Page 79 of Salvation for the Alien Mercenary
"That's the plan." Her fingers tapped the datapad screen, attention firmly… deliberately not on him.
"I'll come with you."
Her shoulders stiffened. "Where's Jesh?"
"Still at the lab. K’ell wasn't exactly an open book." He leaned against a nearby crate, keeping his distance. There was no sense in crowding her when she was already looking for exits. "She stayed to hack his research database. Said she'd have better luck with his files than listening to him talk in circles."
Mira nodded, still not looking up. "Makes sense."
The conversation died faster than enemy combatants in a Reaper ambush. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, when movement caught his eye. Something skittered through the cargo bay door, metal feet click-clicking against the deck plates. His hand was on his sidearm before he recognized what it was.
"What the hell?"
Spot. But not the Spot he knew. The little drakeen core wore a gray external casing with maintenance markings stenciled across it. A small antenna bobbed from its back, and service lights blinked in regulation patterns.
A ghost of a smile touched Mira's lips… the first crack in her armor since he'd arrived. "Jex built it. Camouflage so Spot can blend in planetside." She knelt, examining the disguise. "Not bad, right?"
Spot danced in a circle, sensors brightening, showing off his new look. The little bot chirped happily, practically preening.
"Smart thinking." He watched as Spot positioned himself next to Mira, the protective movement so obvious it was almost funny. "Ready to head out?"
"Just need to grab my jacket from storage."
"I'll help Spot get situated on the ramp," he offered. "Meet you there in five?"
She nodded, already turning away.
The moment she disappeared, he crouched beside Spot, keeping his voice low. "Come here. Quick."
Spot obeyed, zipping over with an inquisitive chirp.
Davis reached into his jacket and pulled out a compact blaster. The weapon was small but nasty… military-grade with the serial numbers filed off. The kind of thing that could drop a charging Vorrtan if you hit the right spot.
"Listen up," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder. "I need you to protect Mira. At any cost. Got it?"
Spot's optical sensors fixed on him, blue light suddenly intense. If a war machine could look skeptical, this one did.
"I'm serious." Davis leaned closer, voice dropping further. "If anything happens, anything at all, you keep her safe. Even from me, if necessary. Understood?"
The drakeen core studied him for a long moment, then chirped softly and nodded. The gesture was so human that it caught Davis off guard. Reaching out, Spot grabbed the weapon with one of his front arms, then tucked it away underneath himself, concealing it completely.
"Good." Davis straightened as Mira's footsteps echoed down the corridor. "And not a word to her about this."
Spot flashed his sensors once, then skittered toward the ramp, suddenly all innocent excitement again. He shook his head. The little bot could definitely act when it wanted to.
Mira appeared, shrugging into her jacket. "Ready?"
They disembarked the ramp in silence, stepping onto the steelcrete landing platform that served as Taarian Prime's main spaceport. The flat, utilitarian surface stretched before them, dotted with vessels of various sizes. Beyond rose the ancient stone walls of the city, weathered and imposing against the pale yellow sky.
The local guards at the main gate barely glanced at them as they passed through. The moment they cleared the threshold, the sounds and smells of the city's market exploded around them. He bit back his grimace. Market day meant the narrow streets were packed tighter than a smuggler's hidden compartment… bodies pressing against bodies while vendors shouted prices from booths crammed into every available space.
His senses went into overdrive. Between one heartbeat and the next, he could pick out conversations from fifty feet away, detect the ingredients in food carts before seeing them, and track the movements of pickpockets working the crowd.
"Shit," he muttered, blinking hard as a jab of pain lanced through the side of his head.
Mira glanced at him, the first hint of concern breaking through her wall of indifference. "You okay?"
"Fine." He straightened. "Just a bit of a headache."
