Page 13 of Mated in the Stars
"His name is Ak’kel Drokenal."
Sara shrugged and Cat returned the gesture. "Never heard of him."
"Neither have I, captain." Hunter said, sounding just as disappointed.
Sara rose from the chair. "Well, sounds like I need to ask around and see if he's anyone worth selling or if the Friren arena is the place to get rid of him." She headed for her ready room. "Doug, take Berg's seat.”
Sara entered her office right off the bridge and took a seat behind her desk. Tapping on the screen on her desk, she waited for Voro to answer her call.
"How are you, my dear? " Voro asked as his grey skin glistened with slime through the holo-screen.
"Good." Sara smile. "And I've figured out who I have in my brig."
"Oh?"
"Ak'kel Drokenal."
Voro’s grey face darkened, a sign of shock for his species. His tentacles seemed to ripple with unease, twitching this way and that.
"What is it?" Sara asked as she leaned closer to her screen.
"Do you have any idea who Ak'kel is?" Voro asked as they raised two of their four tentacles in a gesture of warning.
"No. That's why I'm calling you."
"Sara, you need to get him off your ship." Voro said urgently. When she hesitated, they added more firmly, “Now.”
"Not until I know more." Sara crossed her arms in front of her chest as she leaned back. "Who is Ak'kel?"
"You've heard of Haldon, surely."
Sara nodded. Who hadn't? Haldon’s daring escape from prison had made every single news feed in the galaxy. Only the most secluded of planets wouldn’t have heard. As long as someone had some sort of device, they’d have heard.
"Ak'kel is like Haldon.” Voro explained. “Lesser known, but just as dangerous. Until he's off your ship, you'll never be safe."
Sara shrugged as she glanced around her office. "There's nowhere to drop him off for a couple of days. Do you want me to dump him into space?"
"Do something!” Voro’s voice snapped, and Sara jerked back, surprised by this sudden outburst of emotion. “Take a key from Haldon’s book and toss Ak’kel out an airlock."
Before she could respond to this crazy suggestion, the ship rocked violently, and Sara flew out of her seat. She managed to catch herself against the edge of her desk and pull herself back into her seat. "Got to go!" She ended the call with a slap of her hand on the desk and darted for the bridge, only to be knocked off her feet.
"Berg!" Sara yelled as she finally managed to claw her way into the bridge.
Clutching at anything she saw to keep her steady, she glanced up to see a ship filling their view screen. The ship shuddered again, the metal walls groaning in protest.
"What's going on?" Sara asked as she scrambled over to her captain's chair and plopped down, gripping the arms of her seat as the ship shuddered yet again. Gritting her teeth, she prayed that her rust bucket would stay in one piece.
"Engines are down." Berg called out grimly, smacked the console in front of him with an open palm. Then he growled as he turned and faced her. "We're dead in the water, Captain. And we're about to be boarded."
"All hands," Sara wasted no time addressing her crew through the comm system. "Arm yourselves or get to a sheltered area. We're being boarded." She cut the transmission. "Berg, who the hell is boarding us?"
"Don't know, Captain." Berg shrugged as he grabbed a plasma pistol, checked its charge, and then laid it across his lap.
Cat drew out two plasma pistols, one in each hand, a slightly crazed smile. "Who's ready for a little bloodshed?"
Voro’s words about getting Ak'kel off her ship rang in Sara's head and she wondered if this had to do with the Vrak’rir in her brig. Leaning over the side of her captain's chair, Sara grabbed a plasma pistol and checked the charge.
"We defend the bridge." She said over the shaking of the metal ship.
