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“I don’t like this,” Hunter grumbled. “We should wait.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you were here with other Apexians. You’d be itching to fight the Siblet.”
“That’s a different scenario.”
She shrugged. “I’m not asking you to like it, I’m asking you to obey an order. You think you can do that?”
Hunter pulled back his shoulders. “Yes, boss.”
Cleo almost took back the command. She felt like the biggest jerk for pulling rank on Hunter. She never did that, but this was too important to worry about his feelings. She wouldn’t allow the Siblet to get away with this. If they cut off their supply now, it could set the Siblet plans back months. This was just what they needed. And those gabblefoot, she couldn’t allow them to suffer. There’d been enough pain and torture at the hands of the Siblet.
“You distract them, I’ll grab their ship, and then you return to our transport and get out of here. We’ll head straight to the Apocalypse before the Siblet know what’s hit them.”
Hunter’s mouth twisted to the side. “If I hauled you away over my shoulder and confined you to our ship, would you fire me?”
“Absolutely.”
“If I did it to keep you safe, would it make a difference?”
“Hunter! We go now. High Command will be impressed we used our initiative.”
“Are you sure? What if this goes wrong?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Are you doubting your abilities or mine?”
He growled out a breath. “Neither. But if the Siblet learns we’re on to them, it will mean trouble.”
“Not if we stop them from creating a super race of invisible killing machines. Now, let’s move.”
He was quiet for a moment as he studied the ship. “I know just how to distract them. I’ll make sure they pay you no attention.”
Cleo bounced on her toes, eager for some Siblet payback.
They spent five minutes observing the ship. She could tell Hunter was pissed at her by the set of his shoulders and the way he wouldn’t look at her, but he’d have to suck it up. She was in charge. If things went wrong and High Command wanted to rip her a new hole, she’d take the punishment. But they wouldn’t fail.
“I’ve counted all the Siblet are off the ship,” she said. “And they haven’t brought the gabblefoot back out. They must be keeping them on board for some reason.”
“Are you sure about this?” Hunter said. “We’ve got enough information to report back a successful mission to High Command. We’ve found a new base.”
“I can tell you’re dying to attack some Siblet. This is your chance to put that warrior training to use.”
He grumbled under his breath, but didn’t say anything.
“So long as you can draw them all away, I can easily make it to that ship,” she said.
“I’ll have no problem doing that.” Hunter turned and caught Cleo’s face in his hand, before brushing his thumb across her cheekbone. “Keep your head down and shoot any mother fucker that moves. Once you’re inside that ship, seal the docking ramp behind you.”
“I know what I’m doing.” Cleo’s heart stuttered at his tender touch. “You be careful, too.”
“Like you said, we’re dealing with a few jerks who don’t know how to handle themselves.” Hunter flashed her a grin and then raced away.
Cleo’s heart hammered in her chest as she waited to see what Hunter would do. It didn’t take long to find out, when there was a huge bang and a flash of fire shot into the sky.
The troop of Siblet moved to the front of the ship. Several raced over to where the fire was blazing.
Two remained behind, but their attention was no longer on the docking ramp. So long as they kept their backs turned to her, she could make it.
Cleo did one last check to make sure no one was watching, then pelted across the open space. She had only a hundred steps to run, then fifty. She was going to make it. She pumped her arms as hard as she could, keeping her attention on the two Siblet who’d remained behind.
