Coletti Warlords: Vexing Voss

by Gail Koger

  “Would Bebo use it on the Tai-Kok and Rodan?”

  “In his place, I would,” Zarek answered.

  “It is the logical thing to do if you want to utterly destroy your enemy,” Voss added as he mentally scanned my body. I could feel his anger as he cataloged my new injuries.

  Whoa. The big guy was working himself up. Part of me liked the fact he would kill anyone who hurt me, but I could take care of myself. “Hey, I get first dibs on killing the creep.”

  Almost as if he had heard me, Zye bellowed with fury, whipped out a pistol, and fired.

  Agony seared through every cell in my body as the stun beam hit me. Was that me screaming? God, I hoped not. Voss would freak. I fought to stay conscious.

  Zye shook me viciously. “Do you take me for a fool? Do you?”

  Did the idiot actually think I was capable of answering him? My stomach clenched as I realized I had lost my link with Voss and Zarek.

  “The Battle Commander cannot save you.”

  Tears of pain leaked down my cheeks. Zye was a dead man walking.

  The murderous medic shoved a scanner at my face. “I can outthink, outfight, outmaneuver them. This little device tells me when Zarek or Voss are trying to contact you.”

  Power flowed into me, and the agony faded away. When I didn’t get stunned again, I figured his swell scanner didn’t work as well as he thought.

  Zye touched the control console, and we came out of warp drive. A glittering pink planet filled the view screen.

  Joroco, a barren desert wasteland occupied by a few hardy souls who mined Sipan, and home of the icky Scorm. Trying to find Malik’s hidden base would be a difficult, time-consuming task.

  Lucky for us, dickhead was taking me right to it. All I had to do was send up a smoke signal, and my honey bunny would come riding to the rescue. Easy. Right?

  The ship dropped lower and lower. Ahead of us, gaunt, wind-tortured peaks of red stone rose from the seemingly endless ocean of coral sand. With the tap of an icon, a landing bay appeared in the massive wall.

  Color me impressed.

  Firing the landing thrusters, Zye brought the fighter to a stop next to a long line of Tai-Kok marauders.

  With my psychic abilities still on the fritz, sending up a smoke signal might be a little harder than I thought.

  “Dinnertime.” Zye chortled, unfastening my harness.

  God, how I wanted to smack that sick smile off his face.

  Zye tossed me over his shoulder and teleported.

  We appeared in a corridor dotted with cells. Each held a half-starved Gorum. If the energy barriers failed, we’d be dinner. Zye opened the closest door and tossed me inside.

  I did a fast tuck and roll, somersaulted to my feet, and blasted Zye’s mind with everything I had.

  His head snapped back, but he didn’t go down.

  Crap. I hit him again.

  With a roar, he lunged at me and grabbed my arm.

  I twisted, used Zye’s forward momentum against him, and hurled him over my shoulder, right into an energy barrier.

  Zap! It sparked brightly. Bolts of crackling red danced over Zye’s violently convulsing body. A high-pitched scream broke from him, and he fell to the floor, his battle suit smoking nicely.

  My powers might be on the fritz, but I could still kick his sorry ass. “The only one on the dinner menu is you, asshole.”

  A Gorum squalled and threw himself at the energy barrier. His hunger was a living thing.

  “Bebo still lives,” I told him.

  His body quivering badly, the yellow eyestalks swiveled to stare at me.

  Peeling off my tunic and armor, I turned and showed him the tattoo.

  “He lives,” came a hoarse whisper in my mind.

  “You bet your ass he does, and I think Bebo could use some help killing the ones who betrayed your people to the Tai-Kok, don’t you?”

  “Desh and Balram have much to answer for.”

  “The Tai-Kok and Rodan are my enemies too.” I showed him my memories of the attack on Phoenix. The incinerated ruins of our cities, a schoolyard filled with the gutted corpses of children. “They slaughter our children without mercy. It has to stop.”

  His rage flooded my mind. “They kept Rani alive long enough for her to watch as they ate her unborn children.”

  “These monsters need to die. Will you help me kill them?”

  “Release me, and none will live.”

  “Sounds like a plan. You eat the Tai-Kok while I blow Malik’s precious base to kingdom come.”

  “You are truly the Battle Commander’s mate.”

  I touched my band. Surprise. Even the Gorum knew what it meant. “If we don’t fight, we die.”

  “They are now the hunted.”

  “I like the way your mind works.” I quickly dressed and kicked Zye. “Wanna snack?”

  “Very much.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Raj.”

  “Okay, Raj, let’s go kill some Tai-Kok.” Grabbing Zye’s laser pistol, I turned off the energy grid.

  There was a blur of movement, and Zye disappeared down Raj’s gullet.

  Whoa! I quickly opened the cell door.

  Emitting a high-pitched squalling cry, the Gorum whizzed by.

  More squalling cries sounded in the corridor, and soon three pitiful-looking Gorum had joined Raj.

  My little army was growing.

  They looked at me, and their guts rumbled.

  Shit! A ravenous army, and I probably looked like a Happy Meal minus the fries.

  “She carries the king’s mark,” Raj announced.

  The Gorum suddenly surrounded me.

  I froze. Oh dear God. They were so very hungry.

  The first one touched Bebo’s mark and stung me right through the friggin’ armor. “I am Yann.”

  I fought down a scream. Goddammit, that hurt.

  The second one quickly stung me. “I am Vishna.”

  “I don’t need another tattoo, guys, really.” I hissed through clenched teeth.

  “I am called Jiao, and to carry our marks is a great honor.” His tentacle slithered over my shoulder.

  Holy Mary, mother of God. It was like being stung by a zillion bees. My knees buckled, and I hit the floor. Please Lord, don’t let there be any more of them.

  “Now none but our enemies can harm you,” Raj proclaimed.

  “Swell.” I struggled to my feet. “Will ya go eat those damned Tai-Kok, please? I need to send a smoke signal.”

  Jiao stroked my hair curiously. “What is this smoke signal?”

  “I’m going to set off a big enough explosion that the Battle Commander can see it from space.”

  “Excellent idea,” Jiao said, and they all zoomed away.

  I shuddered to think what my back looked like now. Spotting a com-link, I hurried over to it and typed eagerly into the keypad. It made a rude noise. Rats, I needed a password.

  Okay. How about a map of the complex? I hit the proper icon and crowed in triumph when an overview of the complex popped up. Cool. The armory was two levels down.

  Panicked honking erupted down the corridor. Music to my ears. Teach you to slaughter our children.

  Alarms began to bellow.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Row after row after row of explosives, weapons, and ammunition filled the cavernous armory. Oh my God, were those thermite grenades? I opened the crate and did a little happy dance. There were hundreds of them—flash bangs, smoke bombs, and deadly garrison killers. So many to choose from, and too little time to inspect them all. I scooped up a black grenade reverently. A couple of these puppies would blow this entire complex to smithereens. Unfortunately, once you pulled the pin, you had a whole sixty seconds to run like hell. Suicidal I wasn’t.

  My gaze fell on racks of laser rifles. Whoa! They were top-of-the-line Asus. Malik must have spent at least ten million credits on them. Quickly stuffing my pockets with grenades, I dashed over to the rack.

  Crap,
the lock was state-of-the-art too.

  Three icons appeared in my mind.

  I tried them, and the lock opened. “Thanks, honey bunny.”

  Voss gave me a grumpy growl.

  Someone was being a cranky butt. I pulled out a rifle and quickly checked it over. A sigh of relief escaped me. It was fully charged. I slung it over my shoulder and looked around. Now where were the bombs?

  A death’s-head symbol popped into my head. “Search for it,” Voss commanded.

  “Yes, sir. On it, sir.” Throwing him a snappy mental salute, I stomped down the aisles looking for the symbol. Would it have hurt him to ask if I was okay?

  A low rumble of warning echoed in my head. “Do not think me uncaring. I know every scrape, bruise, or cut you have suffered at Zye’s hands, and he will be punished.”

  “You’re a day late and a dollar short, bucko. Raj ate him.”

  “Raj?”

  “I freed more Gorum. Now I have my own little army.”

  I could feel Voss’s horrified alarm and Zarek’s concerned interest as they poured more power into me.

  A sigh broke from me at all that lovely energy. My psychic abilities were coming back on line. “Relax, guys, they stung me too.”

  Zarek asked, “How many did you free?”

  “Four so far. They’re chowing down on the Tai-Kok while I make the armory go boom.”

  “Stay away from them. They will not be able to control their hunger yet,” Voss ordered.

  “I hear ya. For a minute there, they were eyeing me like I was Thanksgiving dinner.”

  A child’s wail echoed across my mind.

  “Did ya hear that?”

  “Yes, one of Bebo’s children survived,” Voss answered.

  “The poor little thing is probably scared half to death.” I reached out with my mind searching for the source. There. The little guy was hiding in a crack in the cavern wall.

  “Be very careful. That poor little thing is already capable of killing.”

  “Are you shitting me?”

  “I have no reason to exaggerate his ability to kill,” Voss growled in irritation.

  “Don’t let him eat me,” the little guy sobbed.

  “Who wants to eat you, honey?”

  The mental image of a Tai-Kok perched high up on a ledge popped into my mind. The monster’s rifle was pointed right at…me! I hit the deck.

  A laser beam sizzled over my back, and a crate of ammunition glowed brightly and vanished.

  Holy shit! Keeping my head down, I scrambled madly down the aisles as the cracking red energy beam vaporized everything behind me.

  The moron didn’t seem to care that he had just destroyed a good chunk of their ammunition. I took cover behind an enormous crate and scanned the area. Well, that was freaky weird. “Why can’t I sense him?”

  “It seems the rumors of a drug that temporarily creates a psychic shield are true,” Zarek answered.

  “Wonderful. Betcha it has some nasty side effects.”

  “One can hope.”

  A shadow moved.

  Gotcha, asshole. Raising the laser rifle, I got him in the crosshairs of my scope and shot the monster’s hand off.

  Squawking wildly, the Tai-Kok fired again.

  The beam missed me by a good foot.

  “Kill it,” the Battle Commander snarled. “We do not play with our prey.”

  “What do you mean ‘we,’ Kemosabe? There’s only me, and the kid needs to eat,” I snarled back, and turned the Tai-Kok into ash.

  “Let the Gorum tend to the child’s needs.”

  “They’re a bit busy right now, and if you think I’m leaving a baby all alone down here, you’re nuts.”

  “The child has survived this long without your help.”

  “You’re gonna be a shitty dad.” Furious, I broke the link, stalked over to the severed hand, grabbed it gingerly, and carried it over to the crack. “My name is Zoey, and I’ll bet you’re really hungry.”

  “They killed my mom,” the infant cried.

  “They killed my mom too.” Dropping the hand, I used the toe of my boot to edge it closer to the crack. “I won’t let them hurt you. Go ahead and eat. You’re safe now.”

  His tiny head peeked out at me. “Promise?”

  God, he was so cute and no bigger than a newborn puppy. “Promise. What’s your name?”

  “Bedan. My father is king, and one day I’ll be a fierce warrior just like him.”

  Color me impressed. For a newborn, Bedan was a fountain of information. “Yes, you will. Now eat so you can grow up to be big and strong like your father.”

  Wrapping his tentacles around the hand, Bedan pulled it into his rapidly expanding maw.

  Voss angrily shoved information into my mind.

  Oh, well, that explained it. The Gorum had genetic memories and were born with the ability to teleport. Probably what saved the little guy. “He’s still a baby.”

  “A baby who can kill you.”

  “Not leaving him.”

  “You are an aggravating female.”

  “Right back at ya, poopsie.” I linked with Raj. “Bebo’s son Bedan survived, and I have him in the armory with me.”

  Voss roared, “You summoned the Gorum?”

  “Well, yeah, they need to know the kid survived, and I’m pretty sure they won’t eat me.”

  “Pretty sure?”

  Thirty seconds later, Raj appeared in the armory. His fierce joy was contagious. “Bedan!”

  “Uncle!” Their tentacles twined together.

  Go figure. Raj was a prince.

  A bunch of Gorum appeared.

  Whoa! Raj had found and released three more of his people. I edged away from them. God, I hoped they wouldn’t want to sting me too.

  Their tentacles stroked and caressed Bedan with joyous relief.

  A tear rolled down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away. God, I loved happy endings.

  “There will be no happy ending if the Tai-Kok find and eat you,” Voss growled.

  Mentally flipping him the bird, I walked over to a crate with a death’s-head on the side and opened it. Oh yeah. I had my smoke signal. The bombs inside were the Tai-Kok’s version of our Tomahawk missiles. Set this sucker off next to some thermite grenades, and kablooey, the base would be nothing but rubble.

  I examined the Gorum. They were still pretty skinny. “Raj, are you all strong enough to teleport out of here?”

  He slithered over to me and examined the explosives. Two of his tentacles snagged the grenades from my pockets and set the timers. “Yes.”

  My eyes bugged out. Holy hell! He set it to blow in two minutes. “You didn’t give me enough time to get to the landing bay and steal a marauder. As riled up as the Tai-Kok are, they’re not going to let me waltz in there and take one without a fight.”

  “Females do not engage in battle.”

  “Says who?”

  “Zoey,” Voss snapped in my head.

  Raj pulled the pins on the grenades. “We will teleport your mate to safety, Battle Commander.”

  “Wait! I don’t think that’s a very good idea.” A tentacle wrapped around my waist and deposited me on Raj’s back.

  “Do not fall off,” Raj instructed, and a golden glow engulfed us.

  A scream tore from me. Teleporting with a Gorum was like falling down the eye of a tornado at Mach one. Thirty heart-stopping, chaotic seconds later, we appeared high up on a rocky ledge.

  The bloodred sun glared down at us, searing my unprotected flesh. I sucked in a shuddering breath. I never, ever wanted to do that again.

  Voss’s mind wrapped me in a fierce hug. “You’re unharmed.”

  “What! You thought I wouldn’t be?

  “None have ever survived the experience of teleporting with a Gorum,” Zarek stated.

  Oh dear God. “And why did you neglect to tell me this?”

  “Staying at the Tai-Kok base would have resulted in your death. We felt the risk was acceptable,” the Overlord
responded.

  “Acceptable, huh?” Well, wasn’t that just absofuckinglutely wonderful. I guess that showed me exactly what they thought of me. I was easy to replace.

  “You’re irreplaceable,” Voss said. His sinful mouth closed over mine in a bone-melting kiss.

  “You are definitely one of a kind,” Zarek added drily.

  Raj’s tentacle stroked my hair. “You were never in any danger, little female. Our venom prohibits any cellular damage, and your mental shields protected your sanity.”

  “Color me happy.”

  “Me still hungry,” Bedan wailed.

  “Eat the Scorm off Zoey,” Vishna said.

  That was when I noticed a horde of Scorm swarming up my legs. “Get them off. Get them off!” I shrieked, trying to jump off Raj’s back, but he held me firmly in place.

  Like a little vacuum cleaner, Bedan sucked them up.

  My skin crawling, I took a quick look around for more Scorm.

  A vast ocean of coral-colored sand stretched out to the horizon. In the distance, contorted rocks reared up like giant blood-encrusted monsters. Winds heated by hell sent swirling vortexes of dust dancing over the dunes.

  Sweat rolled down my face, stinging my eyes. It felt like I was being baked alive. And I thought Arizona summers were bad.

  The ground rumbled beneath us, and with an ear-shattering boom, the earth erupted, spewing flames and smoke thousands of feet into the scarlet sky. Holy fucking shit! We were barely ten miles away from the explosion.

  I took a shaky breath and asked, “Your scanners picking up our smoke signal?”

  “Yes. As well as any other ships within this solar system,” Voss answered. His tone was all merciless predator.

  “Bad guys saw it too, huh?”

  “A Tai-Kok battle cruiser is heading your way.”

  “Can you destroy it?”

  “They will reach Joroco before we can engage them in battle.”

  The earth trembled violently, and the ledge suddenly crumbled away. Oh my God!

  Raj’s tentacle tightened painfully, and we fell into a vortex of golden light.

  Abruptly we were perched atop a cinnamon-colored sand dune. I clutched my stomach and fought down the urge to hurl. Jeez, and I thought those horrible amusement park rides were bad. “Everyone okay?”

  “We are free,” a badly scarred Gorum proclaimed, his tentacle crawling up my leg.