Page 20 of Trak
The green guys paused for a second. Maybe it took that long for the situation to register. Then the leader let out a bellow and hurtled himself at them. Anna held her breath and braced. Before impact, Trak’s hand came back, splayed on her belly, pushed her backwards and around the corner. She gasped as that enormous body barreled on. Trak dodged out of the way at the last moment, then pulled a wicked knife from the sheath on his hip.
That ridiculous grin stayed in place as he feinted and slashed out, now trying to hold off all four angry green Hulks. They had him backing up with nowhere to go. Anna stayed where she was, helpless. Nothing in this weird ship made sense to her, and there werefourbad guys. Even if she hit one of them with a pipe or something, the other three were there to repay the favor.
The leader Hulk swung a meaty fist and caught Trak in the eye. He immediately covered it with a hand and said, “Ow!”
Apparently they shared that word for pain. She was afraid she was going to see him pummeled to death. She looked from the useless gun on the floor back to the corridor they had come from. There had to besomethingto fight with.
But then she heard another pounding of feet up the ramp and three heavily armedVirilians filled the corridor. The fighting all stopped. Terse words were exchanged for what felt like forever. One of the Virilians, who looked older than the rest, tilted his gun to the side and shot the floor next to one of the Hulks. That shot didn’t sputter, but made a puddle of melted metal that all the Hulks edged away from.
Discussion ended after that. The Hulks stormed off, fists clenched, spitting words at the Virilians, and Trak was fine, except for a swollen eye. He sheathed his knife and walked up to her, appearing anxious. His question wasn’t in English, but she knew he was asking if she was alright. Anna nodded and brushed fingers over the swelling above his cheek. With a grin, he turned and addressed the three Virilians who were standing there.
He pointed to her and said, “Anna.” Then he pointed to each of the males and said, “Pizol, Niir, Yanc,” and pressed a fist to his chest, and the males returned the gesture. She understood the introductions and nodded to the three, who gazed at her with curiosity.
There was more discussion between them, with gestures toward the ramp and her and the useless gun Trak had tried to shoot. She could only imagine what they were talking about. Then Trak wrapped an arm around her, tucked her against his side, and the group of them headed back to the Virilian sector of the station. Anna recognized the narrow corridors and metal doors and let out a breath of relief. Finally, they stopped at her and Trak’s room and the three males left. They went inside and Trak put the English chip back in his head.
“Sorry about that, love.” He ran his hands up her arms. “Won’t happen again.”
“Whatwasthat?”
“A misunderstanding over a payment,” he replied. “Had nothing to do with me, honest. Dodgy bloke from another quadrant didn’t pay those fine gentlemen for their services. Worked it all out, though.” He winced and touched his swelling eye. “Sort of. Bloody bugger got me.”
Anna peered up at him. She squinted, noticing striations of red spidering out along his skin. They were too random to be veins. “What are these?” She placed her hand against his face and the red streaks faded away.
He deftly turned away from her, then caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Just a little fun Virilian biology. Happens when we have to fight…sometimes.”
Something was weird about his answer. She couldn’t put her finger on it. There was something more to those marks, but he wasn’t willing to share. Not yet. Maybe not ever. And that was okay. She wasn’t going to be here forever anyway.
“Your crew let those guys go. Should I be impressed by your restraint?” she asked.
“You should not,” he replied. “The leader of those green blokes is an ambassador of some fair importance. Killing them would have brought annoying consequences.”
“It seemed foolish to fight them.” She folded her arms. “Four on one, and you were grinning like a fool.”
He offered the same grin now, canines gleaming wolfishly. “Piece of cake, love. Besides, I knew my lads were on their way.” He tapped his ear. “V-link communicators are a must around here. Never know when you’re going to need a hand.”
She tilted her head, still curious about the exchange she couldn’t understand. “That one green guy said something that made you laugh. What was it?”
He went still then, and the grin dropped away. “He wanted you.”
Anna blinked. “What?”
“He offered to clear the debt in exchange for you.”
“And that wasfunny?”
“Hilarious.”
She crossed her arms. “Really?”
“Of course. First of all, you’re not mine to give. You belong toyou.” He tilted his head. “Now if youwantedto bind yourself to a Belka-Tu—”
“Stop.” He’d started out strong there, but naturally he couldn’t stop when he was ahead.
“And see how they compare to Virilians—”
She held up a hand. “I mean it. Ew.”
He was grinning again. “That’s what I thought.”
