Page 4 of The Price of Peace
“I think you just heard that water dripping,” the second voice said. “Keep going. She must have gotten past us somehow.”
As the sound of their steps grew softer, we both breathed normally again, and I raised my head. Xyrox dropped his arms and took a step back from me. I felt his eyes in the dark, and I didn’t know what to say.What just happened?
Carefully keeping my thoughts blank, I extended a hand and pushed a button on my laser cuffs, capturing one of his thick wrists. His green eyes flashed in surprise and darted to ourwrists now locked together. I smirked when he glanced back and scowled.
“You’re making a big mistake.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, fugitive. I’m doing my job. Let’s get out of here.” I gave him a tug, which moved him exactly not one millimeter.Fekk!
Still, I kept up the bravado.“And no more of whatever that talking in my head thing was. I don’t know what kind of tech you stole and how you kept it on you through processing, but you can just cut that shit out right now.” I yanked at him again, but was jerked to a stop.
“That wasn’t me,” Xyrox hissed. “It started with you. You’re the one who’s something … alien.”
A hard lump formed in my chest. Alien. I hated that word. Kids made fun of me growing up for looking so different from them. Although there were many different races on Rykantos, we lived outside a small village and I was an anomaly. “Alien” was one of their favorite taunts. Zame taught me to accept my differences and even embrace them, but being called “alien” was one of the things that still got to me.
I wanted to yell at Xyrox and call him a criminal, but two strangers were still somewhere in the tunnels and might hear. So I locked my jaw and bit back the words. Instead, I decided to give him a little demonstration of just how “alien” I could be. Quick as Zantonian lightning, I grabbed my captive’s forearm, bent my knees, and flipped him over my head.
Exceptional strength and speed were a couple of my other alien traits that surprised people—especially large, male fugitives. As ex-agent Xyrox Quorath blinked at me and tried to catch his breath, I gave him a little finger wave and zapped him with my warshade emitter.
“Nighty, night, asshole,” I whispered as I flung my unconscious bounty over my shoulder, to transport him to myramshackle flyer. I smiled as I imagined the new, fancy ship I would buy with all the credits I would soon be collecting, thoughts of the strangers hunting me leaving my mind.
4
XYROX
As I came to, a moan escaped me before I could clamp my lips shut.Heat of the seven suns, my head hurts!Willing myself to stay completely still, I listened to my surroundings and figure out where I was. It sounded like a ship. But who’s ship? How long had I been out?
“About half a rotation.” The answer to my unspoken question came from a now familiar voice. “Glad to hear you’re finally awake.”
My eyes blinked open. Sure enough, I was strapped into the seat next to the gorgeous, female bounty hunter … who’d apparently zapped me. She piloted the ship. I bared my teeth and growled as I pulled against the straps that held me fast. “How did you get me in here?” I snarled, my voice rough.
Those fascinating violet eyes gave me a universal games-worthy roll. “I carried you and dumped you there, of course.”
I studied her carefully. I had to weigh twice as much as her.Fekk!What kind of mutant was she? I’d thought she wasPleiadian, but I’d never seen any Pleiadian female do that—of course, they weren’t much for manual labor.
“Agent Veylora.” She shot me a withering glare. If looks could kill, I would have gone up in flames at that moment. “I’m really tired of you calling me names, criminal.”
“I didn’t call you anything,” I protested. But then realized I had. I’d called her a mutant … in my mind!How can you hear me talking to you in my head?I asked silently to test whether it was real.
“I don’t know,” she answered aloud. “I was going to ask you the same question. Is the Intergalactic Space Recovery Forces testing new tech?”
“It’s not me, sweetheart. Besides, you think they’d leave experimental tech on a traitor?” I cut my eyes to her, waiting for a response, both verbal and non-verbal.
Her shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly, and she chewed her bottom lip. A lip that was already pink and pouty. One that I’d like to play with, with my—
“Hey! Cut that out!” she snapped, glaring again.
“What?”
“You know what.”
“Fekking hells!” I turned my gaze to the viewscreen—and away from the frustrating female—trying to figure out where we were going. It looked like we were coming up on an asteroid belt. “You should slow down,” I suggested.
“No one asked you.” And damn if she didn’t speed up instead.
“You’re going to pull one of those rocks into your intake and then we’ll be dead in the slipstream.”
“I’ve been making this trip for years, criminal. I know what I’m doing. I don’t need assistance from the likes of you,” she said through gritted teeth as she expertly dodged rocks in our flight path.
