Fuck.
The ship bay was crawling with them. Just what sort of vessel did they travel in…
And then she saw it.
Or, at least, she glimpsed it.
A section of the roof opened and a huge dark ship caught her eyes before another set of Hedgeruds began descending on what looked like a transparent disk that hovered in the air.
“Incoming!” she shouted for Ka’Cit’s benefit as she unloaded her weapon in the enemies’ direction.
She hit three of them and they fell off the disk, leaving about four more, but when she tried to fire again, her gun didn’t work.
A look at the weapon and she realized the energy bar was empty.
Fuck.
Ka’Cit was across the room and she saw when his own weapon stopped working and he threw it to the side.
His gaze searched and locked on her just as he pulled his two blasters from his hip.
“The ship!” he shouted. “Head for the ship.”
Her heart thudded against her chest.
The ship was across the bay and she was on the other side.
She’d have to dash out in the open to get to it, but she wasn’t worried about that.
She wasn’t going to just leave him to fight a war that was hers.
Nia had to think fast.
She needed a gun.
Backtracking, she ran toward the Hedgerud she’d killed and grabbed his weapon and just in time too.
Heat burned next to her ear and Nia’s eyes widened at the spot in the ship next to her that suddenly had a hole the size of a golf ball in it.
That was close.
Her gaze rose just as she lifted the blaster.
It was different from the one she had just been using but it worked the same.
The Hedgerud firing at her aimed again and she didn’t think.
Her muscles worked on their own.
The trigger pressed and a bright orange blast shot from the gun, scorching the floor beneath her.
Fuck.
This one was even more powerful than the last blaster.
But she’d marvel over it later.
The guard who’d almost killed her dropped to the ground, his body burnt to a crisp and Nia almost lost her stomach’s contents.
Turning her gaze away, she heaved as she tried to settle her stomach.
That’s when movement to her side caught her gaze.
She raised her blaster, aimed, and froze.
Ka’Cit put his hands up, his eyes wide.
“I got them. Phek,” he muttered before his shoulders shook with a chuckle. “Second time you raise a blaster against me.”
Nia’s shoulders sagged and she lowered her weapon with a small laugh. “Sorry.”
“We don’t have much time. We have to go.”
Nia nodded and followed behind him as he spun and headed across the hold. He moved fast though she was able to keep up, but they were heading to their ship, she realized.
“What about the metal?”
In the next few seconds as they made their way toward the vessel, Nia noticed one thing.
There were no other aliens in the hold.
Either they were hiding like before, or they’d sensed the danger and gone somewhere safe to escape the fallout.
They reached the ship in the next few moments and Ka’Cit opened the doors, stooped, grasped her in his arms, and carried her into the vessel.
His breath was coming hard as he removed his mask and she was finally able to look up into his face.
He bent then, and his lips closed over hers in a bruising kiss.
“No way I’m letting you get near that ship. You stay here. I’ll go.”
“But—”
He pressed her into the wall and his forehead met hers as his breaths heaved from him.
“I’m not budging on this one, Nee-ya.”
She could hear the resolution in his voice but she nodded.
His gaze fell to her lips once more before he put his mask back on, and then the door was closing and he was gone.
Nia paced a little before she slammed a hand against the button that closed off the airlock.
The cabin opened and she stepped in, her heart thumping in her chest as she began to pace.
Time wasn’t on their side.
She was sure that more of those guys would be on their tail soon. The others would have surely sent another distress signal—if not about her presence, at least about the fact they were being attacked.
There must be something she could do while she waited or else she was going to go mad from the anxiety.
Was there a computer or something…?
“AI? Ship?” Her gaze travelled over the roof of the ship but there was no response.
“Computer?”
It took a second, but the control panel of the ship lit up. A surge of excitement went through her.
“Computer, can you understand me?”
“Language, Een-glish, has been updated on the servers. All controls can be accessed using this language.”
Nia smiled and warmth filled her again.
He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he’d sent a worldwide update. She guessed it also reached the ships in the network.
“Computer, prep for takeoff.”
She had no idea if that would work but when she heard the ship’s engine begin to hum, her confidence grew.
“Priming main engines.”
Fuck, yes.
Now to wait.
But she couldn’t help being nervous.
He’d gone up there all alone in a fight that wasn’t even his and her heart bled and clenched at that thought.
34
She was waiting for maybe ten minutes when movement outside the ship caught her attention.
With the help of the computer, she’d managed to turn the ship toward the service station’s airlock and now she could see straight toward that strange disk-like elevator thing.
Her heart thumped in her chest as she saw Ka’Cit hop on it.
He was still shooting upward and her gaze rose.
Fuck.
There were Hedgeruds on the landing above the lift. Their blasters were pointed directly at him and he was in the open.
Reckless motherfucker.
Her reckless motherfucker.
The thought made her pause for only a second and a strange feeling developed in her chest as she watched Ka’Cit jerk, a laser bullet missing him by mere inches.
She wasn’t about to just watch while they shot him down.
Grabbing her blaster, she punched the button on the ship’s airlock and rushed toward the back of the
