Chapter 23
Maya
“Oooh! Let me, let me!” Maya leaned in and smashed her index finger on the big red button at the bottom of the comm unit’s screen.
A shot exploded from the screen’s bottom straight at the pirate in the crosshairs. The pirates cussed and dodged, diving back behind their transport, which was getting dinged up really bad since the idiots had been stupid enough to park their vehicle so close to the station’s door.
But to their credit, they probably hadn’t realized there would be a set of robotic sentinels waiting for them on the roof.
Maya and Ranek had found a set of robots the miners had used to explore caves and offshoots of tunnels in the supply room, along with energy blasters meant to clear debris in the mines.
With a bit of creative jerry-rigging they’d gotten them set up together.
Linking the old technology to Ranek’s comm unit had been tricky but worth the hassle.
It had taken the pirates some time to realize the things shooting at them from the roof weren’t real people at all but robots. And then even more time to actually disable one of them. Maya and Ranek only had one of the robots left, and it was running out of charge.
Another pirate darted out toward the door, and Maya tapped the button again.
Nothing happened.
Ranek tried as well, but the sight on the screen continued to follow the pirate; no shot rang out.
Correction. They had no robots left. But the sentinels had done their job, buying their ride off the planet extra time to get here.
The pirates had spent a while dodging shots from the rooftop before even reaching the door.
Now their allies were already cornering the delivery vessel and its crooked captain in space.
Maya and Ranek just had to hold out until they got here.
The camera was still working though, and now that the way was clear, more pirates came. One of them was holding a plasma cutter.
“How long before they get through the door?”
“No need to get through the whole door. Just the lock. A few minutes at most. But they will not expect to have to get through the netting and furniture.”
It wasn’t just any netting either, but the tough stuff meant to haul equipment through the mines.
Ranek had stacked all the furniture that wasn’t bolted down in the station in the front room, right in front of the door and windows, then secured the netting over it all.
The guy must’ve been a Tetris champion in his past life because that wall of functional metal and composite was solid.
Even if they managed to cut a hole through the whole mess, only one of them would be able to get in at a time, making it easy for Ranek to pick them off.
And if any of them tried to get in through the other tunnel entrance, Ranek and Maya had set a makeshift alarm system to alert them in advance if anything larger than a baby tunnel verlak was coming through the mine. The pirates would find it just as difficult to breach that.
What they hadn’t expected was the pirates to give up on the doors and windows completely the moment they realized they were not a viable option.
“What the hell are they doing?” Maya asked as they started to bring out large pieces of metal and strap them to the front of their transports.
“Fuck.” Ranek ushered her into the hallway connected to the front room, his eyes still on the feed on his screen. “They’re going to ram the walls.”
Fuck indeed!
They were willing to demolish the entire station just to get at them. Maya wondered how many credits were promised.
She was a puppy trainer from Earth. She’d worked for a shitty big chain pet store for goodness’s sake.
She was no Cesar Millan. Commander Chaos was special because he was one of the first, but there would be plenty more of them once they had had the chance to work their magic.
Taming and training dragus really wasn’t that difficult.
Maybe it was Ranek’s bounty. She wondered if they wanted him alive. What if the bounty was for him dead or alive? Was his life in danger?
Maya reached out to grasp his arm even as the first impact rattled the station.
Commander Chaos snarled and lunged at the sound, and Ranek scooped him up into his arms.
“We will retreat to the supervisor’s quarters,” he said as he led them down the corridor.
It was the most defensible room in the station, and according to the station blueprints, the walls leading to the hallway were reinforced. It still wouldn’t keep them out long, but it would buy them some time.
A chime from Ranek’s comm had Maya remembering to actually breathe as she ran. Faith’s voice came over the speakers. “We’re almost there. And our guys outnumber them. Better armed too. Just hang on a few more minutes.”
They were at the door to the room now, and to Maya’s surprise, Ranek grabbed her and kissed her so hard on the lips she wondered if his fangs had nicked her.
“You are and will always be mine, Maya. You have my devotion forever.” Then, before she could respond, Ranek shoved her and Commander Chaos into the room and closed the door.
What the hell? The idiot was trying to play hero!
No way! She wasn’t going to let him get hurt for her. She tried the door, but it would not open. She hadn’t known it could even be locked from the outside.
“Ranek! Come back. We can wait it out together!”
There was no reply. And she was wrong anyway because the next impact that hit the building was so loud that she knew the pirates were in. Overcome with worry for Ranek, she slammed her fists on the door a few more times.
There was the sound of fighting outside, and Maya could do nothing but pound on the door.
After what felt like an eternity, Ranek’s comm chimed from the floor. He’d left it inside the room for her.
“Maya?”
“Faith! You have to come now. I think Ranek’s hurt! He locked me inside the room and went out to face the pirates alone.”
“Hang on, they’re already inside the station. Where are you? Which room? Wait, never mind, I think they found you. Oh shii….” The line went dead.
Moments later, there was movement on the other side of the door, and the door slid open. A Tallean male in a uniform greeted her. Behind him was a team of well-armed and armored males.
His eyes landed on her and then on Commander Chaos. His hand went to the device strapped to his chest. “We found her. And the pup too.” He turned to Maya. “Are you okay, female?”
But Maya was scanning the hallway for Ranek. She found him lying not more than ten feet away. She scrambled to his side.
“Ranek? Ranek!”
Oh god! There was so much blood. Maya couldn’t tell if it was coming from him or the pirates next to him.
“We must go, female. There are more pirates coming.”
“We have to help him,” she pleaded. “Please. Ranek saved me. He saved me. I’m not leaving without him.” She latched onto Ranek like he was her lifeline.
“There is no time.”
“If you want to leave, go. But I’m not leaving without him.”
“Maya?” Faith’s voice rang out in the station.
“Fuck. What is she doing out here?” The male in uniform rubbed a palm over his face.
“Faith? Ranek’s hurt. I’m not leaving him.”
Faith rounded the corner, waving her comm in the air. She spotted Maya and ran to her. Behind her was another big Tallean male in uniform, clearly trying and failing to get her back to safety.
“Sorry, sir. She slipped out when no one was looking.”
Maya braced in case they were here to tear her away from Ranek.
“I’m not leaving without him,” she repeated.
Faith shoved her comm at the leader. “It’s Gallus. I was trying to get them to bring it to you, but they wouldn’t fucking listen. If they did, I wouldn’t need to sneak out!”
The male took the comm and peered at the screen. Then his eyes went to Ranek. Maya reached for the blade on the ground by his feet, ready to protect him if need be.
“Stand down, female. We won’t hurt him. We just got new orders to take him along and make sure he survives the trip. We need to get him onto the med bed on the ship now.”
Then more Tallean males were there, lifting Ranek carefully onto a stretcher. Satisfied that they weren’t going to leave Ranek behind, Maya collapsed into Faith’s arms.