Krystal patted the pocket on the side of her backpack. “Right here.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Before T’arq could step out, another bang sounded on the hull, and a shadow loomed on the outside of the hatch. One dark claw curled its way through the open hatch, then another until there were six.
T’arq pushed Krystal behind him and drew the pistol from the holster on his thigh. He aimed it through the open hatch and, as the head of the Xakul soldier appeared, he fired.
The Xakul screamed in rage and pulled itself into the cargo hold, the sheer mass of the insect-like alien taking up most of the space. Two of its legs reached for T’arq, who pulled a knife from a sheath at his ankle and sliced in warning through the air.
“Go! Get out of here! Use the cockpit hatch!” T’arq yelled.
“But—”
“If you stay, we’re both dead! Go!” T’arq grunted as he threw up an arm to block a blow. He didn’t turn to see Krystal go, but he heard her swear softly as she pushed through the cockpit hatch.
“T’arq?”
“Go!”
Fighting a Xakul in close quarters was never a good idea. Their exoskeleton acted like natural armor, making it extremely difficult to land a killing blow. A plasma pistol could do some damage if used at exactly the right location, but the best bet was to blast it with a plasma cannon. But with Krystal on the ship and in such close quarters, T’arq knew that a blast from a plasma cannon would kill them both.
“I’m out.” Krystal’s voice hitched over the comm.
T’arq dodge and weaved, avoiding the four arms of the Xakul as it used its lower legs to brace against the sides of the small hold. “Are you out of range?”
“Why? What are you going to do?”
He spun through the air, the lack of gravity working for him as he moved behind the Xakul soldier.
“Plasma cannon.”
“No! T’arq, you’ll kill yourself.”
“Are you out of range?” He spun in the air, wrapping a tangling cable around the neck of the Xakul and pulling tight, his feet on its back as he strained. Muscles straining, he grunted as he pulled with all his might.
“Yes,” came the whispered reply.
T’arq’s arms straining, he found extra strength and with a final jerk; the Xakul went limp.
He pulled himself out of the hatch on the underside of the ship, holding onto the handholds usually used for climbing to the cockpit. He looked over the side of the ship. The Xakul fighter was still there, the hooks attached to the ship dragging it along in little bumpy jerks. As he watched, Xakul soldiers emerged from a hatch and swarmed down toward the stealth ship.
More of the bastards.
Grabbing the plasma cannon he had slung over his shoulder, he aimed for the center of the group of Xakul and fired.
