by S. E. Weir
Phina nodded and began to turn when the Aurian female spoke again. “Please help those that have already been taken into the ship as soon as you are able. I’m afraid we are all weak, and the stress of this last hour will bring many close to death.”
“Of course. We will do what we can.”
Before Phina had finished getting the words out, snarls of rage broke out near the ship. Whipping her head around, she caught a glimpse of one Shrillexian and then another attacking Maxim. Then her friend‘s body morphed into a huge raging wolfman—his Pricolici form. She stared, then shook it off. She had only seen him fight as a Pricolici once before, and she’d decided then she never wanted to fight him in that form. Like, ever.
However, another sight caused her attention to wander, drawing her quickly forward. Before she moved out of range, she heard Ryan get to his feet and speak to the female Aurian, his voice shaky.
“Lady, if that’s you when you’re weak, I don’t want to see what happens when you get your strength back.”
Etheric Empire, Planet Lyriem, SS Revenge
Vasith swore, causing Trillet to cringe. He had been watching the screens to oversee the job when the captain suddenly turned and began pushing buttons with increasing vigor and repetition.
“Uh, captain? Is something wrong?”
“I have no control over anything! We’re sitting quallin with no capabilities!”
Vasith rubbed his hands over his eyes, then pressed them in. When that failed to change his reality, he looked at Trillet and hardened his gaze.
“Get a weapon and get down there to fight!”
Trillet’s eyes crossed in puzzlement. “Are you sure? You were adamant about my staying here earlier.”
Surprise and confusion clouded the captain’s eyes. “Adamant about staying here?”
“Vigorously adamant?”
“I wasn’t asking for a better description!” Vasith shook his head in disgust. “Damned broken Skaine had another episode and forgot again.”
Trillet frowned in confusion. “Oh, but then why…you looked…”
Vasith leaned forward and bit the words out, his eyes wild. “Get. A. Weapon. And. Go. Fight.”
Relief flooded Trillet. “I can do that.” He turned, then stopped. “Wait, who am I fighting again?”
Vasith backhanded Trillet, knocking him to the deck. “Get your weapon now and get out of my sight, you useless pustule on a prick!”
Trillet figured he should leave before the captain got angry again. After picking himself up off the deck, he went in search of a weapon. He just wasn’t sure who he was supposed to fight. The slaves? No. he flashed a memory of himself cringing in fear. Someone was here. Someone he was incredibly afraid of. The only people he had this kind of fear response to were ones from the Empire, so it had to be them, right?
For a full minute, he trembled in the doorway of the weapons storage room as he thought about going back and hiding on the bridge. The only thing keeping him from doing so was the knowledge that Vasith would just throw him out. Lifting his head, he caught sight of the weapons.
However…
He reached for the gun in front of him. Perhaps the universe was doing him a favor. Giving him a chance to put away his fear. A chance to be his old self again.
A chance to exorcise his demons.
Chapter Seventeen
Etheric Empire, Planet Lyriem
Link recognized that he was unreasonably angry. He didn’t care. Phina needed to listen when he gave her orders. It was her job. She was training to take over for him. What good would it do for her to move into his position if she didn’t take in and accept his wealth of knowledge and experience? She would make the same mistakes he had when all she had to do was listen to him and learn that it wouldn’t work.
Never mind that after Phina had intervened, the situation had become five times easier. The Aurians were now out of the way and back by their houses.
That was beside the point.
Link stewed about the situation as he walked. A Skaine and his friend noticed he was following them to the ship and fired at him. He dodged, wove, and dodged again. It would be tricky to get closer with both Skaines firing at him. While he contemplated various methods of doing so, Phina ran up and joined him in dodging the shots.
“You still having a temper tantrum?”
Incredulous, he turned toward her to give her a piece of his mind. Then he heard the Skaine’s gun fire.
Danll didn’t know what to think about the spaceship that had landed some distance away, but as soon as he saw it, he fell in lust. The lines and shape of the ship, the way it curved and reflected the light of the sun off those gleaming sides… It was beautiful.
He wanted it.
Not until it registered that several figures were approaching from the foreign ship did Danll realize he had frozen and was a convenient target for anyone feeling especially frisky with their weapon. That was not an acceptable Skaine reaction. Fortunately, the Shrillexian had disappeared while he was occupied. He slid a glance toward Mrik to see if he had noticed Danll’s inattention.
He was relieved and perplexed to realize Mrik was staring as well, not at the spaceship but at the occupants who had disembarked from said ship. Good. The ship was his. Everyone else could keep their dirty hands off. Glancing around, he saw their cargo was also staring at the ship, their previously expressionless faces amazed and bewildered.
“Who do you think they are? Can you tell?”
Danll didn’t understand why Mrik was asking him and began to say so. Then he remembered that the other Skaine’s eyesight had deteriorated during his stint in the mines. He squinted to try to bring the figures into focus. They were moving closer rather quickly.
“I see two Yollins.”
“Yollins?” Mrik peered at him in alarm. “Are you sure? What about those other ones?”
The dust was thrown up in front of the figures as they ran and even more behind them. This miserable planet was hardly habitable, and he couldn’t wait to leave. Just not until they got all the cargo they could handle. He needed money to outfit his spaceship. His eyes greedily flicked back to the spaceship before focusing again on the moving creatures.
“Uh, I think they’re human.”
“No!”
“What?” He turned to his comrade. “What’s the… Oh.” He turned back to see the aliens closing on their cargo. The Aurians were milling around now that his fellow Skaines weren’t paying attention.
“Yes, and Empire.”
Mrik sounded angry, sad, and frightened all at once.
Mrik was going to die. He knew it. He wouldn’t survive another encounter with the Empire, and if for some reason he did, he was certain he wouldn’t survive their version of punishment for perceived wrongs again.
He had only been acting according to his nature, for tak’s sake.
Bastards.
Chaos erupted around them. Mrik realized their cargo was keeping the Imperial lackeys from attacking them by getting in the way, believing the Skaines to be heroes coming to save them. Hope surged. Perhaps he could get out of this alive after all.
He lost track of the Imperial fighters coming after his crew, except for one who appeared intent on making it to Mrik and Danll. The man’s hair had begun to gray, which meant his body wouldn’t be as strong. Still, the way he moved left the Skaine no illusion that it would be an easy fight.
A woman came out of nowhere, beheading Kreth while looking like an avenging angel. His thoughts turned to static. He could only stare no matter that the older fighter in front of them was staring too and would therefore be easy to defeat. Mrik turned to look at their ship, wondering if he and Danll should take the opportunity to leave before the distraction was over. There was a commotion, and he looked back.
The avenging angel spoke to their cargo, the precious slaves they had gathered before the spaceship had descended, which stirred the creatures. Hold on. The Empire knew how to speak this language? Vasith had told them n
o one could speak to them or understand the little things but that they would each fetch a price almost twice the going rate. That was why they were here in nominally Imperial space. What Skaine could refuse a deal like that? Minutes later, they were all on their knees in agony, courtesy of one of their erstwhile slaves-to-be.
Holy hell, that was nasty.
Beautiful, but nasty.
Mrik watched in dismay as their shields in the form of their would-be slaves left. Nothing would get in the way of these Imperial fighters now, something Mrik was growing all too familiar with. The older bastard turned to face him, his eyes dark, his body twitching for something to happen. Well, Mrik would certainly provide that.
Drawing his weapon, he fired at the man, who revealed himself to be quite nimble in dodging the charges. Inwardly grumbling, Mrik fired again and again. Danll joined him, and the two of them gave the man a run for his credits. However, the canny bastard wouldn’t stay still long enough to die.
“You still having a temper tantrum?”
The words seemingly came out of nowhere, but then the avenging angel appeared opposite the two Skaines. More importantly, she stood near the older Imperial, who had paused to glare at the woman. He was apparently oblivious to how lethal she could be, and Mrik would not be the one to enlighten him.
Taking advantage of the man’s inattention, he fired a few more times, cursing when the woman dove toward the man to sweep him out of the way. The speed of her movement surprised Mrik since his memories of Ranger Two and her henchmen were hazy, but not so much that he stopped shooting.
“Kid, you’re going to get yourself killed!” The male’s gruff, annoyed tones were muffled under the human female as she continued to roll on the ground with the male to avoid the Skaines’ shots. Mrik was annoyed to find that the speed of the movement increased enough that he had difficulty firing with any accuracy.
“I’m trying to keep you from getting killed, you stubborn old man!”
“Well, if you would let me up so I can get my weapons out, I could do something about that! And who are you calling old? I’m in my prime!”
“If I let you up, you could get shot before you get your weapons out!”
“Hell, woman, those punk-asses couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”
Danll nudged Mrik with his free hand as they kept trying to shoot the two buggers, who kept rolling so the shots would miss. Strangely, they moved so quickly that it almost felt like they knew where the two Skaine were going to shoot before it happened, but that was crazy thinking. Mrik knew he had to avoid crazy thinking, or he would end up like Trillet. Nosirree, no crazy thinking for Mrik.
“Hey, Mrik, what does that mean, ‘punk-asses couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn?’”
The woman lifted her head to yell, her brown hair fuzzing around her face from rolling on the ground. “He means you guys are lousy shots!”
Danll glanced between Mrik and the woman. The Skaines paused for a moment. “Why does it sound like ‘lousy’ means something bad?”
“Because it does, idiots!” The man’s voice rang with scorn and impatience.
Only as the man and woman jumped up did it occur to Mrik that in the midst of their rolling around, the Imperial fighters had come closer every time they moved. Now they were scant feet away, and the two Skaines only had seconds to react. Seconds in which Danll only got off one shot before the man had fired his weapon. Danll’s shot missed, passing over the man’s shoulder. Unfortunately, the man’s shot didn’t miss, turning Danll’s head into mist before his body dropped to the ground.
Mrik had one last moment to panic as the barrel turned toward him and the trigger was pulled, yet his finger instinctively triggered his weapon as he knew no more.
Drk-vaen and Sis’tael had moved smoothly through the dusty land without the coughing and sneezing that bothered the humans. He had trained Sis’tael since they became friends several years ago. She’d had an incident on the planet of the Noel-nis some time before, which had badly scared her. After meeting Drk-vaen and seeing how well four-legged Yollins could fight, she had come to him and solemnly asked if he would teach her how.
Now, though he knew Sis’tael was nervous, she followed his directions to the letter. They moved in tandem, and he trusted her to watch where he couldn’t. They had already dealt with one Skaine. Ahead of them lay another, taking cover behind a rock. Drk felt a sense of urgency and tried to provoke the alien into acting.
“You’re a coward, Skaine. Come out and fight like a real male!”
“I don’t think so, Imperial slave! You all should either die or surrender yourselves to be subjugated and exploited as the beasts you are.”
Drk felt more than saw Sis’tael shudder. “Those creatures are not right.”
“He is raving more than the other Skaines, so perhaps you are right. Cover me?” He turned the top half of his body and head enough to see her.
Sis’tael nodded, determination filling her eyes. “I’ve got your back, mate.”
Amusement and affection filled him. “You can’t call me your mate yet, love. I still need to ask your parents.”
She barked an exasperated laugh but kept her eyes on her surroundings, which filled him with pride. Sis’tael remembered to watch his back even when she could have easily gotten distracted. “They are going to say yes. Why wouldn’t they, when you’re so much better a catch than I am? Besides, my father doesn’t have any leg to stand on for saying anything.”
Sis’tael’s father hadn’t welcomed the Empire when they came to Yoll and had decided to leave to find his way elsewhere. Unfortunately, his rebellion had landed him in a mining camp and left Sis’tael and her mother stranded on Noel-ni. She had almost gotten killed before Empress Bethany Anne had rescued her. Though her family had been reunited due to the Empire’s efforts, Sis’tael still hadn’t forgiven her father for his lack of regard for his family’s welfare.
“Sis’tael.”
She sighed and waved him ahead, even as her mandibles clicked in their private way of saying, “I love you.” “Fine, but I’m still mating with you even if he says no. You aren’t getting away from me that easily. Speaking of which, you do know that Skaine is trying to sneak away, right?”
Drk-vaen clicked his amusement. “Of course. But he only thinks he’s getting away. Get ready to move.”
The Yollin male burst into action, his almost-mate right behind him. Quickly bypassing the rock the Skaine had hidden behind, he ran until the creepy blue male turned and fired his weapon.
“Dodge!”
The two Yollins broke formation to avoid the bolt, then Drk charged the Skaine. He took several hits on his armor before he could rear on his back legs and lash out with his front, kicking the other alien in the head. Drk knew before the Skaine hit the ground that the monster had been taken care of.
“You got hit!”
Sis’tael trotted forward so she could gently touch the marks on his armor. Her concerned eyes turned to relief as she looked up. “You’re all right?”
Nodding, Drk looked her over but didn’t see any marks. “You?”
“I wasn’t hit, but I don’t think I want to fight as my job. I’m happy in the Diplomatic Corps.”
“Are you sure?” he teased her gently as they walked toward the other ship. “Look at Phina. She’s in the Diplomatic Corps, but I don’t think diplomacy is on her mind most of the time.”
Sis’tael laughed. “No, that female has far too much on her mind. I don’t know how she does it. I’m just glad it isn’t me. She’s an awesome friend, but I don’t want her life. You, me, and diplomacy. It floats my boat, as the humans say.”
“You might not want to do this all the time, but you did as good a job as anyone else could have. Well done, love, well done.”
Her face lit up in pride.
Link hissed, feeling the burn along his arm as the Skaine’s laser blast grazed him. Of course he had gotten shot because nothing that had happened since they’d left the ship
had gone to plan, so why shouldn’t this happen too?
“Damn it to hell, that stings!”
Phina turned to him, her lungs heaving, her heartbeat elevated. Damn that too. The foolish girl was going to get herself killed. His heart pounded in with the pain of that thought. Rolling her eyes, Phina drew her knife and sliced off the bottom of her shirt, then bound the wound.
“The only fool here is you, crazy man. You were so concerned with yelling at me that you forgot to plan out the attack.”
Link stilled, his eyes narrowing. “You’re reading my thoughts now?”
Phina froze. She’d just tied off the bandage, and her hands were still on his arm. Slowly, she withdrew them and made sure her knives were properly situated in her sheathes as she cleared her throat.
“Reading minds? That would be crazy.”
Frowning, she gazed at Link long enough for him to see the fear in her eyes before she turned away. The others were still fighting, based on the sounds coming from around them. However, no one was close enough to them to interrupt. He shook his head and crossed his arms, ignoring the burning twinge in his bicep.
“You have to go back to the ship. You shouldn’t have come out here. You’re risking your life for no reason.”
Phina took a large step forward into his personal space. The action startled him since she had always been careful to keep her distance. Her eyes blazed with anger, resolve, and, he saw with alarm, a slight sheen of red. Her voice was low and sharp, whipping him with its intensity.
“Link, for once, stop thinking you know what’s best for everyone and everything around you and listen to me. Are you listening?”
Keeping his wary eyes on hers, he nodded, swallowing hard.
“I lost almost everyone I loved and cared about when my parents and uncle died. My aunt did her job as my caretaker, but any love between us was offset by her inability to see past her grief and prejudice. Alina is the one person who has always cared about me and stood by me. I haven’t been close to anyone else since my parents died, so much that I felt incapable of caring for anyone else. Yet, now…” Phina impatiently pushed the hair frizzing in her face behind her ear.
