He stumbled over a root and went down.
Unfortunately, he recovered too quickly for Zhor to take advantage.
Also unfortunate—he flattened her when he fell and she lost the grip on her stick. Undaunted, she inch wormed over to him and managed to get a grip on his ankle.
“No help!” Zhor bellowed at her. “Go away, Ah-na! You get hurt!”
He’d scarcely gotten the warning out of his mouth when the dragon man gave him a hefty shove that sent him reeling backwards several steps. He hung his heel on a root and sprawled out on his back.
Annika screamed and gripped the dragon man’s ankle tighter, sinking her teeth into his calf when it seemed he would launch himself at Zhor in spite of her grip on his ankle.
He let out a guttural bellow in response and reached down, grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her upright, catching her beneath her breasts and pinning her to one side.
“Unless you are willing to kill the woman yourself, you will stop now!”he snarled at Zhor.
Zhor had already bounded upright, but at that he stopped. It took no more than a glance to see that it would be nearly impossible to hit the bastard without risking striking Ah-na, as well. He dropped his sword.“If you harm her I will kill you slowly,”he growled, furious that he was helpless to do more than throw threats at the bastard.
The dragon man narrowed his eyes.“As it happens, I never intended to harm her.”
Zhor’s lips curled contemptuously.“You expect me to believe that?”
“I do not give a fuck what you believe. She is here because I want to know why her people want her dead. She is key to something and I believe that something will not be good for my people—or yours.”
Some of Zhor’s fury diminished at that. He could not say that trust arose from it. He was still deeply suspicious and deeply concerned about Ah-na.“She is my woman,”he snarled.“I will not allow you to use her for whatever you hope to gain.”
The dragon man studied him speculatively for a long moment and then turned his attention to Annika, who’d finally decided to rest since her struggle to free herself seemed fairly ineffectual. “He is your man? Dis bird man?”
Annika gaped up at the man. She could feel her face flooding with a blush of epic proportions while she struggled for a response. She glanced at Zhor, wondering if he’d just claimed her—or what it was that he’d said that had led the dragon man to ask that question.
The dragon man returned his attention to Zhor.“She does not seem convinced,”he said dryly.
Zhor ground his teeth.“Release her and we will talk.”
The dragon man grinned.“Now I wonder—does that mean you think I am stupid? Or is it that you are that stupid? I think I will hold her against your good will for a few moments more.”
“Explain to me how you think it will help you in any way to turn her over to them?”
The dragon man shrugged.“There is the reward they offered ....”
“And you trust them to hand it over?”Zhor asked sarcastically.
“As a matter of fact, I d not. That is why I captured her alive.”He turned his attention to Annika. “What do you know of it?”
Again, Annika gaped at him in shock. “Know of what?” she asked blankly.
“Why your people would offer a reward for your head?”
Horror washed over her. “They wouldn’t! Why would they do that? I’m just a surveyor—a landscape engineer. I’m not important in any way, really. I can’t believe there’s any reason they would’ve offered a reward like that! You must have heard them wrong!” And what about the zorph, she wondered abruptly, recalling they had also been under the impression that there was a reward for her death?
The dragon man frowned, glanced speculatively at Zhor and relaxed his grip on her. “What is dis? You do?”
“I study the terrain—the area of land—and see if it would be a good place to build a colony—a village. Make sure there are no hazards—or at least that the place is as safe as can be had. Make sure it’s a healthy area—nothing in the soil or air or water to make people sick—like escaping gases, maybe poisonous plants ... that sort of thing. It needs to be close to a good, safe water source—but not in a flood zone.”
The dragon man was thoughtful for some moments when she stopped. “Dere were oders wid you, dah?”
The question triggered an avalanche of emotion and questions. “Captain Stoddard and Navigations officer Phillips ... but they died in the crash as far as I know.”
“Dey thought you also died.”
