Page 49 of Wrath

“Yes,” Linette replied. “But there’s no point blasting an EMP at the first two. The virus got them. Great job guys! You had us worried there for a minute.”

“Thanks, but your man is all kinds of badass. I almost feel schooled,” I said teasingly, relief flooding through me.

“Of course, I am,” Varnog replied smugly. “I’ve had the best teacher.”

I chuckled before sobering. “On a more serious note, my scans here show the virus is also wrecking these guys.”

“Perfect,” Myriam said. “Try to bring us back their cybernetics. One from the creature you fried, and another from the first two Varnog spanked.”

“On it,” Varnog replied.

“How are the guys doing?” I asked.

“Not having much fun,” Myriam said grimly, “but holding their own.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to silence my worry.

I launched a small probe to try and collect the cybernetics from one of the creatures I’d killed. My Scelk companion flew to the first two creatures he had killed... or rather what remained of them. Like in the base and with the tests we had performed, Myriam’s advanced nanobots were doing a number on the creatures now that they had pierced through their crazy armored scales. The skin and soft tissue of the one before me had all but dissolved into an ashen dust, the bones and scales quickly following suit.

Using the remote control of the probe, I wiggled the cybernetic contraption free of the skull, my task rendered easier by the bones crumbling around it. To my delight, the close-up view of the probe’s camera allowed me to see the pituitary gland also dissolving. I brought the probe back to my vessel and, fighting the urge to go help Wrath and Dread inside the Nomad, I flew back to the Defiance.

Chapter 16

Wrath

Despite the worry twisting my insides for my mate and my crew, I forced myself to silence all somber thoughts. My team was among the best of the best. They were neither clueless nor helpless. We had killed Jadozors before. They would wreck these ones, too.

“We can’t fight them in the hallways,”Dread mind-spoke to me.“We’ll get destroyed.”

“Agreed,”I said before breaking into a jog away from the closed shuttle bay.

Naturally, Marcelle had once more closed the hangar’s door after releasing the three beasts that had been held inside. We turned into the main hallway. Up ahead, at the other end, the massive silhouette of a Jadozor turned into the corridor, heading our way. I cursed inwardly, picking up the pace as we vainly continued looking for a room we could battle in.

The Lenusian female’s voice suddenly resonating in my head startled the living daylights out of me.

“Hurry to the secondary hallway on the left. Not the first one you’ll encounter on your right. Quickly!”

“On our way!”I replied, breaking into a full run.

Although surprised, Dread didn’t ask questions and followed. Despite our stealth shield making us invisible to the creatures, they could hear the pounding of our footsteps coming their way. The one in the front screeched, quickly echoed by the second one behind it.

I threw a canister towards the incoming creatures right before turning into the secondary passage, and then a couple more in front of me. Up ahead, the delicate Lenusian female beckoned us, terror etched on her face. As we came barreling down towards her, the Jadozors hot on our trail, she ran back inside what I believed to be a training room. It should be located here in this frigate model.

Carried by my momentum, I slapped my hand on the door frame, using it as my center of gravity to make the sharp turn into the room. As soon as Dread followed me in, the Lenusian female shut the door.

“You little traitor!” Marcelle’s voice hissed through the com. “I would have spared you. But now, you will die with the rest of them.”

Ignoring Marcelle, I turned to the trembling female. “Do you control the doors?” I asked, gesturing with my chin at the datapad in her hands. She nodded. “Can she override you?”

She shook her head. My shoulders dropped with relief. I removed my helmet and opened my mouth to ask another question, but the sound of a Jadozor banging on the door interrupted me. The female screamed, then immediately silenced herself by slapping a hand over her mouth. Her head jerked towards the door as she took three involuntary steps back.

I tapped one of the few canisters left on my weapons belt and gestured at Dread to get busy. He immediately started moving around the room setting off the canisters.

“What… What is that?” the female asked.

“Do not be afraid. It will not harm you, but it will help us kill the Jadozors. Do not speak of this out loud. The less Marcelle knows, the better,”I mind-spoke to her.

Her jaw dropped. But she nodded in understanding before jumping as the beast outside banged the door again. It wouldn’t hold eternally, but we still had some time.

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