With a cry, the final pirates converged on them. Honor and Colm’s hands and feet moved in a deadly dance as they fought.
“Honor!” Colm grabbed her arms. “Behind you.” He swung her, lifting her off the floor.
When he let her go, she slammed into two pirates, knocking them to the ice. Two more hits made sure they weren’t getting up anytime soon.
She stood, ready for more, when a shot of green laser fire cut across her arm, and she cried out from the burn.
She ducked, and from the corner of her eye saw the droid floating closer. She glanced down, checking her arm, reassured that it wasn’t bad.
But then she heard an enraged sound.
She turned and saw Colm, his hands out in front of him, his muscles tight.
He launched himself at the syndroid.
“No!” she cried.
The droid was firing, but Colm moved too fast. He dodged all the laser fire. His kick sent the droid rocking, but it recovered quickly.
Honor watched Colm fight, amazement filling her chest. He was so lethal, so ruthless, so powerful. Even without his sword, he was still a magnificent fighter. He slammed kicks and hits into the droid. The droid was fast, spinning and ducking to avoid the blows.
But Colm had rage on his side.
Then out of the corner of her eye, Honor spotted Alara lifting a pair of laser pistols—Honor’s pistols—and she was aiming them right at Colm.
No way. Honor sprinted, slipping a little on the icy floor. She dived into the air and tackled the pirate leader.
They connected with an oomf. They slid across the floor and right out the hole in the side of the ship. As they bounced over the icy ground, Honor winced, but she kept her grip on the woman.
The pirate leader wasn’t young, but she was muscled and tough. She punched Honor in the face. Honor felt blood trickling from her mouth, but she spat it out and fought back. They rolled again, trading hits.
God, the woman was damned strong. Honor began to wonder if Alara had some sort of cyborg enhancements under her clothes. They rolled again and knocked into something. Honor glanced up and saw it was an icy, narrow stalagmite, spiking up from the ground.
She grabbed it, wrenched, and the long piece of ice came free in her hand.
It wasn’t her stun-staff, but it would do the job. She rolled away and bounced to her feet. Alara wasted no time getting off the ground, but Honor didn’t let her recover. She smacked the ice staff against Alara. The pirate woman fell backward with a cry.
Honor followed, spinning the stalagmite like she would her staff. She adjusted for the weight and slick feel of it.
“You got nowhere to go, girly.”
“Hear that?” She nodded toward the din of fighting inside the ship. “That’s the sound of your droid and your people getting the shit beaten out of them. I think I have a good chance of taking you down and stopping you from pilfering what isn’t yours.”
“You really think people want to look at all this stuff? To see it gathering dust in some fucking Institute museum? No one cares.”
“Yes, they do. I do. The warriors of this planet do and this is their moon, their history, their space. I know you can’t understand that, and I don’t expect you to, but I’m going to stop you from taking a single piece of treasure out of here.”
“All right, girly, let’s do it. I know more about fighting than you’ve ever learned.”
They charged at each other.
Honor took a hard blow to the gut that knocked all the air out of her. She spun, trying to avoid Alara’s next hit.
She swung out with her ice staff.
She hit Alara’s arm, and there was a loud cracking sound. The pirate leader stumbled back, clutching her arm.
“Shit, you broke it!”
Honor kept fighting her way closer. Suddenly, Alara pulled something from her pocket, and Honor froze.
The trip here with Lala had taught her to recognize all kinds of explosives, especially Lala’s signature one.
Lastite. Highly, highly volatile.
Suddenly, laser fire peppered the wall behind them. Chunks of ice flew in all directions.
Honor dove, sliding on her stomach across the ice. As she turned, she spotted the syndroid coming out of the ship. A narrow plume of smoke was floating behind it, and it listed slightly to one side. It fired again, and Honor scrambled backward.
A large body barreled out of the ship, jumped, and slammed into the droid. Colm and the droid smashed into the ground. Colm got the droid beneath him, gripped it with both his hands, and then pulled, tearing the droid to shreds.
Honor jumped up and sprinted toward Alara. She slammed a hard fist into the woman’s face. The pirate leader fell backward, her arms windmilling, and the lastite explosive fell from her hand. Honor dove, catching the explosive before it hit the ground.