Page 81 of Sol Survivor

With a grin, she strolled to the hidden door, swiped the keycard she had stolen from McCarthy, and slipped inside.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Year: 2219

Moonside on Europa.

Thestairwellamplifiedshotsfired.Surprised screams and the moans of the dying meant one thing.Carne was killing his people, the key members Grant needed.She sprinted, taking the steps two at a time.Stopping at the next level was foolhardy, no matter how much she wanted to save these poor folks.The only way to end the carnage was to capture Carne.

“Vic,” Drafe called, hot on her heels.“When we reach the bottom, let me go first.”

“Why?He wants me, Drafe.You, he’ll just kill.”

“Female,” he growled.“We are walking into a trap.I am most unhappy with this.”

She shrugged.“What do you expect?Besides, Aehort had a vision, remember.”

Drafe scowled.“That does not mean you can be reckless with my heart.”

“What?”she squeaked and paused on a landing to catch her breath.

“You have my heart as I have yours.Dying will sever it from my body.”

“Right.That makes no senseandshould have been something you mentioned before a life-and-death mission.”

“She has you there,” Caah said as he ran past them.

Grunting, Drafe followed him.

She sucked in a deep breath and hurried to catch up.“Shorter legs here.”

They ignored her, and she knew why.If they reached the bottom level first, she wouldn’t be able to enter before them.Smartasses.

Farg it.She threw herself over the railing and plummeted the final two levels, landing on her cybernetic leg.Still, she fell into a crouch just to make sure she didn’t harm herself.

“Vic,” Drafe roared, but she ignored him, drew a zero with a line through it across her device, and opened the door.

The blaster shots hit her in the chest.She fired, taking down the five men surrounding Sebastian Carne seated at his wooden desk.The room was a replica of his office onboard theConqueror, the training grounds for Carne combatants.

“You were always too skilled for your own good.And so damn righteous.”He tapped his vapor pipe on a wooden ashtray.

Without hesitating, she shot him in the shoulder.

He cried out and cupped the wound.“I thought we could be civil,” he gritted out.

“You don’t know the meaning,” she said and shot him in the other shoulder.While he writhed in his chair, she leaned across and pressed the button for the comm system.“I have Carne, cease killing your people or he dies.”She nodded at Caah and Drafe.“Go, I’ve got this.Help Dez clear the levels.”

“Gevatia,” Drafe hesitated.“Take care.”

“I promise,” she smiled and fired a shot into Carne’s right thigh.

He whimpered, pushing his chair back.Across his knees lay a blaster.

“Reach for it and die sooner.”She rested her ass on the end of his desk.“You can beg now, although, I will say, it won’t make an ounce of difference.”

“Ande wasn’t my doing,” Carne whimpered.

“Sure it wasn’t.Not like I saw your message to Themba.”She studied her fingernails then chewed on a torn thumbnail.“It’s a pity Devlin didn’t travel with you.”She shrugged.“He was an eager puppet suffering from unrequited love.You always knew where to twist the dagger.I bet you convinced him that Ande was fucking me.”She grinned and nudged the blaster off Carne’s lap with the tip of her boot.“Burro Lento, patch me through to Grant on theMula Pesada.”

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