As Vegrun spoke, Khar had already torn open the locker containing weapons and protective gear.
He fastened a defensive vest onto Lily with the brisk efficiency one might use on a child, then secured his own.
“Sir, ten against two alters the odds. I am owed triple hazard pay, and Lily should be allowed to order a solar collector for her vessel if we resolve this minor inconvenience.”
Lily froze mid-motion and looked up at him with sudden hope.
A solar collector.
Only premium owners like Vegrun could order one.
It would reduce her fuel consumption to a tenth of its current level.
Her resistance collapsed instantly.
Khar suppressed the half-smile tugging at his mouth.
Only one being remained to be convinced.
Vegrun seemed more distressed by the negotiation than by the attack.
Had he possessed teeth, he would have ground them.
Then the bathroom door opened behind him, and he had no choice but to agree.
“Fine. But deal with it quickly. Darling, there you are. I ordered you a new surprise. What? No, not that. I learned from last time.”
Khar cut the connection with a grin, sparing himself the rest of Vegrun’s pitiful scrambling, and pressed a stun weapon into Lily’s hands.
Before she could object, he spoke over her.
“Stay behind me. I will handle this. Nothing will happen to you. If they are not vukri and they are armed, your vest will absorb any ranged strikes. You will feel only the shockwave. I am nearly certain they will prefer close combat. When we enter, we move straight into the storage aisles. They will think they have the advantage. They will be wrong.”
Lily nodded once and tightened her grip on the weapon.
“I understand, but why not simply deploy Vitro’s drones?”
“Impossible. IMPERIUM law forbids autonomous systems from attacking sentient beings. Every unit has an automatic lockout in situations like this. Now move.”
Before the human female could change her mind, Khar slammed his palm onto the door control and broke into a sprint toward the rows of storage lockers.
Lily ran after him, careful to stay in the giant’s shadow, but contrary to her expectations, no projectiles came flying their way.
When they reached the narrow corridors between the lockers, Khar was grinning broadly.
“This is it. Now the hunt begins.”
The first intruder burst into view. The lean, brown-skinned creature was nearly as tall as Khar, but lacked the mass and definition of a Divani frame. It rushed toward them at frightening speed, shrieking to summon its companions. One clawed, membrane-like limb swung up to strike. Khar caught it effortlessly at the joint and bent it back the wrong way.
The creature’s scream was piercing, but mercifully brief. Khar slammed it to the floor and crushed its skull under his boot.
Two more vukri appeared almost at once. One rounded the corner where the first had fallen. The other launched itself from the top of the locker row. Khar kicked the runner hard enough to snap its spine, but the second landed on his neck, its serrated teeth snapping toward his throat. Khar threw himself backward into a metal support pillar, pulverizing the creature against it.
He turned toward Lily with a triumphant look.
That was when a harpoon-like metal spike tore through his right shoulder and burst from his chest.
Khar dropped to one knee. Even as he fell, he dragged his attacker close. The vukri barely understood what had happened before Khar smashed its skull against the pillar.
