Page 4 of Mated in the Stars
Doug chuckled softly from nearby, having clearly caught her staring. "I don't think she heard you,” he said with a stupid grin, “but I don't blame her. I’ve seen a lot, but this man-" he gestured to the Vrak’rir’s body, “it’s quite something.”
Sara’s gaze flickered over to Doug, her expression tightening into a frown. With a roll of her eyes at his teasing words, she turned her attention back to Hunter, "What did you say?"
"Where did you want me to keep him?"
Vrak'rir could be bad asses. Immune to pain in some instances. Even though he currently laid sprawled out on a medical bed, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of danger he might pose to her crew. It’d be so easy for him to storm her ship if she left him unguarded in her medical bay.
"Heal him and then get him placed in the brig. I want a force field between him and us." She turned on a heel to leave and then paused before tossing over her shoulder with a hint of humor, "And find him some pants."
"Too distracting?" Doug joked back.
"Definitely." Sara laughed as she exited the medical bay.
Walking briskly through the corridor, she approached a communications terminal. With a couple quick commands of her fingers, she paged the bridge. "Cat, get the guys on board and let's get out of here." Her voice was steady but urgent.
"On it." Came Cat’s prompt reply over the comm.
Satisfied, Sara headed up to the bridge, her mind lingering on the guest in her medical bay. A faint uneasiness weighed at the back of her mind-an instinct that she couldn’t quite shake. A part of her wanted to put him right back in his space suite and flush him right back into space. But she dismissed the idea. She might be a scavenger, but she was no murderer.
With a shake of her head, she switched directions. Instead of heading back to the bridge, she headed to the hangar bay. She needed to see what the guys had brought in. It’d give her a better idea of where they would head next.
As she approached the hangar bay doors, she caught sight of her crew members bustling around the full cargo bay, sorting and digging through the junk they’d brought aboard. The hum of activity drew her in, and she moved in closer, eager to dig her own hands into the junk.
Chapter 2
Blinking sluggishly, Ak'kel wondered if he’d died and found himself waking in the afterlife. A blinding, white light shined down from above him. Maybe he hadn’t entered the afterlife quite yet, maybe he was in process of crossing over to Celestraxia. Slowly, his mind righted itself, coming out of a thick haze as he blinked. No, this wasn’t Celestraxia. He was aboard a ship.
The scent of recycled air and hum of an engine reached him only cementing his assumption of being on a ship. His lungs felt overworked and tired after his near-death experience. With a groan, Ak'kel slowly rose and swung his feet off the bed, wincing at the stiffness in his muscles. His mind wasn’t the only part of him that’d suffered from oxygen deprivation.
His gaze fell to his legs to find a pair of too tight pants pressing against him uncomfortably. Someone had dressed him. A spark of irritation at his moment of vulnerability pierced him.
The last thing he remembered he'd been in a space suite floating alone without a hope of rescue. Unless... Haldon had spotted him and brought him onboard. He wouldn't put it past Haldon to rescue him only so he could kill him again.
Ak’kel’s jaw clenched as he growled. Rising, he wobbled a bit as he slowly found his balance. Not a huge surprise. After passing out from oxygen deprivation in his space suite he'd been as close to death as never before.
Clenching his fists, he ground his teeth. Haldon should have finished him off while he’d been passed out. Grinning darkly, he let a moment of enjoyment flow through him. He’d be sure to make Haldon pay.
"Where are you, bastard!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. His voice echoed off the metal walls of his cell.
Pausing, Ak’kel listened and waited a few minutes, but when no one entered the brig, he hollered again, “Show yourself, Haldon! I’m not finished yet!”
As the minutes passed by, still no one entered the brig, to Ak’kel’s growing frustration. With each passing minute, he grew louder. There was no doubt in his mind the people onboard heard him. He doubted their patience would outlast his stubbornness, however.
With a smirk, he reached out a hand and touched the air in front of him. Immediately, the blue flicker of a force field flickered to life in front of him, shocking him. Bringing his finger back, he narrowed his eyes on the force field as it faded and once more it looked like nothing but air in front of him.
"You won't keep me trapped here forever, Haldon." Ak’kel growled, his every word dripping with menace. He turned to drumming his hands on the metal walls. With enough noise, he knew he'd draw someone out at some point. “You can bet on me finding a way out of this cell eventually. I’ll tear this ship apart if I have to.” He promised darkly.
Ak’kel’s lips split with a smirk. He enjoyed a good challenge. With determination, he banged his fists harder and harder against the metal walls.
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Sara zipped down one of the corridors, her boots echoing softly against the metal floors of her ship. The door of the cargo bay hissed open, and she entered, founding the crew hard at work digging through the debris they’d gathered from the wreckage. Their many hands made quick work ofthe shredded metal, shattered electronics, and twisted hull fragments.
Pausing at the entrance, she watched her crew members working hard. After they pulled what they wanted, they’d simply blow the rest back into space and take off before another scavenger ship arrived to sift through the debris field.
“Come to help us dig through it all?” Phillip remarked when he spotted Sara watching the crew. He leaned up against a battered crate, a grin tugging at the edges of his lips.
Sara stepped up to him, with a hand on her hip. “Lazing about again?”
