AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As I move forward Varnak brings up the rear. Each one of us moves carefully, aware that we need some form of intel before we can form a plan to deal with what is now likely to become a bloody battle.
Rounding a corner of the ship, the large and bulky shape of a Carvallian appears in front of me. His glowing eyes widen as he pauses, startled.
That one second is all I need. I pull out my photon ray and shoot him in the head. His eyes roll back and he drops to the deck with a thud.
“Vreck! That’s torn it,” I yell.
Immediately, two more of the huge aliens thunder around the same corner.
“Get them!” One of them screams. “Hit the vrecking alarm!”
One of the clumsy traders leaps towards an alarm port. I shoot two more times, my ray dropping him before he can touch it.
I turn to see Varnak drop the other alien with a quick twist that snaps his neck.
“Good to see you haven’t lost your touch, Varnak!”
He grins wickedly. “I have been looking forward to a little excitement. This granthing assignment has been most uneventful. Of course we would have had less excitement if you hadn’t shot that one and alerted the others,” he jokes.
I cock my head. “Yeah. Apparently I’m out of practice.” I look to Zaycor. “Where is the bridge on this vrecking ship, Zaycor?”
As usual, he responds seriously. Nothing really knocks him off-balance and he never cracks a smile. He points to the hallway on the far side. “We take that hallway and the next one in two clicks. I feel that I should point out that that takes us away from the cargo holds on this ship. That is most likely where the females are being held.”
I nod my head, quickly running through my options. I don’t have many and the one that I should take is the one that I’m fighting body and soul.
I don’t want to leave the women alone. I want to find them and make sure that they know that they’re safe now. I want to reduce their captors to dust in space. I want to raze this ship and burn it down.
But if the females are injured at all, I need the medical supplies and med bay on this ship to keep them safe until we reach somewhere where they can be treated better.
“I know what you mean, Zaycor. But we need to gain control of the bridge to see what kind of fight we may have. And it will be easier if we’re not dragging them. The females will be safer where they are until we have everything under control.”
He grunts an acknowledgement but none of us are particularly happy with this part of the plan.
War’s a dirty business just like slaving. The difference is that these males are not innocent parties like the females they’ve stolen are.
It’s a short, brutal battle and quite a few males lie gurgling in their own blood by the time we’re done. But the Captain stands barely touched in front of us. I wanted him alive.
“Now that we’ve got control of this ship, what is your cargo?”
The captain of the trading vessel glares sullenly, refusing to say a word.
“Let me take care of him, Captain.” Varnak cracks his neck side to side and grins. It isn’t a friendly smile. It shows his slightly pointed canines and the glare in his tilted aqua eyes.
“I’m sure the Captain just needs a minute to consider, Varnak. There’s no need for violence. Yet,” I growl.
There’s still no response but now I see a thread of fear in the smuggler’s eyes.
“What is your cargo, Captain? Do not make me repeat myself.”
“Hu-humans,” he stutters, his eyes fixed on the floor.
“How in the vrecking granth did you come across a human?” I shout.
The bulky alien moves uncomfortably, a shifty look replacing the fear in his glowing eyes.
“Not just one,” he whispers so quietly that I can barely hear his reply.
Varnak shoves him, knocking him to the floor. “How did you just happen to come into possession of more than one human,” he roars, his bright blue eyes flashing with rage.
