Page 7 of Rescued

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HEROD

Shit. The woman had gone limp across my back, and I knew that the alien drug must be coursing through her body. But damn it, if she had just followed instructions, she could have avoided all of this.

I led the way down the stairs and across the lower hall, slamming the button to open the door from inside. It slid open too slowly, but as soon as there was a big enough gap, I ran for the ships. I had to get inside and take off.

“Over there!” I shouted to the other women, directing them to Adreax’s larger ship.

I should take the woman I was carrying over there, but I didn’t have enough time. I needed to be ready to break away as soon as Adreax and Tayla were on board their ship. This one would just have to come with me for now. Once we got to safety, I could drop her off with the others, and go about my business.

Climbing into the cabin of my ship, I lowered the woman into the co-pilot’s chair and tried to strap her in as best I could. Her body was limp, and I could see the angry red welt forming on the side of her head where it smacked into the door jamb. I grimaced. That was going to take some time to heal.

Getting her settled, I dropped into my own seat, pressing the buttons to seal the doors of theGreedy She-Devil, and waited for them to lock. Outside my cockpit, I could still see a handful of women straggling toward the other ship, and I prayed that Adreax and Tayla were close behind. As far as I knew, they hadn’t come here prepared to fight, so they had better be on their way.

“Come on,” I muttered, keeping my eyes trained on the inner door, waiting for the first signs of their arrival.

Finally, I saw the two of them running hand in hand, ushering the other women along as quickly as they could. Adreax kept looking back over his shoulder and I knew the alien creatures had to be close, but his face told me that he wasn’t going anywhere until every last one of those women was aboard his ship.

I watched them jostling for space before Adreax finally barked orders at them and got them all inside. Then, he gave me one last wave and ducked through the doorway, slamming the door behind him.

As soon as it was closed, I started my engines and brought theShe-Devilaround to face the outer bay doors. After landing inside, Adreax had removed the mechanical scissors holding the doors open to keep the bay pressurized, but there was no time to wait for the device to pry the doors apart again. We had to go.

I settled into my chair, pulled my headset over my ears, and called over to Adreax’s ship.

“You ready, chief?”

“Light them up,” he called back.

That was all I needed to hear before pulling the trigger and sending a volley of small torpedoes into the doors. Each one created a small explosion, causing the ship to bounce and roll until the last one struck home and blew through the doors. As soon as I saw the dark opening on the other side, I throttled up and launched us out of the research vessel.

It was a bumpy ride, and I heard the squeal of my ship sliding across the floor before gaining traction and taking off. But then we were free, and I punched the engines, heading out and away from the enemy ship as fast as I could.

Over my headset, I heard Adreax and Tayla cheering victoriously as they took off and headed for safety. They made quite a pair. I glanced over at the woman in my cockpit, curiosity getting the better of me. She looked peaceful enough, sleeping like she was, but I still didn’t understand Adreax’s fascination with the Earth women.

This one seemed particularly argumentative. I couldn’t imagine being trapped aboard a ship with a woman like her any longer than necessary. Right now, she was completely silent, and I was still looking forward to dumping her with Adreax and getting back to my regular routine.

I had to tell myself that this thing between Adreax and Tayla was just a fluke. Men like us didn’t belong with delicate women like them. No, I needed a woman with a sharp tongue and wild eyes, not this meek little wisp of a woman.

“Where are you headed, Dre?”

“We will be taking these women back to Divoron to meet with the others. I assumed you would be going on to Kychek.”

“I’d love to, but I happen to have one of your little friends aboard my ship right now. I’m afraid she wouldn’t appreciate Kychek the way I do.”

There was a moment of silence. “You have one of the women?”

“Yes. An insufferable example of the species. She would not follow directions, so I had to knock her out to save her life. I’m sure when she wakes up she’ll thank me, but I had hoped to be well on my way before she can start arguing again.”

Adreax chuckled through the radio, and I rubbed at my temples, the stress of the morning finally hitting me.

“All right, meet us at Divoron and I’ll kick in some extra coin for your trouble.”

“No can do. I’m on a tight schedule. She’s going to have to ride with me until I can come back this way. It should only be a day or two.”

“You can’t put off this job for an extra day?” he asked.

“Come on, Dre. You know how it is. I’ll keep her safe until I get back.”

There was a pause, and I knew he was considering his options. Tayla would not like this, but there was nothing to be done for it. I couldn’t just show up late for a delivery.

“Hurry back,” he said quietly.

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