Page 84 of Salvation for the Alien Mercenary
His head snapped toward her. "What are you doing?"
"Something stupid," she admitted, slipping the neural band on. "Just keep these assholes off me."
Davis looked like he wanted to argue but just nodded. She activated the interface, and the device hummed against her temple. Closing her eyes, she focused her thoughts on Spot.
For long seconds, nothing happened. Weapons fire continued around her, the sharp smell of plasma discharge filling her nostrils as Davis fired round after round at their attackers. Then?—
The world split in two. She crouched behind the container, feeling the heat of battle, but at the same time, saw through Spot's optical sensors aboard the ship. Disorientation hit in a wave of nausea, both perspectives competing for dominance. She felt Spot's surprise as the neural nets activated, then a soft chirrup she heard deep in her brain.
Focus. One step at a time.
She focused her thoughts on what was happening around her, hoping Spot could understand. Then she nudged the little drakeen core through the ship's corridors toward Jex's location in the command center. Spot took off at a run, his view as he careened through the ship making her feel sick. The little drakeen core chirped loudly as he burst into the command center, sensors flashing urgently. Jex turned from the station where he was working.
"Spot?" Jex stopped as the drakeen danced in front of him, arms waving in the air. Her view through his optical sensors flashed at the edges. Jex leaned forward. "Your neural link is active? Mira?"
"Yes!" she gasped. "Tell him… shit, you can't. Fuck!"
Closing her eyes for a moment, she thought hard. Fast. She needed a solution when visual communication was the only way she had to communicate with Jex.
Her eyes snapped open. Visual. Light.
Morse code.
It was old school, likereallyfucking old school. But Jex was human, albeit from a different reality. Still, he was a cyborg. A former cyborg. He could figure it out.
She got her thoughts in order and pushed a message through to Spot. At first, she didn't think he understood, but then his optical sensors pulsed rapidly.
"Under attack. Got it, Mira. We're on our way." Jex was on his feet immediately. "Let's go, Spot."
The drakeen led him to the engineering bay where Jex and Jesh stored the heavy-duty weaponry they used. While Jex armed his Scorperio suit's weapons, Spot scuttled up the power loader's frame. It came to life as the little drakeen core interfaced with its controls. Through Spot, she directed both toward the weapons wall, where the power loader grasped two heavy plasma repeaters.
Jex turned to look at them and shrugged, carrying on arming up.
"Mira!" Davis's voice pulled her partially back to her body. "Whatever you're doing, hurry up!"
She couldn't answer; all her concentration focused on guiding Spot out of the ship and toward the manufacturing unit. The drakeen piloted the power loader while Jex followed. They rushed from the ship's bay toward the manufacturing unit.
Sweat poured down her face as she held the dual awareness. The strain was incredible, like writing different sentences with each hand simultaneously.
Spot and Jex reached the manufacturing unit's damaged south entrance. M'Suun forces had established choke points at key junctions, their formation channeling any potential rescue toward kill zones.
Perfect.
She nudged Spot, and they charged the power loader straight toward the heaviest concentration of enemies. Jex moved in perfect synchronization, using the Scorperio's weapons to strike lethal blows. They crashed through a barricade, catching the M'Suun by surprise. Spot-Mira lay about themself with the heavy hydraulic arms, tossing armored soldiers aside at the same time they used the shoulder-mounted plasma guns to cut down those who were attempting to regroup.
A smile spread across her face as they fought. This was like the highest level of NeuroSyn Arena Trials, where split-second timing meant the difference between victory and elimination.
Except this was real.
These weren't digital avatars, but living beings they were killing. The thought should have horrified her, but detachment settled over her like armor. These were the same assholes who'd attacked them repeatedly, the ones who'd triggered Davis's transformation, and who would kill every one of them given the chance.
No mercy.
They didn't deserve it.
Spot-Mira smashed the power loader through the final barrier, and they burst into the assembly area's western entrance in a shower of debris and weapons fire. She watched the crew's shock through her own eyes as the power loader and Scorperio suit charged in, weapons blazing.
"What the actualfrexx?" Covak stared. "Is thatSpot?"
