Choosing Riley: Sarafin Warriors Book 1 (11 page)

Tor shuddered as the loud sound of screeching
could be heard followed by an explosion. “She must be in the
control room. Let’s get out of here!”

Vox didn’t wait for his second-in-command to
repeat himself. He turned and took off as fast as he could. He
could hear Fred encouraging Bob to hurry. The little Tiliquian
could keep up with them but the Gelatian were not known for their
speed. Vox yelled out a tense order for Banu and Cross to stay with
Bob. The two warriors nodded, falling back to cover the large male
who was struggling to follow them.

“Go,” Bob groaned out. “Go, I will remain
here.”

“We have our orders, my friend,” Cross
laughed as he swung around to watch as a group of Antrox tried to
escape several former prisoners who were not in the mood to let
them go. “Besides, something tells me if you are not on board the
spaceship there is no way in Gods that we will get the female on
board it.”

Bob thought of Riley’s beautiful sad eyes
last night and knew she didn’t plan on being on the same ship that
they were on. His huge body shuddered as determination swept
through him. She was a remarkable female! She had chosen him even
though she didn’t have to. She had befriended him and cared for him
when even the females of his own species wouldn’t have thought
twice about casting him aside for a stronger male. And, she had set
not just him and her other mates free but every prisoner on the
mining asteroid. If she could fight for what she wanted, could he
do any less for her?

“I have a mate to get out of here,” Bob
mumbled out, picking up speed ever so slightly.

The sound of an automated voice suddenly
sounded around them. “Self-destruct has been activated. Countdown
is set for ten-point-two-nine and counting. Evacuation of all
personnel is recommended immediately.”

“Then, I suggest we do not let her wait, my
big green warrior,” chuckled Banu. “Onward to freedom before she
kills us all.”

Riley shot two guards the minute she exited
the medical unit. The leathery, red skinned healer had been coming
down the corridor from the control room. The second he saw her
shooting, he turned his wacky self around so fast he actually fell
down. Riley took off as fast as she could, pulling her big, pink
suitcase and shot his ass as he was entering the control room. She
had quickly disposed of him and the three guards inside. Normally
she would have had second thoughts about killing anything. Hell,
she was known for rescuing and nursing the injured lizards back
home before releasing them back into the wild. Since she had never
had to save a praying mantis before, she decided those miserable
creatures didn’t count and the healer was just too freaky to let
live. Those thoughts helped ease her conscious so she could
concentrate on trying to figure out what in the hell to do
next.

“One of these days, girl,” she muttered out
loud to herself. “You are going to have an actual plan before you
start shooting.”

Riley’s nose turned up in disgust as she
shoved the last of the dead bodies outside the door. There were
some things she could handle, being in a room with dead guys was
not one of them. She cursed again when she couldn’t figure out how
to close the door to the room so she stood back and shot the panel
out. Her loud moans filled the air when instead of closing, it
remained frozen opened.

“Oh for crying out loud!” She groaned in
frustration. “It worked in the movies, damn it all to hell!” There
was nothing she could do about the door except shoot anything that
tried to come through it now.

She turned and looked at all the lights
flashing on the console with a confused frown. Glancing out the
huge section of windows that overlooked two separate landing bays
divided by a huge wall of rock, she figured she could at least
watch as her guys took off. Since she couldn’t see them down there
yet she figured they might need a little help. She had absolutely
no idea what to do but figured if she started pushing enough
buttons something was bound to work sooner or later.

“Well, I told them I was great at causing a
distraction,” she muttered darkly as she began pushing as many
buttons as fast as she could. “Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have pushed
that one,” she whispered under her breath when the lights flashed
on and off in the landing bay.

Riley pushed another button and realized she
could hear herself breathing over the PA system. She could warn the
guys they needed to get their asses up here toot sweet if they
wanted a spaceship. At the rate the other prisoners were leaving,
they were going fast.

“Hello. Can everyone hear me? Hell…. lo! Vox,
Tor, Lodar?” She called out hoping they could hear her over the
stupid alarms that had gone off when she was pushing buttons.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t figure out how to turn them off. “Damn
it! How do you turn the alarms off? The damn things are giving me a
headache.” She muttered before she turned to see one of the Antrox
guards trying to sneak up behind her. “Oh no you don’t, you nasty
little insect!”

Riley let loose with several shots adding to
the growing pile of dead bodies. “Take that you son-of-a-bitch!
Who’s your momma now, asshole?” Riley crowed before she realized
she still had the communication system open. “Fred, Bob honey, if
you can hear me I have all the doors open. I have to tell you.
You’d better hurry. Those spaceship thingies are really flying out
of here fast. I don’t know if there are going to be any left if you
don’t get your asses up here now. Uh oh, I don’t think those two
know how to drive one. Oops, nope. They didn’t.” She croaked out as
she watched the dark night of space light up as two departing ships
exploded.

*.*.*

Several Antrox guards turned startled and
looked up at the control room as the lights in the landing bay
flashed on and off. Antrox 785 looked up in disbelief when he saw
the strange female standing at the controls instead of his men.
Riley glanced down at him at the same time as he turned all the way
around to stare in disbelief. Antrox 785 watched as if in slow
motion as she gave him a huge smile and raised her hand, her middle
finger pointing straight up, before blowing him a kiss. He could
feel the deep flush of shock and outrage that his mining operation
was no longer under his control.

“Get me the guards on Level 5,” he growled
out at the same time as the alarms sounded stating all systems had
been deactivated. “Wait!” He ordered sharply. “On second thought,
get my personal ship ready immediately. It is time I retired,” he
muttered to his personal guards.

“Antrox 785, what of the others?” His guard
asked stiffly.

“The prisoners have been released,” Antrox
785 stated coolly, looking at the guard. “Do you wish to search for
the others?”

The guard looked back up at the female in the
control room who was currently firing a laser pistol at someone. He
looked back at Antrox 785 and bowed his head. Turning, the small
group hurried to one of the tubes leading up to Antrox 785’s
personal space craft.

Antrox 785 turned before he walked up to the
tube to look one last time at the strange female who had brought an
end to his sixty years of profit. Luckily, he had always known that
something like this could happen and had prepared for it. He shook
his head as he turned to follow his guards. He really would have
liked to have killed the trader that brought her here first; before
he retired. A small smile curved his thin lips as he thought about
how much Antrox 157 wanted to be promoted. He hoped he enjoyed his
new position.

*.*.*

Riley screamed as two more guards fell. This
time not from her but from one of the escaped prisoners who decided
he wanted to take her with him. She raised her arm and fired on the
huge orange man again. He grunted but continued to creep toward her
even though he was bleeding from several places including where she
had just shot him in the shoulder.

“Oh for crying out loud!” Riley snarled as
she aimed the pistol between his eyes. “Will you just fucking die
already!” She snapped out as she fired again. The huge orange
figured flew backwards landing on the growing pile of bodies
outside the door. This time, he didn’t get back up.

Who the hell needs a door when I can just
make one out of dead bodies,
she thought in disgust.

Riley turned to slam her hand down on the
last button in frustration and anger. This one had been hidden
under a huge clear lid. The little nagging thought in her head that
maybe it was covered for a reason didn’t go off until the voice of
the automated system announced that the self-destruct had been
activated.

“Well Shit-a-Brick!” Riley groaned in
despair.

Tears filled her eyes as she watched as
another spaceship departed. There was only one left and it looked
like it had been left behind for a reason. She wasn’t even sure if
it could fly. Her hand pressed against the glass, her fingers
spread as she watched Cross, Banu, Bob, and Fred hurrying across
the landing bay toward the last spaceship. A moment later, she saw
Adur and Titus making their way up the tube as well. She must have
missed Vox, Tor, and Lodar. She was sure they had already escaped
in all the confusion.

“Good luck, my strange friends,” Riley
whispered sadly as she watched them disappear. “I’m glad you are
getting away.”

She pulled away from the glass. The sounds in
the background of the countdown seemed to match her heartbeat.
Riley stepped away pulling her purse and big, pink suitcase with
her as she moved over to the wall where she slid down until she was
sitting on the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest and
smoothed her huge purse down against her side.

Riley rolled the laser pistol in her hands
absently before taking a deep breath. She wasn’t going to wait
until the place exploded around her. If she was going to die, it
wasn’t going to be by having her head explode from decompressing in
space. No, she would take her own life in the last few seconds. A
quick blast to the heart and she wouldn’t feel the dark emptiness
that would become her tomb.

“Hell Riley girl,” she whispered as tears
coursed down her cheeks. “You are really getting morbid. At least
it is better than being buried in concrete under the shed in
Righteous, New Mexico,” she giggled on the verge of hysteria. “Here
floats the body of Riley St. Claire from Denver, Colorado. She
forgot that the self-destruct button is always covered, the idiot!
So much for twenty-four years of good B-rated movies. This totally
sucks!” Riley groaned as she pulled the pistol so it was pressed
tightly against her chest. “I can’t believe with my family history
that I am probably the only female in the history of the St.
Claire’s to die a frigging virgin!” She sniffled sadly.

She closed her eyes and drew in a shuddering
sob. She could do this, just don’t think about it. Instead, she
thought about the things that brought a warmth to her heart and
calmed her. Images shimmered into her mind as she thought back to
the things that really mattered to her. A wobbly smile curved her
lips as she remembered her Grandma Pearl laughing as she listened
to Riley telling her about her latest retorts to the bullies at
school while her Grandma wiped down the counter at the bar. She
thought about her sainted sister Tina rolling her big blue eyes at
her when their Grandma got called to school again because of Riley
fighting or mouthing off. She thought of Vox’s beautiful tawny eyes
glaring at her with hot desire as he tried to get her to rest
instead of working alongside them down in the mines. Her body began
to shake uncontrollably as her finger tightened on the trigger
before she jerked in shock as pain exploded through her.

I didn’t think dying would hurt so
much,
she thought as the breath exploded out of her.

*.*.*

Vox let out another loud snarl as he slashed
at anything in his way. Tor and Lodar were right beside him
clearing a path. He didn’t care who it was. If they were in the
way, they were dead. His only thought was to get to Riley. His
mate, his everything. How he ever thought he could kill her if he
had to made him realize just how stupid he really was. The thought
of her being in danger was enough to drive him insane. He would
have never been able to kill her. He would have had to lock her up
somewhere if she had been a spy. Hell, he might do that anyway
after this crazy stunt of hers. He was damn sure going to whip her
delicious ass for scaring him so badly.

He had roared for the others to go secure a
ship for them while he, Tor and Lodar shifted into their cats and
went after Riley. They could move faster and clear a larger path in
this form. Vox burst down the corridor that housed the medical unit
and control room. His sharp claws digging gouges into the stone
floor. He slowed as he saw the pile of bodies outside of the
control room door which stood open. He pulled back on his cat,
slowing it down. It hissed at him, fighting for control as fear
threatened to overwhelm caution.

Vox moved silently toward the door. Tor and
Lodar had shifted behind him and were moving up the sides, checking
each room for any guards that might remain. His ears twitched back
and forth as he picked up Riley’s husky, tear filled voice. His cat
picked up speed at the sound of its mate. He jumped over the pile
of dead bodies and froze, his eyes narrowing on where Riley was
sitting with the laser pistol pressed against her chest. Time
seemed to stand still as he watched her draw in a deep shaky
breath. A silent curse tore through his mind as he realized what
she was about to do. With a burst of speed he hit her sideways,
whipping his huge paw out and knocking the pistol out of her hand
as he stumbled over her rolling as the pistol fired mere inches
from her.