Page 27 of Mated in the Stars
Once the craft attached to Sara’s ship, the door hissed opened, and Ak’kel led his men into the human ship. The narrow corridor didn’t provide cover, and he was thankful there were no space pirates waiting to shoot them down.
Thankfully, he and his men were all familiar with the layout of her ship after having taken control of it earlier.
The nearby sounds of plasma fire reached his ears, and Ak’kel surged forward instinctively, his men hot on his tail. Rounding a corner, he found several humans from Sara's crew firing at the pirates who were a mix of humans and other aliens.
"Try your best not to kill any of my mate’s crew." Ak’kel instructed his men. He didn’t need her hating him anymore than she already did. Sliding over the decking, he stopped next to her crew, joining them in firing at the pirates with a lethal precision.
Sara's crew only took one moment to gawk at him and his men before they refocused back on the pirates.
Addressing the closest human, Ak’kel ducked under cover and then asked, "Where is Sara?"
"I haven’t seen her in a while. She may have been brought to the the medical bay." The human shouted over the chaos of the corridor.
"Why?" Ak’kel grated, as his heart dropped and then thumped like crazy. Was she injured? Was he too late? He felt a white-hot rage building inside him. He’d personally rip all heads from the pirates, if his mate had been harmed by them.
The human’s eyes went wide as his gaze flickered across the enraged Vrak’rir now beside him. "She was shot, I think."
A cold dread washed over Ak’kel. He gripped his weapon tight as he tried to reign in his emotions. "Take care of this." He told Drax, referring to the pirates swarming through Sara’s ship. He’d win it back for her.
Without waiting for a reply, he ducked and dashed in the opposite direction of the fighting. He had to find his mate and see her status. Maybe he’d even take her back to his ship to his medical bay where he had better medical equipment.
He moved swiftly but carefully, listening for any signs of space pirates that might take advantage of his one-track mind and ambush him. It'd take him longer but there was a back way to the medical bay. Thankfully, most of the firefight seemed to be contained to the other area of the ship.
Nearly crashing into the medical bay door, Ak’kel pushed through it with brute force when it didn’t open fastenough. Barreling through, he first saw a human laying on a medical bed, but it wasn’t Sara.
“Where is Sara?” Ak’kel bellowed.
Before the medical staff could answer him, his comm buzzed. Looking down at his wrist, he answered with a quick press of his finger. “What is it Drax?”
“The pirates have all quickly retreated to their ship, and they’ve disengaged from Sara’s ship. Do you want us to follow?”
“Not yet. Let me check in on Sara, and then we will hunt them down for daring to attack my mate.”
“Confirmed.” Drax said. “We will run through her ship to check for anyone that may have been left behind and start cleaning up the bodies.”
“Now,” Ak’kel turned back to the human medical staff, “I heard rumor Sara was hit by a plasma shot. Where is she and how is she doing?”
The humans exchanged confused looks before one of them stepped forward. “We haven’t seen Sara. She was never brought here if she was shot.”
“Could she have been brought anywhere else on the ship?” Ak’kel growled, his patience paper thin. He needed to see his mate, to be assured of her safety.
They shook their heads in unison.
“If she was shot, she would have been brought here.”
Perhaps the other human had been misinformed then. She could still be running around her ship, perfectly fine.
“Thank you. If you hear from her, let her know I am aboard her ship and looking for her.” He turned to leave, but then stopped, “I will send over my medical staff to assist you with injuries.” It was the least he could do for her crew after his previous actions.
“Drax,” he commed his second in command.
“Yes?” Drax responded immediately.
“Sara isn’t in the medical bay. She might be roaming around the ship. Let me know the moment you find her.”
“I will let the men know and we will search the ship for her.”
Sucking in a breath, Ak’kel tried to calm down. Things were fine. If she wasn’t in the medical bay, then she was somewhere else, probably helping her crew. He just had to find her.
