Page 86 of A World Enough

“Kartog is a formidable warrior,” Jhosa said.

“Indeed she is,” Margot said. “Cardo can be dealt with. He is a vampire, but a bounty hunter all the same. It’ll be the Drazani guard and Kartog who would be the most difficult to deal with.”

“Okay, let’s go over the plan again. When we dock, we each take a pack. Each contains guns, supplies, and bombs. We know there’s going to be a squad of Drazani guards. That’s hard to deal with at the best of times, and the warrior Kartog. But they’ve never met us before,” Margot said. “If you’re in trouble and need backup, just call us on our comms.” Margot pointed at her ear.

While Margot moved the packs to the back of the ship, Jhosa said to Thane, “Any problems?”

“No, nothing at all,” Thane said.

Jhosa looked carefully at the telemetry, and Margot asked, “What do you think, Jhosa? Are we going to make it?”

“We’ll be there tomorrow. Within at least thirty minutes of Cardo.”

“Then we’re straight off the strip and headed to the penthouse. If the Map Keeper’s movements change, we’ll be relying on Ziggy.”

“Excuse me, Cardo?” the Drazani pilot said.

“Yes?” Cardo said sharply.

“I noticed a ship’s signature, and it’s been following for the last few hours.”

“Show me.”

The pilot moved his hands over the programmable matter controls. “You see this ship and its trajectory?”

“Why did you not see this earlier?” Cardo asked.

“Because we were taking a different route through a high traffic area of space. It took time to see if it was directly following us.”

“The rebellion. You should have told me,” Cardo said.

He was angry and panicked. He’d been given one chance to make good on his promise to Davor. His life would depend on it.

Cardo slammed down his hand on the control screen. The pilot stood to square up to him face to face.

The captain of the Drazani moved over to them and pushed Cardo back. “Sit,” he said to his pilot.

Then he turned back to Cardo and grabbed him by the collar. “Might I remind you, Cardo,” he spat, “that you are just a bounty hunter who’s been given an exceptional gift, a gift by our gods, of a squadron of Drazani. You should think yourself very lucky indeed to have a second chance, because you might have been dead already. Now remember, I am the captain of this ship, and if anyone is to reprimand my soldiers, it will be me. I have complete control of this ship and authority from our god Davor to eliminate you if you become hazardous to this mission. Now go and sit down quietly while we fly. This ship is fast, and we will get to our destination well before any rebel ship. That’s all the time we need to grab our target Map Keeper. Now sit down.”

Then the captain pushed him away. Cardo felt such anger he could scream. Vampires weren’t used to being talked to like that. They were the top dogs most of the time.

But when Abnobians were involved, you had no choice but to do what they said. They were too powerful. So he sat back and simmered.

Brogan and Camber laughed as Camber rolled the giant spinning table, and it landed on Camber’s colour. It was much like the roulette tables Brogan knew on Earth, except for some rule changes and different colours.

“I won! I won again,” Camber said.

“You have the Midas touch.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that everything you touch turns to gold,” Brogan said.

“I don’t know about that.” Camber laughed.

Brogan put her arm around Camber’s waist and was standing slightly behind her, protecting her from anyone, even someone bumping into her. Now she knew what her brother and her parents were talking about when they discussed mating.

It gave your wolf a special purpose, an exciting job. It was the purpose that felt more important than anything, and that was to protect your mate and your family.