Page 78 of Crossing Quinn

Quinn grabbed me. A fleeting second later, we were standing in the tunnel. Wulf popped in with my father and Adan.

Komodo, dressed in a long, hooded brown robe, pulled a nasty-looking sword and spat a bunch of angry, quacking gibberish.

Wulf glanced down at his communications bracelet. “He demands the rite of combat.”

“He isn’t Coletti,” I pointed out. “Let Adan eat him.”

Adan groaned. “Do I have to? They give me indigestion.”

“Stop being such a crybaby and eat the drekking monster,” I snapped.

“No.” Quinn drew his sword and gave Komodo a predator’s smile. “I’ll fight him.”

And testosterone struck again.

For a long moment, they slowly circled each other, then with a vicious squawk Komodo suddenly attacked. Their blades met with a loud clash.

I watched their deadly dance. I had to admit Lovey’s skill with a sword was phenomenal, but Komodo wasn’t so bad himself. A strange tingling grew in my body. My eyes widened in horror when I realized what was happening. Before I could warn the others, the glittering blue light of a transporter engulfed me.

My molecules abruptly stopped whizzing about. The light faded, and I was standing on an ice-cold platform. “Balock’s balls!”

Dolon’s hate-filled voice growled, ““You blew up my ship, you drekking whore.”

I turned around and my jaw dropped. Enormous sores covered Dolon’s now bald head. His nose and ears had been bitten off. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

“You think this is funny? Look what you did to me.” Dolon put his laser pistol on the console and yanked his filthy bloodstained jumpsuit open, exposing his shriveled black penis.

“No, not funny. I believe the term is pathetic.” I pulled a stun grenade off my belt and tossed it at him. “Catch.”

He automatically caught it.

I dropped to the floor behind the transporter platform. A blinding flash of light was followed a second later by a loud cracking boom. Whoa. I had never been this close to a stun grenade. It felt like I had been punched in the face. Hard. There were funny white spots filling my vision, and my ears rang like crazy.

“Xenia! Xenia! Answer me,”Quinn shouted in my head.

“Stop yelling. I’ve got a killer headache.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Not exactly. I got a little too close to a stun grenade.”

“Do you know where you are?”

“No, don’t you?”

“Something is blocking our tracking scanners, and I’m unable to locate you psychically.”Quinn’s voice was filled with a murderous fury.

My father butted in, “Who took you?”

“Dolon.”

“Does he still live?”Papa’s anger beat at me.

“Don’t know. Let me check.”I pulled my laser pistol and got to my feet. The room spun dizzily around me. Whoa! Head rush. I staggered over to Dolon’s limp form. His right hand was a mangled mess. Blood ran from the remnants of his ears; his eyes were open and staring blankly at the ceiling. My uncle made a bubbling sound with each breath he took.

I stuffed Dolon’s laser pistol in my weapons belt. “He’s still alive, but I don’t think for long.”

Quinn asked, “Are you near the transporter controls?”

---