Page 44 of Game on Askole

“They are not. Prepare yourself. The dance has stopped. They will now try to kill you.”

“Tryis the operative word.”

Fu Manchu pulled his sword, waved it at a camera, and spouted a bunch of gibberish.

“What’s he saying?”

“The live feed is to show all the half-breeds what awaits them,”Tihar responded in a quiet, deadly voice.

“And that is?”

“He will gut you, and while you plead for mercy, he will remove your arms, legs, and finally your head.”

“Kinda bloodthirsty, aren’t they?”

“They do plan on bathing in your blood.”

“The best-laid plans of alien monsters often go awry. Mwah-hah-hah.”

Fu Manchu leaned down to roll me over.

“Me bite.”KeeKee sprang from my head and latched on to the end of his long mustache.

The wannabe reared back and hopped around the room like a demented jackrabbit. “Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee!” He batted frantically at KeeKee, missing her every time.

KeeKee swung back and forth.“Wheee!”

Antler Guy just stood there, watching in shocked surprise.

As warriors went, these two were damned pathetic.

“Bite him,”Tihar roared.

“You no fun.”

“Now!”Tihar’s voice was one of steely authority.

On the next swing, KeeKee bit the wannabe’s neck.

Fu Manchu’s eyes rolled back, and he crashed to the floor, deader than a doornail.

Antler Guy let out an enraged bellow and tried to smash KeeKee with his rifle butt but kept hitting Fu Manchu instead as she darted backed and forth across his chest.

“Hey, asshole!”

He spun to face me.

I yanked his helmet off, flipped it over, and shoved the pointy ends into his face. Blood gushed from the Legionnaire’s nose.“Kidnapping me and bringing me onboard this ship was the biggest mistake of your life.”I jabbed him again.

Doing a great impression of Voss in a rage, Antler Guy knocked the helmet away and seized my left arm.“Waewae tama-nur-ra.”

Twisting like a cat, I dropped to one knee and tossed Antler Guy over my shoulder. He hit the wall with a loud crash. I watched as he struggled to get right-side up. His flailing limbs kinda reminded of an upside-down turtle.“See, that’s the trouble with armor: no flexibility.”

“Death to the vile destroyer.”Antler Guy grabbed for his pistol.

KeeKee jumped on his hand and bit him.“No hurt Momma Sarah.”

The wannabe slumped over. A white foam oozed from his mouth.