Page 12 of Protected By the Alien Warmachine

Neither sounded happy with the other. Excellent.

“Enemy? Captain Rush, your task is to dispose of the xenoarchaeology team. A dozen academics? You outnumber them nearly two to one. Tell me how they can be an ‘enemy’ capable of foiling you.”

The captain winced at that, face going red. “Look, Mallory, I?—”

“That’s Ms. Taverner,” she interrupted coldly.

“Ms. Taverner, then. I’m not saying they did it, but someone or something killed six of my men, and wounded another five. Three more are unaccounted for. Fast, lethal, professional. That’s all I can report—everyone who got a good look is dead or missing.”

He looked around, outside the camera’s pickup. “I think they woke something up. It’s creepy as any place I’ve been, and this job’s taken me to some damned awful places.”

Taverner sat in silence for a moment, then pinched the bridge of her nose. “The Ancient ‘curse,’ I presume? Let me be clear, Captain. There are no Ancient sites in the Tulla system. Your employment is predicated on that simple fact.”

Rush looked like he was about to speak, but Taverner raised a hand to silence him and continued. “If you no longer agree with that assessment, we might have a problem. Do we have a problem, Captain?”

“No ma’am,” he blurted. “I’ll blow the site to rubble with whoever’s in there and continue with the original plan for the rest of the expedition. If three bodies are never recovered, it won’t change a thing. Just means they got separated in the storm.”

“Yes, that is satisfactory.” Taverner spoke slowly, thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on the dark wood of her desk. “Nonetheless, I will be down to make sure you’re attending to things correctly. If you are losing troops to academics, you may need reinforcements.”

She gave him no time to reply, killing the connection and vanishing. His holonet kept broadcasting as he slammed a fist down on the table and swore in a stream of profanity that expanded my vocabulary considerably.

The transmission switched to local, but I was already in, so I kept listening as he contacted a few other comms on board his ship. “Okay, folks, shit’s hitting the fan. Boss lady is coming down to supervise, so we need to deal with thisnow.

“We’re not getting our bonus, that’s for sure, so it’s up to us to make up the shortfall. Get in, grab anything you can, and plant the bombs. Then get the fuck out of there. I want this done quick, and those assholes dead, before Taverner gets down here. If she has her way, she’ll get all the credit and we’ll be lucky to get out of here alive. We go in ten.”

His image vanished as well, and I glared for a moment.

“At least we know they’re coming,” my mate said. I nodded reluctantly—she wasn’t wrong, but as advantages went, it wasn’t much.

“This time, they’ll be ready for trouble. You must get to safety before their reinforcements arrive.”

Talia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, looking up at me. “You meanwemust get to safety. I’m not about to abandon you here.”

“I must protect this place. There is little choice for a guardian such as myself, but I can at least spare you. Let me slay our foes while you?—”

“Ifight at your side.That had better be what you were about to say, mister.” The fire in Tal’ia’s eyes made it hard to argue, but more important than ever. I refused to let the flame of her passion be extinguished, even if it cost my life.

“No. You have a more important task.” My mind raced, trying to think of a plan she might agree to. “You must live to report this. To your authorities. I will draw them into the tunnels andleave you a clear path to the exit. These humans fear me now, and they will commit all their forces to the fight. While they are busy, you steal their ship and escape.”

For a plan I’d made up on the spot, that sounded reasonable. Risky, of course, and probably doomed to failure, but it gave her a reason to escape and a chance. Tal’ia’s glare softened, and she ran a hand through her hair.

“Jules and Paulo can go,” she said after a lengthy pause. “I’m staying.”

“Talia, no.” The other human female, Jules, said. I’d almost forgotten we had company. “We need you to come with us. You’re the only one who can fly a ship.”

My mate shook her head as though trying to dislodge the idea. She said nothing but looked stubborn. The male human spoke, voice shaking and muted. “It’s not just us. The rest of the expedition is in that ship, stunned but alive, and we can rescue them. If we fuck this up, they all die.”

Unwillingly, Tal’ia nodded. “Fuck. You’re right. Fine, I’ll go, but once we’re aboard their ship, you come and join us, okay? No sticking around to fight them.”

Bowing my head in sorrow, I sighed. If nothing else worked, I would have to tell her the truth. “I cannot leave, beloved. Icannot.My heart, my lungs, all my vital organs, are sealed in the jars of my crypt. The hyperfield linking me to them is not strong enough to carry far—if I flee, I die. If they destroy the jars, I die. I must remain and fight to the bitter end.”

A strange expression passed over my mate’s face at that. Part triumph, part horror.

“We’ll figure something out,” she said finally, crossing her arms. “You just get to the ship once we have it.”

This time,tracking the enemy wasn’t hard. They stuck together, moved slowly and carefully, and kept up a heavy flow of data between them and their ship. Professionals entering dangerous territory, they were taking no chances.

It would not be enough to save them, but I appreciated their skill. It also meant that there was no chance of them slipping past me. Not that they seemed interested in digging deep—the mercenaries stuck to the upper levels, circling.

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