Except, Ethan wasn’t sitting in the chair.
Nirro had undone the restraints on his right hand, Velda recalled. And then everyone’s gaze had gone to the extractor.
She smiled in satisfaction as Ethan seemed to float through the room, using whatever came to hand as a weapon, bringing down both guards, shooting Nirro with one of their laz.
It felt like reality restarted as Ethan bent down on one knee beside her to release her from her restraints, three Caruson lying around her.
“That was beautiful,” she said.
He shot her a look, serious and focused. “Beautiful?”
“Very.” She grabbed up a laz, hefted it. “Let’s find out how to get on the Raptor.”
39
They didn’t tryto sneak.
They shot their way through the Caruson ship, until they found the inter-ship connection across to the Raptor. It consisted of an airlock that had been fixed open, with a tunnel extending from the warship into the Raptor, and Velda didn’t know if the Caruson had used an existing Raptor airlock or cut one open.
The Caruson side of things looked like it was expressly constructed for this purpose, which meant they’d thought about and engineered their designs with boarding other ships in mind.
It was impossible to see if there was anyone waiting on the other side, or where they’d come out, so she and Ethan crossed cautiously, weapons hot.
They leaped out the other end, ready for anything, to find they were in the launch bay, and alone.
Velda walked back a little to study the tunnel that stretched through the launch bay’s airlock membrane, and hoped that when they were able to escape and break away that there would be no damage.
Because they planned to take this ship and run.
“How will we do this?” Velda would not be a prisoner again.
“They’ve fought each other for a few hours, now.” Ethan’s gaze was sweeping the bay, and he moved to a stack of supplies, and pointed his laz at something on the ground.
Velda joined him, saw there was a Caruson soldier down, and two Cores crew.
One of the crew was sliced open and had bled to death, the other one seemed to be unconscious, shot with a laz.
“If there’s more like this in the rest of the ship, it will make things easier.” Ethan lifted his weapon. “Let’s stay together.”
She nodded her agreement and moved with him to the launch bay doors.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes.” The doors opened and they each took a side, backs together, pointing their laz down the passageway.
Shock slammed through her.
She’d expected signs of a fight but there were a lot of bodies lying in either direction, and not all unconscious. Like the crew member in the bay, some had bled and died, others were just out.
No one who had been sliced or stabbed had been left alive.
Velda started to count heads as they moved toward the bridge. The Cores had been overrun, but there were at least twelve Caruson down as well, some dead, some unconscious.
“Sylvester’s people started out with their laz set to a lower level, and then realized the Caruson were out to kill them, and they upped it.” Velda guessed she didn’t blame them, but it meant she and Ethan needed to be careful.
There would be no coming back from a hit any more.
Up ahead, she could hear the sounds of fighting, and it was definitely coming from the lounge in front of the bridge.
