Page 76 of Warrior's Purpose

There were a dozen dark-uniformed males stalking around the park and the nearby homes, weapons drawn.

“Get to the cruiser. I’ve got your mother.” He shielded Carol in case the oncoming warriors began firing their primitive disrupters.

“No, Ash. That won’t be enough. I’ll cover you.”

Before he could object, Abby snatched the disrupter strapped to his chest and burst from their hiding place behind the parked vehicle. Despite the bony shell she wore, he was still horrified watching her face off against the armed males.

“Aw torment,” he growled and sprinted after Abby.

She didn’t give the warriors any quarter as she started firing, dropping the humans left and right, clearing a path to the cruiser. His eyes widened when Abby spun and aimed the disrupter at him. The blast arced past his shoulder, taking out the male attempting to sneak up on his back. He was so focused on the diminutive Goddess of Vengeance he hadn’t noticed the warrior approaching.

Abby leapt onto the cruiser ramp and sprinted inside with him right behind her. She hunkered down at the entrance and kept firing till he made it into the loading bay with Carol.

“Come on. Come on,” Abby chanted at the closing hull door, while the uniformed humans kept coming.

He placed Carol out of harm’s way, grabbed another disrupter and spun to face the opening.

“Don’t be stupid,” Abby snarled at the male trying rush through the narrowing gap.

“Don’t drop him. He’ll block the opening.” Ashtoret fired a warning shot just above the male’s head.

The surprised human stumbled backward, and the hull sealed.

“Oh sweet mother of God, thank you! I was worried they’d send an air strike,” Abby declared with a sigh as he tapped on the nearby console to get the cruiser up in the air.

“You did good, unfortunately that was the least of our worries,” he rumbled, grabbed Carol and took her to the control room.

“Fuck! How could I forget? Shit, shit, shit. What do you think the aliens want?” Abby helped him strap her mother into a seat.

“I don’t know, but we’re getting out of here. Leave the shell on,” he insisted when she started to reach for her wrist.

He didn’t have time to dwell on the disturbing notion that their presence led some unknown species directly to Earth, making the cloaking array they just installed useless. He could add this to his long list of offenses later.

“Okay.” Abby sat and adjusted her harness.

“Damn.” The wedge-shaped foreign cruisers were hovering in the exosphere separating them from the main ship. “Aculus, we have a problem!” he bellowed over the open channel.

“I’m well aware. We were just given a warning to clear out,” the bony warrior growled.

“They hailed you? Who is it?”

“Hailed us. Not exactly. There’s a fresh set of blast marks on the surface of the moon. I’m well-armed, but not against three X class ships.” Aculus sounded harried which was saying something.

“Stay at a safe distance and we’ll follow you,” he snarled in frustration.

“Oh shit.” Abby gripped the armrest.

Ashtoret skimmed Earth’s surface, heading for the opposite side of the globe. One of the damnable cruisers broke off from the others and tracked his moves.

“Damn you to Vrag,” he cursed.

He dodged toward the southern pole, but the cruiser followed.

“Blessed Kali!” He slowed his ascent and the foreign vessel also halted just outside the atmosphere. “They’ll intercept us wherever we emerge,” he rumbled.

“Shit. What are we going to do?” Abby worried her lip.

“I’m working on that. This is why I wanted you to stay on the main ship.”

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