“What does that sound mean?” Leigh asked, a trembling fear in her voice.
“We have reached our destination,” I said as I hurriedly dressed.
She pulled the covers over her naked form. “But why is there that sound? Is something wrong?”
“Yes.”I did not elaborate because it would do no good to frighten her even more. “Stay here. Do not leave these quarters unless I am the one who comes back for you.”
I left her with those words, locking the door behind me and grabbing weapons from a locker in the hall on my way to the exit ramp of the ship. Ann and Timber joined me as I trotted down the corridor, each armed with both human and Xalanite weapons.
“Is she safe?” Ann asked while the ramp lowered.
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s get N’kal and X’nit and get the hell out of here.”
Chapter 19
T’raat
Metal projectiles ricocheted off the walls of the ship the moment the ramp opened. I leapt in front of Ann and Timber, as my scaled hide could more easily withstand such an onslaught. The two women ducked behind me and returned fire. John and Marcus arrived with H’rran, and the three of them took up the rear.
“Yourtyr’ilis safe?”H’rran asked in Xalanite.
Marcus grunted and fired at an enemy intruder on the ground. “English, please. This is going to be difficult enough as it is.”
“Apologies.” H’rran tossed a wickedshizblade into the throat of another enemy. “Leigh?”
“Safe,” I answered, grimacing as a projectile pierced my scales. “Provided we stop this advance, that is. What happened, Ann? Are your mates injured?”
Ann fired a wide swath of projectiles—bullets—taking out half the enemy below, before answering.
“As soon as we were close enough to bypass whatever tech was blocking us, we realized that Leigh was right; this was a trap. N’kal and X’nit are alive, but they’re both badly injured. We need to cut through these guys to get to them.”
I grinned, baring my fangs at the armed humans before us. “Then we will cut through them.”
Shouting at the top of my lungs, I launched down the ramp with ashizknife in each hand. The humans had their projectile weapons, their guns, but their mistake was in trusting that such weapons would keep me at bay.
They threatened my love. They harmed my people. By the time I was done, they would be lucky if I left even one alive to interrogate.
My path was as ruthless as it was bloody. I cut without regard to gender, without regard to rank or station. These humans stood between me and getting Leigh out of this warzone, and that was reason enough for me.
By the time I had slaughtered enough of them to allow my allies to advance behind me, the ground was so littered with bodies that I had to lift some of them out of the way, tossing the dead humans to the side to give Ann and Timber room to push through.
We had landed in a small clearing amid a ring of concrete buildings, all surrounded by high metal fencing and barbed wire. Since my nanites did not have a direct connection to the two Xalanite prisoners, I allowed Ann and Timber to lead the way, though I made sure to cut down anyone foolish enough not to run from us. Few enemies remained, though, and those who fled cut themselves on the barbed wire fencing in their flight from my path.
One brave—or foolish—human stood in our way at the building housing N’kal and X’nit. His hands shook as he raised his weapon, though Timber’s bullet ended his life before he could finish lifting his arm.
With the outer area seemingly secured, Ann and I pulled the steel door open. Timber rushed inside before we could join her, firing into the darkness. A few projectiles whizzed past as I ran in after her, but none hit me. Ann chased close behind, and the three of us reached a locked room at the end of the corridor.
It took three attempts for me to break down the door. Once inside, I wasted no time on assessing my comrades’ injuries. Instead, I untied them, slung one unconscious Xalanite over each shoulder, and nodded to Ann to lead the way back to the ship.
Dodging the dead bodies Timber had left in her wake proved difficult as laden as I was, but I did not trip. Marcus and H’rran waited for us at the door to the building, though I noted that John was not with them. Did he stay behind to protect Leigh? The ship’s own defenses should suffice, so I feared that was not the case. The grim set of Marcus’s jaw confirmed my worries, and I made a note to console the man later, when we were safely off Earth.
As soon as we were back on board, H’rran rushed to the cockpit to take off. I followed Ann and Timber to the medical bay, and once there deposited N’kal and X’nit on side-by-side cots for treatment. I had a minimal understanding of combat medicine, but Ann shooed me away when I offered my assistance.
“Just go back to Leigh. Let her see that you’re safe, and make sure she’s okay, too.”
Timber stopped me with a hand on my uninjured shoulder. “Wait. Let me at least stop the bleeding where you got shot.”
