Page 51 of Pursued By the Dragon Alien

Lilas swallowed, trying to ignore the clench of unease in her gut. Rationally, she knew sheshouldn’twant him to come. If he was truly planning to sell her, why let herself hope? But some fragile, stubborn part of her wouldn’t let it die.

She didn’t want to hope.

But she did.

And that annoyed her more than anything else.

TWENTY

Takkian

Razion stood on the Darkslip’s command deck, eyes locked on the blinking trajectory of the Zaruxian ship. It was close—he could feel it. Every instinct in his body pulled him forward. Lilas wasthere. He knew it like he knew the pulse in his veins.

“Still on course to intercept and closing,” Cozax said from her station. “Forty-twopiksuntil they detect us on scanners.”

Razion nodded, jaw tight. “Hold course.”

Then, the space before them twisted.

Warnings flared across the screens as something massive decloaked ahead with a pulse of shifting energy. It was no freighter. No rogue pirate vessel. This was an Axis warship—bigger, stronger, armed to the horns.

Cozax cursed. “Fek.What is happening right now?”

“Shields up,” Razion barked.

“Oh, yes.” Vedd’s fingers flew over the controls. “We have a problem.”

“I see it,” Razion snapped. His hands clenched into fists as a new, large red marker appeared on the holo-map. “Prepare for full-scale attack.”

Cozax nodded and hurried to her weapons station, pulling on a headset that would let her interface with the system faster and with accuracy. “Weapons charging.”

The main Axis warship hailed them.

“Fekthem,” Razion said through his teeth. “Aim for their main thrusters and plasma cannons.”

“On your order, Captain,” Cozax said.

“Fire.”

Cozax let loose a barrage of explosions that erupted over the hull of the Axis ship, but its shields held.

“They haven’t charged their weapons,” Cozax said with confusion. “They’re just sitting there, keeping pace beside us.”

“They’re hailing us again.” Vedd swiveled his chair and looked at Razion in bafflement. “On adistressfrequency.”

What thefekwas this about?Razion growled and stared hard at the huge Axis ship. It was one of the best in their armada. The kind that their high leaders traveled in. In a one-on-one with the Darkslip, it would win. The only advantage his ship had was maneuverability, but if they evaded the Axis ship, he’d lose Lilas’ trail.

“Fine.” He dropped heavily into his chair. “Let’s see what they want.”

Vedd patched it through. “Incoming transmission.”

A calm, precise voice filled the command deck. “Darkslip, stand down.” A beat of silence. “We are not here to attack you, but we have the Zaruxian ship you are following surrounded with fully one quarter of our fleet. If you engage, we will destroy them, including the Terian aboard.”

Razion’s pulse turned to ice.

Every muscle in his body locked. The primal part of him—instinct honed over cycles of raids and survival—demanded action.Attack. Take the risks. Tear them down. But the logical part of him, the part shackled by the weight of the threat hanging over Lilas’ head, forced his hands still.

Vedd’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “Orders, Captain?”

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