The pair of machine guns spun to target us, but her boot smashed into the right one, and the gun tore loose of its mount. I kicked the left one, but my legs were still tired from my sprint, and it took me two kicks to rip the thing free.
Madalena jumped back half a meter and aimed her rifle down at the hatch of the tank. Blue power poured out of it, and her beautiful face was lit with energy. The hatch began to melt under the heat of her pulse-bullets, but the weapon lost the glow in its barrel after four seconds, and she ejected her smoking magazine with a flick of her arm.
“I got it,” I said as I forced my legs to push me up. My right shoulder and ribs were still all sorts of broken, but my left hand wrapped around the hatch handle.
I screamed, and pulled, and felt my muscles coil in my back, legs, stomach, and ass.
My vision began to cloud, and I could feel my muscles tear faster than I could heal them.
I pulled harder.
The hatch began to peel away, but the canon below us was pivoting back toward the tunnel where my friends hid.
Madalena’s hands joined mine at the hatch handle, and she growled alongside me. Her thrusters engaged, we yanked, we gasped, and the fucking lid peeled back like a sardine can.
I fell backward, and my body went numb. Madalena jumped into the hatch before I could stand back up, and I heard a half dozen screams echo from inside when she began firing her rifle.
“Drive it back to pick them up!” I shouted, but I guessed she already knew my plan since she tossed her rifle up through the hatch. It reached its apex at my chest, and I snatched it from the air with my left hand.
I spun around to the rear of the tank and shot her rifle at a distant group of cream armored guards. They were about two hundred meters away, and I was shooting the rifle single-handed, but my aim was still good enough to hit a few of them, and the rest dove for cover in one of the tunnels.
My right shoulder started to regain its strength and maneuverability, so I reached a now tingling hand up to the front grip of the weapon. My next salvo of energy bullets was more accurate, and even though I didn’t hit anyone, I’d hit the corner right where they took cover.
“Get on!” I yelled to my friends when Madalena stopped the tank in front of the tunnel for Dock G. I moved to help Eve get up on top of the tank, but some of the guards behind us leaned out from behind their cover, and I had to focus back on shooting them.
“I will cover,” Lux said as she landed next to me with enough force to shake the tank. The woman pointed her rifle at the guards and let out a long salvo of bullets.
I helped Eve up, and then we both helped the horde of women onto the tank. Zea, Kasta, and Paula were the last ones on, and Madalena started driving forward as soon as they were loaded.
“Nikki! We need to get out of here!” I shouted in my transponder. “Get in the pilot’s chair.”
“Where do you wish to go?” she asked, and I debated my options.
The most obvious was Nordar - 13 since I knew Madalena would need to resolve the issues with her father and take possession of her navy.
But I also knew she wanted me to finish Odin’s rite of passage.
Would she make me? I had no idea, but I did know that I needed to spend some time with Eve, Zea, Paula, and Kasta. We needed to plan our next steps, and I wanted to touch base with Juliette.
“Queen’s Hat,” I said.
“Understood,” Nikki replied, and I saw her fall back from guarding Persephone’s dock. That left Milda there alone to defend the position, and guards were shooting at her. Calisto, Josefinna, and Mikhael were flying in that direction though, and I figured she could hold the spot for another five seconds.
The tank would have us there in twenty.
A salvo of bullets smashed into the side of the tank, and the group of slave women screamed. Lux and I spun to the starboard side, and we filled another group of guards with glowing blue bullets.
“Adam and Madalena, we have a group of four fighters circling toward us.” Nikki’s voice was calm, but I felt my heartbeat in double time.
“Defend using Persephone’s cannons. Call Hegeia, Uma, and Waioila to help you. They can shoot the cannons. Josefinna and Milda, return to the bridge and assist with the defense.”
“Yes, Adam,” the two women replied, and I saw them dart into the tunnel.
Fifteen seconds later, the tank shuddered to a stop in front of Dock C. My friends jumped off the machine and began helping the other slave women down. Madalena popped out of the hatch with a leap, and I handed her back her rifle. I reached behind my back for my trusty shotgun and then put a fist size hole in a drone some seventy meters away.
“Four more fighters approaching,” Nikki said. “First four are banking to fire.” The tunnel shook a second later, and the women from GUAAY - 23 - c screamed.
“Shields are at 94%. We can take a bit more of this, but I’d rather leave,” Nikki said.
“We are leaving,” I growled as I gestured for the women to run down the tube and into Persephone’s hold.
Lux and Madalena returned fire from on top of the tank, and then they jumped down to follow the rest of us into the hold. The Prime Valkyrie was the last one through, and I hit the button to close the door.
“We are in! Get us out of here!”
“Standby,” Nikki said as Persephone shuddered from another salvo of enemy fire. “You all might want to buckle in.”
“Shit, we don’t have enough seats in the ho--” I started to say, but then Persephone leapt from the dock, and everyone fell on their ass, slid across the smooth floor of the hold, and smacked into the wall by the door. Even the Vaish were caught a bit off guard, and I found myself tangled up with Madalena.
“Nikki!” the Prime Valkyrie growled.
“Engaging hyperdrive,” the pilot replied, and then I felt the g-forces relax from my chest.
Everyone lay still for a few moments, and I felt satisfaction flow from Madalena and her people.
“Anyone hurt?” I asked as I stood and helped the Prime Valkyrie to her feet.
“I don’t think so,” Zea said as she helped Paula up. Everyone else was getting to their feet, and I wrapped my left arm around Eve’s slender shoulders. The dark-haired beauty leaned her head into the armor of my shoulder, and I beckoned for Zea to come to me.
The hacker stepped into my embrace again, and then I motioned for Kasta and Paula to come over. The five of us held each other for what felt like a minute without speaking, and I let the calmness of their love fill my chest. I shifted back into my human form, and then exhaustion threatened to bring me to my knees. Fortunately, my four friends were holding me upright.
Madalena cleared her throat behind me, and I could feel her mix of jealousy, fear, and pride. The last emotion was a bit of a puzzle, but I realized the Viking woman liked that all these other women were in love with me.
“Hello, Madalena,” Eve said as my friends let go of our embrace.
“Hello, Eve,” The brunette said. “I am glad we are meeting.”
“Hmm,” the vampire said. The two women stared at each other for a few moments, and my other three friends glanced at them with some confusion.
“Uhh. Who is this?” Zea finally asked me.
“This is Madalena,” I said. “She and her crew have helped me save you all.”
“She is also Adam’s wife,” Eve said, and I felt my stomach sink. I had kind of hoped to break the news to Zea a little gentler.
“His what?” Zea gasped as she turned to me.
“It’s a long story,” I said as I rubbed my fingers over my tired face.
“Uhhh. That sounds like a short story, actually. How long have we been in hyperdrive?” Zea asked Kasta.
“Eighteen days,” the android answered.
“It took you eighteen days to--” Zea’s voice was getting louder, and there was no disguising the hurt there.
“The three of us will talk,” Eve interrupted Zea and placed her hand on her shoulder.
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“Yeah. That’s what we are doing right now--”
“No,” Eve interrupted Zea. “The three of us.” The vampire pointed to Madalena. “Adam has been through hell to save us, and the marriage wasn’t his idea.”
“Huh?” Zea asked as she turned toward Madalena.
“I will explain,” the brunette said.
“Yes, you will,” Eve said, and her red eyes narrowed.
“I do not like your tone, Eve,” Madalena said, and the tension in the hold became thick.
“I care not for your opinions, Prime Valkyrie. I care what you did to my man.”
“What the fuck is a Prime--” Zea began to ask.
“He is mine now,” Madalena growled. The Vaish had all removed their armor, but they still held their rifles, and I saw their grips tighten.
“Hey, hey,” I said as I stepped between Eve and Madalena. “We are all friends here. We have a common enemy. Madalena and I have spoken, and--”
“I will speak with her while you rest,” Eve said.
“Fine. I look forward to it,” Madalena said, and she made a small gesture with her hand. Her warriors relaxed their grips on their rifles, and the tension between us eased.
But it sure as hell didn’t go away.
“We need to find a place for all these women we have helped,” I said as I pointed to the slaves we had just rescued.
“That is not your problem right now, my love.” Eve said. “You are exhausted, and must rest.”
“Yeah. Okay,” I said as a bit of the tension faded from my shoulders.
“Zea, will you come with us?” Eve asked as she wrapped her hand around my arm.
“Uhhh, yeah,” the blonde hacker said. Then she turned to Paula and Kasta. “You two okay to--”
“Yeah, yeah, go,” Paula said. “We’ll get to know our new friends… and stuff.”
Zea grabbed onto my other arm, and I walked with them toward the elevator. I turned my head a bit to look at Madalena, and her prevailing emotion was jealousy.
“Listen, about Madalena,” I started to say as we stepped into the elevator.
“I am not happy with her,” Eve said.
“I’m like, really fucking confused about all of this,” Zea said.
“She forced Adam to marry her,” Eve hissed.
“Uhh. How does anyone force Adam to do anything?” the blonde woman asked as she looked at the both of us.
“It really is a long story,” I said.
“And you need to rest,” Eve said. “Your memories overwhelm me. Perhaps that is why I am so angry with the woman. Zea and I will put you to bed and then have our time with her.”
“She’s fine,” I said. “I don’t agree with the marriage, but she really has helped me, and we are both fighting the SAVO.”
“They know about the SAVO assholes?” Zea asked.
“Yeah. They are trying to fight them,” I replied as the elevator opened.
“She is arrogant and thinks you will cast us aside once you have enjoyed her body.”
“So you haven’t slept with her?” Zea said.
“No!” I hissed.
“I’m just asking. She’s really fucking hot.” Zea smirked.
“She will explain herself to Zea and me, and then we will teach her of her place,” Eve said.
“Uhhh. Place?” I asked, and I wondered if Eve knew what she was getting into with Madalena.
“Yes,” Eve replied, but the look in her eyes convinced me that I needed to leave it alone.
We walked the rest of the way to my room in silence, and then the three of us were kissing, touching, and pulling off my armor. Then we were in my bed, and even though I was beyond exhausted, I had eighteen days to make up for.
And I planned to make up for each and every one of them.
End of book 6
Thank you for reading this novel. Interested in reading a 7th Star Justice story? Make sure you leave a review and let me know that you want more!
A letter from the author:
Dear reader, if you REALLY want to read the next Star Justice novel- I’ve got a bit of bad news for you. Unfortunately, Amazon will not tell you when book 7 comes out. They also won’t tell you when book 8, or 9, etc... are published. You’ll probably never know about my next books, and you’ll be left wondering what happened to Adam, Eve, Zea, and Persephone. That’s rather tragic.
There is good news though! There are three ways you can find out when the next book is published:
1) You join my mailing list by clicking here. When you join, I’ll send you a welcome email with some cool concept art for Persephone. She’s a beautiful ship, and you are going to love how she looks. You’ll also get my fantasy novella Rose Boy for free.
2) You join my Facebook Fan group and follow me on my Facebook page. Then you’ll know when I come out with a new book.
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Doing any of these, or all three for best results, will ensure you find out about my next book when it is published. If you don’t, Amazon will never tell you about my next release. Please take a few seconds to do one of these so that you’ll be able to join Adam, Eve, Z, and Persephone on their next adventure.
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Editing by Ginger Earle, Nick Kuhns, Diane Velasquez, Deborah Haggitt, Jacqueline Miles (who also edits my audio books), Debbie Elholm, Holly Lenz, Wanda Jewell, Cody Elyko, Jay Taylor, Lucas Luvith, Kenneth Smith, and Anthony DePaolo.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Michael-Scott Earle
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