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Daisy shimmied through the hatch. Rexx caught her before she hit the dirt and quietly placed her down.
They ducked. Daisy could see the legs of the Gente who surrounded the ship. They wore dark green pants and black military style boots.
Rexx gestured toward the back of the ship. They crept along on their bellies.
Daisy’s heart thundered in her chest, a gun clutched in her hand. She could feel the alien tech squirming its way inside her, but with the energy transfer from Rexx, she was beating it back. It could damn well stay away from her. She wasn’t going back there. She wasn’t hurting Rexx again. He was her partner. They kept each other safe.
Rexx held up three fingers and pointed to Daisy’s right. He pressed a finger against his chest and gestured to the left.
She understood the code. It was common for them to operate in near silence when they were on missions. She was so used to Rexx’s silence that his recent confessions were still shocking to her. She’d seen a new side of Rexx on this mission. It was one she was desperate to investigate. But first, they had to get out of this tight spot in one piece.
They crawled on their stomachs until the Gente were in range.
Daisy drew in a long, deep breath. She exhaled and fired off three rounds into the legs of the Gente. Rexx did exactly the same.
There were cries of alarm, and six Gente were on the ground, writhing in agony as the shots hit home.
“Let’s move.” Rexx had one hand on Daisy as they speedily crawled out from under the ship.
Daisy leaped to her feet, keeping her knees bent, ready to run.
Rexx dispatched the six injured Gente before they could fire a single shot in their direction.
“Look out!” Rexx yelled. He was turning toward her when a blow smashed between Daisy’s shoulder blades.
“Keep the Human alive,” one of the approaching Gente ordered.
She winced as a hard punch landed on her kidney. They may want her alive, but they planned to cause damage. She glanced around and saw two more Gente racing over, their pale eyes narrowed and full of hatred.
Daisy heard Rexx grunting and cursing as he was attacked. She ducked, turned, and aimed her gun.
A Gente was almost on top of her. She kicked out and caught him in the groin. It was the perfect shot. He stumbled away, his hands clutched around his jewels.
When the next one rushed her, Daisy ducked under his arm and whacked the flat of her hand against his heart. She tried to get a shot off with her gun, but it went wide.
He wheeled back on her, so she flipped her gun and slammed the butt into his nose. There was a satisfying crack of bone. He crashed back, his hands against his shattered nose, losing his gun.
Daisy grabbed the weapon and turned to see how Rexx was doing. There was a blur of fists and cursing in front of her. The bag containing the cats was on the ground.
Before she could process the full scene, a shot skimmed her cheek, searing through the flesh and making her duck.
“Keep her alive!” another Gente yelled. “She dies, you die.”
Good. They wanted her. Which meant she could push her luck. Daisy charged one of the Gente, a scream tearing from her lips as they smashed together. Hard alien muscle split the skin of her knuckles as she punched out repeatedly.
It was no good. There were too many of them still alive. Three Gente had tackled Rexx, while the rest focused on her. They couldn’t beat them.
She deflected a punch that flew at her face, but a second attacker grabbed her, taking her off her feet and onto the ground.
Blood filled her mouth as she bit her tongue. A hand ground her face into the dirt, and hot breath blew across her cheek.
“Keep fighting. I’ve always wanted to kill a Human.”
“Nepel. Enough! Restrain the Human, but keep her alive,” a harsh voice barked.
The jerk, Nepel, took a few more seconds to enjoy crushing her into the ground before his grip slackened. That was a mistake. He didn’t know she came juiced with Apexian strength.
She flipped to her feet, swung out a kick, and sent Nepel to the ground. Another kick connected with his jaw, and blood splashed across the dirt.
