by Gail Koger
Note to self: yanking on a T-Rex’s tail is never a good idea unless you want to get eaten. “Um… Damn good question.” I wiggled and squirmed frantically, trying to break free. “Wow, you’re even stronger than Voss.” Oh dear God! “You wouldn’t happen to be the high and mighty Overlord, would you?”
“I would.”
“Would an apology help? ’Cause, I’m really, really sorry I called you an asshole.” I babbled on, “It’s not Voss’s fault. It’s mine, and you don’t have to kill me, because Hothar and I will soon be dead anyway. So, please don’t hurt the Battle Commander. You kinda need him.”
“You’re right, I do need him. What’s wrong with your shuttle?” Was there a note of amusement in the Overlord’s voice?
“Our life support just died, and we have about…” I looked over at Hothar, who was wide-eyed with horror.
“Twenty minutes.”
“Twenty minutes of shitty air left.”
“Show me the damage.”
I flashed him a mental picture of the fried relay. “And the really good news is there’s no backup system.”
Zarek released me, and I quickly threw up my shields. Oh God, oh God, I was so dead.
Enormous power crackled around my shields, testing them. “Very impressive, Zoey. I see why my Battle Commander chose you.”
“Um…thanks. Can I say good-bye to Voss?”
“Do you really think I would allow Hothar or you to die?”
Well, yeah, I kind of did. “You have a plan?”
“I always have a plan,” Zarek responded arrogantly.
Yep, Voss and the Overlord were two peas in a pod. “What do you want me to do?”
“Enter these coordinates into the navigational computer: 551.1 mark 432.2.”
Sliding into the pilot’s chair, I did as instructed. “Done.”
“When you are within ten clicks of the Hus Ping space station, contact me again, and I will teleport you onboard.”
“We won’t be able to dock?”
“No, they will scan the ship. Females are a valuable commodity, and once they get a good look at you, you’ll be on your back servicing the males. Hothar they will kill.”
Anger surged through me at the thought of anyone hurting the kid. “They touch us, they’re dead.”
“You will hide until we come for you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. I do appreciate your help, sir.” It was making me more than a bit nervous that I was unable to link with the big guy. “Are you still angry with Voss?”
Zarek’s tone was one of sheer menace. “No. In his place I would have done the same thing, but if you ever threaten me again, I will not be so forgiving.”
Now I knew where Voss got his scary from. “Gotcha, it won’t happen again, sir, but I didn’t know who you were. All I knew was you were hurting Voss, and I had to stop you.”
“Your willingness to fight for your mate is the only reason you still live.”
Holy Mary, mother of God! Kaylee was right. The Overlord did make Darth Vader look like Little Orphan Annie.
“Detja is eager to meet you.”
The abrupt change from menacing warlord to charming host freaked me out just a bit. “I’m honored, sir. She’s one of my role models.”
“Uncle Saul did mention that.”
Uncle Saul? Zarek acted like we were family. How weird was that?
“Who told you about the effects of Diatryman root?”
“Detja told Kaylee, she told Sam, and Sam told Casey, and Casey told Aunt Tess, and she sent me some.”
“Female communication is beyond me,” Zarek commented wryly.
“It makes perfect sense to us, sir.”
“Indeed.”
“After the disaster with Voss, I think I need to double the amount of Diatryman root.”
Zarek’s voice was a threatening growl. “Who do you plan to use it on?”
Fear slithered up my spine, and my teeth started to chatter. “I thought…I thought it might be a good idea to carry some in case Malik tries to grab me again.”
“An excellent idea. I’ll have Detja make you a stronger batch.”
“Um… That would be wonderful, sir.”
The Overlord suddenly commanded, “Drop your shields.”
“What?”
Voss’s voice was a faint whisper in my mind, “Do it.”
The Overlord asked almost casually, “Do you have a problem understanding the concept of obedience?”
“Yes, sir, I kinda do. It drives Voss nuts. I’m not used to having guys telling me what to do.”
“And I’m not accustomed to having my orders ignored.”
I quickly dropped my shields, flinching when the Overlord sailed in and started mucking about in my head. A tug here. A yank there. A burning sensation behind my eyes. Sweet Jesus, was he turning me into a bimbo like Jasmine the whore?
Zarek’s laughter sounded in my mind. “No, little one, I would never turn you into a brainless whore. I’m simply increasing the strength of your shields.”
“You are? Wow, thanks. Um… No disrespect, sir, but why? I thought they were already pretty damned good.”
“They are, but Malik’s strong enough to shatter them and destroy your mind.”
Well, that would teach me to get cocky.
I felt a sharp pinch, and Zarek snapped, “You’ve been piggybacking messages to Kaylee using our communications relay.”
Busted. “Yes, sir, I found a glitch in the system that allows me to send messages without being detected.”
Zarek spewed a foul litany of cuss words in several different languages.
I gave myself a mental head smack. “Malik set it up, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” A killing rage simmered in his mind.
Fighting back the urge to start screaming hysterically please don’t kill me, I took a deep breath and said, “Look on the bright side.”
A predatory growl rumbled in my head. “There’s a bright side?”
“Yes, sir, we blew the hell out of his base and cost him forty million credits.”
“Forty million credits?” The Overlord sounded a bit surprised at the amount.
“My traitorous father killed himself without telling Malik where his precious cargo of human flesh was. So poof! There goes forty million. Plus, we killed Anhui, the most vicious pirate in the galaxy, and blew up her ship. I don’t think the Tai-Kok or the Rodan will be real happy with your traitorous son. They might even invite Malik over for dinner.”
“There is a very good possibility that he will be on the dinner menu.” Zarek rifled through my memories. “You are a very clever female. Your father never knew you were accessing his armory or command systems.”
“Nope, he didn’t have a clue.”
Zarek laughed. “You will keep Voss on his toes.”
“Can I talk with him, please?”
To my stunned surprise, he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Welcome to the family, little one.” Poof! He was gone.
Voss wrapped me in a crushing grip and frantically scanned my mind. “Did he hurt you?”
I stroked him soothingly. “No, I got a stern lecture, and get this, he strengthened my shields.”
“I want your promise that you will never challenge the Overlord again.”
“He hurt you. I had to try to stop him.”
“Zarek was annoyed with me. If he had truly wanted to hurt me, I would be on my knees screaming in agony. He can kill with a thought. I want your word that you will never challenge or disobey the Overlord.”
“Believe me, that won’t be a problem. Having him in my head was terrifying.”
Voss planted a hard, possessive kiss on my mouth. “I must go. The Overlord is calling me. Be careful on the space station. We will come for you.”
I caressed his cheek and pressed my lips to his. “Yes, sir.”
The tremendous power flooding the shuttle vanished.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Hothar sagged in his chair and sho
ok his head in stunned disbelief. “You challenged the Overlord.”
“Pretty stupid, huh?”
“Very. The few that have dared are dead.”
“I can believe that. Lucky for me, the Overlord seems to like me a bit.”
“He does, and the fact that you are the Battle Commander’s mate helped too. Anyone else he would have turned into a mindless breeder,” Hothar said repressively.
“Good point.”
Chapter Nine
On the long-range scanner, the Hus Ping space station looked like a pitted gray sausage. Dozens of airlocks haphazardly dotted the battered surface, and on one end a badly dented engine had been attached. I guess if the local cops showed up, they could make a run for it. I examined the sensors. Nah, the instant they fired up that piece of junk it would blow rather spectacularly.
An amazing variety of ships were stuck like barnacles to the airlocks. Everything from one-man scouts to deadly fighters to merchant ships to one weird-looking freighter.
A sudden flood of Voss’s memories flashed through my head. This space station was the equivalent of a Hell’s Angel’s biker bar. Only the dregs of the galaxy used it, and you didn’t enter unless you were armed to the teeth or truly desperate.
We were truly desperate and outgunned. I took a wheezing breath and rubbed my burning eyes. I didn’t know how much longer I could hang on. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.
My radar went on red alert, and I watched in horror as a Rodan Raider swooped in and docked. Its black hull bristled with weapons. “Oh fuck!”
“Balock’s balls,” Hothar cried in alarm. His hands danced over the console. “There are eight of them.”
“Let’s see if we can even the odds a bit.” I reached out and linked with Voss. “We’ve got a bit of a problem.”
He scanned my mind and spat, “Fuck.”
A slightly hysterical giggle escaped me. The merge had affected him too. “How did they know we’re headed to the space station?”
His anger swirled through my head. “The Rodan know Anhui’s ship was destroyed and will be searching for survivors. The mother ship must be nearby.”
A large blip appeared on the edge of my long-range scanner. “Oh yeah, big mama is heading our way too.”
I could sense Voss checking his scanners and felt his anticipation of a fierce battle. “It’s a class five battle cruiser, which we will intercept and destroy. Keep on your heading, and I will inform the Overlord.”
“Yes, sir.” A violent fit of coughing left me gasping for air. The room spun dizzily around me, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the cold metal deck.
I tried to sit up, but my strength was gone. Wasn’t the air supposed to be better closer to the floor? Yeah, I think it was, so I’d just stay put. I closed my eyes and took one labored breath after another and another.
Hothar collapsed next to me. “Can’t breathe.”
I took his hand in mine. “Hang in there, honey. Zarek will come for us.”
A mechanical voice announced, “Life support will fail in ninety seconds. Evacuate to the life pods.”
“Would if…there was any,” I gasped.
“I’m…honored…to die with you,” Hothar wheezed.
Darkness crept into my vision, and I sank into a weird kind of limbo, listening to the computer counting down until blackness claimed me.
A faint voice snapped in my head, “Zoey! Wake up!”
My oxygen-starved mind swirled chaotically. “What?”
“You will not die.”
“Okay.” Groggily, I tried to raise my head and sucked in a raspy breath. Why did it feel like someone was trying to smother me?
Power radiated off Hothar as he scooped me up effortlessly and, in a deep, growly voice commanded, “Stay with me.”
“Tired,” I whined, and my eyes drifted shut.
“Zoey! You will obey me,” Hothar snarled.
I jerked as a bolt of power zapped me. Ouch! Was that nice? I peered up at his hard, ruthless face. I blinked in disbelief. Whoa! When had Hothar turned into a bossy prick?
“Bossy prick,” he repeated. Menace radiated from him.
One look at his brutally relentless gaze, and I groaned. “Zarek?”
“Yes, little one. Hothar will need your help to survive.”
I struggled for breath, and the blackness crashed down on me again.
A sharp, stinging pain in my neck from a pressure injector was followed by a blast of energy. My eyes flew open, and a very irritated Hothar—or was it Zarek—stared down at me. “What happened?”
“You passed out again.”
One look at the merciless line of his mouth, and I knew I was talking with Zarek. “Sorry, sir, but lack of oxygen will do that to a girl.” I glanced around. “Where are we?”
“The Hus Ping space station,” Zarek answered and ran a medical scanner over me. “Your vital signs are back to normal. You will stay in the infirmary until I come for you.”
“Yes, sir.” I sat up and slid off the examining table away from the Overlord. Having him in Hothar’s body was giving me the heebie-jeebies.
“Disobedience will be punished,” Zarek said, every inch the dictator.
“I wouldn’t think of disobeying you, your lordship.”
Fire ants stomped across my mind, and I could feel the Rodan monsters growing closer and closer. The horrific memories of their bloody attack on Dallas crashed through my mind. The coppery smell of blood, the gutted corpses, the awful screams of the dying, and the monsters’ gore-covered faces.
My heart twisted with pain as Paul’s scream of agony echoed in my head over and over again. Rage vibrated through every cell of my body, and with a savage, destructive joy, I unleashed my powers, slaughtering every Rodan on the ship.
The Overlord’s furious gaze locked on me. “You little fool, I would have killed them.”
“I needed to kill them, sir.”
“Did you?” He stormed into my head and examined my memories of that day. “I understand your grief, but letting your emotions control you will only get you killed. Your vengeance has severely depleted your power levels.”
Exhaustion rolled over me, and I swayed unsteadily on my feet. “Yes, sir, it has, but I’d do it again.” I felt him tampering with my memories. “No! Please. Don’t take Paul from me.”
“Your focus should be on Voss, not a dead man.”
There was a fluttering sensation in my head, and Paul’s face faded away and was replaced with Voss’s. That day in Dallas became a vague memory as if it had happened to someone else.
“Your only allegiance is to me, Voss, and your family. Do you understand?”
A shudder of fear shook me. “I do, sir.”
The Overlord gently stroked my mind. “It’s for the best, little one. You cannot bring back the dead.”
“I want the monsters to pay for what they’ve done to my world.”
“They will. You have my promise on that.”
Zarek’s power flowed into me, chasing away my exhaustion. Wowzer! What a rush.
“A Tai-Kok ship is approaching. I want you to take Hothar and hide in the cantina.”
With the Overlord in my head, I couldn’t sense them. “How many?”
“Too many for you to kill.”
“Are you sure?” I flinched as pain zapped my mind.
With the unblinking stare of a predator, Zarek growled, “Do not make me take all your memories.”
I froze in absolute horror. Oh my God! Oh my God! I swallowed a scream and babbled, “That won’t be necessary, sir. We’ll go to the cantina and hide.”
The Overlord pointed to two grimy robes lying across another examining table. “Wear those, and do not attract attention to yourself. Do you have any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Good.” Hothar’s eyes rolled back in his head, and down he went.
“Shit!” I grabbed the scanner and ran it over him. Hmmm. His oxygen levels were still a little low
. Picking up the pressure injector, I gave Hothar the recommended dose and watched as his breathing steadied.
I shook Hothar. “C’mon, buddy, wake up. Trouble’s heading our way.”
He jackknifed into a sitting position. His eyes darted around crazily. “Zarek was in my head!”
“Yeah, I know. It’s pretty damn scary.”
“I do not want him to ever do that again.”
“Me either, but we’ve got a bigger problem.”
He blinked in confusion. “We’re on the space station?”
“Yes, and we need to hide. A bunch of Tai-Kok are about to pay us a visit.”
Hothar scrambled to his feet. “I can sense them. They are angry about something.”
“Well, we did blow up Malik’s base and took away their source of all that yummy human flesh.”
With a shudder, he asked, “Is that terrible hunger coming from them?”
“Unfortunately, they’re always very hungry.” I stuffed the grotesque images of their attack on Phoenix and Paul’s death deep inside my mind. I didn’t want the Overlord paying a return visit, and quickly scanned the space station.
The bar was crammed with a multitude of life-forms. There were a few psychics in the bunch, but none of them were powerful enough to be a threat.
Several dozen fire ants waltzed across my mind. Zarek was 100 percent correct. There were too many for me to fight.
I picked up a robe and examined it for wildlife. My nose wrinkled in disgust. Whooeee! The stench rivaled my eau de dead skunk perfume. Whoever Zarek had borrowed it from hadn’t bathed in a very long time.
My radar went on red alert. Crap. Those monsters were heading right for us. I pulled out two handy-dandy bio jammers and gave one to Hothar. “The Tai-Koks are tracking us.”
He cocked his head in surprise. “I know where to teleport us.” He pulled his robe on and triggered his jammer.
“Good. Let’s go.” I slid the robe on and stepped into his arms.
Hothar’s face scrunched in concentration, and poof. We were standing in a dark corner of the bar.
I gaped in astonishment at the motley collection of aliens. Tentacles, claws, paws, and hands were wrapped around a variety of drinking containers. Some kind of funky music that sounded like cats being strangled vied with the boisterous shouts, wild laughter, and the jabber of a dozen languages.
