“We’re still going to protect her,” I say. “I promised.”
“But if she can take the suit off,” Delphie says, keeping her voice low, “then why not? She can protect herself, and she can deliver the suit to the peacekeepers just like she intended to all along. What the hell is the problem? And if you really can’t get it off, they probably can help you.”
Minna looks down, shuffling her feet. “Okay, look. I’ll tell you everything.”
“Tell us fast,” Kronos says. “We need to make a decision and act fast. They might lock down the hab.”
Minna lets out a long breath, then says, “The suit is alive.”
“All biosuits are kind-of-sort-of alive,” Delphie says. “That’s why they are called biosuits.”
“No,” Minna says. “This one is really alive. Before it bonded to me, it moved around on its own...it could eat on its own and it reacted when I spoke to it. Even now, while it’s bonded to me, I can feel its consciousness. When Ramu attacked me, Jerky was the one protecting me. I didn’t know how I was doing what I was doing, but Jerky did.”
“Jerky?” Delphie asks. “You named it?”
“Kronos,” Minna says. “It really is alive. Before you attacked...I was already having second thoughts about handing it over to the peacekeepers. They just want to use Jerky as a weapon. Or worse, they will experiment on him – dissect him – to see how he works. You really think that they can give up the opportunity to arm all of the human peacekeepers with biosuits?”
“Who cares?” Delphie says. “Sorry, Minna, I understand you are attached – literally – but the peacekeepers are more or less the good guys.”
“And we’re the bad guys,” Kronos says.
“But it’s not like you’d be handing it over to Darkstar or something,” Delphie says. “They’ll use it to keep Harmony in check, to stop existential threats to humanity and the peaceful co-existence of humans and Marauders and Seraphim.”
“Keep me on as crew,” Minna says. “Me and Jerky. We’ll fight for you if it comes to it, but you keep me protected as you promised you would. And you pay me, the same split you pay Delphie.”
“So far that is a big fat zero,” Delphie says.
“You’ll get paid,” Kronos says. “Both of you. Did you call Ramu, Delphie?”
“I sent him a brief and professional message letting him know we are leaving with or without him,” Delphie says, anger seeping into her voice.
“Can a Marauder wear that suit?” I ask.
“No,” Minna says. “It was specifically designed for human biology. It can’t bind to Marauders or Seraphim.”
I nod. “Ramu wants the suit for himself. I don’t know if he’ll even want to stay on as crew if I tell him that.”
Delphie balls up her fists.
“Give him a chance,” Minna says. “Maybe there are other things he’ll stay for.”
“Stop treating me like a baby,” Delphie snaps. “Let’s go!”
She storms off in front of us.
I laugh. “Maybe she should stop acting like a baby then.”
10 Minna
As we approach the elevators, something seems different. Gone is the huge vulture pack of cars. In fact, there’s almost no traffic at all. There’s a small flow of people moving into them, but no one is coming down.
“Shit,” Kronos says. “The peacekeepers must be in the hangar bay.”
“Makes sense,” Delphie says. “They can just camp out there and watch for us. It’s not like there’s any other way off the hab.”
“We can’t just go up there and walk right past them,” I say.
“Yeah,” Kronos says. “We have to. Delphie just said it: there’s no other way off the hab.”
“We hide and lay low?” I suggest.
“And eventually more peacekeepers arrive, and they start searching the hab itself. Maybe they have limited information – for now. Maybe they just found out that your ship isn’t on its intended course and that’s the only thing they know? If we wait, they find the asshole cowards who failed to protect you, question them, and then they know what our ship looks like. We have to take the risk and go through now.”
“Hey! Hey!” someone shouts behind us.
I turn around and see Ramu.
Delphie smiles for a brief moment, but then shakes her head and looks away, pretending to ignore him.
“You guys were gonna’ leave without me?” he asks.
“You heard, didn’t you?” Kronos asks. “Peacekeepers know what we’ve got.”
“Half of my scars are from asshole peacekeepers,” Ramu says. “Let me at them.”
“We want to avoid fighting,” Delphie snaps. “Or are you just all jacked up from your stupid fucking orgy?”
Ramu scoffs. “I didn’t feel like fucking. I just hit up the bar and had some nice drinks, played some blackjack...good clean fun.”
I see Delphie look up at him with a hopeful expression.
“What about your threesome?” she asks.
“I told you, woman! I didn’t fuck no one!”
“So, here’s the plan,” Kronos says. “We split into two groups of two. We don’t know what or how much they know, but they are either looking for a lone human woman, or they are looking for three pirates with a human hostage. Ramu and Delphie go up first, then report back to us and let us know what security looks like on the hangar bay.”
Ramu laughs. “So, send us through the minefield first to clear a path? You’re ruthless, Captain.”
“Minna’s suit only works for humans,” Delphie says. “You can’t wear it, Ramu, even if Kronos wanted to give it to you.”
His mouth drops open and he scrunches up his face at Kronos and Delphie. He looks at Delphie, then says, “So what? Let’s get up that elevator!”
He grabs Delphie’s hand and pulls her inside.
I stand and watch the elevator going up. It takes almost twenty minutes to reach the hangar bay.
“Come on,” Kronos says. “We shouldn’t loiter around here. It looks suspicious as hell.”
We head back down the road and sit down on a bench a few hundred meters away from the elevators.
“Wasn’t that sweet?” I ask.
“Huh? What?”
“Ramu and Delphie,” I say.
Kronos nods. “He gave up his threesome and he’s willing to stay on as full crew even knowing he can’t take your suit.”
“Wow,” I say, elbowing him. “You actually picked up on all that? You’re not as dense as I thought.”
“I made an effort to read the situation this time,” Kronos says. “Usually I don’t bother. Delphie is like my sister, and I wouldn’t send her alone into a minefield like that unless I knew she was safe. And now I know Ramu will keep her safe.”
I smile at him. “I’m legitimately impressed. You are actually a good captain...a good pirate captain.”
He crosses his arms and leans back. “Don’t act so surprised.”
“Sorry,” I say. “I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me. I know it’s putting a real strain on your bottom line.”
“My bottom line?”
“You know...being a pirate? Stealing stuff and getting paid?”
“You know I’m a Fallen Seraphim, right?”
Fallen Seraphim are Seraphim whose parents weren’t true mates. They gave into animalistic lust and had kids. The children of such pairings are discontent, and they have a need deep in their bones to leave humanity behind. To become true Marauders once again.
“I wasn’t sure,” I say. “I thought you might be.”
“Delphie is, too,” Kronos says. “Though you probably realized that.”
“Maybe the rumors are true,” I say.
“What? Harmony? You think she’s really building a ship for us?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “It would make sense, wouldn’t it?”
Kronos forces a laugh and shrugs. “Just ship us all the fuck out of here? Hundreds of millions of problem c
hildren...out of sight, out of mind.”
“Isn’t that what you want?”
He flicks his ears at me and gives me a serious look. “Have you always felt perfectly happy and content? Has anyone ever really felt that? There is something deep inside us Fallen Seraphim – some fault in our genetics – but I’ve worked hard to fight that all my life. When I bought this ship, and when I gave Delphie a real place to call home...all of that longing and pain was gone for a while. And when I….”
He looks at me again, that very serious look that peers deep into me.
“When you what?” I ask.
He touches my hand and runs his fingers up my arm. I don’t pull away.
“When I saw you,” he says. “The first time. I….”
And words fall away. Our lips meet and press together, and everything around us melts away, too. I close my eyes and let the taste of him overtake me – overpower me.
I grab hold of his strong arm, and he grips my waist as his tongue slips into my mouth.
It feels like a roaring bonfire has been lit inside me, and I lose all sense of time and place. I’m not on New Rotterdam, and I’m not being hunted by the peacekeepers – ’m just next to Kronos. Kissing him. We’re nowhere and everywhere, and he’s going to keep me safe no matter what happens.
And then there’s a beep.
We ignore it, but Kronos kisses me faster and with more and more hunger. He pulls his tablet out as I grip tightly to him, but Delphie’s voice breaks us apart.
“I don’t know who he is!” her voice shouts over the tablet.
“You’re both standing next to him in this video,” a stranger’s voice says.
And then I hear Ramu shouting, I hear Kronos’s threat about grinding our bones to dust, and I hear Delphie hiss.
“Shit,” Kronos says. “They have that broadcast. They have photos of the whole crew, and they’re looking for me.”
“We were mercs,” Ramu says. “He paid us already, and we parted ways.”
“Where’s your ship then?” the voice asks.
“There are only three of them!” Ramu’s voice shouts. “One biosuit and three Seraphi – ”
“Hey! Stop broadcast – ”
The voices cut off.
Kronos bites his lip, a panicked expression filling his face. He grabs me by the shoulders.
“Minna, I will go up there alone. It will be three on three. We have a good chance.”
I don’t hear his voice, but Jerky is itching to act. He knows we can do it.
“No,” I say. “We go up together.”
“Minna,” he says. “If I fight and lose, they won’t hurt you, but if you fight, they might – ”
“I want to fight. And I want to save Delphie.”
“What about Ramu?”
“Him too, I guess.”
“All right,” Kronos says. “Let’s go.”
We reach the elevator, and I say, “You need to pretend you’re holding me hostage.”
“Oh,” Kronos says. “Yeah, that’s smart. I’ll hold you real tight the whole way up.” He flicks his ears up and down.
“You’d like that, huh?”
He grabs me and pulls me into the elevator, and the doors shut.
It’s a long and tense twenty minutes. I feel an overwhelming urge to kiss him again, especially with those strong arms wrapped tightly around me and my head resting against his wide chest. But if they’re watching us that would completely blow our cover. My adrenaline is surging and there’s nowhere for it to go. Jerky is ready to fight, but I’m scared out of my mind. I acted brave for Kronos, and everything I said was true, but I’m a scientist, not a soldier.
I feel lighter and lighter as the elevator goes up, and at the end of the ride, we start to float off the ground. Kronos grabs the rail and holds me tightly against him.
When the doors open, two Seraphim with plasma rifles, one in a teal biosuit, are standing in a semi-circle around the exit. Their ship is floating behind them, as well, threatening even more firepower.
The one in the biosuit says, “Captain Kronos of the Time’s End, I am Peacekeeper 1271, Malcolm son of Sayid, and I order you to release the hostage.”
Kronos pulls me tighter against him. “Malcolm son of Sayid? You look like Fallen Seraphim to me. What are you doing as a peacekeeper?”
“Let her go!” he shouts. “Final warning.”
“Where is my crew?” Kronos asks.
“Detained,” Malcolm says. “Now let her go.”
“Minna,” Kronos whispers. “If you’re going to do something, now’s the time.”
“Quiet!” Malcolm shouts. “You’ve got nowhere to go, Captain. If you release her, I might just let you and your crew – ”
Behind Malcolm, an airlock on his ship blasts open. Ramu shoots out like a torpedo, his skull crusher in hand.
“Detained my ass!” he shouts.
I see one of the peacekeepers raise his rifle toward Ramu.
“No!” I shout, and just like that Jerky activates.
A flurry of orange tendrils explodes out from my biosuit, and faster than I can see it happen, they snatch the two plasma rifles away, while a second set of tendrils snatches the two peacekeepers into the elevator with Kronos and me.
Ramu’s eyes widen in confusion, as his target is gone, and he’s now floating toward empty space.
Malcolm’s teal suit grabs hold of Ramu and holds him suspended in mid-air. Jerky has deployed dozens more tendrils, which hold the two peacekeepers helplessly to the ground in front of me.
Malcolm scowls at me. “You’re with them.”
I nod.
“Give me back my men,” he says, “and – ”
“And you’ll let us go,” Kronos says. “No one has to get hurt.”
From the airlock on the peacekeeper ship, I hear Delphie’s voice. “And we get Ramu back, too?”
“Damn it!” Malcolm snaps. “Rekai assured me they were detained!”
“Delphie is the best engineer in the solar system,” Kronos says, pride filling his voice. “And she’s with me, too. Now get your ass in the elevator next to ours and go down.”
“How do I know you’ll let my men go?”
“We’re pirates with heart,” Kronos says. “So we’re going to steal some shit from your ship – that’s the pirate part – but we’re not going to hurt your squad.”
“I could take a few of you down with me,” Malcolm says. “The human is awkward with the biosuit.”
“The human?” I spit. “My name’s Minna, and the suit’s name is – ”
Kronos puts his hand over my mouth. He hisses into my ear, “Don’t give him any information.”
“We don’t want to hurt anyone,” Kronos says. “But we will if you force our hand.”
Malcolm nods. “I’ll go down the elevator like you asked. But I’m taking this asshole with me.” He twitches his tendrils, shaking Ramu.
“Kronos!” Delphie shouts from the airlock.
“No, we get him back,” Kronos says.
“You do,” Malcolm says. “As soon as my men reach the outer rings, I’ll send this one back up to you.”
“Don’t trust him!” Delphie shouts.
“Deal,” Kronos says.
“If he goes back on his word,” I whisper to Kronos. “Delphie will be furious with you.”
“I have to put my crew first. Ramu is still a merc,” Kronos says.
Malcolm propels himself toward the elevator, dragging Ramu with him. “I’ve fallen in with the wrong crowd before, Minna,” he says. “When you realize the mistake you’ve made, call us.”
He disappears out of my line of sight, and I hear the elevator beside us hum.
Delphie blasts out of the airlock now, and she’s furious.
“You asshole!” she shouts, flying toward us.
Kronos catches her, but she punches and kicks him, propelling herself back away from him with every landed blow.
“When we get Ramu back,” Kronos says, gr
abbing Delphie by the ankle before she floats entirely away, “he’ll have to train you for zero-g combat. Or maybe start with basic physics. You’re terrible at both.”
“Send those guys down,” Kronos says. “We don’t want Malcolm to think we’re fucking him over.”
“Let them go, Jerky,” I say.
The tendrils throw the peacekeepers into the elevator, and Kronos slams the button, which sends the elevator back down to the outer rings.
“All right,” Kronos says. “Delphie, go back into that ship and start taking what we need. Make sure their ship is still functional, but – ”
“You’re going to order me around now?” Delphie asks.
“I’m going to watch for Ramu coming back up,” Kronos says. “Minna will help you carry stuff out.”
“What if he doesn’t come back up?” I ask.
“Then I’ll go down and get him,” Kronos says.
Delphie lets out an angry snort, but that seems to appease her enough. She jumps off the ground and floats toward Malcolm’s ship. “Come on, Minna.”
I follow her, letting Jerky propel me.
By the time I get inside the ship, Delphie is already grabbing stuff.
“Ramu and I already scouted out the ship. There are lots of rations and some extra weapons. We can siphon off some fuel, too, if we have time.”
“We’ll get Ramu back,” I say.
“Save it,” Delphie says. “I’m going to hand you as much as I can and you pack it up outside the ship.”
“Pack it up?” I ask.
“Just like you packed up those peacekeepers.”
“Oh,” I say, nodding.
She shoves a huge crate at me, and Jerky grabs hold of it.
After twenty minutes, I have a huge, bright orange spider web of supplies floating outside of the ship.
“Delphie,” Kronos says. “The elevator with our hostages hit ground a few minutes ago, and Malcom’s elevator is coming back up now.”
“If he’s not in there,” Delphie says, “I’ll never forgive you.”
Kronos nods. “He’s in there. We need to encircle the elevator for when it comes back up. Just in case.”
“Because that tactic worked out so well for them,” Delphie says.
Marauder Kronos: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (Mating Wars) Page 6
