Vexing Voss:Coletti Warlords 03(33)

"True, or he could have challenged you to hand-to-hand combat."

"That would be one very short fight. Zarek knows all my tricks."

"As do I." Voss pulled on his battle suit.

Big surprise, he went commando. "C'mon, admit it. You never thought an itty-bitty female could take you down."

"Your actions were unexpected," the big guy acknowledged. Picking up  strands of copper, he began plaiting them into warrior braids on the  right side of my face. "All that defiance in such a small package. How  could I resist you?"

"Love at first sight, huh?"

He gently stroked my cheek with his thumb. "Something like that."

I noticed a copper warrior's bracelet with black etchings and grabbed it. "Isn't this bit small for you?"

Taking it from me, Voss fastened it on my wrist and kissed the palm of  my hand. "This proclaims your warrior status and allows you to interface  with the ship's computers."

"Does it give me access to all your nifty weapons and explosives?"

"It does, but you will not take anything without my permission."

"Spoilsport." I spotted what looked like Batman's utility belt on the bed. "Is that mine too?"

"It is." Voss fastened it around my waist and slid a laser pistol into  the holster. "It has extra energy cartridges for your pistol,  restraints, explosives, a medical kit, and I've included an expandable  baton for close-quarters combat."

I pulled the baton off my belt and triggered it. It popped out, and I swung it experimentally. "Nice balance."

"Try not to have a reason to use it."

"Hey, have some faith. I'm pretty damned good with a baton."

Voss inserted two black daggers with ornamental copper handles into my boots. "It will have little effect on an Askole."

"Then I'll just unman him."

The big guy sighed.

A gong sounded.

Voss walked over to the door and touched an icon. The door slid open to reveal Hothar.

I did a slow spin. "What do you think?"

"Totally awesome," Hothar said with a grin, and held out an ice-cold can of soda.

"You guys are keepers." I popped the top and took a swig. "Perfect."                       
       
           



       





Chapter Seventeen

Another command center had been set up for the Gorum. Seems they made  all those battle-hardened warriors nervous. Twitchy trigger fingers were  never a good thing.

Sariel had stationed several heavily armed warriors a short distance  away. Two more testosterone-fueled Askole had decided they wanted to bag  themselves a Gorum. After I had unmanned them, they gave us a wide  berth.

Okay, I had to admit watching the Gorum eat the sand sharks was a bit  gruesome, but the Askoles had no room to complain. They were like the  cartoon version of the Tasmanian Devil: swirling tornadoes of death  slicing and dicing their enemies into itty-bitty pieces with their  wicked claws and fangs. They both made a mess out of their prey.

Bedan appeared on my shoulder and began playing with my braids. "Pretty."

"Where have you been?"

"Hunting." Bedan proudly held out a gnawed-on finger.

I sucked in a horrified breath. "Where did you get that?"

"Found it."

"Where?"

An image of blood-splattered rocks formed in my mind.

"Was there a body attached to it?"

"No."

I linked with Voss. "Anyone missing a warrior or technician?"

There was a brief pause before he answered. "No. Why?"

"Bedan found a finger."

The instant Voss appeared at our command center, Bedan quickly stuffed the finger down his maw.

"Bad baby."

"Mine."

Voss held out his hand. "I have no wish to take your food, young one, but I need to examine the finger."

The little guy crawled on top of my head. "No."

Oh gross. His goopy tentacles were now entwined in my hair.

Raj tried to pull Bedan away from me. "You will show us the finger. Now!"

Bedan tightened his grip. "Want to keep the pretty."

In danger of losing a good chunk of my scalp, I grabbed Raj's tentacle.  "Easy does it. Okay, Bedan, how about we trade you a big juicy eyeball  for it?"

"Want two."

"Deal. Now give me the finger."

Sticking a tentacle in his maw, Bedan reluctantly brought the finger out and handed it to me.

Ewww. Bloody pieces of shredded flesh still clung to the bone. "Is that a ring?"

Voss plucked the finger off my palm and examined the ring. "Malik's."

Zarek popped in and took the mangled digit from Voss. "It is his."

I shrugged. "He probably lost it when his Marauder got blown to smithereens."

Turning his lethal gaze on Bedan, Zarek said, "If you show us where you found this I will give you three more eyeballs."

The little guy wiggled excitedly. "Deal."

"Good."

A yellow glow surrounded Bedan, and he vanished.

One look at the Overlord's vexed expression, and I laughed.

Zarek's scary index shot off the charts. "You find this funny?"

"No, sir." I gulped and turned to Raj. "You can track Bedan, right?"

"Yes." Wrapping a tentacle around me, Raj tossed me on his back, and we fell into that horrible vortex.

I was still screaming when we appeared next to scarlet rocks that pierced the sand like thorny fingers.

"Enough of your screeching, female."

A shudder shook me. "I hate that fucking vortex. Do you hear me? I hate it!"

"Everyone hears you," Voss commented, his amusement evident.

Big surprise the Battle Commander had followed us. Sliding off Raj's  back, I stomped over to Voss and smacked him in the chest. "It's not  funny."

Voss pulled me to him and kissed the tip of my nose. "This wasn't your first time."

I hit him again. "It doesn't get any easier, snookums."

Zarek appeared with Commander Zan clamped to his chest.

My eyebrows shot up in amazement, and I whispered, "Do they have a thing?"

The big guy choked back a laugh. "No, Zan insisted on accompanying us."

"Oh." I winced at the nasty look Zarek shot me as he released the commander.

Sariel zoomed up like the Tasmanian Devil.

"Hail. Hail. The gang's all here."

"Unfortunately." Voss looked around. "Where is Bedan?"

Dropping my shields, I scanned the area. "He's behind that first rock eating a sand shark's eyeballs."                       
       
           



       

"Why don't you and Raj fetch him while I check for signs of Malik's base," Voss said.

"Okay." I motioned to Raj. "There's a dead sand shark behind-"A tentacle curled around me, and off we went.

A blinding red light flashed behind us, and for a fleeting second, agony  seared through every cell in my body. When the funny black spots  cleared from my vision, I saw Voss, Zarek, Sariel, and Zan sprawled on  the ground.

Oh my God! Voss! I yanked at the tentacle wrapped around my waist. "Let go. Voss is in trouble."

Raj tightened his grip and slithered off. "You cannot help him if we are captured too."

Twisting around I watched as a glittering blue transporter beam  illuminated the area, and then they were gone. Sick horror knotted my  stomach. Malik had them.

"We will get your mate back, Zoey."

"You're damned right we will."

Bedan scrambled out of the rocks. "Monsters come."

A feral smile curved my mouth when I sensed two Tai-Kok warriors heading our way. "Let's go kill some monsters."

"Why would Malik only send two warriors to capture you?"

My gut tightened. "He wouldn't. It's a trap."

"Exactly. Go back to the command center, Bedan, and warn the others."

"Me tell." He vanished.

My radar screamed a warning. A second later a large Coletti warrior  slammed into me, knocking me off Raj. I hit the hot sand with three  hundred pounds of muscle on top of me.

"You can't leave yet. Malik has plans for you."

"Gosh, I hate to disappoint but-"

The warrior suddenly started shrieking and rolled off me.

Raj stung him again and again and again until a bluish foam spewed from his mouth. The warrior gave a final twitch and died.

A brilliant red beam seared across Raj's back. Squalling in agonized  fury, he collapsed on the ground and twitched spasmodically.

Kneeling next to him, I patted him anxiously. "How badly are you hurt?"

"Stun beam. Not a direct hit," Raj moaned.

"Can you teleport?"

"Not yet."

My radar went to Defcon 1. Multiple bad guys were heading our way.  "Malik's definitely catching on. He sent an entire squad of his goons  for us."

"Stall them."

A tad bit sarcastically, I retorted, "Sure. How hard can that be?"

"If we are to escape, you cannot allow them to use the stun ray on me again."