Page 26 of Mated in the Stars
"Space pirates, Captain. And we're being boarded." Cat’s voice unnervingly calm amid the chaos, as if she was describing an everyday event rather than people forcefully boarding their ship.
"Arm yourselves. Inform the crew." Sara ordered as she reached down under her chair and pulled out a plasma pistol. Ever since Ak’kel’s attack on her ship, she'd made sure to have weapons more readily available. "Keep the bridge doors closed and secure,” she commanded her crew as she headed to the lift. Her voice steely as she solely focused on keeping her people as safe was she could.
"Where are you going?" Berg asked when he noticed her walking to the bridge doors.
"To help the crew." Sara growled. No more lives were being lost if she had something to say about it. If this was Ak’kel, she might just shoot him.
Before Berg could protest, Cat stepped forward. "I'm coming with you."
"No." Sara shook her head as she held up a hand to stop Cat. “Stay here and help defend the bridge. I'll see you guys in a bit. I'm sure we can handle some space pirates."
As she entered the lift, she sucked in a breath through her mouth and then let it out her nose. This was another fight, another test being thrown at her by the universe, and she would come out alive.
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The lift stopped on the deck with their shuttle hangar. The moment the doors hissed open, Sara heard the sizzling shots of plasma gun fire in the distance. Hugging the walls, Sara ran through the corridors of her ship until she reached the doors to the hangar bay. Closing her eyes, she sucked in a steadying breath, and then spun, the doors opened, and she ducked inside, sliding right next to one of her crew.
“How many?” She asked as the area around them was peppered in a flurry of plasma shots, searing the metal around them.
“Too many.” The man shook his head. “They’ve taken cover behind the material we’ve scavenged just like us, but they keep pushing us further and further. Soon we will have no choice but to head into the corridor and retreat.”
The space pirates were well practiced like they’d done this before to other ships, which made her her wonder if the debris field was an elaborate trap they used to lull in ships like Sara's. It would explain why the debris field looked untouched. Maybe the pirates even blew up the ships after getting rid of the crew and taking what they wanted, creating an even bigger debris field to lull more ships in. But she refused to allow them to add her ship to this debris field.
Crouching and holding her plasma pistol close, Sara watched blue plasma bolts sear by her face. With this constantshower of plasma, there’d be no chance for her to get some shots of her own off.
"The pirates have used the corridor on the other side of the hangar, and we’ve received reports that they’ve gotten to engineering and disabled our engines." Another man nearby reported to fill her in on the situation.
"Damn." Sara huffed with frustration as she shook her head. The pirates were like a swarm of ants and her ship was like a sandwich that'd been left out at a picnic, and now they were infested. And unlike other space pirates, these guys seemed to have their routine down like a well-oiled machine. It wasn't their first time boarding and taking over a ship, that was for sure.
"Shit!" Plasma shots flew past them from the other direction. The pirates had managed to get behind them! Spinning, Sara raised her pistol, but before she could get a shot off, a plasma shot hit her in the right shoulder. With a scream, she hit the floor. Her crew opened fire, and as she gritted her jaw against the pain someone's hands latched onto her and dragged her out of the line of fire as she blacked out from the pain.
Chapter 9
"Fire on the other ship! Now!" Ak’kel barked sharply as the ship attacking Sara’s rust bucket came into range.
Fucking space pirates. Thought they could take his mate from him? They'd laid the perfect trap, he'd give them that. The debris field would have been too good for Sara and her crew to pass up on. He’d be surprised if any scavenger would have been able to fly by without a closer inspection of the wreckage.
"They've boarded your mate's ship." Drax informed him grimly, his voice steady but tense.
Ak’kel’s jaw clenched at the thought of the potential firefight that might be going on inside her ship right at this moment. There was no way Sara would allow anyone to take her ship or crew without a fight.
"Get the men to the shuttles!" Ak'kel growled as he sprinted across the bridge of his warship. His heavy boots pounded across the bridge. He entered the lift with Drax following close behind on his heels. "I want as many armed men as we can get aboard her ship." Ak’kel commanded, his eyes burning with a raging fire. His mate was potentially in distress, and a sense of helplessness entered his chest. A feeling he wasn’t used to, and it disturbed him greatly.
"The men are already boarding our shuttles as we speak." Drax informed him.
The lift shuttered as it zipped past floors. When it stopped and the doors opened, they rushed out, quickly filing into a shuttle with some of their men.
"She'll be alright." Drax said softly, placing a reassuring hand on Ak’kel’s shoulder.
Ak'kel looked over at his second, knowing his eyes probably looked crazed. "She'd better be. For the sake of the damn galaxy."
He would never forgive himself if he arrived too late and didn’t save her. Despite the headaches she caused and drugging him twice, he did not wish his mate dead. Unlike Haldon, he would never shove his mate out an airlock or even dare threaten it. He’d threatened her the first time he’d met her only because he hadn't known what she was to him.
"We'll save her from the pirates." Drax reassured him, his voice firm with certainty. “You are like a brother to me, which means she is family. Vrak’rir will do anything for their mates and family.”
Ak’kel flashed him a rare smile, his blue lips pulling back in the unfamiliar gesture. “I would do the same for you, Drax.”
The shuttle lurched as it left the bay with a slight shudder. Ak’kel gripped one of the handles hanging from the ceiling of the shuttle, not wanting to take the time with a seat. He wanted to be one of the first ones off the ship. The shuttle rocked back and forth as they maneuvered into place for one of the airlocks on Sara's ship.
