Page 3 of Whispers of the Void

Altis straps himself in and grabs the controls for the weapons array. “Should I fire on them?”

“Just warning shots.”

He huffs in response. “Theirs won’t be warning shots.”

“They won’t risk injuring one of their own.”

Just as the words leave my lips the transport rocks with an impact. I’m thrown sideways, my hip crashing into a metal rack, but my grip on the handle keeps me upright. Alarms blare and smoke fills the cabin.

“Warning shots, huh?” Altis scoffs.

“They must not realize we have Kaesong.” I turn from the twins at the front of the transport, my trust in their ability to get us safely back on board the ship never faltering.

The impact must have sent the human’s body slamming into the wall. Red blood is dripping from her temple as her body lies limp. I drop to my knees and put my hand over her chest, looking for her life organ. It beats steadily beneath my palm. Heat seeps through her thin night clothes and into my flesh. My fangs extend as the sweet smell of her blood travels through my nose. Long dormant parts of me begin to awaken at the scent.

With another snarl I stand and open a storage compartment, looking for something to put over the cut for now. I don’t need this distracting the entire crew. I find a healing patch and seal it over the cut, covering as much of her blood as I can, and ignore the singing in my veins.

Vynia performs another evasive maneuver, and I brace myself over the female, keeping her from jostling anymore. She’s so much smaller than us that, while the restraints keep her from rolling off the bench, she still moves too much to be considered secure.

I listen as the twins bicker back and forth, Altis firing weapons and Vynia evading them, while we approach the ship. Tapping the communicator on my shoulder, I let my third, Mydax, know we’re coming in fast and currently being tailed. He informs me they’re on standby with the transport bay doors open for us already.

As soon as we’re in sight, I unbuckle the human and lift her into my arms again. Hyva, our chief medical officer, will be waiting to take her from me. I trust him to make sure she’s stable and to heal her injuries.

As soon as I hear the engines power off the transport, I’m releasing the hatch and running down the ramp. Hyva meets me just as the doors to the hall open, a stretcher floating behind him.

“I had to induce her sleep. The cut on her head is from a skirmish. Otherwise, she should be okay,” I call over my shoulder, running toward the bridge.

The twins make space for me as we take the stairs, our footsteps echoing off the metal stairs. I take my helmet off and toss it beside my chair. My fingers fly over the controls on my left as I open a channel up to Oculus Nine.

After a few seconds the image of Sister Andira, high priestess of the Order, flashes onto the screen in front of me. Her face is mostly obscured by the pale blue robe she wears, but I can see her aged, pink skin peeking through.

“Call off your attack, Sister.” A jolt rocks through my ship, hardening my features. “I have one of yours on board.”

“I know.” Her voice is nothing but steel. “Bring her back. Now.”

“No.”

“You don’t understand, Sister Neev can’t be?—”

“You don’t understand. No harm will come to her. I just need her to read the text.”

“Bring the text here, fool.” She stands, her wrinkled hand shaking with effort. “She cannot leave the station. She’s a danger?—”

I slam my fingers down on the button that cuts the communication channel. Why won’t these stubborn females just listen without threatening? I have one of their most skilled translators in my possession, and they’re firing at us without concern.

Targeted blasts hit our shields and warning lights flicker across the bridge. Another round hits us, alarms sounding now.

“Commander?” Altis asks. “Return fire?”

“No.” We didn’t come here to kill. “Vynia, engage jump drive.”

“Sir.” She fires up the energy core. “Thirty seconds to jump.”

We take another round of fire. My hands grip the armrests of my chair. They’re hitting us with their strongest weaponry. What the hells are they thinking?

“Twenty seconds to jump.” Vynia’s voice remains collected, even as the ship rocks with another impact. “Ten.”

Everyone checks their harness as the lights flash to green throughout the ship signaling a jump. Just as the shields drop to allow the jump, we’re hit by another round. Their weapons aren’t strong enough to seriously damage the ship, so I’m not concerned.

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