As he got ahead of her, she noticed again how much harder and bigger he looked.
His clothes were tight around his biceps and across his shoulders, and when he’d shot that Caruson guard, she’d been astonished at his speed.
And the approval of her own internal voices at his style.
They had judged him worthy.
She guessed worthy of her. Which she had to admit was sweet of them.
They reached the next turn in the passageway and Ethan extended his arm back, hand clenched, to tell her to stop, before he peered around the corner.
He slid back and the look on his face told her there was trouble coming.
A lot of trouble.
“Run,” he whispered, pointing back the way they’d come.
She turned and sprinted, heard Ethan right behind her. Until a group of at least five Caruson stepped out from around the corner, blocking their way and forcing her to come to a stop.
She spun, and saw the reason Ethan had wanted them to run in the first place.
Another group of Caruson, at least ten in this group, blocked the passageway in the other direction.
They were cut off on both sides.
The bigger group called out in Caruson, and someone in the smaller group responded.
It sounded unfriendly to Velda, but she didn’t have an ear for Caruson, and they could well be exchanging greetings for all she knew.
Both groups were armed, and she pressed herself up against the wall to get out of their line of fire. Ethan did the same, and she glanced at him. “Are the weapons pointed at us or each other?”
He was holding his own weapon across his body, so he could swing it in either direction, but he narrowed his eyes at her question and looked again.
“I think each other.” He sounded thoughtful.
“So maybe the Cores didn’t hijack this ship. Maybe we’re privy to some in-fighting among the Caruso?” She thought that through, then shook her head. “No, Linao definitely knew this was going down.”
Before Ethan could respond, one of the soldiers in the smaller group shot at the larger group, and she and Ethan both dropped into a crouch, getting as low as they could as a laz fight ensued.
Someone in the bigger group shouted a command and all laz fire cut off.
That was because everyone in the smaller group was down, Velda saw. There was no one left to fight.
Unless she and Ethan were also on the list.
From the fire into the oven, as the Aponi saying went. She and Ethan were back where they started, just with a different set of antagonists.
Ethan was wisely pointing his laz at the floor as they were suddenly surrounded by at least ten Caruson, all wearing loose, dark gray clothing.
“Verdant String?” one of them asked.
“Verdant String,” Velda confirmed.
“Drop.” The commander pointed to the laz in Ethan’s hand, and he bent down and set it on the ground.
Someone came around the corner, and most of the group turned, weapons raised, then relaxed when they saw who it was.
Velda looked around them and saw it was Linao. So the Cores had had something in their back pocket when it came to the Caruson. Maybe they weren’t so clueless in their dealings with the war-like planet as she’d thought.
