Page 4 of Game on Askole

A low growl rumbled in Voss’s chest.

“You kinda sound like a grizzly bear.” I cocked my head and examined his nice sharp fangs. “Kinda act like one too. Big, aggressive, and bad-tempered.”

“Do not provoke me again. You will not like the consequences.”

I put on my best terrified expression. “Oh my God! Please don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me. Please. Please. Please don’t hurt me. Please. Please.”

Voss clamped a hand over my mouth. “Are you done?”

I nodded.

He removed his hand and stepped back. “Are all Jones females like you?”

“Pretty much. If you’re looking for docile broodmares, that ain’t us.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rho, the mountain, pounce on Aunt Tess. There was a brief tussle as Rho easily overpowered her. He carried her into the interrogation room.

“You okay Sarah?” Aunt Tess’s tone was a bit too syrupy.

“Yup. You?”

“Been better.” Aunt Tess drove the heel of her combat boot into Rho’s knee. “Put me down.”

“No.” Rho’s voice was a gravelly rumble.

When Aunt Tess got that peeved look on her face, bad things happened.

“They say the Coletti don’t have balls. Shall we find out?” Twisting in his grip, Aunt Tess kneed Rho in the groin.

Her blow didn’t seem to affect him a bit.

“Guess the rumors are true.”

“Your pitiful blows cannot damage me, female.” Rho’s face was crisscrossed with pale scars that added to his menacing air.

“That’s Lieutenant Colonel Jones to you, buster.” She pried at the muscular arm wrapped around her chest. “I don’t answer tofemale.”

“But you are a female,” Rho deadpanned.

Aunt Tess regarded him incredulously. “Seriously?”

A stun beam sizzled by the Battle Commander’s ear. He snapped, “Oydle!”

The wannabe Coletti warrior’s shrieks stopped abruptly, and he quit firing. His face and hands were covered with red welts. He panted like a woman in labor. With that belly, he could be pregnant. Maybe he was an alien hermaphrodite getting ready to hatch.

The skunk scampered out of the room. I heard several startled shouts in the corridor. Aw, the little guy was making new friends.

In a quiet, terrifying voice, the Battle Commander ordered, “Send the creatures away, Tess.”

“What makes you so sure I can control them?”

“The battle on Jabal. You used your talents, with the Overlord augmenting your powers, to compel the Afulas and Kotsors into attacking the rogue Colettis.”

I smothered a groan. She was so busted. The alien crocs and monster spiders had made short work of the bad guys. A sudden thought hit me. Oh my God. The Overlord had been in my head too. How much did he know?

“Let us go, and I’ll be happy to oblige,” Aunt Tess countered.

The Battle Commander smiled a scary-ass sociopath’s smile. “Send them away. Now.”

The flying bugs left the room. The scorpions and tarantulas quickly followed.

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