Chapter 26
ALLY
She gasped as Lyk staggered, having been hit by Celdrake and caught unawares. Zelup approached swiftly, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the side.
“Wait,” she cried. “Aren’t you going to help him?”
“Help him what? Pound his friend into the ground? He doesn’t need my help to do that.” Zelup moved them off to a safe distance.
“Aren’t you worried? Celdrake is a cyborg! He’s half machine!” She knew she sounded hysterical, but she couldn’t help it.
“And Lyk is a Vartik male of the royal line in his prime. There is no competition.”
Ally held her breath, her hands clenched into fists as she watched the fight unfold. Lyk recovered quickly from the surprise attack, but he didn’t launch himself at the other man. Instead, he held up his hands, and in a commanding voice, he ordered the cyborg to stop.
This command did little to slow Celdrake down.
“Interesting,” Zelup said, and Ally turned to him with an inquisitive expression. “The cyborg is immune to our Vartik persuasion. It must be the implants.”
The cyborg lunged forward, driving a fist deep into Lyk’s midsection and causing the Vartik male to double over. Her anxiety ratcheted up. Why wasn’t he fighting him?
“You don’t want to do this,” Lyk said when his breath was finally back.
“On the contrary,” Celdrake replied, “I’ve been waiting years to do this.”
“Ungrateful asshole,” Ally muttered to herself. In the short time she’d known Lyk, she’d found him to be a fair and generous person. As a captain, she imagined he was the same. Yet Celdrake appeared to appreciate none of that.
Her mouth dropped open. I haven’t appreciated it either. I’ve been raging against Lyk all this time, demanding things of him when all he’s tried to do is help me. What a fucking ungrateful bitch I’ve been.
She’d felt like she had to do things on her own because she’d been wronged in the past, so much so that it blinded her to the people who she could actually trust to help her in the present. No more of that, she told herself. I’ll tone down my bitch and show Lyk what he means to me.
When Celdrake threw his next punch, Lyk blocked it and followed up with a fierce kick. The cyborg stumbled backward, but he didn’t lose his footing. Instead, he struck back with a kick of his own, one that knocked Lyk to his knees.
“Come on, get up!” Ally murmured. She didn’t like seeing Lyk in pain, and despite Zelup’s assurance that his brother had nothing to worry about, Ally had her doubts.
In the next moment, she realized those doubts were misplaced.
When Celdrake aimed a kick at his head, Lyk grabbed his leg and swung him around hard enough to smash him into the ground.
The Vartik male quickly pounced, putting his knees on the cyborg’s shoulders and hitting him repeatedly in the jaw.
“Give up now, and maybe you don’t have to spend your whole life in a Vartik prison.”
“Fuck you!” Celdrake said from beneath him, then spit blood into Lyk’s face.
“Suit yourself,” Lyk said, hitting him again until the cyborg started to look woozy.
Lyk stood, walking a few paces over to the electro-cuffs that he’d been wearing earlier.
He put them in position at Celdrake’s wrists, but before Zelup could hit the button, the cyborg threw out a knee suddenly, hitting Lyk in the back and knocking the cuffs askew.
“That cyborg’s got a lot of fight in him,” Zelup said, amused.
Ally wished she could share his delight. She bit her lip, her nails biting into her palms. When Celdrake dropped an elbow on Lyk’s back, she groaned in unison with the Vartik male.
Then, without warning, Lyk made a stunning move, managing to lift himself in a fluid motion so that he was suddenly on his feet. The strength and swiftness of the motion dislodged the cyborg from his back and knocked him to his knees.
Lyk grabbed his hair, pulling back on it to lift Celdrake’s face to meet his gaze. “Surrender.”
“Your precious female hits harder than you.” Celdrake’s mouth spewed blood, and Ally felt a little nauseated seeing it. She expected Lyk to kill him then. He’d given the cyborg ample chances, after all.
Lyk smiled, then swung so quickly that his fist was a blur. It connected with Celdrake’s face, and Ally could see that the cyborg was knocked unconscious instantly. Lyk let go of his hair and Celdrake fell to the ground, lifeless.
Once again, Lyk positioned the cuffs at Celdrake’s wrists, and this time, Zelup pushed the button to start the current and lock him in tight. Ally rushed over, throwing herself into Lyk’s arms. “Are you okay?”
“You should see the other guy,” he said, then laughed.
“Call a doctor,” Ally deadpanned to Zelup. “He’s got a brain injury.”
“He was born with it,” Zelup replied, making them both laugh.
Ally was shocked when Lyk asked Zelup to borrow the knife at his waist. “What are you doing?” Her voice was high and full of anxiety. Is he going to slit the cyborg’s throat, here, in front of everyone?
But the knife wasn’t aimed at Celdrake. Instead, Lyk used the tip of it to cut into the pad of his thumb. He held the wound over Celdrake’s mouth, pressing on his thumb to cause a drop of blood to come out.
Ally watched in wonder as the cyborg’s bruises began to heal instantly. She heard gasps from the crew behind her. Celdrake’s eyes opened suddenly, and he blinked up at Lyk, then down at the cuffs on his wrists.
As he struggled to sit up, his expression was one of realization. “That healing potion you gave us whenever one of us got hurt. It was made of your blood.”
Lyk nodded, then pulled the cyborg to his feet. “You gave your blood to heal us,” Celdrake said again, his voice filled with wonder.
Lyk shrugged, then waved over a few men from Zelup’s crew. “Take him to the maximum-security holding facility.”
The men nodded, each putting a hand on either of the cyborg’s arms.
As they led him away, Celdrake looked back over his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said, then turned to face front again as they marched him to his prison cell.
“I guess redemption is possible,” Zelup said, coming up alongside Lyk. “Don’t tell Marek. You know how he hates being wrong.”
Lyk turned to his former crew. “I won’t say that I’m not disappointed in the ease with which you betrayed me.
But then again, I always knew you were opportunists.
All raiders are. When you joined this crew, I gave you a choice, and it’s the same one I’ll give you now.
You can leave this planet right now. I’ll have a crew fly you to wherever in the galaxy you’d like to go.
When you get there, you will be relieved of any memories of the wormhole and this trip to Vartik, but you’ll be otherwise unharmed. ”
He looked down the line, making eye contact with each man before moving on to the next.
“You have another option, one that is fraught with danger that frankly, you’d have to be a fool to take.
But as members of my crew, you knew that we only targeted those who did harm to others.
Who exploited others. Who were rotten and wicked and downright evil. ”
He paused, acknowledging the nods he received.
“Well this time, you have a chance to take on evil once again. But this won’t be your normal raid.
This time, you’ll be going into Hell itself to rescue our people.
It won’t be easy, you won’t make any money, and truth be told, you probably won’t even come back.
But if you live, you’ll have one hell of a tale to tell.
“So make your choice. Hitch a ride through the galaxy. Or join us in our attack on the Crown Prince of Hell.” He waited another beat, fixing them all with his stare.
“You don’t have to decide now. First, you can join us in the palace for dinner, then rest in a bed that isn’t on a spaceship for a night.
In the morning, I’ll expect your answers. ”
Lyk turned and walked toward her, taking her hand. “Have your men see that they’re given temporary quarters and a substantial dinner,” he said to his brother.
Zelup nodded, then called over a couple of his crewmen to start giving orders.
“Where are we going?” Ally asked as he led her across the airfield.
“It’s time to meet my family,” he said, then signaled to an attendant as they drew closer to the landing pad’s outbuildings. The attendant rushed forward, and Lyk asked for a vehicle.
“Right this way, Your Majesty,” the attendant said, scurrying before them.
Your Majesty. From pirate to king. It’s a lot for a girl to take in.
The vehicle was small, but it was fast, and soon, they were zooming along, a large and somewhat fanciful building growing larger in the distance. “Is that where your family lives?”
Lyk nodded. “That’s the royal palace complex.”
“It looks like a small city,” she said, her voice filled with awe.
“It feels like one, too, with all my siblings running around. And now they all have wives, except for Kara, of course. Still, there are plenty of rooms that are unoccupied. Including my old quarters, I assume.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked suddenly. “I mean, you’re coming home after a very long absence. Are you sure you want to drag me along? You could stick me somewhere while you do the whole reunion thing.”
She felt like an interloper all of a sudden. An outsider. Her own family, as small as it was, was now completely shattered. It was a big contrast to the reunion of a large and interwoven family as Lyk’s seemed to be.
“Don’t chicken out on me now,” he said, his face lighting up with a smile. “You’re brave, and that’s what you need to be around my family.”
“I wasn’t chickening out,” she argued. I was totally chickening out. “I just mean, I’m sure it’s going to be an emotional thing, and you might even end up disappointed at their reaction to you.”
“All the more reason for you to be by my side.” He picked up her hand, which he was still holding, and raised it to his lips, kissing the back of it. “I know you’ll stick up for me if anyone tries to pick on me.”
She laughed, helpless not to. “I guess you do need someone to protect you.”
“Right,” he said, completely straight-faced even though he’d just gotten done mopping the floor with his former friend.
The palace grew larger and larger as they sped toward it, and soon, they were driving through the massive gates. Lyk steered the vehicle right up to the large front doors and jumped out, coming around to open her door for her.
Ally stepped out and looked up… and up… and up, to the top of the massive towers that cast their shadows over the large manicured lawns in front of them. “This place is amazing.”
“Just wait until you get inside,” he said, then led her toward the doors which were flanked by two men in official garb. They pulled the doors open for them, and Ally took a deep breath and followed Lyk inside.