Freeker (5 page)

“Let’s get out of here,” Ursula stalked out of the room with her man right behind her. “I’ll stall them as long as I can, but I don’t know what kind of boarding technology they have.”

The six left in the bay didn’t seem to pay that any attention. Rubbing at her throat, Chara managed to crouch and edge away as far as she could from the Scoriah.

Warrant and Tee still fought with each other though it seemed less vicious and the other four stood around grinning while they watched but didn’t interfere.

“Stop that,” Chara tried to yell but it came out in a soft, painful whisper. Even she knew they didn’t have time to keep at each other like that. Someone from the station was out there trying to get in here and take her.

Still, Warrant must have heard her. He rolled from Tee and crouched on all fours, his fangs bared, stared at his brother.

Tee growled and one of the others stepped forward. She’d managed to figure out their names and even though her head was still fuzzy, she recognized him as Echtei. His hands up in a placating gesture that still looked dangerous with his claws, he spoke lowly to Warrant. “She saw the false floor and the cargo beneath it. We can’t let her go now. It doesn’t matter if the station wants her back.”

“She has to die,” Tee snarled. “This is not even an argument. The lives of our family are at stake and she is nothing. We’re fighting for our species to even exist. What is one human in the face of that? When it comes to the family or anyone on the outside, it’s always family. It’s who we are, what we always have been. It’s why we went into that Asteroid Pit and killed whoever stood in the way between us and our father. She didn’t stay where you put her. If you can’t handle it, I will.”

If her throat weren’t still burning and closing on her, she’d have retorted that she was more than he could handle but as she could barely see now, she couldn’t launch herself at him either.

“Dammit,” one of them swore as she teetered over and fell on her ass.

Scrambling, she managed to get to her knees but wavered.

Her every breath wheezed and she grabbed at her throat. The struggles and growls started again as a few gentle hands landed on her arms and shoulders to guide her back down to the floor. Echtei leaned over her and said something she couldn’t understand. The ringing in her ears had gotten too loud.

Chaz’s face joined Echtei’s in her vision then something descended toward her.

Air with a strange citrus flavor coated her tongue. She shook her head. She couldn’t dislodge it. It covered her entire face but hadn’t budged. A cough shook her body and she sucked in large gulps of tainted air.

Then, she could breathe. She relaxed to the floor and blinking, processed what had happened. She wore a medical mask. Ecthei and Chaz knelt next to her and glared toward a hulking Tee who snarled down at her. Warrant stood next to Tee with a clawed grip around Tee’s bloody arm. Warrant’s voice rumbled through the room and she closed her eyes, helpless to the appeal of it, full of danger and bloodlust.

“Let’s take a moment, Techtei.”

“You use my brother name.” Tee dropped his glare long enough to turn to Warrant. “You try to distract me with brotherly affection when our family will be in danger the very moment she leaves this ship and forever after, whenever she is taken again by the geonates. Think you, she’ll give up the killing that got her here to begin with?”

“Let me speak with her.” Warrant held his brother’s gaze but released the bloody grip on his arm.

She tried to sit up but the gentle hands of Echtei turned insistent as he pressed on her shoulders to keep her there. She tried to speak, to tell Tee he could shove himself out an air lock, but Chaz held the mask tightly over her face and she yelled fruitlessly. All she could hear of her own shouts was a mumbling, angry sound.

Warrant continued, ignoring her struggles. “I’ll determine if she’s a threat. It’s my right, since she is mine.”

“She is yours. You will not see clearly.” Tee sounded sad and aggrieved.

“I will do what is necessary.” Warrant’s expression was fierce.

She stopped trying to get up and stared at that hard expression. He’d kill her. She had no doubt he meant it and he could do it.

Something hot and a little sick coiled in her belly. Warmth spread slowly through her limbs and her core.

Echtei and Chaz both jerked their attention back to her and in a sudden flurry of activity, let go of her and scooted away. Warrant lunged toward her and in seconds, had her on her feet, his hand gently tilting her face up. The mask remained in place and she couldn’t talk through the muzzling effect of the med device. He growled at Tee. “I know exactly how to negotiate her future with her.”

“Sex? This isn’t the time for that.”

Warrant chuckled. Chara stumbled back and finally yanked the medical mask off of her face. “What’s so damned funny?”

Her voice was scratchy but he understood her. Prowling forward, he got right up in front of her with only a hand’s width between them. “Just, reminds me of when Ursula and Grendel had to move to the captain’s quarters because they kept leaving musk all over the place.”

“Well, I’m not going to leave musk all over the place.”

“No, just in my bed.”

“Your bed? You were just talking as if you’re going to kill me.” That hot, restless feeling spread through her again.

“I might.” He shrugged.

Chara blinked and finally ripped her gaze away from his chiseled cheekbones and his luscious mouth that hid those enticing fangs. His gaze was no less compelling.

His purple eyes going dark, he stared at her as he spoke to Tee. “We accepted our heart-mother, Joan. We’ve accepted Grendel as a heart-brother.”

Chara froze and clamped her mouth shut. She might be willing to do nearly anything to save herself, to escape, but she didn’t want to hurt Warrant. The feeling confused her as much as his words did. Letting him take the lead was difficult for her but she had to let him talk to his brother. She wouldn’t get anywhere with Tee. Besides, watching the emotions play over Warrant’s face fascinated her. His forehead creased in confusion and his tongue flicked out to swipe over his lips. He was agitated.

Tee sounded less strident and angry when he replied but Chara was too caught in Warrant’s gaze to see him or anything else going on around them. “We will not be that lucky, my brother, to find mates. There were twenty-four of us and now that we’re well past the age for first mating, isn’t it time to accept we will not be bringing mates into the family?”

“I didn’t say anything about mating.” Warrant frowned.

Chara backed up a step. Those words seemed to peel back a layer of warmth between them.

“How else could you think I’d put a woman’s life ahead of our own?” Tee still spoke calmly.

“How about just minding your own business?” Chara finally responded. This conversation didn’t seem to go anywhere.

Warrant’s lips quirked in a smile and he shook his head. “He can’t any more than I can. Any threat to the family is a threat to us all.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Chara was pretty sure she meant that, too. Tee, on the other hand, she wouldn’t mind jabbing him in the eye.

Warrant finally looked away from her and faced his brother. “I’ll handle this. I’ll find a way to get that docking boot off and then we can figure out what to do with her. Leave her up to me, Tee.”

“You’ll do what’s best, when the time comes?” Tee had some of the snarl back in his voice.

Echtei spoke from nearby. “Of course he will. He always has.”

Tee snorted.

Warrant growled. Then the entire room stilled and she glanced around, trying to understand the undercurrents. All of Warrant’s brothers stared at his hands. Warrant shook his fists and finally released the tense crush of his fingers. Blood dotted his claws. He shook his head then grabbed her—as if he’d been holding himself away until that moment.

Pulling her to him, he huffed. His breath blew over her hair and he held her tighter. “I’ll work with Ursula to get that dock boot detached.”

He took a step back, bringing her with him. Tee snapped his teeth in his clanking, grinding way. Warrant bared his fangs.

Tee didn’t back down. It was some sort of show of dominance that seemed much older than this argument.

“She needs to stay here in the bay in case the entry party breaches the ship. If it comes down to it, to protect the family and cargo, I will give her up.” Tee squared his shoulders and bulked out.

Warrant snarled and let her go. She stumbled and righted herself. She didn’t know what to do but she didn’t think she should get between the two.

“Warrant. Think. You’ve only known her a few hours.” Echtei interceded by stepping between them.

Finally, that snapped her out of it. Her throat still aching, she managed to speak clearly. “I agree with your captain, here. I’ll meet the boarding party.”

Warrant lunged toward her and Chara had a brief moment of panic and a small rush of thrill. She might have pushed him just a little too far.

*

Warrant got right in Chara’s face. Holding her by the hip, to keep her in place though she didn’t back down, he didn’t want her to misunderstand his next statement in any way.

“He’s not the captain,” he snarled and bit his damn lip again. It gave him pause. This was a strange loss of control. Suspicion lanced through his incredible need to hide Chara away and beat the hell out of Tee. He may have only known her for a few hours but he could already tell that she was up to something. She wouldn’t stay to meet the shuttle from the station and willingly walk off this ship. Or, maybe she would.

A strange curling sensation moved beneath his rib cage. It was a swirling emotion that was uncomfortable and confusing. With a huff, he lashed out. He punched Echtei in the arm. His brother grunted and gave a nod. He’d watch over Chara as well as Warrant would. There was an unspoken agreement, that no matter what had happened in this bay before, they’d let Warrant handle whatever needed to happen with Chara. Yes, despite all the snarling and threats, they’d come to an unspoken resolution. Warrant would handle Chara.

There was no relief in that decision. Chara was still an unknown and they still faced a boarding party. He could trust his brothers, but no amount of trust could get them past a few truths. The first was that they had to get the ship moving at full speed again. The other, he reminded Tee.

“Our priority is to protect the nest. Allowing them to board is not protecting.” Warrant gripped Chara’s waist, unable to let go until Tee gave a grudging nod of acceptance. “If we allow anyone to think they can board us, we’ll have more than our share of pirates trying the same.”

Warrant set Chara away from him and managed to unclench his hands from her.

For long a long moment, he stared at her. He didn’t know what he was communicating to her but she nodded in reply.

“I’ll be back.” It was an unnecessary statement, but he couldn’t leave until he said something useless. Unknown or not, walking away from her was strangely difficult. He gave her one last glance, imprinting her slight frame into his mind, and stalked out.

Every step away seemed wrong. His gut churned. His shoulders tensed. His snarling grew into a grumble. He walked faster and faster, needing to outrun whatever this unsettling feeling was, but he couldn’t.

He ran.

He reached Engineering in a blur and stopped outside for a moment to get a handle on himself. There was no time for whatever this weird feeling was about. They had to get that damned anchor off their ship. Otherwise, the coming bloodshed would only be the start.

The
Twelfth Night
was a ship made of components mostly consisting of space-worthy boxes for cargo. The boxes chained together to form a train that could be rearranged based on need. The essential functioning segments of the ship remained the same, though. Engineering took up its own box in the rear. The next box contained the bridge, officer’s quarters where Ursula and Grendel lived, and the mess hall. The corridor from the mess led to the engine room and though it was empty when he stepped out, it quickly filled with the other five Scoriah and Chara as they headed in the opposite direction. They’d go through the box that they’d reconfigured to be their big nest area surrounded by their individual un-used quarters. Through there, they’d meet the first cargo area where the most rearward hatch could be found.

The boarders wouldn’t know the particular layout of the
Twelfth Night
except which box housed the engine.

Warrant entered the engine room to find Ursula at her workstation and Grendel at another where he maintained their shipping manifest—probably searching for any way to deal with a search of their cargo. Warrant spoke to his heart-sister. “They wouldn’t know that the entire cargo area could be detached. Can we do that? Cut off their air long enough to kill them then reattach?”

“We’d still have the anchor to contend with,” Ursula answered.

Grendel made a small huff and he frowned in thought. “It could work without the anchor, if we could somehow get them to detach it. If we leave the cargo boxes behind, we need to tag them so we can find them for reattaching.”

“What’s in the cargo?” Warrant’s stomach roiled. They’d been away from Ferrashi for months, trading while gathering needed supplies. The people of Ferrashi had been lucky, in a way. As they stockpiled arms—many of which came from the Scoriah’s smuggling operation—the geonate government still tried to pretend the war wasn’t happening. The conflict had been kept small. When the geonates decided to ignore their people’s collective outrage and resort to all-out war, Ferrashi wouldn’t stand a chance, but until that day, the Scoriah would continue to arm them.

“You know what we have in there as well as I do.” Grendel’s tail twitched on the floor. Warrant didn’t approach him. He’d learned to give the unique man his space. “Some dried goods and clothes which we could replace if need be, but the cost is dear. Those old geonate rifles, though. I don’t think we’ll find another waylaid arms museum shipment.”

“That’s not going to work if we don’t get the dock boot off.” Ursula pointed at her screen and Warrant crossed to her side and checked the schematics she had displayed. “The clamp is here.”