Prime Obsession(5)

He turned to his left and switched the monitor on the master command console to an exterior view.

The pirate mother ship, a battle cruiser that had probably been salvaged, or liberated, from the Volusian military, lay off the starboard side, dead in space, operating on emergency power. They’d been lucky. The pirate ship’s power source was of the type that his new beta-weapon could defang it. If he and his crew survived, the Prime—and through the newly signed treaty, the Alliance—would have an effective new weapon to use against certain of their shared enemies.

Huw, Iolyn and Maren came to stand with him.

“What is our status, Wulf?” Maren asked in low tones.

“We control the Galanti. Engines have been shut back to emergency power. The pirates may be in possession of the command deck, but they have no power.

Environmental is cut off on every level of the ship but this one. And the pirate ship is dead in space and has no working weapons.”

Wulf motioned the three men closer as he scanned the immediate area to see if any one of the crew expressed more than a casual interest in what the four of them discussed.

He saw no one in particular and the emotional levels in the room had not changed. If there were other saboteurs, they were not ready to make their move just yet. “Iolyn, what is the intruder count?”

“We are outnumbered by almost a three-to-one ratio,” Iolyn responded. “We are trapped in engineering. The apayebo Solar corrupted the computer program controlling some of the maintenance tunnel traps leading to and from the engine room. Currently, I can’t command them.”

“So, we can’t use them to leave and take the battle to the intruders,” Wulf said. He muttered several Prime epithets under his breath. “The good news is that they can not use them to get to us, either.”

“The self-destruct mechanism?” Maren asked.

“It is functioning as programmed, and I can still halt it at any time,” said Wulf.

His brothers and Maren visibly relaxed at that news. No Prime wanted to die under a Code Argenta. They were warriors and would rather die in glorious battle. But they would go up with their ship as long as it kept the pirates from stealing the Galanti and its advanced technology.

“We need to monitor the crew in the engine room for signs of increased fear or stress as the countdown proceeds,” Wulf said in a low voice that only carried to his companions. “I expect our other traitor or traitors will attempt to halt the countdown.”

“What I don’t understand is why any of our men would aid the pirates.” Huw frowned. “This crew is the pick of the Prime military.”

“I suspect the pirates were hired by the pure-blood faction and that some of our crew are sympathizers who have been persuaded that joining the Alliance is not the way to proceed,” Maren offered. “Even though the treaty has been signed for months, the actual opening of a Prime embassy on foreign soil makes it more real. This is the rebels’ way of sending a message.”



“Capturing or killing the Prime leader’s three sons and best friend would definitely be a message,” Wulf concurred. “Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work. Besides, father and the majority of the Council are committed to this course of action. This would not stop the alliance.”

The others nodded.

“What are we going to do now?” Iolyn asked.

“We wait.” Wulf stared unseeing at the monitor. “The pirates can’t get away on the ship that brought them. With one precise hit, our beta-protean ray has damaged their engine’s power source and shut down their weapons systems. They’re helpless. They must take the Galanti to leave.”

He switched the monitor’s view to the ship’s command deck, where several pirates stood arguing. “The Alliance will either arrive and help us liberate the ship and capture the pirates or we’ll blow the Galanti and anything within fifty thousand kilometers into molecule-sized pieces.”

“How many of the boarding party did we manage to kill, Iolyn?” Huw asked, leaning over Wulf’s shoulder to get a look at the monitor. “The pirate leaders don’t look too happy with the situation.”

Wulf laughed grimly. “No, they aren’t happy. Would you be? They now realize they can’t leave on their ship—and can’t control ours either.”

“They lost about half their boarding team when we cut environmental to the other decks before they managed to put on breather-units, but as I said, they still outnumber us three-to-one,” Iolyn said, consulting his data pad. “They lost at least five men in the maintenance tunnel traps in an attempt to get to the engine room.” Huw grinned at his brothers. “Bet they regret ever attempting to take a Prime ship.” Loud thudding noises at the engine room doorway attracted all of their attention. The pirates gathered outside were once again attempting to break through the door shields.

“What about the engine room’s security? Did Solar manage to sabotage it?” Maren asked, concern in his eyes.

“No.” Wulf’s lips twisted into a smug smile. “I killed him before he got that far. The engine room shields are impenetrable.”

The other men grunted in approval.

“Is there any chance we could retake the ship without external help?” Huw asked.

“Not without a great loss of life. They’ve concentrated their numbers on the engine room access ways.” Wulf switched to the cameras in the hallways leading to the engine room. At least fifty heavily armed men from multiple races and species had hunkered down for the siege. “We’d be killed as soon as we let down the shields on the door.”

“What about the maintenance tunnels?” Maren asked. “Can we control any of the traps so we can get out to take the battle to them?”

Wulf understood the old warrior’s feelings. Sitting and waiting to be rescued was not the Prime way. But this time, it was the prudent choice. The treaty with the Alliance and their reasons for signing it were more important than a little glory in battle.

Wulf shook his head. “Right now, we can’t control the three crucial traps closest to the engine room. Anyone going in or out of here through those last three sections would be killed instantly.”

“Can we repair the damage Solar did?” Huw asked.

Wulf shrugged. “We can try. It would take massive reprogramming—and that might take longer than the time we have left.”

“I’m willing to try, brother.” Iolyn grinned. “It’s not as if I have anything better to do.”

Wulf nodded. His brother was the best programmer they had. If anyone could do it, he could. “Do your best. Start with the one immediately outside the engine room access to the tunnels. That would at least allow us into the hallway just outside the main engine room door—we might be able to take out some of the enemy from above and behind.” He switched the monitor view to the tunnel sections leading into the engine room.

Two dead pirates, a Terran and some pseudo-reptilian species, possibly an Erian, lay in the tunnel at the second to last trap just outside of the engine room. The Erian still breathed, but could not retreat because the trap sensed motion and might finish the job it had started. “The pirates have already attempted to gain entrance. I don’t think they’ll try again.”

Iolyn nodded and moved to another computer console to begin his work.

“I’ll help, Iolyn.” Huw joined his brother.

“Thus, for now, we have a stalemate,” concluded Maren.

“Yes,” Wulf said. “Until either the Alliance arrives, we help ourselves, or we self-destruct.”

“Let’s hope that there is an Alliance ship close enough to respond,” Maren said.

Wulf nodded. He hoped so also. He more than anyone else on the ship, other than maybe Maren, had something to live for now. A woman with his gemate sign. Maren’s niece. His gemate, his genetically ideal mate — Captain Melina Dmitros.

At the mere thought of her, his body throbbed with unspent passion. His heart ached at the thought of losing his chance to meet her. Since he’d first learned of her existence, all his thoughts, his dreams each night, had been of meeting the woman with whom he could share everything. His body. His mind. His soul.

When Maren and his brothers first told him of her existence, he’d wanted to drop everything and rush to the Alliance Military Command on Tooh 10 to steal her away. But his father and Maren had convinced him she needed to be approached cautiously, and then courted. After all, they’d reasoned, she’d been raised as a Terran woman. She held an important and vital military position. Despite the genetic advantage he had due to the gemate imprint, she still would not appreciate being swept away by a man claiming to be her mate.

Reluctantly, he’d agreed with their conclusions and thrown himself into researching Melina. He knew everything about her a data search, photo images, and his brothers’ and Maren’s words could tell him. But the important things—how she smelled, tasted, or felt in his arms as he made love to her—he could only discover once they met.

Wulf closed his eyes, the image of Melina fixed in his mind’s eye, and prayed, something he had not done since his early childhood.





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