Page 68 of Sawoots Story

The drones reach out their mechanical claws, latching onto the containers and pulling them towards the attack ships.

“Yes!” Tar’ank yells out, unable to hold back. They took the bait, and his emotions spill out, but it’s far from over. We managed to get the explosives past the scanner drones. Now we need the Toads to bring them right back to Meelon instead of checking them manually.

The cargo holds of the attack ships open, and Toads in clunky spacesuits pull them in. One Toad slips and cartwheels away, waving his arms frantically as his species ignores him to quickly load the Orbs and close the doors behind.

As macabre as it is, it’s a good sign that they don’t spare a second to save one of their own. The Toad commander must be drooling in anticipation of the massive Orbs. They barely fit in the Reaver, filling the brig and cargo bay to the limit.

Meelon is already dreaming about the huge guns he’ll be able to power with the Orbs. He could terrorize mid-sized space stations and demandprotection feesfrom anyone operating in lawless space, unprotected by Aurelians or the Human Alliance.

With Toads, it’s never enough, and that greed might be the only thing that keeps us alive.

Garrick pilots us away, and the weapons locks fade from the HUD. I let out a huge sigh of relief. Having hundreds of las-cannons and missiles locked into you means every second could be your last. It’s a hell of a lot easier to appreciate the sun and sky on the march up to the gallows than it is when the noose is around your neck. Even if this plan fails, at least now I’ve got another second in this universe.

Aelon’s Reaver stands its ground. Somehow you can justtellit’s him piloting, even if I hadn’t seen him step inside his attack ship. His ship lookseagerfor Meelon’s men to dare to step past the line in the sand.

The attack ships pause, and I grit my teeth, squirming uncomfortably. Only the huge bulk of my man, Garrick, keeps me from tearing my hair out. He runs his hand up my thigh, stroking up my body and loosely fisting my hair. “Fuck yes,” I gasp, as the attack ships peel towards the cargo bay doors of the mothership, blurring as they cross the outer limits of the shields. If we shot our Orb-Beams, they’d bounce harmlessly off the line they just crossed.

Garrick is a statue. He’s a rock you can build a future on. Maybe if I could feel his aura, there’d be fear in him, but he’s keeping me sane. I remember the mad dash away from the Toads when I was calming Tasha down, showing her I trusted her. I can’t hold a candle to the way Garrick makes me feel protected and safe even as we stare down the greedy, base evil of the Toads.

“Now we need the explosives to blow,” states Markrin grimly. Part of me wishes we hadn’t rigged the Orbs. Meelon took the deal. If we’d played fair, he’d leave us alone.

Innocents would die when he used those Orbs to pirate and oppress, but we’d be safe.

“We had to do this,” rumbles Garrick, his lips near to my ear. He’s honorable to a fault. He gives me a light kiss on my head above my ear, his lips pressing my hair against my head, and a shiver of anticipation runs through me. I need this to work. I need to have a moment alone with the triad so I can make up for my mistakes. I ran from them, when I should have stayed.

But I came back. It was Tasha’s plan, but it mirrored my thoughts, and no matter what happened, I would have ended up here.

I just didn’t think it would be us against a Toad mothership brimming with armaments.

I ache to be Bonded to Garrick. I almost don’t want to think of it as a possibility. He’s the kind of man who can bring up strong sons who would protect innocents. I breathe in, just tasting his scent, masculine yet inoffensive to my nose. I always detested the stink of the miners on theWayward Scythe. Garrick just smellsright.

“Take them inside. Take them inside,” says Tar’ank, and as if following his words, they pilot towards the huge cargo bay doors.

If they blow up early, they’ll wound the mothership. Maybe enough forThe Instigatorto take them on. It’ll be a bloody battle, but we’ll have a chance.

If they land inside the loading bays, sealed in by the thick armor…

It’ll cripple the mothership. Depending on the recipe, it might even disintegrate the entire thing.

I reach over, pressing the dial of the sub-coms link up. “They’re going to dock! They’re going to dock!” I’m shrill, giddy, unable to hold back. It’s going to work. It’s going to fucking work.

The attack ships disappear into the loading bays and dock, the big doors clamping shut behind them. “Holy fuck,” I whisper, barely able to believe we could make it out of this alive.

There’s a tense silence in our Reaver. No one can move. We’re petrified, waiting, our fate in Iunia’s hands.

“Three minutes to denotation. It didn’t blow early. That’s good. That’sveryfucking good.” Iunia’s voice comes through the sub coms-link, and the existence of a timeline reassures me.

Unless three minutes is too long. What if Meelon cracks them open and sees whatever chemical potion is bubbling away? It took minutes to get the containers into the attack ships and over to the mothership. How long will it take to get them away? They could load the explosives back on the ships and set the autopilot to a breakneck speed towards us if they sniff out the ruse.

“Thirty seconds.”

Garrick wraps his huge arms around me and squeezes me tight. I’m tense, wound up, and only he is keeping me from breaking down. I just want the release of surrendering to him. I want to give in to his protectiveness, let him wrap me up and press me down so I can’t move an inch while he takes me. I’ve been running on adrenaline since we first escaped the Toads, and I ache for a reprieve.

Aelon slowly backs his Reaver away. I have to remind myself it doesn’t look suspicious. No sane man would stay close to a potential enemy. It won’t show our hand. Garrick reaches for the controls, slowly backpedaling us away from the blast radius.

"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…”

Iunia’s voice hums with energy. I can’t take it. I can’t bear to watch, but I can’t pull my eyes away from the hulking beast of metal that fills our vision.

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