Page 18 of A Cyborg for the Alien Mercenary

The turbulence increased, rattling his teeth. Adrenaline rolled through him, his muscles coiling with tension as his body prepared itself for battle.

“Debus in T minus thirty seconds,” Ryke bellowed over the din. “Lock and load, gentlemen!”

Covak rolled his shoulders, adjusting the straps of the oversized shoulder gun nestled along his spine. The weapon’s weight was comforting, a reminder of the raw power at his disposal. But the gun wasn’t what made him dangerous. He flexed his fingers, and his claws dropped free with fleshy snicks. No, what made him lethal was the beast that lurked just beneath his skin…the Vorrtan super-soldier, bred for combat and honed through generations of genetic manipulation for war.

The shuttle landed with a bone-jarring thud, and his enhanced hearing picked up the startled cries of nearby humans. The back ramp dropped, and he winced for a second against the bright sunlight before his eyes adjusted to the brightness.

“Go, go, go!”Ryke barked, and the Reapers poured down the ramp.

Covak’s boots hit soft earth as he stormed out of the shuttle and scanned their surroundings. They’d landed in some sort of park in front of the compound. His gaze swept the area, cataloging potential threats and escape routes with an ease that was literally genetically coded.

A group of human children stood nearby, their eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe. One little girl’s ice cream slipped from her cone to splatter on the ground at her feet. A pang of guilt surged through him. They were just kids. They shouldn’t have to witness this.

He winked at them, hoping to ease their fear, before turning his attention to the compound.

His high-tech glasses flickered to life, projecting a heads-up display that revealed the gun emplacements atop the walls. His lips curled into a snarl.

“Going hot,” he warned over the comm, shrugging the massive shoulder gun into position.

The compound’s defense guns registered the new threat and swiveled toward them, but they were too slow. Covak’s enhanced reflexes kicked in, and time slowed as he targeted the nearest gun emplacement. His finger squeezed the trigger, and the big weapon roared to life, leaving a smoldering crater in the wall where the gun emplacement used to be.

“Frexx!” he snarled. The gun’s recoil would have taken one of the others off their feet, but it barely registered against his Vorrtan strength as he aimed again, quickly taking out the othertwo guns. “There’s a frexxing playground right here! Don’t these assholes care about younglings getting hurt?”

Ryke’s only response was to fire the assault cannon they’d liberated from a Krynassis arms dealer. The air hummed with energy, and then the weapon discharged. A second later a section of the compound wall wasn’t there anymore, leaving a gaping hole for them to enter through.

They raced forward. His nostrils flared, drinking in the unfamiliar scents of the human world. Under the sharp tang of weapons fire lay the sweet perfume of flowering plants and the mouth-watering aroma of food being cooked nearby. Maybe this…barbequewas what the human holo-media mentioned all the time. It was intoxicating, and for a moment, he found himself wishing they had time to explore. Maybe grab a little lunch.

“Covak, come on!” Ryke bellowed, urging him forward, and he ran to keep up.

They had no time for sightseeing. They had a mission to complete and a beautiful woman to rescue. He was particularly interested in the after-the-rescue part, namely the part where she was grateful for his aid…

As they breached the compound, Ryke barked orders, “Split up, just like we planned. I’ll create a distraction. Anson, find a terminal.”

Ryke veered off with Davis to sow chaos and confusion among the guards as Anson sprinted the opposite direction down a corridor.

Covak shook his head as he watched the B’Kaar go. Despite being the team’s medic and having scanned Anson on numerous occasions, he still couldn’t make heads or tails of how his abilities worked. Theke’lathembedded in Anson’s systems defied explanation, and the smug bastard was neverforthcoming with answers. One of these days, though, he was going to find out. Whether Anson liked it or not.

Following the plan, Covak took another corridor and made his way through a series of tunnels, emerging from them into a small house. He paused for a moment in curiosity. Part of him wanted to explore, to see how humans lived their daily lives. But the mission came first.

The house turned out to be at the end of a quiet street. He jogged down it, his mind wandering to their target. Jane. Even her name sounded exotic to his ears. He’d only ever met one other human female before, and his imagination ran wild with possibilities. Especially as they knew Jane wasn’t really human. Human-like, but not human, like Zero on the Warborne… who looked more Lathar that most Lathar did.

He shook his head. All that shit gave him a headache when all he wanted to do was think about Jane. Would she be frightened of him? Impressed by his strength? Maybe she’d be so grateful for her rescue that she’d fall madly in love with him on the spot.

He chuckled. He had to save her first.

It didn’t take him long to reach his objective. Within minutes he approached the house where Jane was supposedly being held but then slowed down, his unease growing with each step. The street lay silent, not a single soul in sight. Odd. He turned in a circle, using his glasses to scan the area and noting the parked vehicles and empty sidewalks. The doors and gates of the target house stood wide open, the latter creaking gently in the breeze.

His eyes narrowed as he tightened his grip on his weapon. He needed eyes in the back of his head, watching everything in case this was a trap. The house looked deceptively peaceful with its tidy lawn and flowerbeds. His nostrils flared as he took in the scent of freshly cut grass and blooming flowers, and there… the faint tang of gun oil.

Something wasn’t right. His instincts all screamed at him to stay alert.

He moved cautiously toward the house, eyes and ears wide open. He stretched his senses to pick up any signs of movement, but there was nothing. Then he realized this house wasn’t the only thing that was silent.

He hadn’t heard a single gunshot from Ryke and Davis’s position.

“Guys, what’s going on?” he said into the comm. “Did you all decide to take a nap on the job and not tell me or something?”

Silence greeted him, broken only by the soft whisper of wind through the bushes nearby. He swore, his hand tightening on his weapon. Something was very, very wrong.

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