Page 24 of Warrior
The sleeping guard, the one I named Bored, jumped to his feet while Dumbass gave a yelp, whether of surprise or from receiving another shock, I couldn’t tell. Cocky raised the mortar,saying something to the other two before ambling off to check on the disturbance.
One down.
Grabbing a handful of smaller stones, I tossed them one after the other just past the nose of the skiff; the sound mimicking heavy footsteps. Bored and Dumbass exchanged a glance. I almost wished I could see their faces, but cowardice disgusts me, so it’s probably better I could not.
As expected, Bored appeared braver, lifting the blaster to his shoulder before heading off to investigate.
The movement of Dumbass’s head suggested fear, but he turned back to the skiff, hand poised to touch the hull. Maybe he had some kind of odd fetish where he enjoyed pain. He would not want the pain I had in mind for him later—not a bit.
Stepping from behind the rock, I made no attempt to silence my approach. Still, I thought I would have to tap Dumbass on the shoulder before he noticed me. As it was, I waited until he’d turned away from the skiff, waving his hand from its latest shock.
Through the air mask, I watched his pale blue eyes go wide, mouth working but issuing no sound. He was young, as I expected, age perhaps explaining his ineptitude.
Sweet Valana! I could have killed him six times over in the minutes he stood gawking at me. Finally, a trembling hand shot to the blaster at the side. With a flick of my wrist, I disarmed him, sending the weapon thudding into the dirt. Getting shot by the dumbass wouldn't help anybody. Although I doubted he could hit me, even though I stood only inches away.
He didn't carry a blade, which was a wise choice on his leader's part. For a moment, I thought about knocking him out and setting the scene to appear he was injured while capturing me. Finally, though, Dumbass grew some balls and swung.
I stepped into his punch, barely feeling it register on the side of my head. Trying to move as naturally as possible, I spun and landed against the skiff', giving a jerk as I pretended to feel a jolt of electricity. Thankfully, Dumbass didn't notice the absence of a shock as the skiff was coded to accept the touch of any Vaktaire DNA.
I crumbled to the ground, gratitude surging that I’d come alone to this moon. I would die of embarrassment if any of my fellow warriors witnessed this farce.
Dumbass was saying something, his air mask obviously equipped with a comm unit, as I felt the thud of his comrades returning footsteps. One of them kicked me. He'd pay for that in a minute. They could always shoot me and be done with it, but they wouldn’t. I was too great a prize.
One of them knelt and pushed me on my back for a better look.
"He's Vaktaire." His voice held surprise and I had to bite my tongue to suppress a grin.
"How the fuck did you take down a Vaktaire?" This had to be Bored. His voice was deeper, sounding older than Cocky.
"I—I…." This had to be Dumbass. "I didn't really take him down. I hit him, and he stumbled into the ship and got shocked."
I'd give Dumbass credit for honesty. It wouldn't save him, but at least he'd die with my respect.
“Is he dead?”
“I think he’s still breathing,” Cocky answered, rising.
"Can we use him to get access to the ship?" Dumbass asked. Maybe I was wrong, and he didn't enjoy the shocks. Perhaps he was trying to gain entry.
"We can try his palm on the access panel," Cocky agreed. “Let’s get him up.”
At least no one suggested cutting my hand off—but suffering their pitiful attempts to lift me, I almost wish they had.
“This bastard is heavy,” Bored grunted, tugging on my left arm.
"We don't have to carry him far," Cocky said from behind me. So, he was the de facto leader of this little troop, not bothering to do any heavy lifting.
This was intolerable. They were so weak and clumsy it was as uncomfortable as being carried by a bunch of younglings.
Ewok.
My heart squeezed, remembering the sight of his unnaturally pale face and the tears streaming down Daisy’s face.
The fuckers needed to get on with it.
With Bored and Dumbass holding me, Cocky lifted my hand to press against the access panel. The door swished open, and a faint cloud of steam flowed over us, neutralizing the acid.
They dumped me unceremoniously into one of the outer cockpit chairs, binding my wrists with thin metal strips. It was a piss-poor job. Sweet Valana, didn't they train Aljani guards at all?
