No Words Alone (30 page)

Ensign Trevor finally asked her if she’d like to take
a walk to the cargo bay. Rysing was welcome to come, too. He asked
it standing in her doorway, acting as if nothing more interesting
were going on than an invitation to see some of the new things that
had been collected. It was such a common sight that it didn’t cause
any interest.

Several crewmembers waved to Rysing as she passed.
Cheerfully, she waved back. They girl had a sunny side when not
burdened with fear, and everybody liked her.

Everybody but Khan. Xera’s old captain saw the group
pass in the hallway and glowered. Everyone who associated with Xera
was suspect.

“There’s not enough room in the labs, so some of the
newest specimens are stored in the cargo bay. You’ve never seen
anything like them, I promise,” Ensign Trevor said as a cover while
they passed Khan and several others. “I hope we can keep them alive
until we reach home.”

They didn’t go to the cargo bay, though. Xera and
Rysing were escorted to the shuttle bay instead. The huge doors
were open as men and equipment moved in and out. There seemed to be
a problem at the doors. A machine was stuck on the ramp, belching
smoke and blocking the exit. Xera thought she recognized their
earlier marine escort as one of the shouting men swarming over it.
Nobody paid them any attention.

Trevor walked casually to the Scorpio shuttle and let
them in. Once inside, he spoke quickly. “Strap in and take off.
It’s fueled and the controls are fixed. Preflight’s done. It’s now
or never.”

Xera took a breath. Her throat felt tight. “You’ll be
punished for this.”

He smiled grimly. “Hit me a couple of times, will
you? Make it look good and things will go better for me. Remember,
I have to stumble out of here looking banged up.”

She winced. “I hope you go to heaven for this.” She
punched him in the nose, and it was a good shot. Bone crunched
under her fist. He cursed and grabbed his face, probably seeing
stars.

“Now
this
is interesting,” Captain Kahn said.
He was propped in the doorway, one hand supporting him on the wall,
the other clutching his cane. “I see you’re still a traitor, no
matter what the Commander says.”

Xera stared at him. Trevor turned slowly, still
clutching his nose. Blood ran between his fingers. “Sir, I tried to
stop her.”

Khan smirked. “I heard. Lovesick whelp! Don’t you
know she’s been rutting with aliens?” His hand tightened on his
cane as he looked at Xera. “This time, it’s my word against yours,
and you’re the one trying to escape on this enemy ship.”

Trevor rushed him. But though a hero at heart, Trevor
was no warrior. One neat blow to the side of his head with Khan’s
cane and he was stretched out on the floor, dead to the world. Khan
looked amused.

Xera glanced around for a weapon. For her baby’s
sake, she’d rather not get too near Khan. She knew he’d kill her
and claim self-defense. It was the logical thing, given his hatred
of her.

“Here.” Rysing must have raided a toolbox, because
she handed Xera a heavy wrench. “Hurry. We need to take off.”

“No pressure,” Xera muttered.

Khan grinned and lunged for her. She ducked the cane
and went to one knee, swung the wrench with all her strength. His
cane connected with her shoulder and clipped her ear, but it lacked
force. Her wrench didn’t. It kissed the man’s bad knee with gleeful
fury. He screamed and went down on top of her. Somehow his hands
wrapped around her throat and tightened. He was crushing her
larynx.

Xera saw Rysing kicking his head, but still Khan
didn’t let go. But she had trained for this. Xera encircled his
arms with hers and grabbed hold of her right fist, locking them
together. With a mighty jerk, she pulled, breaking his arms at the
elbow. There was a wet crunch as the bones snapped.

Khan screamed, a sound that was quickly cut off by
another crack. Trevor stood over him, the wrench clutched in his
hand. He was weaving, but still hauled Khan off Xera.

“He’s dead,” Rysing said.

“Yeah,” Xera croaked. She crawled to her feet. She
looked at Trevor. “Can you get him out of here? We’ve got to
go.”

He smiled grimly. “Better hurry. This won’t go over
well.”

“Thank you,” she said. He deserved a lot more, but
she didn’t have anything else to give.

He held her eyes then nodded, dragging Khan from the
ship. Mercifully, the ramp was out of sight of the main door,
blocked by a huge crate, so no one saw. She knew the situation
wouldn’t last.

“It’s dangerous being your friend,” Rysing said. She
was already strapped into a chair and staring tensely out the
windshield.

Xera grunted. Her throat was too bruised for idle
conversation. Ignoring the blood on her hand, she grabbed the
control yoke.

The shuttle rose seamlessly and she eased out of the
bay. When people saw what was happening, they started to shout and
point, but there was nothing they could do; the machine on the ramp
blocked the door.

Xera cleared the machine and rose above the plateau,
then punched it. The shuttle hurtled away from the desert as if
shot from a cannon, and Xera and Rysing’s bodies were shoved back
in their seats by the G forces. In minutes they broke out of the
atmosphere and saw the blackness of space.

Rysing gave a little shriek of glee. “We did it!”

“Don’t rejoice yet,” Xera said grimly. “I have to
figure out how to get us home.”

Rysing stared at her. “But…you can fly! Can’t
you?”

Xera took a breath. “I never got to plotting
coordinates, not for this model of ship. Oh, I can do it in other
shuttles, but I have to play with these controls first.”

“This is not a game! Play at nothing; get us
home
.” Rysing’s voice had risen an uncomfortable octave. She
was out of her comfort zone again.

“Working on it,” Xera snapped. Her fingers flew over
the controls, trying to find the flight record. If she could find
it, she could use that to get the ship back where it came from.
Easy enough…in theory.

“There are ships coming from the planet. Your people
must have seen the dead captain.” Rysing started to shake.

Fighters. Xera could see them. She swore and tried to
keep her mind on the task at hand. She didn’t think she could
outrun their pursuers in the shuttle. Their only hope was to jump
to hyperspace, but it was tantamount to suicide without proper
coordinates.

“We’re going to die.” Rysing rocked back and forth in
her chair. The hunters had barely arrived, and the prey was nearly
catatonic with fear. Whatever her trigger was, the GE must have
tripped it. She must have forgotten all the fun she’d had on the
human ship. Maybe being pursued by fighters could do that to a
girl.

So much for being everyone’s buddy.

Xera had no time for pity. If Rysing couldn’t help,
the least she could do was shut up. She was shredding Xera’s
nerves. Without looking she hissed, “Come on, girl, get a grip! We
can get out of this. Stop wilting on me.”

Rysing took a shuddering breath. She stilled.

With a shout of victory, Xera found the ship log and
the coordinates of home. “About freaking time,” she snarled as she
started punching codes. They were going back.

Suddenly another alarm sounded. “Warning! Enemy ship
approaching. Aura quadrant 3-0-7.”

Xera looked at the readout and paled. It was a
Khun’tat ship, and it was headed their way. Feverishly she input
the commands to jump the shuttle into hyperspace, only to hear,
“Please prepare while the hyperdrive warms up. You have seven
minutes until this jump.”

Seven minutes. Her heart stopped. They’d be dead in
four.

Xera had a bad moment. For several seconds she was
tempted just to give up. There was a deep, dark place in her mind
that would gladly leap free and scream if she would just let it.
But Xera wasn’t that person. The Khun’tat and GE hadn’t won
yet.

Xera turned to say as much, only to find Rysing
slicing open her wrist with a knife from the toolkit.

“What are you doing?” Xera yelled, and launched
herself at the girl before she could do the other. She grabbed
Rysing’s wrist, but the girl’s knife raked her free arm. She hissed
in pain and pinned the Leo’s knife hand, then elbowed Rysing in the
jaw. That stunned the girl long enough for Xera to flip her on her
stomach and put her in an arm lock. The Leo-Ahni was surprisingly
strong for such a slight thing.

“Hold still!” Xera put a knee in Rysing’s back and
grunted as she struggled to reach the toolbox without losing her
captive. There was tape there. She snatched it and wrenched Rysing
to her feet, using the arm lock to control her. It was harder
getting the girl into a seat, and Rysing nearly got away. Fed up,
Xera muttered, “This is for your own good,” and she smashed her
fist into Rysing’s face. That staggered the girl long enough for
Xera tape her to the chair. A glance at the screen showed the
Khun’tat ship was much closer.

Swearing at the lost time, Xera grabbed the med kit
and slapped some clotting agent and a patch over the wound before
taping Rysing’s arm down.

“You’ve doomed me,” the girl cried. “I won’t let them
have me again!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll slit your throat if it comes to
it,” Xera promised, her mind already scheming. Not that she wanted
to think about it; the sight of the girl’s blood already made her
nauseous. She sat down and stared at the controls. What could she
do with very little time and no weapons? Would it come down to
suicide? Did she know how to blow up this ship?

The Khun’tat neared. Much more and their ship would
swallow the shuttle whole. Just as Xera was thinking of ramming
them out of spite, she was hailed.

“Ryven?” she gasped. “Is that you?” She flipped on
the communications screen and could have cried. There was her
husband’s face, just as she’d imagined it. How had he arrived in
time? Never mind, she could ask him later. “Thank God! Get us out
of here!”

Ryven’s expression was controlled. There was no room
for relief yet. “Easy. We will.” His gaze took in Rysing’s
condition.

“She tried to slit her wrists when she saw
the Khun’tat coming. I had to knock her down to save her life”

He actually choked back a laugh. “Woman…! No,
don’t lose composure now. You did well,” he added, when it seemed
she might wilt. “Don’t panic; you’re going to feel our tractor beam
lock on in a moment.”

Xera felt a little bump and relaxed a
fraction. Ryven’s ship had them, but the Khun’tat were so close!
They were launching ships to board them.

But so were the Scorpio! She’d never been so
grateful to see warships in all her life. Even as Ryven’s craft’s
launch bay opened to receive them, she saw glimpses of explosive
battle.

Suddenly, the shuttle rocked as the blasted
remains of a Khun’tat fighter slammed into it. The tractor beam was
no protection, and alarms suddenly flared.

“Xera!” Ryven shouted. Her screen grew
fuzzy.

“Busy!” Xera shouted over the alarms. Her
hands flew across the controls as she assessed the damage. Life
support was failing. The hull was heavily damaged and threatening
to buckle. The toilet… She actually laughed. “Hey, Rysing! Our
toilet is offline. Man, but that would be a problem if we planned
to live very long.” She shook her head, amazed at the detail and
insignificance. Who designed these systems, anyway?

Luckily for them, they were swept inside
Ryven’s ship. Medics were waiting to escort Rysing to sickbay. Xera
was sped to her husband’s side. Uncaring of proprieties, she threw
herself against him in a hug, which he returned with crushing
force.

After a long moment, she drew back and told
him solemnly, “I’m having a bad day.”

He laughed, but it was strained. “We will
make it better now. Will you stay with me?” He gestured to an empty
chair.

“Absolutely.” She parked her tail in the
seat, grateful for the chance. She still felt very unsettled. “What
about the GE? You do know they’re here, right?”

Her husband nodded. “They are running as fast
as they can in the opposite direction. We will deal with them
later.”

She opened her mouth to defend at least two
of them, but decided now was not the time. They could discuss it
all later.

Ryven began to issue commands, and she knew
better than to distract him. Her husband would get them home.

Chapter 22

Since theirs had been intended to be a rescue
mission, Ryven and Toosun didn’t stick around finish off the
attacking Khun’tat. They were too deep in the alien race’s
territory to risk it, since recent developments had ceded the area
to their foes; enemy reinforcements could arrive at any time. The
moment they retrieved the women, they fought their way clear and
jumped into hyperspace.

Xera was relieved to arrive home, though it
was late before she finally crawled into her bed. Ryven joined her,
leaving his brother to relay the news to their family of the
mission’s success and of the continued interloping of the Khun’tat.
He wrapped his arms around her and held tight.

“I don’t want anyone to build a moon base
there,” Xera said into his shoulder. “I don’t want anyone to go
through what I just did.” She didn’t want her sisters, if they
visited, to be so close to jeopardy. Such a situation wasn’t likely
anyway, what with the GE breaking the treaty at will. They’d be
lucky if the Scorpio didn’t annihilate them on sight.

He kissed her hair. “I know. Be at
peace.”

She sighed. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

“Always, though if you don’t mind, I’d rather
avoid more incidents in the future. I think I lose a year of my
life every time I see you in danger.”

She smiled slightly. “I’ll see what I can
do.”

“Beloved,” he began with mock sternness.