"Me too, sweetie." A jangling sense of alarm knotted my stomach. I quickly surveyed the sea of crescent-shaped sand dunes. Nothing moved across the mirage-haunted surface. The only sound was the faint never-ending moan of the wind.
The sensation of danger grew. Dropping my shields, I scanned the area, aware I had everyone's attention. An image formed in my mind's eye. A long snakelike body with armored spines and a cobra's head.
"Sand sharks," Raj snarled.
"Their hunger equals ours," Kunwar growled.
A scarlet spine cut the surface of the sand, and I had this silly urge to hum the theme song to Jaws.
Bedan wrapped his tentacles in my hair and shivered. "Me scared."
I stroked his rubbery little body. "It'll be okay."
"Sand sharks are very difficult to kill. When they break the surface, shoot them between the eyes," Voss stated.
"Yes, sir." I pulled the laser rifle off my back and held it ready.
Horrific jaws erupted from the sand, and the creature rose up and up and up. The thing was huge with pink eyes, a broad snout, and needle-sharp teeth. Emitting a tremendous roar, it spread its hood to attack.
I shot the sand shark between the eyes. The head instantly vaporized.
The enormous body convulsed violently, whipping up a mini sandstorm before flopping limply on the hot dirt.
A dozen spines glided through the sand and attacked the body in a feeding frenzy.
"We need to get out of here," I gasped as hundreds more broke the surface.
"Gorum do not run," Kunwar hissed.
"We stay, we die."
"There are too many of them to fight, and our king needs us," Raj concurred.
"The battle cruiser just launched a dozen marauders. That mountain range twenty clicks north of you is filled with iridium. If you can make it in time, they won't be able to track you," Voss advised.
"Head for the mountains," Raj commanded, and a swirling yellow vortex opened up and swallowed us.
The tornado of death suddenly spat us out on the searing hot sand. A scant second later, the other Gorum appeared next to us.
I frowned. We were still a good five miles from the mountains. "What happened?"
"We need to eat," Raj answered, his tentacle caressing my back hungrily.
Holy Mary, mother of God! I was gonna die.
"If you had bothered to scan the area, you would have known there are two immature sand sharks a click away. It should be enough to sustain them," Voss snapped.
Gritting my teeth, I snapped back, "Sorry, sir, it won't happen again, sir. Raj there's-"
The Gorum shot forward, slithering across the dunes at an incredible speed. I hung on for dear life.
Two scarlet spines broke through the sand.
Raj abruptly dumped me on an oven-hot protrusion of rock and charged the sharks. The others were right behind him.
The instant the sharks erupted from the sand, the Gorum were on them like a pack of starving wolves. Pink blood sprayed in every direction as they literally tore the sharks to pieces. Ewww.
A severed head rolled to a stop by my perch.
Bedan wiggled excitedly on my shoulder. "I eat eyes."
"Okeydokey." I sat him on the head. To my horrified disgust Bedan popped the eyes out and ate them like they were chocolate. Ick.
Four Tai-Kok Marauders appeared in the distance. The air streaming off their wings, they flew straight at us.
This day just kept getting worse and worse. Dropping my shields, I reached out and took over a pilot's mind. "They are the enemy; kill them."
The pilot obediently rolled his ship, came up behind the others, and unleashed a barrage of missiles.
Fireballs mushroomed in the pale red sky. Pieces of flaming debris rained down over the endless sand.
His ship damaged by the flying metal, my pilot instinctively fought to keep his ship aloft.
"Go to sleep," I commanded. A few seconds later, the remaining Marauder began spinning and twisting violently in a rapid vertical descent. It hit the sand and exploded in a brilliant ball of orange flames.
"Well done, sugar tits, but there are eight more Marauders heading your way."
"I live for excitement."
Bedan scurried up my body and clung to my neck. "Big boom."
A feral smile touched my mouth. "Wanna make more go boom?"
"That won't be necessary." Raj growled, wrapped a tentacle around my waist, and threw me on his gore-covered back. Oh gross!
We fell into the vortex from hell, and an eternity later, it dumped us among eroded towers of crimson rock.
I sucked in a horrified breath when something that looked like a giant mosquito landed on my arm.
Before I could smack it, Bedan stuffed it in his mouth. "More, more, more."
"More?" Dear God, I hoped not. My eyes bugged out as a swarm of the repulsive critters suddenly descended on me. Shrieking bloody blue murder, I whacked frantically at them. "Get them off! Get them off!"
All the Gorum crowded around me, and dozens of tentacles snatched up the bugs.
A shudder shook me. I really hated this planet.
Energy bolts ricocheted off the rocks.
Raj tossed me behind a boulder.
Something soft and squishy broke my fall. Scorm! Hundreds of Scorm!
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Jumping around like a crazy person, I yanked out my laser pistol and started firing while my own personal bug zapper ate the ones crawling on me.
A laser bolt zinged over my head.
Voss bellowed furiously, "Take cover."
"Gotta kill 'em. Gotta kill 'em."
A tentacle latched on to my right ankle and yanked me off my feet. A salvo of red laser beams missed me by several inches.
Kunwar hissed, "Do you have a death wish, female?"
"I hate bugs, okay?"
"It is not okay," Voss roared. "You need to focus on killing the Tai-Kok."
"Fine." Rage vibrating through every cell of my body, I unleashed my powers and started destroying the monsters' minds.
Marauder after Marauder after Marauder after Marauder fell from the sky.
The earth trembled from the multiple impacts, and flames danced over the rocks.
"Enough," Voss snarled.
"Just following your orders, sir."
Another Tai-Kok Marauder slammed into the ground. Smoke and flames belched from the wreckage.
Every inch the merciless Battle Commander, Voss growled, "Stop it, Zoey."
The world spun dizzily around me, and my knees hit the hot sand. My energy reserves were gone. "As you command, my lord."
A squadron of Talon fighters rocketed overhead and shot down the remaining Marauders.
A pair of armored boots appeared in front of me.
"Your honey bunny has arrived." Kunwar snickered.
Voss's furious gaze fastened on me.
If looks could kill, I'd be stone-cold dead.
Bedan crawled into my bra. "Me hide."
Chapter Fifteen
Too bad I couldn't pull a disappearing act. Giving Voss my best woebegone look, I let the tears roll. "I've been kidnapped, beat up, stung a zillion times, catapulted through the vortex from hell and-"
"I am aware of everything that has happened to you," he responded without an ounce of sympathy.
Bastard. I let my voice wobble pathetically. "Everything? How about the attack of those creepy critters? They were crawling all over me."
A deep-throated chuckle sounded.
That prick had the gall to laugh at me? I threw a furious look at him.
Hands planted on his hips, Voss watched me with amused interest.
Glad he found me so freaking entertaining. Narrowing my eyes at him, I snapped, "All I want is a hug. Is that too much to ask for?"
"A hug?"
"Aren't you a tiny bit happy to see me?"
My Battle Commander snorted rudely. "Happy is not quite the word I would use. Relieved and irritated come to mind."
Damn. "One little ‘honey bunny,' and you would lock me up at the breeders compound?"
"No. You would have it reduced to a pile of smoldering rubble within a day," the big guy answered, picking me up. "From now on, you never leave my side."
Now who was overreacting? Wrapping my arms around his neck I chirped cheerfully, "I get to go into battle with you, attend all those cool warlord meetings, and watch you torture, maim, and kill people. Won't that be fun?"
Implacable resolve stamped on his face, Voss growled, "I will do what is necessary to keep you safe."
Whoa! Was my Battle Commander feeling guilty? I had been taken from him twice. I kissed his chin. "It wasn't your fault. Shit like this happens to me all the time."
"It stops now."
Noticing the lines of stress etched into his face, I stroked him gently. "I'm okay. Really."
A sigh broke from Voss as he sat me on a boulder shaded by a twisted sentinel of rock. "You take too many risks."