Gross.
I swiped the viscous goop away, only to discover the entire gangway section—floor to ceiling—along with every inch ofmewas covered in what was clearly the remains of my opponent.
So fucking gross.
Blowing out a shaky breath, I slowly stood on even shakier legs, determined to clean up this mess before Ziggy returned. A faint sound had me snapping my attention farther down the gangway, and my shoulders and spirit sank.
BecauseanotherMaroxian was waiting for me.
2
ZIGGY
My stellar collision is in trouble.
Must. Get. To. My. Mate.
Those were my only thoughts two minutes ago as I switched tactics partway through my mission, abandoning my original plan of espionage in favor of simply securing the asset and star hopping to my ship.
When I’d materialized on the gangway, close to where I’d felt Micah’s vibrations, my borrowed hearts nearly stopped.
What in Stellaria’s name happened here?!
Micah was standing—barely—and covered in a strange green substance with a Torrid Blaster dangling from his hand.
A blaster he was now aiming at me.
“Get thefuckoff my ship!” he growled in the trade language, making my borrowed dicktwitch with what a “bad bitch” he was being.
So cute and threatening…
When he cocked the blaster, I realized he was too keyed up to realize it wasmein this Maroxian skinsuit,which meant I had about a millisecond to react before he fired.
Icoulddeflect the blast with my tendrils, but I was still holding the asset in my claws, so I star hopped again—this time, materializing directly beside him.
“It’s me, my…” I crooned as non-threateningly as possible, wincing as I realized there was no direct translation in this language for either his name or what he was to me.“Celestial catastrophe.”
That works, given the situation.
“Wha—oh,thank fuck,”Micah replied in his native tongue, able to understand the Maroxian language thanks to his implanted translation device. “I maybe could have fought another one, but sheesh! That was alot.”
Wait, what?
He dropped the gun onto the pileof weapons he was inexplicably standing in and moved to hug me before rearing back. “Ugh. Hold on. I’m covered in… alien… goo.”
He paused to gingerly dissolve his shields. This was a process that normally fascinated me, but the reality of the situation was starting to settle in, and my true form did not like it one bit.
“You… fought a Maroxian?” I carefully asked as a few wayward tendrils unfurled,needingto touch him—to confirm he was unharmed. “How did a Maroxian get onto the ship?”
“Uh, haha, yeah, soooo, about that…” Micah laughed nervously, shifting on his feet and tripping over the goo-covered weapons littering the floor. “I may have… accidentally let one in, thinking it was you. But,as you can see,I took care of the problem.”
A Maroxian tried to hurt what was mine?
I AM GOING TO KILL THEM ALL!
“Hey! What's that you're holding?” My mate’s smooth voice momentarily distracted me from imminent violence.
If I’d had visible eyes, I would have slow-blinked. Instead, I followed his gaze down to my prize.
