20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Tareq

I feel terrible leaving Astra behind, but I know she'll be safer back in the cellblock, especially after I've blocked the door controls leading into that part of the ship. Now the Genixarians can't get to her and she can't wander into danger in case she tries to be brave and go after me.

Me? I do what I've been trained for. I stalk through the ship, checking behind every door to make sure I don't have enemies at my back. I kill a Genixarian walking down the hallway and another sleeping in his bed. I don't take any prisoners. Show no mercy.

I find an access point to the ship's system and use the dead guy's hand to unlock it. After sending a short, encrypted message to my squad, I retreat into the lower levels of the ship.

The Genixarians have finally noticed that something's amiss, and are now searching the ship in groups of four, carrying laser rifles. I'm a damned good fighter, but no one can fight off a shot from a laser rifle, so I hide.

I take out one of the scientists who'd probed my Astra and caused her to cry. The snap of his neck is quite satisfactory. His buddy, who thought it was a good idea to operate on my Myále without sedatives, is not around, but I'll find him later. We're going to have a little chat.

I try to dial down my violent urges. In truth, we're supposed to be arresting these guys and bringing them back for trial. There's no death penalty in the UGC's legal system, so they'll get life in prison, probably on an asteroid mining colony. Not a great life, but still better than they deserve. They touched my mate. I want them dead.

My comm lights up with incoming transmission. I duck into the nearest room, making sure I'm alone before accepting the call.

"Nova 2, this is Nova 1, over."

Hearing the captain's voice makes me smile. Damn, I've missed my squad. "This is Nova 2," I answer. "Took you long enough to join the party, Nova 1."

"Fuck you, Tareq," a female voice grumbles. "Why didn't you signal us earlier?"

I'm not about to go into details of my failed plan over the radio. There will be enough time for that later. "It's great to hear you too, Lyriana," I say, grinning. Lyri is the only female on our team and she's perpetually grumpy. "I ran into issues, but they've been dealt with. ETA?"

"Eight minutes," says another familiar voice. "I'm glad you're safe, Tareq. We've been worried about you."

"You know me, Faelin, I'm indestructible. Which airlock will you be breaching?"

Faelin chuckles, in a good mood as usual. He's Lyriana's polar opposite, always cheerful and optimistic even when everything around goes to shit. "Actually, we're just going to land in the hangar bay. The door's open, so we'll take them up on the invitation."

"Open? Where are we?"

"Orbiting over Ralax 8a," the captain responds. "Another forbidden planet. We're detecting a shuttle returning from the surface. Their ETA is the same as ours. You better hurry if you want to join the party."

Do I ever! "Copy that, Nova 1. I'll be there."

I sprint out of my hiding spot, running straight into two Genixarians. They look to be technicians, their body suits smeared in engine sludge, their belts bristling with wrenches and other tools. They watch me in terror, the one I've knocked down trying to crawl away.

It would be easy to kill them. A little too easy, perhaps. My instincts scream at me to just snap their necks and be done with them, but they're technicians. They may be on a slaver ship but they're still just stupid mechanics.

"Do not make a sound," I growl, quickly stripping them off their comms and all the tools. I don't have any handcuffs at hand, so I stuff my prisoners into a tiny supply closet and smash the door controls. That should hold them.

As I close in on the hangar bay, I hear the sounds of the fight. I recognize the sound of the captain's heavy machine gun and the high-pitched huffs of Omni's sniper rifle. D'Aakh and Lyri are using the standard-issue laser rifles. And Faelin…

I can't help but laugh as I hear his roar. A Genixarian screams in pain. A heavy thud later, the enemy's cries die out in gurgles. The door opens for me just in time to see Faelin wielding his hammer, making his way between enemies like a madman, unafraid of the projectiles and laser beams flying around him.

"Tareq!" he beams at me even as he swings the hammer against a crate two Genixarians are hiding behind. One peeks out of the cover with a rifle, ready to shoot, then falls back when a laser beam hits him straight into the center of his forehead.

Faelin cheers. "Bullseye! Great job, Omni!"

"Shut the fuck up and take cover, you idiot!" Omni yells back at him. With one mighty flap of his wings, he leaps up to an overhead walkway, immediately aiming his rifle at the remaining Genixarians.

"I don't need cover," Faelin chuckles. "I have you." He pats my shoulder, his toothy grin wide. "It's good to see you, friend. I was worried when you didn't report as planned."

I grunt and reach for Faelin's pistol since he's not using it anyway. The doofus doesn't like firearms. He likes smashing people with a hammer. "Yeah, there's been a slight change in plans."

"Oh, let me guess," Lyriana snickers as she joins us, "you fucked up and got captured, didn't you?"

She's not wrong, but I'm not admitting it. "I was supposed to infiltrate the ship. I'm on the fucking ship. Who cares how I got here?" I reply gruffly, shooting at one of the few remaining Genixarians.

"Mhm. Totally fucked up," Lyriana teases, grinning at me. She's going to make fun of me for weeks, but I realize I don't really care. I'll be spending those weeks with Astra, anyway.

I think about her, hoping she's safe. She hasn't contacted me, so I'll suppose she's fine, even though a bad feeling gnaws at me. Does everyone feel that way when they're separated from their mates? Do they spend every waking minute worrying?

Faelin yanks on my hand, pulling me away just before a laser beam hits the wall behind me. "Careful, friend."

I roll my eyes. "You're telling me to be careful? I'm not the one who brought a freaking hammer to a gunfight," I tease. "Thanks though. I'm a little distracted."

"No shit," Lyriana snickers. "How many more enemies are on the ship?"

I shake off my worries about Astra, doing my best to focus on the task at hand. "Four dead in the cellblock, three more on the central levels, and I've locked up two techs in a storage closet. According to my information, there were about forty people aboard this ship, all Genixarians."

"Good," Faelin grins, weighing his hammer, "they make good targets."

"Twelve in this hangar," Lyriana says, "which should leave about twenty of them on the ship. No problem."

The last Genixarian is flushed out of his cover by Omni shooting from above. Lyriana's rifle huffs and the alien stumbles down. She hit him without even aiming and is properly smug about it. "Let's go kill the rest of these fuckers," she suggests. "I'm bored."

"All clear!" Omni shouts, flying over the hangar bay to check before landing next to us.

"Everyone alright?" captain Zarkan asks as he approaches. "Faelin? Is the new armor holding?"

After realizing that Faelin wouldn't change his habits of charging into the fights headfirst, we've all pitched in and had a special armor created for him. It's lightweight, similar to a thicker bodysuit, but can withstand hits from most weapons. It cost a fortune, money Faelin wouldn't be able to save up even if he served for a decade. Captain paid the majority and the rest of us gave what we could. Seeing the tears in Faelin's eyes after we'd handed him the armor was worth it.

He's young, but he's already been through more than the rest of us. Growing up in the slums, he's always had to fend for himself, but it didn't dampen his spirit. He's the most optimistic person I've ever met. It gets so annoying that sometimes I want to take that hammer of his and smash his head in. I hate the fucker. But I also love him like a little brother. We all do. Like Faelin says, we're a family. A pretty messed up family, but family nonetheless.

As we move deeper into the ship, I ponder over my future. Nova squad is my family. I have a family back on my home planet and I love them, but the bond I have with my squad mates is different. But now, I have Astra. She's the most important thing in the universe and I want to be with her, but…

Being a Voidstalker is dangerous. I'm often away for weeks at a time. She wouldn't like that. I can't have both Astra and this job but I already know I'll never give up Astra, which means I'll have to give up being a member of the Nova squad. Give up my family. The thought hurts.

"Pay attention, idiot!" Lyriana yells at me, tackling me just in time to avoid another barrage of laser fire. I've walked around a corner without checking for enemies and nearly paid for it with my life.

I let my instincts take over, rolling to my side and shooting at the enemies while the rest of my squad provides cover fire. The Genixarians scatter, leaving the dead and wounded behind and retreating toward the bridge.

Zarkan offers me his scaly hand and helps me up. "Everything alright, Tareq?" he asks, frowning. "If you don't start paying attention, I'll order you to stay back in the Dart."

I flush, dreadfully embarrassed. I'm not a rookie that needs to wait in the ship while the grownups do the work. "I'm sorry, sir," I apologize. "I'm just—"

"Distracted, yeah," Lyriana interrupts, punching my shoulder. "You can ponder over the immortality of the Zaphirean crab later. I suggest you pull your head out of your ass if you don't want to get killed."

Alarms blare around us and blast doors begin to close.

"Enough chatting," Zarkan orders. "Let's move."

Faelin has shoved a small device into the door before it could properly close. One click of a button causes the device to expand, forcing the blast door wide open. It's a lovely gadget, very useful when one has to invade spaceships on a regular basis. Which we do.

The door to the bridge is sealed shut. D'Aakh hangs his rifle over his shoulder, pulling out a datapad. It only takes him a few seconds to connect it to a panel on the wall and then his fingers fly over the keys. "Their security protocols are shit," he says with derision. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll get it open."

"Good," the captain replies. "Faelin, Lyriana, Omni, you take up the rear. Make sure no one sneaks up on us from behind. Tareq, you stay here."

I want to protest, to tell him I don't need coddling, that my head is on straight, but I keep my mouth shut. Zarkan has been a leader for almost as long as I've been alive and he knows what he's doing. If he doesn't feel like I should be standing guard right now, then perhaps I shouldn't be, no matter how embarrassing the thought might be.

"Huh, that's odd," D'Aakh mutters to himself. "Some of the security measures have been disabled already."

Before I can ask, my comm beeps. I immediately answer it, worry surging through me. I told Astra to only contact me if she needed help and I know that my strong and brave Myále wouldn't call me just to ask how I'm doing.

"Astra?" I call, my voice shaking. "Astra, is everything alright? Are you there?" I ignore the surprised looks of my squad mates. "Astra!"

There's a wheezing gasp from the other side and a whispered word. "... air …"

It's definitely Astra's voice, but she sounds like she's barely conscious. My insides turn to ice. What happened to her? Has she been hurt? I'm certain there weren't any Genixarians left in that portion of the ship when I sealed it off. Has one of the other captives hurt her? Knowing Astra, she has released them all by now.

"Astra, I'm here. Please, tell me what's wrong," I beg, tears welling in my eyes.

"Need…air. No air…here."

D'Aakh curses loudly. "Is she in the lower back section of the ship? Near the cargo holds?"

"Yes, in the holding cells with the other captives," I respond, grabbing his arm. "What is it? What's going on?"

D'Aakh yanks his arm out of my grip and returns to his datapad, tapping at it frantically. "Life support for that entire section has been turned off. And before you ask, no, I can't do anything about it from here. It's a master command coming from the bridge. It would take me an hour to override."

Astra doesn't have an hour. I want to sprint back to her, then I realize I've sealed off that part of the ship to protect her. Realization hits me like Faelin's hammer. I trapped Astra there and now she's going to die. Panic grips me so tightly I can't breathe. I can't think. I can't do anything.

"Options, D'Aakh?" Zarkan asks, calm as always. "Can we blast through the doors to get air from this section of the ship to theirs? Can we go there in the Dart?"

Two long feelers on the top of D'Aakh's head sway from side to side as he thinks of ways to rescue my mate. "Both would take too long. I'm no medical expert, but if the creatures inside the cells are already feeling the effects, that means the CO2 scrubbers haven't been operational for a while and the levels are getting dangerous."

She's going to die. And I'm standing here like a fucking stone pillar, not doing anything to help her. I stomp down the panic and try to focus. I've been through that section of the ship after I escaped. I feel like there was something useful back there, but my panicking mind refuses to reveal what it was.

"Can you pull up the schematics of that part of the ship?" I ask, vaguely aware that my cheeks are wet. I haven't cried in forever. I think the last time was when Mzr died. We all cried back then.

All three of us lean over the datapad to look at the ship schematics. "There are airlocks," Zarkan notes, "but it would take too long for the captives to suit up. Not to mention that most of them wouldn't fit into Genixarian-sized suits. They're probably too primitive to understand the concept, anyway."

A growl rumbles through me. "My mate is not primitive," I snarl, unable to control myself. "Here!" I exclaim before the others can react to my no doubt surprising statement. "This should work, right?" I ask as I tap on one section of the schematic.

D'Aakh's feelers twitch, then he nods. "Yes. But they need to hurry before the CO2 levels get toxic. If they lose consciousness, they'll die."

I shudder at the harsh words. A firm hand grips my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Tell them to move, Tareq," Zarkan says, encouraging me. "Talk to your mate. Save her."