Micha sighed as she pinned down Black Heart. The last three days had been a major shit show. How had things devolved so badly? She had gone from in control of three dangerous people to a hostage situation that threatened the destruction of the entire ship. Black Heart was holding several major people captive, including commander Ha’ Aventis, and set some very absurd demands. She had to admit she had been tempted to tell him to go to hell and see what he was truly capable of, but the last thing she had needed was another reason to black mark her team.

  They might not survive the death of a commander; even if it was his own fault.

  Seated on Black Heart’s shoulders, she looked at the chaos he had caused and again wondered how everything had gone pear shaped. In the distance she noted the return of the shifter brothers with the mousy cohort between them. Ipino was a bit beat up and was missing a shirt, but otherwise they both appeared to be alright. Mai-Roon did not appear to be very pleased. Not that Micha cared. Now she needed to locate the rest of her team.

  Since the ship’s computer was no longer blaring a count down to destruction, she was guessing that Max and Mitah had managed to override the command codes that should have been changed after Black Heart and his ilk bolted.

  Ni’yell tapped her shoulder and pointed behind her. There was Rennick with another unhappy prisoner. As soon as the gang was back together it would be time to find out what had gone wrong. She might not have control over the soldiers on the ship, but by all that was holly she was going to have answers.

  Beneath her, the assassin growled. She ignored him and rested her chin in her palm, her elbow on her bent knee.

  “Mitah says he and Max will be on the way as soon as Max finishes the reset on the computer,” Rennick stated.

  She noted the damage to his uniform and the bruises on his neck. She pursed her lips. Micha nodded in response. Once the shifter brothers were in range she cataloged their injuries. Closing her eyes, she counted back from ten.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” growled a squeaky voice. “This entire mess is your fault!”

  Micha opened her eyes and looked up into the beady little eyes of commander Aventis. What she wanted to do was slap the insufferable look off his face; what she said was, “We were just about to figure that out. So glad you could join us.”

  Commander Aventis was not a very tall man nor was she certain how he had achieved the title of commander, when he did as little as possible. He had small dark eyes, thin lips, a long pointy nose that went with his long face and sallow skin. Anger did not look good on him.

  “The Council of War and Peace will hear about this!”

  “I’m sure they will,” she replied sounding banal. “How do you plan to explain waltzing onto a shuttle you knew had enemies without back up or protection of any kind?”

  “If you had done your job…”

  “They could have overpowered us and hijacked the shuttle. Protocol is set to prevent situation like this,” Ni’yell stated.

  “No one is speaking to you beast,” Aventis growled.

  “If you wish to continue speaking, I would advise you to be more courteous,” the smile on her face lacked warmth and her eyes spoke of retribution best left unsaid. “Since Max might be a while, why don’t we start with how this shit show blew up?

  Rennick winced at the bite in her voice. “I was careless. I should not have left myself vulnerable to Thannen in the first place…”

  Three days prior

  Rennick sat next to the tall, lithe prisoner known as Thannen. He reputation for strangulation was well known through the galaxy. He had felt safe in the fact that his team out numbered the prisoners, and thus let down his guard fractionally. The longer Thannen did nothing the more he was confident he was capable of handling anything he tried.

  When Mitah stated they were shifting vector to dock with the good ship Khanutgap, Rennick thought he was ready to stick the prisoners in the brig and return to base to hand them over. He was expecting Black Heart to make a move. What he should have done was monitor the man next to him closer.

  He felt the shuttle slow and veer towards the ship, when Thannen slumped into him. Caught off guard, it took a second for him to realize what was going on. By then it was too late. Thannen had his own blade tip pressed to his chin. No one was moving.

  “Up,” whispered Thannen. “Slowly.”

  Rennick’s eye sought out his alpha. She barely tilted her head yes when Thannen purred. “A-ah,”

  Rennick stood slowly along with the man holding the blade.

  Thannen kept close enough to cling to Rennick and made it difficult for anyone else to respond without risking Rennick’s life.

  Forced to join Black Heart next to the shuttle exit, Rennick grimaced. Black Heart sneered at Micha, who just looked bored.

  “Let’s go little girl.”

  Miha arched a brow. “And where do you think you are going?”

  “Anywhere I want,” Black Heart spoke as though he was in control.

  Micha cocked a hip and snorted.

  “He will kill your panther,” Black Heart shrugged. “Unless that does not matter to you…?”

  “He is welcome to try,” Micha snickered. “I think he will find my…panther…has his own claws and teeth. He knows what to do.”

  Rennick reacted like an explosion; slamming his fist into the mousy woman next to him even as his foot slammed back and connected just bellow the knee. As the knife fell away, Rennick became a flurry of strikes that Thannen was unable to block. Rennick might have succeeded in breaking free if not for Black Heart.

  Black Heart struck the base of Rennick’s skull. By sheer grace he missed the spine and stunned the panther instead of killing him.

  “Try,” Black Heart snarled. “Not to lose control this time.”

  Thannen grimace as he put Rennick in a choke hold.

  Micha continued to smirk. “I hope you don’t think that cowed him.”

  “I’ll cut you.”

  A thump-clank told everyone that the shuttle had docked. Just as everyone braced the ramp descended and the shuttle door opened. In walked commander Ha’ Aventis; hands clasped behind his back. His relaxed posture irritated everyone in the shuttle, but it was Mai-Roon who reacted first. Before the cheerful commander was able to react, he, too, was a prisoner of Black Heart.

  Rennick wanted to howl his displeasure, but moving his head made everything spin. He was useless as he and the commander were dragged towards the exit.

  Black Heart stood in the doorway. “You’ll come to me. Alone. Or I will destroy this ship with everyone on it.”

  Rennick did not hear what Micha had replied. As it was, it took everything he had not to embarrass himself.

  “Commander!”

  Great, thought Rennick. The commander had not thought to clear the shuttle before entering, but he had enough soldiers surrounding the shuttle to conquer a small planet. He had no idea what the commander had been planning and as far as he was concerned Micha was the one who needed to deal with that mess.

  “Anyone moves and the good commander will be a smear all over the ship,” Black Heart smiled, like it was just another sunny Sunday afternoon. “Now, everyone will drop their riffles and lay down on the ground. Any arguments will come out of the commander’s flesh.”

  No one moved.

  “Now,” squealed the commander.

  Still, no one moved until Mai-Roon nicked the commander’s neck.

  “Do as you were ordered,” he squeaked.

  As Black Heart started forward, Rennick refused to obey partly out of an inability to remain on his feet and part out of an obtuse nature. Thannen responded by shoving Rennick, hard. Tipping forward it took everything Rennick had to stay on his feet. Thannen did not give him a chance to regain his footing as he dragged him along.

  Thannen enjoyed tormenting him by wrapping his arm around Rennick’s neck and squeezing until his legs gave out. Rennick coughed and wheezed the instant his tormentor let go. It pleased him having Rennick weakened.

  Hours passed like that. He unable to point to a specific time when Thannen split off from Black Heart. Yet, at some point he realized he was laying in the center of the dinning hall with two young soldiers approaching.

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  “Run,” he wheezed.

  The two soldiers looked at each other and froze, but it was too late. Thannen pounced; knocking both soldier to the floor. One cracked his head, hard, and groaned. The other fought against Thannen as he wrapped his hands around the young soldier’s neck.

  Rennick struggled to get to his knees. He had always had control of his body. Being so out of control frustrated him. It made him work twice as hard to get up. Still, he managed.

  “Get off him,” Rennick whispered as he wobbled on his knees.

  Thannen laughed maniacally. “The big bad kitty cat…weeble-wobble silly kitty,” he tittered.

  Rennick put everything he had into slinging the nearest chair at the madman tormenting his victims. The second soldier was attempting to get to his hands and knees only to vomit everywhere. Thannen let go of his victim to avoid the chair coming at his face, but kept laughing like the maniac he was.

  Rennick staggered to his feet as the room spun. He knew if he did not stop Thannen that they were dead. He was unable to rely on the young soldiers. One was gasping for air and the other seemed to be worse then Rennick.

  “What are you gonna do? Hm? You can barely stand, hee-hee.”

  “Piss off,” Rennick growled.

  “Pft, that the best you can do? Awe the de wittle kitty fall down,” Thannen pouted as he struck Rennick across the face knocking him to the floor.

  With a groan, Rennick tried to rise. Thannen slammed his foot into Rennick ribs; sliding the panther across the floor. He rolled onto his back as he struggled to breath through the pain. One of the young soldiers managed to get to his feet and moved to assist his friend. Thannen was between Rennick and the soldiers.

  “I wonder,” Thaannen considered. “Who I should play with first?”

  Once more Rennick staggered to his feet. He would be damned if he was going let that asshat beat him down; but if he was unable to get his balance back, he was not going to be saving anyone let alone himself.

  Eyes wide, Rennick tried to focus on Thannen, who was at that moment looking at the soldiers, and tried to aim his fist to hit with enough force to become the main target again. Thannen giggled as he stepped out of reach.

  Rennick was really getting tired of that man’s laughter. Blinking to clear his vision he did not see the fist driving at his face until it was too late to dodge. So, he drove his forehead forward to meet it.

  Thannen howled.

  The strike had done nothing for his dizziness, but fighting back had felt good. Rennick spotted one of the soldiers raising a chair and made a point of ignoring it in the hopes that it was enough to knock Thannen out.

  The chair cracked as it landed on Thannen’s neck and shoulders. The strike drove the lunatic to the floor. Staggering over, Rennick attempted to pin the monster down.

  “Need something to tie him up with before he can get back up.” He muttered.

  No one moved.

  He sighed when they looked at each other. When they lunged at him, he was not surprised, but he was ready. Or he thought he was. The two soldiers managed to pin him down with effort. Rennick wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Instead, he growled.

  “What are you doing? I am not the enemy. Remember, I was the one that tried to tell you to run.”

  Neither spoke at first, then the one with the bruised neck horsed out. “We have orders to detain your team.”

  “Orders from who?” Rennick was tired of being betrayed. Micha deserved better. They did everything that was asked of them and more. It was never enough.

  “Commander Aventis received orders.”

  Just great. Rennick rolled his eyes. “You need to tie him up before he comes to.”

  “Too late.”

  Pinned to the floor, Rennick watched as blood splattered across the floor. Shock held them both still, while Thannen wailed on the soldier with the bruised neck. Rennick reacted first by struggling to get out from under the second soldier.

  “Don’t just stand there,” he growled. “Do something.”

  Without getting too far off the floor, Rennick lunged at Thannen in the hopes of putting himself between the madman and the downed soldier. In the shuffle, Thannen backed off and lunged for the door into other parts of the ship.

  “Help me get him to the healers,” Rennick gently turned the wounded soldier over.

  Without words, the two carefully carried, the wounded soldier to the healer’s hall. When they made contact with the first healer Rennick relinquished his end and explained what had happened.

  “He was struck six, maybe seven times before we were able to stop the attack,” Rennick grimace when the healer touched the side of his neck.

  He gently pushed the hand away and stood. “I need to stop Thannen before he kills someone.”

  “You need to be treated too.”

  “After I stop Thannen,” Rennick turned away.

  “I can help,” the second soldier blurted out. “I have access to the armoury.”

  Rennick hesitated. With grave care he considered the young warrior before him. The soft shimmer of visible scales around the eyes, recessed ears and neck were indicative of a dragon bloodline. The small number meant it was not a pure line back. The fluid nature of his features indicated a changeling or shifter connection. The boy nearly reached Rennick’s shoulder and while slender, did not appear weak. With a nod, he started back down the hall.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Holten Briskwater,”

  he winced, his iridescent green eyes catching the light.

  “Rennick Randougah.”

  “Most people ask about my last name…”

  Rennick shrugged. “It’s just a name. its impact on who you are is decided by you.”

  Holten seemed to be considering what Rennick had said as he led the way to the armoury. Once there, Holten let them in and turned to the panther.

  “What do we do now?”

  “I am going to get a knife and an ASR-B750 semi-automatic. I need DUDs too.”

  Holten lead the way down a side hall and paused at the right shelf. While Rennick grabbed and checked the rifle was empty and verified the scope was accurate, Holten unlocked a secondary compartment and withdrew multiple cartridges with the DUDs that Rennick requested.

  “I need a knife.”

  Holten hesitated before recaching for a shot gun. He reached for an ammo belt that contained special ammunition meant to incapacitate the target; each pellet dissolved into an anesthetic. Belt strapped on, he led the way to the knife rack. Holten mirrored Rennick and strapped a knife as long as his forearm to his thigh. Holten then made his way to the armour stands and pointed.

  “We should grab chest armour?”

  Rennick looked at Holten. “That a statement or a question?”

  Swallowing hard, Holten reached for the chest protector and felt it auto-adjust the moment he put it on. Living metal truly was the best. Handing one to Rennick, he shut the locker and started for the exit.

  “Any idea where he will head?”

  Rennick shook his head. “Our best bet is to go back to the dinning hall and follow the scent of blood; if I can find it.”

  “If you can’t?”

  “The only thing we can do,” Rennick grinned. “Follow the chaos.”

  By now the ship’s computer was blaring a count down and the ship was pandemonium. Moving through the hallways was like salmon going up river for spawning. Soldiers were attempting a mass exodus, but were getting no response from the escape pods. The few that recognized Rennick’s armed state attempted to get out of the way, but had little room to moved.

  Once back at the dinning hall, Rennick sighed. It seemed to be quieter or off the beaten path as there were fewer people. Pausing, he inhaled; slow and deep. Beside him, Holten looked about for some clue as to which direction their target had gone. Just as Rennick piked up the scent of blood, Holten spotted a trail of blood leading to the left.

  “Here,” Holten pointed with his finger.

  Rennick’s eyes glowed softly as he agreed. “Let’s go.”

  Rennick lost track of time as he followed the trail. Ocationally, they came across a body that had been struck with something hard, then suffocated. Each body was its own ache and there had been several.

  Holten stayed with Rennick the whole way and was the first to note that the trail ended in front of the medical bay. Rennick growled. If he had gone in, it gave Thannen a bunch of hostages. Holten looked to Rennick for a clue to their next move.

  With a sigh, he squatted down and motioned for Holten to do the same. “We have no way of knowing if he is in there or how many hostages he has. It is essential that we do not react to his provocation and make no doubt he will attempt to strike a nerve. At best the only wounded in there is your friend. At worse…”

  Holten swallowed passed the lump in his throat. “Okay, how do we play this?”

  “Too bad Ni’yell wasn’t here. He would simply come up behind our target. We are going to have to be a little more creative.”

  “I have a skill that let’s me go unnoticed. Its not quite camouflage,” Holten started.

  “Any other skills?”

  Holten lifted a shoulder. “I am a comms officer. I can fight hand to hand, but I am not the best. I do better mid range,” he lifted the shot gun.

  Rennick considered their next move carefully. They might not have much time, but rushing was not going to help anyone. “Here’s what we do…”

  Rennick peeked in the open doors in the hope of locating Thannen and was mildly disappointed when he was not easily seen. closing his eyes he inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly. He ignored the blaring on the comm system and the chaos of the soldiers and slowed his heart rate until he was an extension of his rifle.

  Raising the rifle he stepped through the doorway.

  With slow deliberate sweep of his rifle, he searched for his target. He found him at the back of the healer’s hall kneeing over a body. Without hesitation, he took aim and fired a spurt of DUDs.

  The creation of DUDs was accidental. The upper echelons of the military had wanted a non-lethal option. The original intent had long been forgotten, but the effect was clear as day. The bullet struck with the force of a regular bullet, but failed to penetrate. What it did do was disrupt the body’s ability to communicate with itself. In essence it created a type of paralysis that was short lived, but highly effective.

  Rennick knew that the military trained with DUDs all the time; which meant he was not going to have as much time as he might against an ordinary person. Yet he knew that every second in a fight was invaluable.

  Seeing his target jolting like he had been struck by thousands of volts of energy, Rennick inched closer.

  Thannen slumped to the floor; his body twitching randomly.

  Leaning down to secure Thannen before he was able to cause any further damage, Rennick’ eyes went wide. A split second later and Rennick might have been gutted.

  Thannen struck with a surgical blade that was sharp enough to sever bone. Rennick barely dodged back away from the strike.

  Thannen lunged at Rennick with a snarl.

  Holten slipped into the room, unseen, as the two warriors grappled for control. He knew he was only going to get once chance to strike unseen so he needed to be extra careful. Rennick was counting on him.

  Thannen pushed Rennick into the bed behind him and thrust his hands at the panther’s neck. He was going to skin the panther and parade his skin front of the bitch he served.

  Rennick struggled to hold off the madman by blocking his neck, but he knew it was a losing battle. Thinking fast, he struck Thannen in the left side, twice; Thannen grunted in pain. If he had done the strike right, he had damaged the kidney. It should slow him down some.

  Thannen stumbled to his right, away from Rennick; cursing the panther for being alive.

  Rennick braced for the next attack, keeping his eyes on Thannen the whole time; trusting Holten to come to his aid. Holten snuck up behind Thannen and fired his shotgun, twice; he was not taking any chances with the jackass.

  Thannen jolted, eyes wide, at being struck. The shock lasted a second before he reached for his last knife and lunged at Rennick.

  Rennick parried the strike, but was unable to completely bock it. The strike landed on his right bicep; the cut was severe.

  From the look in Thannen’s eyes, the pellets were taking effect. All they had to do was avoid any further attacks. Holten reloaded his shotgun as though he anticipated needing it again.

  Thannen began to wobble on his feet. His eyes dilating rapidly. Rennick would have been surprised if Thannen was even able to see anything at that point.

  Lunging forward, Holten slammed the butt of his shotgun into Thannen’s back and knocked him to the ground.

  Seeing Thannen sprawled across the floor, face down, Rennick decided to search for restraints. “Help me find the restraints Holten.”

  Once Thannen was secure, Rennick took stock of the room and nodded grimly. “We need to get anyone that is still alive into the medipods,” Unwilling to relinquish his rifle, Rennick slung it to his back and made for the first body. Together, they salvaged five lives that needed the medipods that were available and triaged another ten. By the time they were done, the wounded were starting to pour in. One by one the healers got to work. Rennick and Holten continued to assist until all fifteen healers were on their feet.

  Holten was the first to notice the sudden silence beyond the moans and groans of the hurt. “The countdown stopped,” he breathed in awe.

  Rennick grinned. “Of course it did. My team was on it from the beginning. Let’s get Thannen back to Alpha and the others.”

  Holten nodded excitedly.