27. Ryklin

The bastard sawme go down and thought he had me. I forgot the grim satisfaction that came from tricking the enemy.

He took two steps closer, and I fired, hitting him in the center of his chest. He went down, and I sprang up, ready to face whoever was next. Except no one came at me.

The smell of death and destruction hung heavy in the encampment. Several shacks had been destroyed, and the central brick oven was heavily damaged as both the smugglers and survivors had used it for cover at different points in the battle.

Galen approached. "We"ve got two cornered, but the rest are dead, or they"ve fled." He carried a large rifle that must have been taken off a dead smuggler.

The survivors had started this fight with little more than spears and ingenuity, but they were the ones left standing.

"How many attacked?" I"d killed two and seen another dead.

"About a dozen. I think they finally got tired of us."

I felt some shift in the air and looked behind Galen. Noelle came running, wearing only her trousers and a bra. She wrapped me tight in her arms and didn"t let go.

Not that I would let her.

"I saw you go down," she said, her lips brushing against my neck.

I tightened my grip, anger and worry warring. "You were supposed to stay hidden."

She pulled back just enough to look up at me and then over at Galen. "Astrid"s hurt badly. I bandaged her as best as I could, but she needs a doctor, or at least some med gel. Do you have anything?"

"No." Galen"s expression was stricken. "We can stitch her up. Clean the wound. And then …"

"She"s lost a lot of blood." Noelle stepped back from my embrace, and I felt the loss.

She led us to the shack where she"d left Astrid, and we acquired more people, Davis and others I didn"t know. There was no curtain to act as a door to this shack, and I spotted Astrid"s hair before I saw the rest of her. Her skin was deathly pale, and she moaned weakly. The remnants of Noelle"s top were tied around her chest in a makeshift bandage. And blood was still leaking around the side of it.

Davis fell to his knees beside her and took her hand. "Astrid …" He sounded broken.

Galen nodded for me to follow him outside. Noelle went with. "That woman has held us together for the last ten years." His voice was firm. "If it wasn"t for her, we"d all be dead or slaves to those smugglers. She can"t die."

"Maybe there are supplies back at the miners camp?" Noelle guessed, her brows drawn down in worry. "Do you think there are many of them left back there waiting?"

"We did kill two more," I reminded her. "Whoever"s back there is probably guarding their prisoners. And we have real weapons now."

"They rode here in two six-seater vehicles," said Galen. "Only one of those vehicles was destroyed."

"Then get your team together and gather as many weapons as you can. We leave as soon as I join you."

Galen nodded and ran for the center of the encampment.

"Let me go alone." I wasn"t begging my mate, not quite. But the thought of her running into danger made my entire being feel unsteady. "It"s probably safe enough. We"re going for medical supplies. We"ll be back in an hour."

She reached out and clutched my hand. "If you get captured again, I am going to be so pissed. You will never hear the end of it."

I kissed her, pouring every bit of promise I had into the touch of our lips. She tasted like the forest and something sweet, something entirely mine. I could get lost in the kiss forever.

But Astrid was bleeding out in the shack, and we were running out of time.

Noelle ran to find better bandages, and I took off to meet Galen. I didn"t see her again before I climbed into the vehicle with Galen"s team, and we were off.

It was a bumpy ride back to the mining camp until the driver figured out how to engage the anti-grav. After that, it only took a few minutes to clear the forest and make it to the mining camp. We were all braced for battle. I was waiting by my window with my rifle, ready to shoot anyone that threatened us. Galen was at the other window ready to do the same.

But no one was waiting.

We parked the vehicle and climbed out, heading straight for the heart of the camp. There was no use checking the outbuildings; they would have been stripped of anything useful years ago.

They"d keep their medical supplies to treat the smugglers and their slaves in the most secure part of the camp.

That was the plan.

Then I saw the transport.

I raised my hand, calling for a halt, even as my ears tickled with the sounds of fighting at the center of the camp. It sounded like the prisoners were fighting their captors. And no backup was coming.

"This is a ground to air transport, we can use it to take Astrid up to Nebula Outpost, get her a doctor." And it could get me and Noelle out of there. The transport was relatively small. That still meant it could probably fit every survivor in the encampment and then some.

I could see Galen making the same calculation in his eyes. Then he looked towards the sound of the struggle. "Get her up there. Then come back for us." He waved his people on, and they took off running towards the struggle to back up the prisoners.

I climbed into the pilot"s seat and powered the ship up. It was low on charge, which was probably why it was sitting here, but it would have enough power to get us to Nebula Outpost, especially with a light load.

I hoped.

I had to navigate by sight to get back to the encampment, and I landed on the very edge of the settlement, careful not to set down on anything too important. Several survivors had pilfered rifles aimed at me as I climbed out of the cockpit with my hands raised. When they saw me, most of them lowered their weapons.

Most.

"I"m getting Astrid to a doctor!" That got the rest of them to stand down.

And before I could even go looking, Davis, Noelle, and two others came jogging with Astrid on a makeshift stretcher. I hopped back into the cockpit to open the bay door for them to load her up. Davis and one of the stretcher bearers climbed back out of the cargo bay leaving Noelle with Astrid and a woman who"s name I didn"t know.

I wanted my mate with me that second, but I forced myself to keep my cool as I closed the bay door and launched the transport into the sky.

And once we were in range of Nebula Outpost, I broadcast a message on the comms. "I am a resident of Nebula Outpost, and I have an injured woman with me. She needs immediate medical attention."

And this time I was sure they were listening.