Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (34 page)

He
wondered
who
had
contacted
the
Collective
and
given
them
away.
It
could
have
been
Deke
or
Bastion.
It
was
good
to
have
friends.

It
didn’t
seem
right
that
he’d
saved
Alex,
only
to
have
her
die
like
this.
Maybe
if
they
told
the
Collective
that
she
was
some
important
priestess,
they
would
let
her
go.
But
if
they
were
willing
to
kill
Skylar,
one
of
their
own—even
if
there
was
a
good
chance
they
could
regenerate
her—then
they
were
unlikely
to
save
Alex,
who
was
nothing
to
them.

Jon
almost
wished
he’d
given
in.
Made
love
to
her.
It
seemed
sad
that
she
should
die
without
experiencing
anything
of
life.

The
rest
of
the
crew
came
in
and
took
their
seats.
There
was
a
sense
of
controlled
urgency,
but
no
one
was
panicking
overtly.
They
must
know
they
were
about
to
be
space
dust.
He
sensed
the
moment
Alex
sat
down
across
from
him,
but
he
purposefully
didn’t
look
her
way.

Rico
swiveled
his
chair
to
face
them.
“Good
of
you
to
join
us,”
he
said
to
the
room
in
general.
“All
the
shopping
done?”

Skylar
grinned.
“Yes,
boss.”

He
looked
straight
at
Alex.
“Bastion’s
dead.”

Her
eyes
widened,
and
then
she
nodded.
“Thank
you.”

“My
pleasure.”
He
turned
back
but
carried
on
speaking.
“I
wanted
you
all
in
here
because
it’s
come
to
my
notice
recently
that
you’re
all
crap
at
taking
orders.
So
I
want
you
where
I
can
see
you.
And
if
I
tell
you
to
do
something—do
it.”

“In
your
dreams,”
Tannis
said.
“You
know,
we’re
never
going
to
get
through
that
lot.”

“We’re
not
going
to
go
through
them.
We’re
going
to
go
around
them,
and
hopefully
they
won’t
even
notice.
Skylar,
can
you
contact
someone
up
there
and
tell
them
we’re
coming
out.
We
want
to
give
ourselves
up.”

She
frowned.
“I
told
you.
They
don’t
want
us
to
give
ourselves
up.
They
want
to
kill
us.
We
go
out
there,
and
we’re
dead.”

“What
did
I
say
about
taking
orders?
Does
‘just
do
it’
sound
familiar?”
He
sighed.
“I
want
them
to
think
we’re
going
out
there,
but
we’re
not
actually
going
out
there.
I’m
not
a
total
moron.”

Jon
didn’t
see
what
choice
they
had.
That
many
ships,
with
that
much
firepower,
it
didn’t
really
matter
where
they
attacked
them,
in
space
or
on
the
ground.
They
were
as
good
as
dead.

“But
you’ve
got
a
plan,
right?”
Skylar
asked.

“Have
faith,”
Rico
murmured.
“I’m
too
young
to
die.”

“Why
the
hell
not?”
She
closed
her
eyes.
A
minute
later,
she
blinked
and
nodded.
“They’re
expecting
us.”

“Good.”
Rico
pressed
the
comm
unit
on
his
wrist.
“You
ready,
Trog?”
He
listened
to
the
reply.
“Let’s
do
this.”

A
second
later,
the
lights
went
out,
plunging
the
bridge
into
near
darkness,
the
only
illumination
from
the
monitor,
which
still
showed
the
massed
ships.
Covered
by
the
darkness,
Jon
gave
in
to
the
urge
and
turned
his
head
so
he
could
see
Alex.
Her
eyes
gleamed
in
the
dim
light,
but
she
didn’t
appear
scared.

Through
the
viewing
window
at
the
front
of
the
bridge,
he
could
see
the
cavern,
or
rather
the
stygian
darkness
where
he
knew
the
cavern
should
be.
Then
a
faint
light
filtered
down
from
above.
The
roof
was
opening,
only
a
narrow
slit
at
first,
barely
revealing
the
star-strewn
sky,
but
the
gap
widened
with
each
second.