’t the time to tarry. “They’re bottlenecked. If we open the door, we’ll take them out one or two at a time.”
“Unless they take us out first,” came from behind him.
Caayn didn’t turn to see who’d muttered it, though he was pretty sure it was one of the new guys he’d brought on less than a month ago. After this, that guy was gone. Inten. That was his name.
