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Without even thinking, I took off the man’s head. I leapt forward and ripped it off with my bare hands, and he was so surprised by my savagery he didn’t even manage to pull the trigger on his weapon. He died with the gun still pointed at his hostage’s head.
Airlock wasn’t here. I didn’t see her. I grabbed the woman, the hostage. Her eyes were raw fear. I was covered in blood, so I spoke in the calmest voice I could muster. “You’re safe now. We’ll clothe, feed, and protect you now. No human men will ever touch you again.”
She looked up at me with glassy eyes, desperately wanting to believe me. I couldn’t provide her anything yet. My men were all naked and had nothing to offer but guns. “I promise you,” I said. I couldn’t hold back any longer though, so I leaned in. “Please, tell me, I’m looking for a woman. Airlock Eve. Engineer Eve. Matron Eve. Do you know—”
“She…she…she…” she stammered, “she left with Ski Coach and B-B-B-Bartender.”
Yes. She’d been here already. She’d told me. I needed to be more specific. “Did she come back? After she left?”
The woman shook her head. “We should have gone with her. I was too scared to leave, but I should have.”
“You never saw her again?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “Hopefully she found the alien pack. The purple ones.”
I sighed relief that she hadn’t been back here. “How much did you endure?”
I asked it not to pick at her wounds, but to remind my men why we were fighting. White-hot rage—which I felt when I ripped off the fucker’s head—was often more powerful than a mere rifle.
“N-n-not so bad,” she said. “I mean,Idid. That one…” she said, eyes looking down to the headless body, “…that one took a liking to me. The captain told him not to, said we’d be worth a lot more untouched. Most of these women were luckier than me. I’m not the kind of woman to break from this though.”
She looked over toward my men. “I’ll take a Khetar still. A real man.”
It felt sudden and strange for her to say this now, but when two of my men—Nykos and Feriok—started shoving each other to reach her, I understood.
Nykos tried to elbow Feriok in the face, but he blocked the blow.
“Stop!” I growled. “You idiots! There’s two of you. Do the math.”
They grinned at each other, shook hands, and then they were on the woman. Nykos closed her coat and rubbed her shoulders, while Feriok stroked her hair and whispered softly into her ear. I nodded in approval, proud at my men for knowing that this woman needed comfort now more than anything. And protection.
More women stood, throwing themselves at my men. 1-on-1 pairings and triumvirates formed, and we reformed our squad, leaving five soldiers behind to protect all the women, while the rest of us pressed on, looking for more survivors—and more pirates to kill.
Our main goal, however, was to find Airlock.
