He quirked an eyebrow. “I will try, but I can’t promise anything. Sometimes things just happen.”
“Don’t they just,” Arin said dryly as they passed through the bridge and down a narrow corridor. The corridor ended, widening into a small docking area where the only way out was beyond the thick metal walls of the ship, into space. The surveillance cruiser wasn’t huge, and its docking area was only big enough for things like small escape vessels, mobile airlocks, and maintenance craft. There were weird-looking things in here, too, mysterious objects that could have been satellites or sophisticated spy equipment. To one side sat an array of escape pods, housing just enough seats to fit all the crew.
“Where the hell have they gone?” Arin shook her head, astounded that the entire crew of a ship could just disappear like that.
“Shh.” Rykal held up a hand, his ears twitching. “They are tracking us.”
“They?”
“Human soldiers. I can hear their footsteps. They all walk a certain way, even you. But unlike them, the way you walk is special. Sexy.”
“Oh.” Well, that was nice to know. Rykal had been analyzing her walking patterns. What else had he observed about her?
“They think to trap us here.” He smiled coldly. “Stay here and keep your guns ready. I’ll hold the corridor. They won’t get past me, but be ready just in case.”
Arin nodded as Rykal disappeared down the corridor. All the while, she thought they’d been walking around the ship blindly, but now she realized he’d been looking for a place such as this; a narrow, difficult place where he could pick his opponents off one by one and keep her safe at the same time.
Perhaps, with his uncanny hearing, he’d known where they were the whole time.
It was good to have a Kordolian at one’s side, even if he’d lost all his Callidum weapons. He still had his armor and his fists, and for these particular opponents, that was enough.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Rykal fought like a whirlwind as Arin held her position, listening carefully for any signs his guard had been breached.
But nobody got past him.
When the dust had settled and the noise had died down, she found the corridor littered with bodies. That was nothing new, considering it was Rykal she was with.
Not a single soldier had been able to reach her. In the end, all Arin had to do was wait.
Rykal returned to her, appearing casual and relaxed, the whole incident barely taxing him. The terrible truth, as Arin had rightly suspected, was that humans were no match for a First Division warrior. He didn’t even haveweaponson him, and he’d dispatched them so easily. “I think I’m going to claim this ship in the name of the First Division. It has weapons, unlike theArawen. It will do for now.”
“You can’t just…”claim a Federation surveillance cruiser, Arin was going to say, but she held her tongue. Rykal could. The Kordolians could. They took what they wanted and made no apologies.
“Let us go back to the bridge and try to make contact with my brothers. My comm device was destroyed during the blast, andif they don’t hear from me soon, they might just declare war on humans.” His words sent a chill through Arin, but a half-crooked smile graced his features.
“You shouldn’t joke about things like that,” she grumbled as they reached the bridge. It was still deserted, and even though Rykal had killed a whole squad of guards, the other crew were nowhere to be found.
Perhaps they’d locked themselves in a safe room somewhere. It didn’t matter. Rykal was with her. None of them could touch her.
Arin spotted a comm station and brought up a list of all vessels within range. TheArawenwas one of the first on the list.
“Arawen, this is the, uh…” She didn’t know the name of this vessel.
“Silvermist. I hear you and I have your ID, but I don’t see you on my tracking panel. You got cloaking technology activated?” It was Baraka. He paused. “Is that you, Sergeant Varga?”
“It’s me. Long story.” Arin played with the holoscreen settings, but for some reason she couldn’t get their images to appear.
“You have to get me out of—” His frantic voice was cut off abruptly.
“Where is Rykal?” And replaced with a far scarier one. This voice promised terrible things if the answer wasn’t to his satisfaction.
“I’m right here, Kail.” Rykal leaned casually against an instrument panel, a cocky smile playing on his lips. “Been waiting for you for a while now. Did you get lost?”
“Is your comm broken again? We’ve been trying to reach you.” This person called Kail sounded very, very grumpy.
“I ran into a small problem. My comm might’ve gotten a little damaged in the process, but the problem’s been fixed now, and I’ve managed to capture a better ship for you.”
