Rosalie
There is a distinct edge to the bridge when we get there. This time it’s not due to my presence but to the fact we’re surrounded by three dark ships, each one larger than us, or as far as I can tell.
Each crew member has a laser like focus on their individual task at hand, although once Dante enters the bridge, I feel a shift in the energy. It’s as if everything has moved up a notch…but not closer to chaos…closer to control.
I know there is not yet a cure for the worrying descent into becoming another type of Sarkarnii for Dante’s crew, and I also know they’ve significantly reduced the amount of, well, everything except ale-wine, the alcoholic drink all the Sarkarnii prefer.
If, for a moment, I thought it might not suit them, this moment would suggest otherwise.
“Report,” Dante barks at his navigator.
“The usual. Demands for surrender, threats of total annihilation, attempts to scan for our cargo,” the warrior says in a bored voice.
Dante cocks his head on one side and narrows his eyes, the slit pupils contracting to tiny slivers.
“What have they got?”
The furthest one out has a pulsar cannon which has a malfunction. The other two have laser weapons. Only one ship has lasers which could breach our hull.”
“Do we have a boarding party ready?” Dante asks, inspecting his claws.
“Ready, boss.”
I turn to see ten warriors, each carrying a large laser weapon, and three of them have smoke curling from their nostrils.
Sarkarnii come with built in weapons.
“Take out the two closest ships, and then hit the pulsar cannon on the third to be sure they can’t use it,” Dante says. “Then we’ll board and see what they have for us.”
“Boss.” The navigator grins and presses a complex set of instructions into his console.
If I expected something…louder…obviously the vacuum of space means instead, one by one, the closest ships crumple and then disassemble to cheers within our own ship.
The bigger ship shifts position, but it’s too late. We fire again, and I watch as it is sent tumbling backwards, away from us.
“Let’s go,” Dante says evenly. “I’d prefer it if they didn’t get away.”
We move, quickly catching up with the now stricken ship and maneuvering next to it.
“Boarding party?” Dante checks in with his warriors who have an element of nervous energy to them, which means I am slightly concerned for their welfare with the level of weaponry they are toting.
He grasps the shoulders of the first warrior and studies his face carefully. I watch as each warrior in turn drops their shoulders and their faces harden into masks of determination.
“Good?” Dante growls.
“Good,” the leader replies.
“Once you’ve cleared the place, comm us. I want to show my mate.” Dante flashes me a set of bright white fangs, as if this is what I’ve been begging for my entire life.
I mean, I’m not saying it isn’t…
And it was space pirates who took me and my friends, after all.
The airlock next to the boarding party opens, and they march inside as there is a shudder through the hull and a soft whine of metal on metal.
“Boarding party away,” a warrior informs Dante.
He’s still grinning wildly at me. Yet again there is a change of mood, of anticipation and of excitement. Time ticks away. Dante paces back and forth, occasionally casting a glance at me which is bordering on feral.
I take a seat to one side of the bridge on one of a set of them running along the bulkhead.
Dante stops and tracks my movement. I motion for him to sit, and his tail lashes, but he comes over and joins me.
“How long will they take?” I ask him, slipping my hand into his.
“Not long,” Dante says, his eyes dragged back from the rest of the bridge.
I see it all now.
Dante and his crew have never been chaos.
They’ve been walking the fine line between putting their mutation to the best possible use without tipping over the edge.
Chasing down pirates, creating weaponry which will defeat them, making things go boom—it’s all about holding on and keeping who they are alive without descending into what they could be.
As Sarkarnii with a double mutation, that of being able to heal extremely fast without shifting to their dragon forms, they can operate with what would appear to be reckless abandon, but in fact, they are making sure they can continue to exist, to provide for Vorostor.
And keep it safe.
Dante might have methods which could appear as mayhem, but he is doing what needs to be done…his way.
“Boss? They’re done,” his navigator calls out.
“Are you ready to see a pirate ship?” Dante asks me with a smile which could put a crocodile to shame.
“I thought you’d never ask.”