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“Does this group of rebels have a name?” I finally ask, my tone growing haughty. I grin at the mercenary leader, but only so I can show him my pointed teeth.
The Grozznolan blinks a few times, then says, “I never got their name. But I already received the money, and I intend to follow through with my promise to vanquish the Darrvasons from this sector. I also want to get my hands on thirteen of your vessels. Imagine how powerful my fleet of mercenaries will be once we add Darrvason ships to our convoy.”
“We’ve scanned your ships, too,” I say, “and we know we’ll defeat you. Our weaponry is far superior to yours. Attack us, and it’ll mean your death.”
The repulsive creature grins again, and this time, saliva drips from the roofs of its terrible mouths. “I wish you luck, Darrvason scum.”
A shudder affects theJansonna, and the screen goes blank.
In the viewscreen, I glimpse beams of red as theHaxxaland other ships in the Darrvason fleet open fire on the mercenary vessels.
What happens next is fast, but brutal. Twenty horrid-looking Grozznolans appear on the bridge, their weapons held high. Beaming technology.Fluxx. No wonder they believed they had the upper hand despite the weaponry on their ships being less advanced than ours.
The mercenaries aim at the humans, who are slow to reach for their blasters. It’s a bloodbath, though a few humans manage to kill a Grozznolan. The captain, to my surprise, does very well. He manages to take out four.
I withdraw the tiny metallic shooting stars I keep in hidden pockets on my uniform, then I deploy them at the Grozznolans, sending off four at a time. The stars have a nerve agent embedded within them, and each target I hit immediately collapses to the floor, their bodies twitching for a moment until they grow still with death.
In the end, only ten human males on the bridge survive battle. All twenty Grozznolans are dead on the floor.
An update from Admiral Tornn flashes on my wrist comm.
The mercenaries attempted to beam onto theHaxxaland other ships in our fleet, but we managed to block their attempts. They also attempted to remotely hack our weapons systems, but we blocked those attempts as well. What is your status?
I send a quick reply, informing him of the dead Grozznolans on the bridge, admitting I’m unsure if there are more mercenaries on theJansonnabut promising to investigate. From the corner of my eye, I glimpse more beams of red shooting toward the mercenaries’ vessels. One by one, the Grozznolan ships explode, and debris goes flying.
A human male standing nearby cheers and lifts a fist in the air, but I shoot him a stern scowl. Because it’s too early for celebration.
“Scan every deck of this ship for signs of intruders!” I shout, and another human standing at a console is quick to obey the order.
As the smaller screens on the bridge finally flicker to life—the surveillance screens that show multiple corridors on theJansonna—it becomes apparent that the Grozznolans beamed to other locations on theJansonna. About forty of them, spread across twelve different locations.
In one corridor, Chief Xorrsa is bravely fighting off several of the alien mercenaries, and a quick look at other screens shows many Darrvason engineers are currently locked in battle with the Grozznolans.
I shout another order to the remaining human security officers, commanding them to join the Darrvason engineers in combat, though I suspect by the time they reach the specific locations on theJansonna, the Grozznolans will be long dead.
Except… a previously dark screen flashes to life on the human officer’s console, revealing a lone Grozznolan running down Deck Twenty-Two. The creature easily breaks down a door at the end of a corridor.No. No, it can’t be.
Fluxx.
Panic clutches my heart.
Jenny.
Her fear comes to me in a sickening wave. I hear her screaming in my head. I hear her pleading for my help.
I bolt into the corridor and race for Deck Twenty-Two.
Chapter28
JENNY
“Human females,”the strange creature bellows in Galactic Common. “Human females, you will come here. You will cooperate. I beamed on to the wrong deck without my comrades, and I’m in need of hostages. You will do.Come here.”
Two heads. Two mouths dripping with saliva and filled with razor sharp teeth. Eight eyes. A body bulging with muscles but also strange tentacles on its lower half. I’ve seen pictures of various aliens before, but I’ve never seen one so frightening as this.
I place an arm around my mother as we remain huddled in the corner of the sitting room. We’d flipped a sofa over in front of us, as though it would protect us from the terrifying creature. The alien has a weapon pointed in our direction that’s similar in appearance to a blaster. I really hope he doesn’t use it.
I close my eyes for a moment and concentrate.
