On a Rogue Planet (2 page)

His arms were unyielding. He was strong. Too strong.

“Be still.”

A quiet, lethal whisper that raised the hairs on her arms. She opened her mouth to scream.

A gloved hand slammed over her mouth. She twisted and struggled, but he dragged her back, inside the hulk of the rusted ship. He pulled her down, his big body surrounding hers to hold her in place. He felt hot, far hotter than a regular man.

With his other hand, he pointed out into the scrapyard.

When she saw what he pointed at, she stopped moving.

A huge man, a fricking giant, stalked into view.

He was at least six foot eight, with shoulders as wide as a planet and legs like starship landing struts. His skin was mottled with dark stripes that made her think of the pelts of the hunting cats on Panthon Prime. His head was bald and when he lifted his face, she saw strong features and…
stars
, fangs.

And he was…sniffing?

The man behind her loosened his grip on her mouth. “Stay silent.” A near-soundless murmur against her ear.

The warmth of his breath made her shiver. His other hand rested near her hip, two fingers touching her hip bone. A touch that seared through her. She wasn’t sure if he was ordering her or asking her, but when she nodded, he moved his hand away.

Suddenly, the giant stiffened and let out a sound caught between a yell and a roar. Then he looked right at their hiding spot.

The man behind Mal went unearthly still. Her heart thundered in her chest. They were going to die.

Then the man brushed past her and launched himself at the giant. A lean, black bullet moving so fast he was a blur.

Mal gasped, helpless to do anything but watch the deadly fight in front of her.

The man hit the giant with the force of a falling meteor. He was tall, but not as tall as the giant, and far leaner. There was no way he could match the enormous beast-man. Heart lodged in her throat, she glanced around, trying to find an escape route.

A roar from the giant made Mal jerk. The beast-man was going down, the man in black moving, somersaulting over the giant and landing back on his feet.

He straightened and Mal finally got a good look at him.

Holy Stars.
He was probably six foot three with wide shoulders narrowing to lean hips, all encased in a space-black uniform. On one shoulder was a silver insignia of a mechanical cog. The circular silver implant set in his temple told her he was Centaxian.

But that face…he was gorgeous with sharp, lean features set off by short black hair and dark-bronze skin that gleamed in the sunlight.

All his focus was on the giant pulling himself to his feet, shaking his head. The Centaxian flexed his gloved hands but was otherwise still.

The giant lowered his head and charged. The Centaxian didn’t react.

“Move, damn you,” Mal muttered, clenching her hands together.

At the last second, the man sidestepped and the giant raced past. Then the Centaxian turned and the fight started for real.

He was methodical. Kicks and hits landed with precision and all of them hard and unforgiving. The giant staggered, never finding his balance and never once getting a direct hit on the man. Another enraged roar filled the air before the giant charged again.

This time in her direction.

Mal held her breath.
Stars save her
. The giant slammed into the hull of the starship, setting it rocking. Dust and shards of metal rained down on her, but she forced her quivering body to stay where it was. Even though she wanted to run.
Really
wanted to run.

Dazed, the giant shook his head. If he looked up, he’d see her.

Beyond her attacker, the Centaxian leaped into the air, higher than any normal man should be able to. He slammed down on the giant’s back.

He looked directly at her and their gazes locked.

His eyes were concentric bands of emerald green and burnished gold. Like nothing she’d ever seen before. Long, dark lashes ringed those amazing eyes.

But his beautiful face was blank. Empty of everything. No emotion. Nothing.

Frighteningly emotionless.

He pressed a palm down on the giant’s neck and then the green in the Centaxian’s eyes lit up and turned neon. Like the lights on a cockpit control console.

She felt a rush of power fill the air. The giant convulsed, his back arching, a groan of pain ripping from his throat.

The Centaxian landed back on his feet, bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact. He stared at the giant without any expression. The giant collapsed and didn’t move.

Then the Centaxian turned and headed in Mal’s direction.

She stayed crouched where she was, panic threatening. Why the hell did she feel more frightened now? The Centaxian had saved her.

But he’d just taken out a giant warrior without even breaking a sweat or showing a single emotion on his aristocratic face.

Whatever enhancements he had, it was more than just that deceptively simple silver disc at his temple.

Mal watched him come, barely realizing she’d pulled her multi-tool off her belt and flicked on the laser cutter. Her fingers clenched around it.

The man stopped nearby. “Come out.”

His voice was even, calm, not giving anything away. She watched him for a second and realized his eyes were back to normal, the eerie green glow was gone.

Mal ducked out of the wreck and stood. She saw the man’s gaze move to the laser cutter, then come back to her face.

She drew in a deep breath. “Thank you. Uh…I’m—”

“Malin Phoenix.”

Oh
. “You know who I am.”

“Yes.”

Chatty guy. “You ever speak more than two words?”

“Yes.”

Mal waited but he didn’t say anything else.
Right
. “I was here—”

“You have a salvage license for Centax.”

She saw his eyes flicker, realized he was accessing those records at that very moment. Amazing. “You have me at a disadvantage. I have no idea who you are.”

“Centax Security.”

A CenSec. A shiver snaked through her. She’d already guessed as much but had secretly hoped it wasn’t true.

No one wanted to run into the galaxy’s deadliest killers. “Do you have a name?”

A pause. “Yes.”

She waited, suppressed the frustration bubbling in her chest. “Are you going to tell me?”

“Xander Saros.”

Xander. Yep, it suited him. He looked like a Xander. “What the hell is going on?”

“A coup.”

“A coup?” Shock was a punch to her stomach. “Who the hell would try and take over Centax?” And take on this scary cyborg and the other CenSecs like him?

“No time for explanations. More like him—” a nod at the dead giant “—will be on their way.”

“Right.” She didn’t want to face anymore giants.

“Starfreighter.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Starfreighter. You have one.”

“Yes—”

“I need it.” He wrapped a hand around her bicep and started pulling her toward the landing pads.

“Now hang on! I plan on getting off-planet. Right now.”

“As do I.”

Stars
. She was practically jogging to keep up with him. She tried to pull her arm away, but wasn’t surprised she couldn’t budge a single centimeter. “Look, I’d like to help…but don’t you have an entire security force? And far better starships than my freighter?”

Her question hung in the air, unanswered, as another giant stepped into their path from behind another junker.

A nasty grin spread over the giant’s rugged face. He lifted a small pistol that glowed blue along the barrel.

Xander froze for a second. Then he shoved her behind him, so hard she stumbled.

There was a whine of an energy weapon.

Mal saw blue electricity race over Xander Saros’s body. He didn’t collapse but he dropped heavily to his knees, his arms hanging by his sides.

In front of him, the giant’s gaze fixed on Malin, his grin widening, baring his fangs.

The breath left her lungs in a rush.

Oh, shit.

Malin took a step closer to her rescuer. “Xander?”

She looked down and saw that neon green flickering wildly in his eyes. Just like a console with a loose connection.
Shit
.

“Run.” His tone was hard, authoritative.

But there was a hint of something else in his voice. She noticed the slight sheen of perspiration on his brow and the fine tension in his shoulders. He was in pain. Whatever the giant’s weapon was, it had messed him up.

She glanced back at the giant and her stomach dropped to her knees. He hadn’t moved, but stood there, watching, looking at her like he wanted her to run.

So he could chase her down.

She stepped up beside Xander, her laser cutter clutched in her hand.

Xander glanced at the cutter and his brows drew together for the briefest instant. “Did you hear me?” he growled.

“Yes.”

Xander blinked slowly.

Poor tough guy. Probably wasn’t used to anyone disobeying orders.

Too bad.

She might be scared out of her brains, but she wasn’t leaving him here to die.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noted the giant was still not moving, just rocking on his heels. Was he trying to psych them out? Toying with them?

Xander’s gaze lingered on her throat where she knew her pulse was fluttering like an out-of-control avian droid. “But…you’re afraid,” he said.

She tightened her grip on the laser cutter. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

He blinked again. “You are either very brave or very stupid.”

“I’d prefer to go with brave…but I’m actually neither.”

“He outweighs you by a hundred and fifty-seven standard pounds.”

He could tell how much she weighed? “I said, enough with the pep talk. Now quit distracting me.” She forced herself to focus solely on the giant.

The giant reached behind his neck and there was the scraping sound of metal on leather. He pulled a wicked sword from a scabbard on his back. It was a dark, glassy color with jagged edges.

Great.
Mal tried to hide her dismay.

“I will bathe in your blood,” the giant said with a wide grin, his words harsh and heavily accented.

“A sword? You had to have a fricking sword.” Mal shook her head. “My day is going rapidly downhill.”

Beside her, Xander gathered himself then lurched upward, managing to get one foot under him.

With a roar, the giant started in their direction. His yellow gaze was now on Xander.

Oh, no you don’t
. Malin remembered everything her dad had taught her about fighting dirty. She took two steps forward and ducked low. She swiped out with the laser cutter.

And ran the golden laser against the giant’s heel, severing his Achilles’ tendon.

With a bellow, the big man spun, taking his weight off his damaged leg. He swung out with his sword.

Xander managed to push upright and slam Malin out of the way. She felt the whoosh of air as the blade passed close to them. Really close.

“Again,” Xander told her.

She dropped again and swiped at the giant’s other heel. This time he dropped to the ground on his knees. Surprise was stamped across his face. With a quick, almost dainty move, Mal bounded to her feet and stabbed the laser cutter into the giant’s thick neck.

Blood the color of Regalian sapphires spilled out, splashing down his chest.

Then he pitched forward and fell in an ungainly heap on the ground.

She’d killed someone.
Oh, stars
. She couldn’t deal with the thought right now. Wasn’t going anywhere near it until she was safely back on her ship. No, until she was back on Khan. Or maybe she’d never think about it. She moved back to Xander’s side.

“Time to go.” She wedged a shoulder under his arm and helped him to his feet. Jesus, he weighed a ton. “Put your arm over my shoulders.”

He towered over her. Her shoulder didn’t reach his armpit, so she just had to press it against his hard side.

Xander stared down at her for a second, like she was some foreign entity that wasn’t in his database. With obvious reluctance, he dropped his arm over her shoulders.

Tough guy wasn’t used to leaning on anyone. Despite everything, Mal felt a smile tug at her lips.

They moved forward, awkward at first, until they found a hobbling rhythm.

“You are more muscular and a lot tougher than I’d calculated,” he said.

“I’m a salvage mechanic. We’re tough stock.” They stumbled a few times and she muttered several curses under her breath.

Then they tripped over some scrap steel and overbalanced. Xander fell to his knees and groaned.

Mal tugged at him. “Up.” Sweat was dripping down the side of his face now and his mouth was pinched. “Can’t you block the pain?”

“No. My systems…are not functioning at optimal levels.”

The reluctance in his tone was front and center. She guessed kick-ass CenSecs disliked admitting weakness. “The weapon did something to you.”

A nod. “It disrupts my advanced systems and implants.”

“Makes you mortal like the rest of us, huh?”

Those amazing green-gold eyes flicked her way. “Yes.”

“Don’t worry, tough guy. Not much farther.” She grunted. He was really heavy

“Thirty-three meters to the landing pads.”

Who needed a computer to do calculations when you had a CenSec? “There she is. The
Firebird
.”

Xander managed to lift his head. They were coming up on the salvage yard landing pads and sitting on the pad closest to them was her small starfreighter.

She didn’t look like much. The
Firebird’s
hull was a dull, striated gray. The back was larger for cargo storage, and the front tapered to a rounded nose forming the cockpit. Mal loved every inch of her.

They passed through the fence surrounding the pads. Ahead, Mal saw clouds of smoke rising above Haxx. Xander made a small noise and she saw he was staring at the smoke as well.

The icy look on his face chilled her.

Whoever was behind this was going to pay and she suspected this cyborg would be the one collecting.

Another stumble. This time Xander cursed.

“Hey, keep it together a bit longer, tough guy.” Mal bumped her shoulder up against his side and tightened her arm around his middle. Damn, the man was all hard muscle under his black uniform. “Nearly there.”