Fighting Chance (13 page)

The sounds of combat were all around her as bodies and
machines clashed and roared their battle cries. Several excited voices cheered
“Mahoney!” as she ran past, but she didn’t stop long enough to return the
greeting. The only thing that mattered was getting to Mikael.

Her forward progress was halted when a Warfarer soldier
barreled toward her with his sword raised. With practice born of instinct, she
blocked his thrust with one sword while spinning into him with her elbow raised
to smash into his flat nose. He bellowed in pain, but she did not hesitate
before sweeping low to the ground and knocking his feet out from under him. She
was already back up before he even hit the ground. With one foot, she kicked
his sword out of his hand and brought her own two swords in a crisscross
pattern across his neck to release a spray of his life’s blood.

She didn’t stop to think about what she had just done. She
had never taken a life before, but she had also never been in a situation like
this, either. She continued to battle her way through the throng, stopping to
help outnumbered T’Kalan warriors along the way when she could. Her swords
flashed and sliced, her legs spun and kicked, and her three android companions flanked
her on every side as they cut a swath through the enemy forces.

It seemed to take hours for her to get close to the thickest
part of the battle, but in reality, she knew it had only been minutes. She
finally caught sight of Mikael close to the opened portal in the hull. He was
like lethal poetry in motion. Combining T’Kalan sword fighting and Krav Maga evasion
and force, he battled three snarling Warfarers as more of them trickled through
the narrow opening to engage his warriors. He was covered in splattered blood,
but whether it was his own or the enemies, she had no clue.

“Jarvis!” she called out. “We need to plug that hole! Send
all unengaged bots to take position blocking the portal!”

“Affirmative,” she heard four bots reply as they raced past
her to do her bidding.

She ran for Mikael, stopping only when an enemy came into
view. She briefly felt a searing pain on her upper left arm, but she ignored it
as she thrust her sword through the chest of a soldier. She pulled her weapon
free from the downed alien and finally made it to where Mikael was fending off
the attack of the three Warfarer soldiers. With a cry of rage, she launched
herself through the air, both swords pointed downward and gripped in her hands,
and landed on the back of one of the aliens. Her swords sank deep into his back
as she rode him down to the ground.

Leaving her weapons behind, she rolled over top of his head
and sprang to her feet in front of another of Mikael’s attackers. She bent
backward to avoid the swing of his sword then twisted to the side to deliver a
roundhouse kick to his weapon hand. The Warfarer’s sword sailed through the air
to clatter to the floor. He roared a guttural curse and advanced with swipes of
his meaty fists, but Mahoney was too fast for him as she bobbed and weaved. She
ignored Mikael’s colorful cursing and shouted warnings while she focused her
laser precision jabs and kicks everywhere she found an opening. She took one
powerful blow to her ribs, but she refused to succumb to the blinding pain. She
watched for her opening, waiting patiently for just the right time as she
circled him. He snarled and lunged toward her with his arms open as if to grab
her.

Mahoney sprinted straight for him. At the last second, she
dodged to the left, hooked her right arm into the crook of his left, and used
his arm as a fulcrum to swing onto his back. He immediately tried to shake her
off, but she wrapped her firm left arm around his neck and braced it against
the upraised arm of her right and squeezed. Her ribs screamed in protest while
the alien in her choke hold gagged and clawed at her shielded arms, but she
refused to let go. With one last force of effort, she twisted his neck with a
sharp jerk and it cracked like gunfire under her hands. She dropped her arms
and braced her legs as the alien soldier collapsed to the ground dead at her
feet.

Mikael, having dispatched his own attacker, grabbed her and
pulled her into his chest for a swift hug. “I told
mina
to keep you safe
in the medical ward! What are you doing here, Katsuko?”

She broke free from his embrace and flashed him a triumphant
smile. “Saving your sexy ass, Commander. What does it look like?”

Even with his jumpsuit in tatters and dripping with blood,
he made her heart soar with happiness. "I cannot argue with that, little
warrior,” he answered with his own devastating grin. “Your training bots turned
the tides in our favor. It was an inspired idea.”

She nodded her head in agreement and craned her neck around
him to see that the portal was now being blocked by five androids that were
fending off the Warfarer reinforcements with their weapons.

“How do we close that doorway?” she shouted to be heard over
the noise.

He raised his own voice to reply, “Command will need a two
minute window to repair the breach with our security shields, but their
reinforcements are too many to allow us the time.”

Mahoney’s mind raced for a solution and her eyes brightened
when it came to her. Digging into her pocket, she pulled out three stun flares
and held them out in her palm. “Will these work?”

His nostrils flared and his teeth flashed as he threw his
head back with a bark of laughter. He swooped down to press a searing kiss to
her lips and swiped the flares from her hand. He ran toward the portal where
only three bots were left holding the reinforcements. Holding the small devices
in his hand, he pressed the three buttons and threw them through the portal and
into the midst of the Warfarer soldiers in the tunnel that connected their ship
to
The Ax’Sandre.
With a bright flash of light and the electrical buzz
of current, the stun flares ignited. The tunnel filled with the noise of
falling bodies as spots filled her vision from the flares.

She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision, while
Mikael yelled, “Command, initiate hull repair and disengage from enemy vessel.”

“Affirmative. Hull repair initialized. Time remaining until
complete: two minutes. Disengaging from enemy vessel will commence upon
completion,” he replied.

A cheer went up from the T’Kalan warriors across the bay and
Mahoney added her own cheer to the chorus. Her vision was still full of flash
burns, but she was too high on victory to care. She could barely make out Mikael’s
broad outline as he turned away from the portal after ensuring the doorway was
clear and she waved at him when he started to walk back toward her.

Suddenly, he broke into a run heading straight for her.
“Katsuko! Behind you!” he shouted, his voice full of desperate fear.

She whirled to search behind her, but the blank spots in her
vision revealed no clues about where the threat was coming from. She tried to
focus her hearing to determine the approach, but the noise from the remaining
few battles obscured everything else. She froze, dread and uncertainty keeping
her from moving for fear it would be the wrong move.

“Jarvis, engage!” she cried out desperately, her eyes
blinking fruitlessly.

Strong arms grabbed her from behind and spun her around. The
sound of metal sinking into flesh assaulted her ears and a familiar grunt had
her crying out, “Mikael!” She rubbed her eyes hard and peered behind her.
Mikael was still standing, but was otherwise not moving. His hands were
clutched over his abdomen while the sound of clanging steel rang out behind
him. She stumbled forward, her hands reaching for him blindly, and managed to
catch him as he started to fall. Buckling under the weight of her muscled
lover, with her ribs and arms protesting, she eased him down to the ground.

“Mikael!” she sobbed, running her hands over his face and
down his chest until her hands covered his. “Talk to me, dammit! I can’t lose
you now, you stubborn ass! Please, talk to me. I haven’t told you yet. I
haven’t explained,” she cried, her hands pressing down where the hot, bubbling
feel of his blood seeped through her fingers. “I haven’t had the chance to tell
you that I love you.”

The pounding of footsteps had her back tensing up, but she
refused to release the pressure on Mikael’s wound. Her shoulders sagged,
though, when a familiar voice called, “Mahoney! What happened?”

“Zandar, thank God you’re alright. The stun flares blinded
me and I can’t see shit right now. Mikael saved me, but he took a blade through
his belly. He’s non-responsive, but his chest is still moving. Where is
Lieutenant Gregori?” she demanded.

“He is dead, Warrior, and resting with the stars,” he
replied, his voice full of sorrow and respect.

Mahoney pressed harder on the bubbling wound in Mikael’s
abdomen. “What is the status of active battles remaining?” she barked.

“All Warfarer soldiers on board are either dead or
incapacitated.”

“Excellent. Inform the men to take any soldiers still alive
to the brig. Your king will want to question them about their cloaking tech.”
He replied in the affirmative and ran off to relay her orders. “Jarvis!
Terminate protocol ‘
Mahoney Kicks Ass
’ and download all information you
have on field emergency medical care to the remaining bots and direct them to
wounded T’Kalan warriors,” she snapped, her eyes leaking tears.

“Affirmative. Protocol ‘
Mahoney Kicks Ass’
has been
terminated. Download complete,” he replied.

“Jarvis, patch me through to the chief medical officer
immediately!” she shouted, her voice full of desperation.

She waited a few tense seconds before Ax’Sandre’s voice came
through the speakers. “Mahoney! What has happened? I cannot reach the
commander!”

She almost buckled under the relief of hearing her voice,
but she firmed her spine and rattled off the details. “Command has sealed the
breach and all invading forces have been neutralized. We’ve got wounded in
loading dock A-741 and need emergency medical attention. Mikael has been
gravely injured. We need all available hands on deck, and as many stretchers as
you have, and quickly!”

She could hear the pained gasp of his mother, but her voice
was crisp with command. “Affirmative, Mahoney. We will be there in two minutes
flat. Hang on!”

She knew his injuries were serious and didn’t know how much
longer he could hold on. Once again, she called out to the ship’s computer.
“Jarvis, patch me through to Officer Felonia!”

“Mahoney, this is Officer Felonia speaking. What do you need
me to do?” came the feline woman’s purring voice.

“Contact the T’Kalan home world and inform them that
The
Ax’Sandre
has suffered many casualties. They need to be ready to transport
the wounded as soon as we dock. How long until we reach our destination?” she
asked, praying for a miracle.

She heard the sound of several people murmuring and
conferring with each other before she replied, “The chief engineering officer
is here with me. He says if we push the ship too hard, the repair on the breech
in the hull will not hold. Estimated time for landing is at least 13 hours. The
T’Kalan home world has been notified and will anticipate our arrival. They are
sending several support ships to meet us and escort us back to the planet,” she
reported.

Mahoney blinked, her vision still fuzzy, but she could see a
flurry of activity as the medical crew raced into the loading bay. “Officer
Felonia, inform the chief engineer to push
The Ax’Sandre
as hard as she
can go and do not let up until the breech begins to fail. Slow down only long
enough to shore it up and make repairs, and then do it all over again. We have
to get there quicker!”

A deep male voice replied, “This is chief engineering
officer Nicolo Sa’Pali. We will do our best to reach T’Kala with full speed.
May the stars lead us home.”

The sound of light, running footsteps reached her ears,
followed by Jessica’s voice. “Mahoney! Thank God, you’re alright!” She gasped
and dropped to her knees next to her friend. “Oh, no,” she moaned, softly, as
her hands reached out to cover Mahoney’s.

More footsteps pounded toward them, and Ax’Sandre’s voice
rang out with authority. “Jessica, report to Fallon for instructions on field
wound dressing. I will take over from here,” she barked.

Jessica complied with a meek, “Yes, ma’am.” She swooped down
to kiss her friend swiftly on the head and raced away.

Mahoney couldn’t hold back the tears any longer as Mikael’s
mother and another crew member worked over her lover feverishly. She couldn’t
hold back the sobbing babble that fell from her lips. “He saved my life,
Ax’Sandre. I was blinded by the stun flares and couldn’t see the enemy coming
at me from behind. He pushed me out of the way and took the blade meant for me.
You have to save him. Please!” she cried.

The beeping sounds of a scanner acted as background music
for her reply. “Have no fear, Mahoney. Those bastards took my husband and my
king from me already. I will not let them take my son, too,” she assured her,
her words full of steel. “When I count to three, I need you to take your hands
away. Octavari is here and will contain the bleeding with a skin sealant. On my
count: one, two, three!”

Mahoney pulled her hands back as if they were on fire while
the medi-tech swooped in to apply the sealant. “We need to roll him over and do
the back, too. He was stabbed clean through,” she warned them.

His mother and the tech complied quickly, turning him over
to seal the entrance wound. “We have him from here, Mahoney. We have hover beds
ready to transport the most seriously wounded to the medical ward. Sit tight
and one of the techs will be with you shortly to dress your wounds.”

“No!” she shouted, her hand seeking blindly until it grasped
Mikael’s . “I am not leaving him. I’m fine. Have them tend to the others
first.”

The bed began to move and Mahoney jogged alongside it,
tripping and stumbling the whole way as she encountered downed bodies. “My
doma
,
you are injured and bleeding. You will do him no good if you collapse from your
wounds,” she replied, her voice full of concern and warmth.

Mahoney’s lips thinned with resolve. “Only after Mikael has
been stabilized. I can wait. He cannot.”