“We’re coming!” Henry shouted down the hall, toward the source of the unholy banging. Whoever was beating the hell out of this ship sounded strong enough to tear the place apart. Had to be a beast. No other fighters in the fleet were that strong. Unless they were integrated with Hive tech.
Shit. Were we going to have to fight a beast? Had they successfully integrated an Atlan? It was rare, but there had been a handful of survivors. The Warlords they managed to control were the Hive’s prized possessions, saved for special assignments, or they served directly under the Hive leaders, the Nexus Units, as personal bodyguards.
Was there a Nexus Unit on this ship? Shit.
“Careful, Henry.” Henry was a good fighter, but he was just a kid. At thirty-three, I had a decade on him, including four years in the Navy, six in the D.E.A. and almost three out here.
He was an innocent, snot-nosed kid as far as I was concerned. Nice kid. Smart. Aggressive. Good with those pistols. But still too young. He felt like the little brother I never had, and that scared the shit out of me. I didn’t want to care about anyone out here. I didn’t want to hurt. I’d left my heart in a coffin onEarth, six feet under, buried with the only man I’d ever loved. Well, except for my father, but that hadn’t worked out well, either. He’d been gone a long time, but it still hurt.
“Yeah. I know.” Henry adjusted the damage setting on his blasters to high. Fewer shots per power pack, but more damage per shot. If we were dealing with a Hive beast, I wasn’t sure his pistols would be enough, even with my EMP blast. Apparently, Henry’s thoughts ran on a similar vein. “Be ready to run.”
“Let’s go.” With a nod, I shoved my short rifle back into its sling holster and brought the grenade launcher back to the front. I checked the charge and moved forward.
“Don’t use that thing unless you have to.” Henry shrugged. “I don’t want to have to haul his ass out of here if he can walk.”
Well, duh. Been there, done that as well. Wouldn’t be our first three-hundred-pound haul. “Afraid I’ll singe your ass?”
Henry chuckled as we moved in unison toward the sound of banging. “Naw. But I do have a beautiful head of hair. Be a shame to lose it.”
“That’s what these helmets are for,” I teased. But Henry did have a gorgeous head of blond curls that made him look like the Florida beach boy I knew he was. Almost a year in space and Henry still had remnants of a tan. Not that I needed any color. My light brown skin looked the same as it always did. One benefit of the ReGen pods, every time I was injured, I came out of the healing pod looking like a damn princess. Perfect, glowing skin. Bright eyes. No pain. No fatigue. Coalition technology beat the hell out of human hospitals.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
We moved slowly, ignoring the radio chatter as other teams secured prisoners in their sections of the ship. By my count, our ReCon teams—there were two full units on board—had rescued fewer than five prisoners. Either the Hive had just finished an integration cycle and already sent their new, mindless dronesout to fight and kill, or something else was going on here. I’d never heard of them keeping just one prisoner as isolated asBoom-Boomappeared to be, not even an Atlan Warlord.
Boom-Boom?Hah!Bam-Bam!A flashback from a childhood cartoon made me chuckle. All I could see was the little blond caveman’s—Barney’s—baby boy,Bam-Bam, slamming his club on the ground over and over chanting ‘Bam! Bam!’.
Was the Warlord on the other side of this door blond? If so, I might burst out laughing when I finally saw him. What if he was wearing one of those old-time,Flintstones, caveman, animal wraps? Vivid imagination? Guilty. Kept me entertained out here.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
My mind had already reassigned the sound. Too funny. I was glad Henry wasn’t looking at my face. Didn’t want to have to explain to him why I was smiling.
We moved in close and isolated the sound behind a closed door at the end of the corridor. We crouched down on either side of the doorframe. “Ready?” Henry asked.
“Ready.” I settled the grenade launcher on my shoulder and gave a slight nod. He would open the door. I’d make sure the room was clear of enemy combatants. If not, I’d fire the EMP. If the prisoner inside got knocked out inside the radius of the blast, so be it. Easier to haul an unconscious beast out of here than an angry one. And from the sound of metal pounding on metal, he was seriously pissed off.
Henry activated the door. A large panel slid to the side.
I expected an explosion of sound. A roar. Screams. Blasts from Hive weapons.
Silence.
Now he’s quiet?
Weapon sighted, I moved into position and scanned the room.
Two Hive Soldiers lay unconscious at the feet of the biggest Atlan I’d ever seen. He wasn’t even in beast mode, his face far too refined and handsome to be transformed into one of the Atlan planet’s formidable fighters. His gaze bored into me like acid burning straight through my helmet. Loops of heavy chains secured his arms and chest into so many points along the walls and ceiling he looked like a metal octopus with at least sixteen legs. His feet were encased in metal boots, visible wires running from the backs of his ankles to a device that appeared to be used to run electricity through his body.
He was covered in cuts and gaping, open wounds where he’d obviously torn their implants from his flesh with his bare hands. So. Much. Blood.Jesus.
How was he making that?—
Before I finished the thought, he lifted one booted foot, then the other, slamming them against the floor.Bam! Bam!
“Holy shit.” Henry’s voice came from just behind my left shoulder and I dared a glance back. “How is he still on his feet?”
“That’s a lot of blood,” I agreed. Then again, he was a very large male.
