Archer nods. “She knows she can’t make it all the way to Jesel. She tries to go through the Massin Asteroid clusters like that, her craft will vecking fly apart.” He pauses.
I rub my ear. “Take her before she lands on Techna, or after?”
Domm considers. “An aerial link with her craft will be simple.”
I agree. “And we’ll avoid ground interference from any being on Techna.”
Archer shakes his head. “I say wait until she lands, then do a surgical extraction for all three. Fast, invisible, silent. I’m not confident her hull can handle the magnetic pull when we overtake her. Don’t want to risk losing atmosphere. It’s worth the hassle of dealing with the Technians. They always look the other way when it comes to squabbles.”
We nod our acceptance of this command and prepare our ship for entry, the three of us working together effortlessly. We know this routine by heart.
“Company.” Domm’s voice is taut. “Starboard, three ticks, closing fast.”
Veck. My fingers dance over the air screen. “Ocretion pirates, outlaws. They’ve locked onto our ship and hers.”
I’m not letting those gray-skinned lumps anywhere near our humans. Yes, I consider them ours already. Because the little warrior is mine. Mine and Domm’s, if he wants to share.
“They know she’s got human cargo?” Domm’s voice rises.
“Don’t know, but they’re flashing the signal for takeover,” I reply.
“Model?” Domm asks.
“They’re got one of the newest Ocretion fighters. Veck, I’d like to get my hands on that and reverse engineer it,” Archer remarks.
I shove back my impatience. Archer should be more worried about the females than the vecking craft. “That’s what they want to do to us. Plans?” I ask.
“I say we grab her and the other humans, and jump. They’ve got a new warship but it can’t best ours in speed.” A beat.
“We can take them if we’re surgical,” I agree. Adrenaline spikes. “If we do it right, we can take their ship, too.” I know Archer’s fingers itch to examine their control system. Figure out what they do with their jump drive. But it’s the little female I crave. Leaving her behind, to the cruelty of the Ocretions? Not possible.
“Agreed.” Domm sets the controls and the G-forces nearly flatten us as our ship instantly presses forward, but our training and our physiology make us able to withstand it. “I was curious to see what’s happening on Techna.” Domm works the controls, deftly maneuvering us around an asteroid belt.
“Another time.” I glance at my holo readout. “The Ocretions are messaging.”
The signal comes up on our screen—a hostile warning to back off or suffer fire. Our shields can handle their fire, even with their newest warcraft—at least a few rounds.
We ignore it. Don’t reply.
“Shields up.” Domm adjusts our cloaking. “Prepare to board the human craft.”
Chapter 2
Domm
* * *
I watch Lanz’ fingers tighten around his sword. One tussle with a female and he’s lost. It only surprises me because he didn’t express the least bit of interest in mating or homesteading when King Zander decreed the repopulation effort had begun. All around us, warriors fought to form alliances and claim the limited number of human females available, and Lanz just shrugged. He and I were content to continue running missions.
“Go.” He readies the controls. “Docking systems engaged.”
I flash up the holo screen that shows our craft and hers, the distance magically shrinking as we advance upon her. Our ship has the latest in Zandian technology, where we can magnetically connect to another craft and board it in space.
“She see us coming?” There’s a tightness in Lanz’ voice. He respects the female. Hell, I do, too. What she did back on Shirtang, what she’s doing now, is unheard of.
“No. Not even for a vecking moment. But she does see the Ocretions. Look how she’s swinging her course, hoping to get into Technan airspace faster.”
Our link system, enhanced by a human/Zandian team back on Zandia, is so sophisticated we barely notice a bump as our craft touches hers and the external equipment locks into place, lasers burning a door into her craft. We’ll tow it back or affix an auto-drive so it can follow us as a drone back to Zandia, if it’s worth salvaging—for interest sake, even.