It would appear some of Dante’s feral, chaotic nature is rubbing off on me. But also, right now, could we be more screwed? Probably not.
I check the ray gun Dante gave me. It’s a point and shoot thing and reasonably easy to operate. Maggie got one of theSarkarnii warriors to show us once because she thought it was important we knew, and surprise, it turns out she was right.
Flattening myself against the bulkhead, I slide down the wall towards the rear of the ship where the airlock which was attached to the pirate ship is situated, ray gun in hand, attempting to regulate my breathing. What could possibly be on board which the ship doesn’t recognize?
I get my answer when I hear noises ahead, and a brief look tells me all I need to know.
The tall biped creature isexactlyas Kerra described it. The evil professor of all our nightmares. The thing even has a set of goggles, or what might be its eyes, which look like a set of steel-rimmed glasses. The pinched face, the pallid skin, and the long white coat all combine to make it terrifying.
It is not alone either. On either side are floating robots. Their spindly metal appendages bristle with spikes, a single red “eye” raking over the walls and floor of the ship like laser sights.
I am in trouble. We are all in trouble.
“Ah, the human,” a weird metallic voice rings out.
I freeze. There is no way I am going to bethe humanin this situation.
I should have asked the ship for hiding places.
“Mistress, Lord Dante is on board,” the system announces, and I cringe.
“And we have a Sarkarnii too. How delicious,” the professor says. “You may as well show yourself, my dear. I have plans for you and your Sarkarnii mate.”
“Good thing I have this.” I swing around the bulkhead and take my first shot.
I was not expecting the kick. How does a ray gun even have a kick? I’m thrown backwards onto my arse as the shot reverberates around the ship, and I skid a long way down the passage before slamming into the wall, seeing stars.
“This one has some spirit.” I hear the voice of the professor. “She will be interesting to break. Find the Sarkarnii and get him under control.”
I hear the footsteps coming my way. The ray gun was flung from my hand as it sent me sailing backwards, so I am unarmed as I look up at the towering creature.
“As long as I have one, I will have the other,” he says, his mouth somehow not moving in time to the words, making me feel even more disoriented. “A Sarkarnii and his mate, what a treat.”
“You will never have either of us,” I spit out, the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.
“On the contrary, my dear. I do, and you will both be doing exactly as I say very soon.”
He bends over me, producing a tube from his coat pocket, and before I can do anything to get away, he presses down on the top and something hisses into my eyes.
“Dante,” I say, the one and only word which matters, and then everything goes dark.
DANTE
Bots.
I growl under my breath. Parts of me have yet to completely thaw, and will take too many nova minutes for the seared skin on my ankle from where I was grabbed by the fixer arm to heal, but I am alive. Not that I had any doubt.
Rosalie’s scent is strong within the ship, and it helps calm me because I dislike very much the fact there is something else on board. Something which doesn’t have a smell and that has to mean…bots.
Unable to rely on what I can scent, I’m going to have to rely on what I can hear. As my ears are filled with ice, it is not going to be easy. My tail has also decided not to shift, and I have one wing which is causing me to be off balance.
I have, however, retained my star-pulsars, and this means I get to destroy whatever is standing between me and my mate.
And then destroy anything which has taken my crew. Even if it involves the entire galaxy. Which I hope it does because anything which stands between me and what I love is going to find out what that means.
Total annihilation.
I curl my lip and concentrate hard on shifting back my wing, which eventually gives in. The tail, I can live with. As for my ship, it’s time for a clearance.
