Imminent Danger: And How to Fly Straight Into It Read online

  Hroshk swiveled one of his strikers toward Eris. “You clearly have some affection for the terrestrial or you would not have staged this little rescue attempt. Drop the rifle or I’ll vaporize her.”

  Somehow my fate always ends up in Varrin’s hands, Eris thought. Luckily, he seems to be on my side. At least for the moment. Which puts the odds decidedly in my favor.

  “All right, all right,” Varrin said, raising his free hand in the air. “Putting down the rifle.”

  His voice was calm. But Eris knew from the murderous glint in his eyes that he had no intention of letting Hroshk survive this encounter. Though how he’s going to manage that without a weapon is what worries me, she thought.

  Varrin, however, didn’t look concerned. “I should warn you, Ssrisk,” he said, “that you’ll never leave this room alive.”

  “You dare threaten me?” Hroshk hissed. “You are the cause of this whole debacle! Had you not attacked my ship and stolen my cargo—”

  “Ah, but then you would’ve sold Eris and the rat into slavery, which just wouldn’t have worked well for me,” Varrin said. “Admittedly, I sold them anyway, but that’s beside the point.” He turned his attention to the four remaining executioners. “I am now in charge,” he announced. “Anyone have a problem with that?”

  The executioners glanced at each other and then snapped to attention and saluted him.

  “Good,” Varrin said, nodding. “Now here’s the plan. When I give the signal, jump Hroshk.”

  “Try it and I’ll shoot you,” Hroshk hissed.

  Why hasn’t he shot us already? Eris wondered, noticing his purple eyes darting toward the door. Does he think he can still get out of this alive?

  “See, I think that if you were planning on shooting us, you would have done it already,” Varrin said. “So I’m going to call your bluff. Execution squad B, attack!”

  As the Rakorsians rushed Hroshk, he turned all four strikers on them and opened fire. Two of the executioners sank to the floor, screaming and clutching at their chests. The other two blocked the shots with their axes and fell upon the Ssrisk. As they grappled, the executioners’ electro-axes swung madly through the air, occasionally making sizzling contact with Hroshk’s scaly hide. Bursts of striker fire blazed across the room—several of the shots barely missed Grashk, who was still slumped in the corner.

  Varrin danced past the brawl and over to Eris’s side. “Hey,” he said, beaming at her.

  “Less talking, more rescuing,” Eris said.

  Varrin shook his head as he crouched beside her. “Honestly, girl,” he said, sighing, “you could be a bit more appreciative. I did risk my life coming to save you, you know.” Pulling a striker from his belt, he directed a quick pulse of plasma to the control panel. The restraints clicked open.

  Rubbing her neck in relief, Eris slowly pushed herself off the block and looked at her pouting savior. “Gah,” she muttered, swatting him on the shoulder. “I’ll yell at you later. Just get us out of here.”

  “As my lady commands,” Varrin said and then turned and blasted the control panel on Miguri’s block.

  “Thank Kari!” Miguri trilled, scrambling free.

  “Phhh. How cute.”

  They spun to face Hroshk. The Ssrisk captain was bloody and scratched. All the executioners lay dead on the floor behind him.

  “Well, damn,” Varrin said coolly. “That didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped.”

  “Enough with your feeble attempts at humor. It is time for me to take my revenge,” Hroshk hissed.

  The Ssrisk lunged across the room, straight at Eris. For once, Varrin wasn’t fast enough. Hroshk knocked him away with his spiked tail and then grabbed Eris and pressed a striker against her head.

  “You slimy—” Varrin began, wiping blood away from the corner of his mouth.

  “Silence!” Hroshk spat. “I am in charge now! Drop your weapon and back away, or I kill the human.” His grip tightened on Eris’s arm, making her wince.

  I really need to stop being kidnapped, she thought. This is getting out of hand.

  “Do not worry, my friend,” Miguri called, huddling behind his metal block. “We will get out of this.”

  “Drop your weapon!” Hroshk repeated.

  Varrin clenched his striker tightly, his gaze darting between Hroshk and Eris. “I’m not loving that plan,” he said. “Got any others?”

  “Wrong answer,” Hroshk sneered, shoving the striker harder against Eris’s skull.

  She whimpered.

  Conflicting emotions flickered across Varrin’s face. After a few seconds, his striker clattered to the metal floor. “You win,” he said. “Now let her go.”

  “I give the commands here,” Hroshk hissed. “Now lock yourself onto that.” He indicated the metal block to which Eris had previously been shackled.

  A calculating look sparked in Varrin’s eyes. As he started toward the block, Eris exclaimed, “You complete and utter fool! What are you doing?”

  Varrin paused, shooting her an annoyed look. “I’m trying to nobly sacrifice myself to save you, if you don’t mind.”

  “That’s a terrible plan! Use your Rakorsian super speed and get yourself and Miguri out of here!”

  “Could you be more inconsistent?” he demanded. “The last time I abandoned you, you yelled at me. Now, when I try to stay and help you, you yell at me. Make up your mind!”

  “I yelled at you the first time because your decision made no sense.”

  “It did, actually. I thought you’d prefer a quick death to a lifetime of suffering and endless captivity.”

  “Oh,” Eris said softly. “But this is different! There’s no need for both of us to die!”

  “Have a little faith,” Varrin said as he knelt beside the block.

  Eris’s mind was spinning. What’s he planning? Does he even have a plan? Until this moment, she wouldn’t have believed him capable of such a gallant act. Yes, he had risked his life to protect her from the jsgarn on Vega Minor, but she knew he hadn’t expected to die in that encounter. But this is different—he’ll die for sure if he does what Hroshk says. So why is he doing it?

  “Lock him in, Claktill,” Hroshk commanded. Miguri scrambled to do as commanded, white hair spiky with agitation.

  Her thoughts continued to whirl. He came back for me, to save me. Now he’s risking his life for me. He cares about me, even if he won’t say it. The idea that he might die filled her heart with incalculable dread, and Eris suddenly realized something. I can’t let him die for me. I love him.

  “Don’t do this, Varrin!” she pleaded.

  “You’re going to be the death of me,” Varrin said lightly, as Miguri fiddled with his shackles out of Eris’s view. “Sooner rather than later, it would seem.”

  Hroshk’s face split into a pointy-toothed grin as he yanked Eris closer. “You attacked my ship without warning,” he hissed. “Time for me to return the favor.”

  “What are you going to do?” Varrin asked. “Attack my ship? It’s already aboard your ship, you idiot. You can destroy it whenever you want. I’m hardly in a position to stop you.”

  “Not your ship. But something equally precious to you, I think.”

  Eris felt the striker jabbing harder into her temple. He’s going to shoot me, she realized. “Varrin, he’s going to—!”

  Before she could finish her warning, Grashk appeared out of nowhere and barreled into his captain. The impact knocked Eris free and sent both reptiles crashing into the wall. Hroshk’s striker fell from his grasp and clattered to the floor. Miguri squeaked and ducked behind his block.

  As Eris staggered away from the grappling, hissing Ssrisk, Varrin jumped to his feet. With deadly calm, he picked up one of the discarded electro-axes and stalked toward the combatants. Lifting his foot, he kicked Grashk out of the way. Then he used the flat of the axe to unleash a powerful blow on Hroshk that sent the disoriented Ssrisk staggering back.

  Eris hurried to Grashk’s side. Her former guard was badly
beaten up and bordering on unconsciousness. “Are you all right?” she whispered, shaking his scaly shoulder. He gave a spluttering hiss and then blacked out.

  Turning back to the battle, she saw Varrin striding toward Hroshk, hefting the axe in both hands. She tried to decipher the look in the Ssrisk captain’s cold, purple eyes, as it was one she had never seen there before. Then she realized what it was. It was fear.

  “I’ve got a game for you, Ssrisk,” Varrin said grimly. “And I already know who’s going to win.”

  38

  Eris didn’t consider herself a vengeful person. But as she watched Varrin lay into the bane of her existence with an electrified battle axe, she couldn’t quite suppress a feeling of intense satisfaction. “Yeah! Kick his scaly butt!” she cheered as Varrin exacted her revenge by beating Hroshk to a bloody, scorched pulp.

  It was an unfair battle, but Varrin obviously didn’t care. He slammed the flat of his axe into the Ssrisk’s scaly body again and again. Each successive blow drew a louder grunt of pain from Hroshk, but Varrin didn’t let up. The fury swirling in his gray eyes was fiercer than Eris had ever seen.

  Practically snarling, Varrin gave a mighty swing that catapulted the badly beaten reptile across the room. Hroshk hissed in agony as he slammed into the wall and fell, landing on the bloody corpses of the two executioners that had been bisected by the exploding door. Varrin strode toward him, not giving the Ssrisk a chance to recover. “Any last words, you reptilian scum?” he spat, a deadly glint in his eyes.

  “Oh, yes,” Hroshk hissed. “If I am fated to die this day, I will not be the only one to suffer a loss!” He reached behind his back and pulled out a striker.

  Varrin raised the axe in a defensive gesture. But Hroshk whirled and aimed the striker at Eris instead. She saw Varrin’s eyes widen as Hroshk phhh-ed maniacally and pulled the trigger.

  ZWOOSH.

  Varrin watched helplessly as the glowing projectile streaked across the room and exploded against Eris’s chest. “Eris!” he cried.

  Hroshk began to laugh—not the typical Ssrisk phhh but the full-blown cackle of a being that had passed far beyond the limits of sanity.

  Varrin couldn’t think straight. His vision was tinged with red. The only coherent thought in his mind was that even though Eris was annoying and argumentative, he couldn’t imagine a future without her in it. And now she’s dead, he thought.

  Clutching the battle axe in one shaking hand, Varrin calculated how quickly he’d have to move to kill the Ssrisk captain before Hroshk could blow his brains out with the striker. He knew he had time to swing but also that he was unlikely to survive the attack. At that moment, Varrin didn’t really care. The only thing on his mind was revenge.

  Varrin raised the axe and charged. As Hroshk wheeled toward him, Varrin realized there wasn’t enough time to close the gap before the Ssrisk pulled the trigger. No longer caring whether he lived or died, the Rakorsian prince committed himself to the suicidal attack.

  BOOM.

  Hroshk dropped the striker and stared down at the gaping, melon-sized hole that had suddenly blown open in his chest. He emitted a gurgling choke and then crashed to the floor. His violet eyes blinked furiously as his clawed hands struggled to close up the fatal wound. Within seconds, he was dead.

  Varrin stopped midstride and gaped at the sight. His exhausted mind was unable to process what had just happened. He simply stood, battle axe dangling limply from one hand, jaw hanging open.

  “Serves him right for shooting me,” a breathless voice complained from somewhere to Varrin’s left. “I can’t believe how heavy this rifle is. I think I pulled a muscle lifting the damn thing. And you just know I’m going to get a bruise.”

  Varrin whirled around and saw Eris slumped against the far wall, one hand on her chest, the other clutching his plasma rifle.

  “Eris!” Miguri trilled. “You are alive!”

  She looked confused. “What are you saying?” she demanded. “Speak English! Or Common. Whatever that crazy alien language of yours is called.”

  Rushing to her, Varrin crouched beside the battered girl. Ignoring her futile attempts to swat him away, he carefully moved her hand away from her chest and lifted her silvery necklace. The lamri pendant was shattered beyond repair. He realized the milky white stone had absorbed the plasma shot and saved Eris’s life.

  “Kari, you are one lucky girl,” Varrin breathed softly.

  “English, Varrin! Or Common—whatever! What’s wrong with you? Why can’t I understand you?”

  She tried to sit up straighter but then winced. Varrin quickly reached out to steady her. Turning to Miguri, he called, “Hey, rat, bring me a lamri. She can’t understand a word I’m saying.”

  Miguri scurried over a few seconds later with Kratis’s lamri. As he handed it to Eris, Varrin said, “I thought—”

  Eris scowled at Varrin and punched his shoulder. “What were you thinking, attacking him like that?” she railed. “He was going to blow you in two!”

  “You seem to have averted that situation quite nicely,” Varrin drawled, looking pointedly at the rifle in her lap.

  While Eris continued berating him for his foolhardy actions, Varrin glanced around the room and conducted a quick survey. All their enemies were accounted for. Grashk was slumped against the wall, oozing blue blood. Friend or foe? Varrin wondered. Resolving to deal with that question later and satisfied they were safe—for the moment, at least—he turned his attention back to Eris.

  “—on Earth would you do something so reckless?” she was saying. “He could have killed you!”

  “I thought you were dead, all right?” he blurted.

  Eris stared at him blankly for a moment. Then her face broke into a soft smile. “Thank you.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Thank you. You came back and saved us when there was nothing in it for you. You didn’t have to do that, but you did.”

  “Yeah, well … I didn’t want to have to train a whole new set of crewmembers,” he said nonchalantly, avoiding her gaze.

  “Fine,” she sighed. “Be that way.”

  Varrin jumped to his feet. “Enough with all the moping and the emotions and the touchy-feely stuff,” he declared, reaching for Eris’s hand. “Come on, girl. We won!”

  “We did, didn’t we?” she agreed as Varrin pulled her up. “But now what?”

  “We have no ship,” Miguri reminded them. “The Nonconformity is on the Ssrisk cruiser.”

  “One thing at a time,” Varrin said. “Let’s get back to my escape pod first and figure it out from there. But speaking of the Ssrisk cruiser,” he added, turning toward Grashk, “I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you for helping us. Although I do have to wonder why you did so.”

  “That is none of your concern,” Grashk hissed.

  “It is, actually. For all I know, you plan to double-cross us. Although right now you’re about as threatening as a Harunian pluffit.”

  Grashk rat-tat-tat-ed.

  “Look,” Varrin said, “unless you want to spend the rest of your life locked up in a Psilosian prison—provided our overzealous Rakorsian friends don’t kill you first—you’d better come with us.” He extended his hand to the fallen Ssrisk warrior.

  Grashk seemed to consider the offer for a moment and then grudgingly allowed Varrin to pull him to his feet.

  “I like you,” Varrin declared, clapping the Ssrisk on the back.

  “I can barely stand your presence,” Grashk hissed.

  Varrin laughed. “I get that a lot.”

  39

  “We have a problem,” Varrin said. He gestured toward the engine hatchway he’d blasted open several hours before, which was still covered with the spray-on seal.

  “Stop saying that!” Eris exclaimed. “What’s wrong now?”

  “See for yourself.”

  Eris peered through the airtight webbing. All she could see was starry space. “The pod is gone.” Then, in a slightly hysterical tone: “Why is the pod gone,
Varrin?”

  “Perhaps it was shot off while the Ssrisk were attacking,” Miguri suggested. “Can we not take a Ssrisk boarding shuttle instead? There must still be some latched onto the side of the ship.”

  “No,” Grashk said. “You will find none. They were all set to self-destruct when the boarding parties failed their missions.”

  “Well, that seems kind of wasteful,” Eris observed. “So, no Ssrisk ships. What now? Varrin, can you pull princely rank or something and commandeer a Rakorsian shuttle?”

  “No,” he said.

  “But it worked when you ordered around those executioners!”

  “Different situation. Aha!” Varrin suddenly whirled on the Ssrisk. “Grashk, you’ve got that smug sense of superiority and short temper that Ssrisk officers are famous for. I don’t suppose you rank anywhere high up in the chain of command, do you?”

  The blue alien phhh-ed. “You are more intelligent than I suspected, Rakorsian. It is as you guessed. I am a first lieutenant on the Ss’Rass’Kris.”

  Eris blinked. “I thought you were a security guard.”

  “Three months ago, I was late for duty,” Grashk confessed. “I was temporarily demoted. Ssrisk do not hold with tardiness.”

  “I don’t get it,” she said. “How does that help us?”

  “All Ssrisk pride themselves on bravery in battle. The greatest glory goes to those who are first to enter a conflict.”

  “So?”

  “So all the boarding parties, which are now dead, were led by officers looking for glory,” Varrin explained. “Ssrisk officers tend to die off rather quickly due to their complete lack of survival sense.”

  “Life without honor is meaningless,” Grashk hissed.

  “Oh! It’s like in Star Trek,” Eris said. “They always send the least expendable people into sticky situations first. And that’s always the highest-ranking officers.”

  “I do not know these Star Trek warriors, but I respect their battle fervor,” Grashk said. “Yes, Rakorsian, much as I loathe admitting it, I believe you are correct. Since I am not among the glorious Ssrisk dead, it is likely I am now the highest-ranking officer on my ship.”