Page 67 of Hooded

“You were feral when I found you and not much better after training,” he says. “Once we lost you, I thought you’d gone rogue, not found a mate.”

“I did not find her until recently. I’ve been a prisoner of the Galactic Council for the last ten nova-years, fighting as a gladiator in the dome on Trefa.” I glare at him. “Which might not have happened if you’d come looking for me.”

Mylo backs off. “I didn’t know. What did you do to vrex off the Galactic Council?”

“I challenged them about the disappearance of the Gryn. It touched a nerve because the next thing I knew, I was in the amphitheater on Trefa getting the vrex beaten out of me. A prisoner of the Council alongside another four Gryn, all of whom should not have been there. Where were you?”

“We’ve not been in this quadrant for the last decade because we’ve been rebuilding on Ustokos,” Mylo says. “It’s only in recent times we’ve had the resources to get back out into the galaxy to find our kin.”

“Which is what you’re doing here?” I rasp.

“All the information I got led here, to this planetoid, Hatul.”

“You believe there are more Gryn here, in this blasted place?”

“I do, but I’ve yet to locate them. The vrexing joykill bots are worse here than on Ustokos,” he grumbles. “Are you hungry? I’m hungry.”

Without another word, he turns and walks into a dim tunnel. I follow him through and out into a larger clearing, open to the elements above, where a small flyer sits partially obscured from above by a large ledge of stone. The one part in the open is a large pulsar cannon. The one used to blast the bots out of the sky.

Mylo walks up the gangway into the flyer, and with no other options available to me, I follow him.

“You did well against those joykills, almost as if you’re born to it.” Mylo tosses me a ration packet and a container of water. “So, Proto is working with the Varangy? That explains why the information I needed was so vrexing hard to obtain. Secretive vrexers.”

“They were at the forefront of an attempt to invade Trefa, along with the Bogarok.” I rip open the packet and shovel the dried meat into my mouth. “The Sarkarnii dealt with the foul creatures, but the Varangy got away.”

“And you?”

“I got captured by a bounty hunter and then we both fell into the hands of the Tormelek.” I shrug, grabbing another ration pack and tucking into it.

“When did you have time to meet a mate?” Mylo snorts.

“She was the bounty hunter.”

He stares at me for a beat before doubling up in laughter.

“Vrex you, Klynn, you always did have things fall into your lap. Ow,” he says.

“Are you well, Mylo?” I query as he places one hand on the wall of his ship to steady himself.

“My last bout with the joykills wasn’t as successful as yours. I may have some internal bleeding,” he says. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Vrex, you need a medic,” I respond.

“It’s going to have to wait,” Mylo says. “This is Proto’s final base. We have to kill it, once and for all.”

“It claims to be unkillable,” I say as he lowers himself gingerly onto a ledge which has clearly been doubling as a bed. “Which I doubt. Everything dies, in the end. Especially if I have my way.”

“What exactly did you do, as a gladiator?” Mylo asks.

“I killed for credits,” I growl. “And I’d happily kill for no reason at all.” I glare at him. “Now I will only kill for my mate.”

Mylo shakes his head. “I should have tried to find you.”

“You should have, but you didn’t. It is what it is,” I growl.

Next to him, a slab of a vid screen springs into life. He picks it up and studies the information.

“There are four ships entering the atmosphere,” he says. “You expecting company?”

---