“Very impressive,” Maggie says from beside me. “What do I get to do?”
“You get to come with me.” I beckon her to me. “And that…thing…stays behind.”
“If there’s the possibility of instant death, then he will stay behind,” she replies, extracting the horc from her hair.
“In a forcefield.”
“Horace says he doesn’t need a forcefield,” she replies. “He’s eaten enough now.”
I glare at the horc. It blinks discordantly back at me.
“Eaten,” it says in her voice.
Something I doubt very much, but we don’t have time to argue as Maggie lowers the creature to the floor and it runs off, presumably to chew the wiring once more.
“Then it is time you came with me, my mate.” I wrap my arm around her waist, and I’m rewarded by a little grunt and notbeing envenomated. “And we can deal with our enemies once and for all.”
MAGGIE
Driok is, as usual, completely full of himself. But I can’t exactly say he’s not competent. After all, he has this huge space ship, his warriors seem extremely well trained, and he had a plan, which is more than can be said for other Sarkarnii warlords I’ve come across.
I go with him, through the ship and a series of airlocks. In one, he picks up a bag and slings it over his shoulder with a wink at me.
“Sometimes it’s not always possible to change into my Sarkarnii form.” He pats the bag. “Which is where these come in useful.” He stows his big ray gun rifle inside.
“Any chance I can have a weapon?”
Driok narrows his eyes.
“I know how to use a pulsar pistol. Kerra taught me.”
“Who is Kerra?”
I glare at him. “She’s one of my friends. One of the other human females.”
Driok nods as if he was just making sure, and not that he hadn’t a clue what my friends’ names are. He studies my face for a while, then puts his hand in the bag, bringing out a tiny pulsarpistol and handing it to me. I check it over and then slide it into my pocket without a word.
Is that a growl I hear? I’m not sure. All I know is Driok turns his back, and I follow him through the final airlock where a hot breath of wind hits my face filled with a myriad of smells.
Quite a lot of them are…not good.
I cover my face with my hand.
“Where the hell have you brought me?” I look at Driok as the airlock opens further and the outside reveals itself.
“This is Szorn, and it is the ass end of this universe,” Driok replies.
“You sure know how to show a girl a good time,” I respond, my voice muffled by my hand and my stomach churning.
I rather wish I hadn’t had the fee now.
“Here.” Driok hands me a small folded thing which looks like plastic.
I take it from him with my free hand and shake it out.
“Use it to cover your face,” he says.
I wrinkle my nose, but what other options do I have? I doubt very much I’m leaving the ship if the rest of the planet smells like this. I slap the thing on my face, feeling for the elastic which will go over my ears, but there’s nothing. I slide my hands around and find it is…stuck. But the best thing? I can’t smell anything anymore.
