She struck once. Then twice. She was accurate and controlled, just like she’d been taught. One attacker collapsed. Another lost his weapon and backed away from her, not watching where he was going.
Jack finished that man with a shove into his friend. The two of them stumbled for a few steps until their heads collided. They dropped to the ground and didn’t move. The microbial soil crept up over them, silently and without protest from either man.
The leader looked around at his fallen comrades, his expression unsure.
Half his crew was on the ground. The other half suddenly seemed less enthusiastic and didn’t move to continue the battle.
Jack stood between them and Madelaine. He was breathing steadily, seemingly not even winded, looking almost bored.
“You still want to do this?” Jack asked.
The leader hesitated. The remaining mercenaries all looked at each other.
Madelaine dropped the pulse baton, withdrew a compact Paladin pulse device from her front flak pants pocket and aimed at the ground between them. The blast struck the feet of the mercenary directly behind the leader. The resulting electrical discharge launched him backward into his remaining friends. Three went down.
The leader stared at his groaning crew. One man was still trying to negotiate with the dirt.
Jack took a single step forward.
The mercenary took two backward and slowly raised his hands in the air. “You know what? This one time, we’ll let you pass.”
“Smart choice,” Jack said.
Clearly, the fight was over. Thankfully.
“We should leave.” Madelaine tightened her grip on the box and returned her pulse weapon to her front pocket. Eyes never leaving the mercenaries, she stooped to pick up the baton and return it to its hiding place in the leg of her flak pants.
“Excellent choice,” Jack said.
The mercenaries who were conscious retreated. Very quickly.
Madelaine watched to ensure they kept moving away.
She then looked at Jack, who was grinning. Once the path was clear, they resumed their walk to the ship.
“You told them I was carrying your child with a straight face. I didn’t realize what a good liar you are. I mean, I even believed you for a second and we both know it isn’t true.” She smiled.
“Maybe I was improvising. Plus, I was trying to make them reconsider their demands without having a big bad brawl I might lose.”
“You said three months. Totally not feasible.”
Jack threw his hands in the air. “I can neither confirm nor deny a generous amount of panic as I spoke.”
“You calculated an entire pregnancy timeline while panicking?”
He shrugged. “It was more of an out-of-body experience. I’m not actually clear on any of the words that came out of my mouth. I was thinking more about how to take down a whole hoard of mercenaries by myself.”
“I wasn’t worried. You did great.”
“Thanks. So did you. And thanks for picking up the slack, even in your delicate condition.”
“So funny. Yes, the delicate condition that might be a few hours along instead of months.”
He looked at her as if contemplating what had happened between them that might lead to a delicate condition. She shouldn’t remind him of things like that. They both knew that she didn’t get to keep him, regardless of their feelings on the matter.
And if she did end up in a delicate condition and Jack found out about it, he’d change his entire life to be with her and their child. She didn’t want him to make that kind of sacrifice, like she had. One sacrifice between them was plenty enough.
Time to change the subject. Madelaine glanced at the sky. “It’s getting darker. We should hurry.”
