Page 36 of Einar

Frack.

That.Is.Not.Good.

Wecannot afford forFalonto become lost on the lower levels.Notwith a drayt bounty on our heads now.Tomy relief,Falon’svoice sounds off shortly afterIhearSlavicget on the lift.Thankthe gods ofRuk,SlavicfoundFalon.

“Calmyourself brother, your anxiousness is bringing unwanted attention our way.”

“Theycan smell the females on us, and theVelgriddixhave issued a bounty.Weneed to leave now!”

WHATDOESHEMEANTHEYCANSMELLOURFEMALES?WHOIS“THEY”?

Icannot believe thatIdid not think that with all the other species onNavalethat some of them have superior senses … such as smell.Iam pulled from my inner reverie byFalon’snext words. “Iam well aware, as my informant met me the momentIstepped off the lift.Weare known to attack first and ask questions later, so for now, just keep that snarl on your face and walk with me.”

“Didyou get what we needed?”

“Idid, and then some.Thefemales should be happy, if we make it back to the ship that is.Don’tlook now, but we are being trailed by aJynrel.”

Falonwas assigned to get translators, so at least one thing went well this rising, but the fact that the two of them are being trailed by a stinkingJynreldoes not bode well.Slavic’ssnarled question sounds off next.

“Howdid this news get out so rapidly?”

Noddingmy head,Isilently agree.Iwould very much like to know the answer to that question as well.Thewhine of the door snaps my attention to the main cargo bay door.Ah, that must beMurgulorRuarc, quite possibly both of them.Bikarwouldn’t have lowered the main door if there was a risk of anyone other than one of our brothers entering theZenith.

“Noclue, big brother.CommBikarand tell him to get theZenithready to launch as quickly as possible.”

Snickering,Ishake my head asIwatchMurgulandRuarcrush inside.Bikardoes not allow the main door to open any more than absolutely necessary for both of them to enter the ship, andMurgulalmost gets his tail caught whenBikarthen rapidly closes the door.Hewordlessly snarls at me as he takes up the position on my right asRuarcslides into position on my left.

Bikar’snext words make all three of us tense.

“Gota slight problem with thatSlavic.Ijust happened to look down at our fuel status, only to realize instead of it increasing, they were siphoning it out.Imanaged to shut off the main fuel valve, but now we have less than we did when we got here.Weneed that fuelSlavic, butIdo not want to open the ramp to go out and confront them.Especiallynow that there have been severalKorgonsspotted at the entrance gate.Ithink they’re waiting on us to lower the ramps.”

Frack.Thatis not good at all.

TheKorgonsmust have showed up right afterRuarcandMurgulgot back on board.Talkabout timing … had they been a nano-tic later… we would be battlingKorgonsandJynrels, trying to keep them off the ship.

Pullingmy axes from my side,Itwirl them, loosening my wrists and arms up.Outof the corner of my eye,IseeRuarcandMurguldraw their weapons and warm their muscles up in preparation for a fight.Korgonsare every bit as big asIam, and extremely difficult to beat in a fight.Fairor foul.Thoseblue, four armed pieces of filth never travel alone, butIrefuse to let one of them get passed me.Theywill defile ourStarshines, killing them in the process.Thereis a reason theCommandershave that entire species on their metaphorical kill list.Notthat those esteemed males would ever openly admit they have such a list.

IftheKorgonsare going to invade theZenith, it will be through the door in front of me.Thereis no way they will fit the bulk of their bodies through any of the other openings … well, not easily anyway.Andthat does not even count the frackingJynrels, that run in packs.Arough growl proceedsSlavic’snext words.

“Lookslike we are going to have to improvise then,Bikar.Lookon the scanners and tell me what other ships similar in size are docked.”

“OntheNorthside is aJynrelship that is being loaded now, so the ramps are open.Ohwait.Well, would you look at that?Seemslike the gods are looking out for us this rising.AnEmperorPyrkynecruiser just docked two bays down from us.However, the fuel tanks are a match, as are the remote connections.Itscargo hold is cloaked, soIcannot see what they are hauling.TheNavale’slog is showing this is a drop and pick up, so they will not be here long.”

Ifeel my lip curl asBikarmentions that filthy race of beings beforeSlavicbarks out his next rapid-fire question.

“Firepower?”

“NothingtheZenithcan’t handle.Theircrew is small, but you know how overly confident those pigs are.”

“Canyou disconnect the fuel hose without exiting the ship?”

“Alreadydid, then set the hull to shock any who touch her.”

“Excellent, we are at the lift headed your way.Keepme updated.”

Takinga deep breath,Iforce myself to relax asIlisten toBikarandSlavicsnap back and forth at each other.Mybrothers are returning to theZenith, and we have a plan.Slavic’splans have never failed us before, andIhave full confidence in him as my brother and our captain.Thefaint sound of the lift tells me thatSlavicandFalonare on their way back up from the lower levels.

“Ifwe encounter any resistance, you get to the ship.Thefemales need those translators.Worstcase, leave me andIwill catch the next ride out of here.”

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