Mated to the Beast (15 page)

He took a deep breath and let it out, but replied through clenched teeth. “Agreed.”

Nodding once, knowing the one thing we had in common was Sarah’s safety, I hit the comm unit on my shirt. “Battleship Karter. Respond.”

There was silence. I repeated the call. The men glanced at each other, all at once nervous. If I’d been taken by the Hive and rescued, I would be nervous, terrified even, until I was safely back onboard a coalition ship.

“Transport room responding. Go ahead.”

The men relaxed then, tentative smiles forming on their faces knowing they would soon be away.

“You have our coordinates, can track the fourteen coalition members. Transport.”

“The magnetic storm that impacted your transport before has shifted. No transport. Repeat, no transport.”

“How long?” I asked.

The men glanced about, clearly afraid of the Hive who would soon appear. The ship wasn’t overridden with them; it was a prison ship and the enemy combatants were—until now—all behind bars. A large group of Hive was not needed.

“Unknown. Remain in place until we communicate. Out.”

“Alternatives,” Sarah called once the connection was broken.

The men considered and stated various options, but none removed us from this ship.

“We could fly out,” Seth offered.

“Fly? This ship is too big. Besides,” I added, “if we got it anywhere near a coalition vessel they’d shoot us out of space.”

One of the soldiers offered a reasonable challenge.

“Every Hive ship has a flight deck with operational Hive squadron fighters. We can use one of those,” another added.

“We’d still be blown to bits in a hostile aircraft,” I added.

“Not if we flew past the magnetic interference, communicated with the Karter and transported from there,” Seth offered.

I glanced at Sarah, who’d been listening intently. “I can’t pilot a Hive fighter. Can anyone?”

The men shook their heads, but Seth looked at Sarah and grimaced. “Sarah can.”

My eyes widened, completely unaware of this ability. She could shoot, kick ass, strategize,
fly.
What else could she do?

“I can’t fly one of those!”

Seth wrapped his arms around Sarah’s shoulders. “It’s just like the C-130.”

I had no idea what a C-130 was, so I had to assume it was an Earth ship.

“This is nothing like it,” Sarah countered. “That’s a supply plane. With wings and rudders.”

“You are a pilot?” I asked.

Seth grinned, completely confident in his sister. “She can fly anything. You’re her mate, shouldn’t you know that?”

Sarah whacked him on the arm. “He’s known me less than two days. Cut it out.”

Seth offered me a dark glare but spoke to one of his men. “Meers, where is the flight deck?”

The recruit—his uniform showed only one bar on the sleeves—straightened his shoulders and responded, “Second floor, the aft end of the ship.”

“We go there, get the ship. If you can’t fly it, we’re no worse off than we are standing here in the middle of the brig.” Seth looked between the men, then at me. “Warlord, you are the highest rank here.”

“I am no longer a member of the coalition fleet,” I replied.

“Got kicked out, did you?”

“Seth, leave Dax the fuck alone. If you don’t shut the fuck up, right now, I’m going to leave your ass here. You get me? He’s mine. I’m keeping him. Get over it.”

Sarah defended me. From Seth. All this, everything we’d done since the first moment I’d seen her, had been about getting her precious Seth back. She’d only mated with me so that she could accomplish this task. Once we got off this prison ship, I’d have completed my commitment to her. I assumed she’d turn her back on me and want to handhold her brother through the remainder of her time in the service. Instead, she was defending
me
from
him.
She loved her brother. Did she now care for me as well? The idea puffed up my ego, surely, but it made me
feel
something besides the beast inside screaming
Mine.
It was my heart, my very soul that held hope. Not for a mate to fuck to end my mating fever, but a mate to keep because we truly wanted to be together.

Seth looked as if he’d rather eat some titanium bolts, but offered his sister a stiff nod. “Dax, you have the experience and skill of a warlord. We could use your input.”

I eyed her brother for a moment. I had to admire his ability to suck it up when required. “I do not wish my mate to be in jeopardy a minute longer than necessary; however, remaining here is not a wise option. Flying out is valid, as long as Sarah can pilot the ship.”

Seth’s eyes widened at the term mate, even though we’d told him, and Sarah held up her arms so he could see the cuffs about her wrists. “Told ya so.” She offered him a small smile and he just rolled his eyes.

“Then let’s go,” Sarah said, taking a deep breath.

I pulled Sarah to me and whispered in her ear, “Are you sure?”

“Are you doubting me now?” Her eyebrows winged up.

“Hell, no. I’m questioning your brother’s plan. If you don’t think you can do it, we’ll come up with an alternative.”

She put enough stress on herself and obviously her brother heaped it on as well. I’d shown her she could share that burden—even if it was by spanking her—and I didn’t want to lose the progress I’d made, the trust I’d begun to earn by pushing her too hard now.

“I flew in the military, the Earth military. Planes and space ships are not remotely the same though. I wasn’t an astronaut, but I’ve got thirteen men to get off this ship. I went through some basic simulations during coalition training. I’ll figure it out, or die trying.”

“You will not die. We will find an alternative,” I repeated. Just as she said, there were thirteen other men in this ragtag team. We could come up with another way or we could keep the Hive away until transport was possible.

She shook her head and looked me in the eye. “No, Dax. I can do this. I can get us off this ship. Trust me.”

Before I could argue further, she started issuing orders. “Three of you take forward, three take our six. Ion pistols set to kill. Let’s focus and get the hell out of here.”

The men snapped into action, eager to get the hell off this ship, total confidence in Sarah.

We followed Meers and the advance guys to the flight deck. We encountered one Hive group, but we were able to quickly shoot them down.

There were two identical ships on the deck and Seth led us to the nearest one.

“Dax, Seth, keep the Hive off us while I figure out how to fly this tin can,” Sarah said.

Seth grinned at her Earth term—I had no idea what a tin can was—and began to bark orders. I wasn’t going to do Seth’s bidding, but followed Sarah instead. She was my responsibility. I’d protect her, or, as she said, die trying. Of course, Seth probably knew that I wasn’t going to do anything but flank my mate and didn’t give me any commands.

We were halfway up the boarding ramp when the first sonar detonation threw us all to the ground. Ears ringing, I rose instantly, roaring a challenge. Three Hive stood on the opposite side of the launch pad, another set of sonar charges at their feet. The weapons created a small, contained blast radius that would disable the ship, or weaken the hull until it was no longer safe to fly.

I charged them, firing my ion pistol to take out the first before I reached them. The second collapsed as I neared, and I glanced behind me to find Seth on his knees, covering me. The third Hive calmly loaded a sonar blast as I neared, as if nothing existed but his mission, his need to fire his weapon at our ship.

I wondered what went through his mind when I cranked his head to the side, when his neck snapped. I would have continued, ripping his head from his shoulders, but Sarah was yelling at everyone to get onboard and Seth and I were the only two remaining outside the ship.

“Come on, warlord. Let’s roll!” Seth yelled at me, shooting across the launch bay at another trio of Hive that entered on the far side of the area. I didn’t have time to charge them and make it back to the ship, so I joined Seth and we hurried on board, closing the launch doors behind us.

The men slumped in the hallway, their energy drained by the escape and short fight. I located Meers. “Where is Sarah?”

“Pilot seat.” He lifted his hand and pointed in the direction my mate had gone. Seth and I both took off at a run.

I found Sarah looking over the controls in the cockpit. She was buckled into the pilot’s seat, a look of fierce concentration on her face.

“Well?” I asked. It looked like any other control board to me, but then, I was a ground fighter.

“The controls are unusual, more video game than cockpit, but I’ll manage.”

I didn’t understand half of what she said, but it sounded promising. Shifting in the pilot’s seat, she fiddled with the U-shaped steering column and odd foot pedals.

“There’s no key to start the ignition sequence.” She pressed a bunch of buttons until the displays came to light.

“Can you fly this?” I asked.

She continued to fiddle with the displays, flipping a few switches, then took a deep breath when the very powerful feel of the engines coming alive vibrated beneath us.

“Buckle up!” she yelled so those down the corridor would hear.

I glanced toward the back, but saw no one. Surely the men would know to get strapped in by now as the vibrations of the ship’s systems were powerful and rumbled through the floor.

I did as she said, strapping the harness over my shoulders as Sarah mumbled to herself, a strange, repetitive chant I didn’t recognize. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“Praying,” she replied.

That didn’t make me feel any better, but I had no choice but to trust in her abilities. I had to trust that when she said she could fly this ship, she could. I had to let go and give my faith and trust to Sarah. She was in control now. Everything in my body screamed at me to take over, to throw her over my shoulder and drag her out of here. But that was the primitive Atlan beast raging within, not the thinking man who sat beside her. An Atlan male never relinquished control in a dangerous situation. Never. And I began to understand what she’d given me, the depth of the trust she’d bestowed upon me in going against her own nature, in surrendering her body to me. Sitting powerless and helpless beside her was one of the most difficult things I’d ever had to do.

Ion blasts struck the pilot’s window in bursts of white flares that scorched the glass.

“Hive at four o’clock,” Sarah called.

“What?” I asked.

She pointed over my shoulder and I realized perhaps it was an Earth concept. Not true time, but… whatever.

“Two Hive groups are here,” Seth yelled as he stuck his head in the cockpit.

Another blast hit the clear window. “No shit, Sherlock,” Sarah said, her voice tense, her eyes on the display. “They’re trying to overload the power grid, disable the ship.”

A panel short-circuited to Sarah’s left, so she reached over and shut it down.

“Get down so I can get us out of here!” she cried, her anxiety level clearly rising.

A blast shook the ship so hard I felt as if my teeth would literally shake out of my skull.

“Sonar detonators, too.” Seth cursed as another blast caused several warning lights to ping from the copilot’s seat. The blast of soundwaves would rattle our ship apart before we could even take off.

“This is why fighting on the ground is far superior.” I looked for the ion blaster controls that would arm the guns mounted on the sides and front of the ship. I had no idea what I was looking at. I felt helpless, and my beast did not like the feeling. My muscles begin to pop, breaking open and growing larger as I fought to maintain control.

Sarah must have sensed my struggle because she called to me, her voice rock steady. “Dax, we’re fine. You can’t go all berserker in here, there’s not enough room for that. So tell beasty boy he’s just going to have to wait.”

“Jesus. This is a fucking train wreck.” Seth stepped to my side and pushed several buttons, the weapons on the top of the ship firing in the general direction of the Hive.

Another ion blast and I could smell burning circuits. The load roar of another sonar blast struck, then a pop. A warning alarm went off and I tried to figure out where to shut it down.

“Sarah, get us the fuck out of here,” Seth yelled.

“Seth, get the fuck out of my face.” Sarah gritted her teeth. “It’s a good thing the Hive hadn’t killed you, because when we get back to base I am going to do it myself.”

She fiddled with a few more buttons and then hissed and grabbed her side.

“Get ready to go in…”

She pressed a yellow button. The bay doors opened, space beyond.

“Sweet baby Jesus, the doors opened,” she muttered. “Three.”

The steering control pulled back easily in her hands.

“Two.”

Her knees moved as the pedals on the floor and wiggled the ship from side to side. She found the right balance of her feet and the ship leveled, floating off the floor in the launch bay, ready to accelerate.

“One.”

She pushed forward on the steering column and the ship shot out of the prison ship like the rocket that it was. I was pressed back into my seat from the power of the thrusters, just fucking relieved to be out of there. Sarah, however, cursed like the worst Atlan brawler I’d ever heard, her movements jerky and stilted, as if she struggled to maintain control.

“Sarah, you can calm yourself, we are out of the ship’s range of fire.”

“I am calm,” she replied, her words bitten off. I scented her blood in the air and reached for her, but she waved me off. “Give me a minute. I’m not done yet.”

“You are injured.”

She shrugged. “It’s just a scratch, Dax. Leave me be. We’re not home free yet. Talk to me, Seth.”

Seth sat at a tracking station behind her, his eyes scanning for enemy ships that might be following us. “Looks clear. I don’t see any pursuit.”

“Thank God.” She sat in silence, sweat sliding down her temple and her hands shaking as she directed the ship back toward coalition space. The magnetic field shook and rattled the ship for several minutes, and the tracking station’s display became solid green.