Page 74 of Guardian's Destiny

"Let's go." I wasn't sure how far these women could walk, but I needed to get them out of here and quickly.

VRAAX

I kepta close eye on Craygh and Moddekdum as we left the shelter of the ruin. Farther down, I caught a glimpse of Sloane as she made her way down the hangars, cleverly pretending to belong there, when she reached a point where she would be spotted. From afar and in the dark, she could have been mistaken for a very tall Ohrur. Satisfied that she was safe for the moment, I waved my two charges on. Craygh was probably trying to win back my favor as he prodded Moddekdum forward, and I wasn't about to take that illusion from him. He was more useful that way.

The two Ohrurs had no problems walking toward the spaceship, whereas I had to keep to the shadows and low to the ground. My height was a dead giveaway that I didn't belong here. That was until I noticed another Space Guardian getting off the ship. That's when I adopted Sloane's method. My uniform was ripped and dirty in parts, but I hoped the darkness would conceal most of the damage.

I nodded at the Space Guardian, who nodded back at me without a second glance. He looked a lot younger than I remembered being when I first started… When I tried to pinpoint my age at the time, the usual headache set in, andI gave up. It wasn't important right now. We were about to unravel all the Ohrurs' secrets; my questions could wait a little bit longer.

The cargo bay inside wasn't very big and empty. Two drones were cleaning already spotless areas, while a third was busy moving three single crates from one space to another.

We walked into the hallway that led to the quarters and bridge. I opened the first room and ushered the Ohrurs inside to keep out of the way while I methodically checked the other rooms. There were no differences between any of them, clean, nearly sterile.

On the bridge, I encountered two Space Guardians; both were busy readying the ship for takeoff.

"You have no business here," one said when he looked up after the doors opened.

"Change of plans," I announced, firing my blaster, set to stun at the first.

But before I could take down the second, a third attacked me from the right.Stupid rookie mistake, I grunted as my head made impact with the wall. I should have checked my surroundings better, but I was still rattled by the damn Arkhevari and thinking of Sloane.

My fist connected with my attacker’s chin, knocking him back. The second Space Guardian pulled his blaster, and I pulled the one I had pushed off me back to use him as a shield before the beam of the blaster hit him, turning his body into dead weight.

The one firing at me pushed the alarm button before I managed to get out from underneath the unconscious, heavy form. Frygg.

Wedged in between the body and the wall, I was having a difficult time getting free while the alarm setter scaled the captain's chair. His blaster was still raised; he had a perfect shot,but he didn't use it. Instead, he pulled the lifeless body off me, his face set into a grim expression before he kicked me in the kidneys, making me see stars.

There was something off about the male; the gleam in his eyes promised pain as he raised his foot to stomp it down on my stomach. I ignored the pain in my kidney and grabbed his foot, catching him off-balance. He hopped on one leg for a moment before I jerked him by the ankle, and he went down.

I scrambled forward, climbing up on his body while he tried to buck me off. His fists landed on my face, hit my already broken nose, and I saw stars again as pain exploded in the center of my face.

Still, I was able to grab his wrist before he could land another hit. Kneeing him in the groin didn't seem to affect him much. What the hell?

His other hand, holding the blaster, came forward, hitting me in the side of my head with the weapon, while his other hand fought against my grip. This male was much stronger than any opponent I had ever fought before, and I had fought many, even other Space Guardians. I remembered my little altercation with Tharaax; we had been evenly matched, whereas this male seemed to be made from steel. It didn't make any sense, mainly because he was several years younger than me, still in or barely out of training.

Another hit against my head reminded me that I didn't have time to contemplate these things right now. If I didn't give it my all, this Space Guardian might get the better of me.

I let go of his wrist and jumped up, a move he hadn't expected but was quick to react to as he aimed the blaster at me. I kicked it out of his hand, not even looking at where it landed, too busy trying to keep the frygging bastard down. A kick against his head stunned him momentarily, long enough for me to lunge for the other unconscious Space Guardian and relieve him of hisblaster. When I turned to shoot, my opponent was on his feet, and with a wild look in his eyes, he lunged for me, uncaring of the blaster in my hand. I had no choice but to fire it, clueless if it was set to stun or kill.

It was set to kill, as it turned out.

Heavily breathing, I leaned against the back of the chair, trying to catch my breath while the alarms still blared, bringing me back to my senses.

Two Space Guardians stormed onto the bridge. "Hold it right there."

"They attacked me. They were going to take the ship," I said, raising my hands, still holding the blaster.

"Drop your weapon," the second shouted.

"Check the ship and see if there are more of them. Now!" I distracted them with my most commanding voice. I had never given orders to others before; it wasn't in my job description. Space Guardians operated alone, not like an army. But I had learned a thing or two from Sloane, and what do you know, the two stared at me as if ready to obey. Their momentary hesitation was all I needed. I brought the blaster around and shot them both.

I had killed many people in my life, and all of them had deserved it, but I wasn't sure about these three. I swallowed the unfamiliar emotion of guilt down and hastened to the captain's chair to turn and call off the alarm. A quick glimpse through the screen showed the arrival of several more Space Guardians.

A thousand Space Guardians patrolling the universe sounded like a lot, but now, I began to wonder at how many were in the private employ of the Ohrurs. Tharaax told us that there had been at least twenty Space Guardians at Possedion's place. At least fourteen had been on my tail on Ohrur. I hadn't seen many at Moddekdum's place, but several of them had accompanied the Arkhevari, so unless the Ohrurs had lied to us about thistoo, there seemed to be a disproportional number of Space Guardians on Ohrur.

For the second time, I counseled myself that there wasn't any time to contemplate this now; I needed to get the approaching Space Guardians off my back. I ran down the hallway back to the cargo bay and waved my arms to the incoming group.

"It's under control. Several individuals tried to take over the bridge, but I got it handled." I yelled even before they were close enough.

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