Assuming, of course, that the Sheloni had simply abandoned it.
It seemed indisputable that they would put a good deal of effort into tracking them—to rescue Nye, at least.
Otherwise, they would have to toe the line until they reached their destination and/or they had the infant King safely in their hands so that they had some chance of winning freedom without unnecessarily endangering him.
Always assuming the child was still alive, he thought grimly, unable to calculate the odds that that was likely.
He did not believe the Sheloni would kill the child outright when they would see he was of some value, but they were not above deciding to take him apart to study him and there was also the possibility of negligence.
Unless they had enough sense to return him to Emma?
He was not convinced that was likely. It seemed they would be more likely to hold him to insure her cooperation.
He got up from his platform and began to pace the small space allotted to him when it occurred to him he had no more idea whether she was alive than he had of any of the others. It seemed unlikely the Sheloni would have simply killed them or used them in their experiments when they were a race totally focused on profiting from other species and they would be worth more alive than dead. But one never knew with those bastards.
It would have been handy, he thought wryly, to have the telepathic abilities of the Hirachi. He’d never really understood how it worked, and it seemed that it was better under water, but he knew that Gaelen was able to pick up ‘whispers’ at least, even at great distances and in atmosphere and the ability seemed to work almost as well in the vacuum of space as it did in water.
Unfortunately, that only went for other Hirachi. He might be aware of Gaelen if he chose to probe his mind, but they couldn’t actually communicate.
Which was a fucking pity because he would have liked to know what the hell was going on.
It seemed unlikely he was going to get any answers at all, soon or late, and then without warning, the door of his cell popped open and he heard a tinny Sheloni voice ordering him out.
It set his back up immediately to be ordered, but he knew the futility of rebellion under the circumstances. He moved to the opening and stepped out.
Which was when he discovered just how many slaves the Sheloni had collected—because they’d turned them all out, he supposed, to exercise in a common area.
It did not take more than a handful of seconds to discover the others in his group.
Contrary to what he had expected to feel if and when he saw them again, however, relief was not the dominant emotion.
* * * *
Kadin knew they were in trouble as soon as he saw the first male glance their way and freeze.
“Get behind me, Emma,” he growled.
Emma was stunned at the command and then indignant … until she followed the direction of his gaze and saw what he was looking at.
She scurried behind him, trying to make as small a target as possible, struggling with the urge to peer around Kadin to see if the huge yellow alien was still heading in their direction.
From Kadin’s tense stance, she thought she could safely assume he was, but that didn’t make the urge any less urgent.
It was a survival thing, she supposed. Sheneededto know if trouble was coming and how fast.
When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she very carefully leaned to peer around the wall of flesh that was all that stood between her and annihilation.
She sucked in a breath edged with a scream when she saw there were five or six headed their way, two of the yellow skinned ones that looked a lot like Gaelen—but weren’t—and two that were less humanoid and one similar to Hauk.
Kadin stiffened, but he didn’t glance around. “What part of hide did you not grasp?” he muttered in a low growl. “Get back if you do not want to get trampled. I am about to need fighting room.”
“Oh god,” Emma gasped, wondering how much room he needed and if she would still be hidden if she moved so much as an arm’s length.
On the other hand, she was pretty sure she’d been spotted already.
Would more join them if she was spotted?
Abruptly, far too soon, it seemed to her, for the males headed her way to have actually arrived, two alien males landed heavily on either side of Kadin.
To her surprise, instead of instantly attacking either of them, or vice versa, the two took up defensive stances beside Kadin.
Which was when it finally dawned on her that it must be Hauk and Gaelen.
She wasn’t actually familiar with their bare asses so she couldn’t positively identify them, but it seemed indisputable.
Nothing else happened and when Emma finally got up the nerve to peer out again, she saw that the—now nearly a dozen—males had paused while still more than a running jump away from them.
She might have been impressed except she wasn’t as certain it was because they were intimidated by the three men or not as she wanted to be. Before she could decide, they bellowed challenges and charged.
She screamed ear splittingly.
It echoed around the cavernous chamber like a siren.
Almost instantly the horrible metal monsters that had terrorized her before appeared from the walls, heading straight for them.
Unfortunately, the men were already engaged in trying to kill each other and the robots were upon them before they realized they’d joined the melee.
It was all over but the weeping in a matter of seconds.
The combatants gave a good account of themselves, even barehanded, by taking apart three of the machines, but they were overwhelmed.
