Chapter Seven
Ranvir kept his blaster up as they waited for the doors of the bridge to open. Vujcec had taken them off the speaker, but he’d kept the line open. So they heard everything happening on the Troubadour’s bridge.
Logically, he understood why Ganesha had used Talyani, but that didn’t mean he liked it. When he got back on the Troubadour, he’d make sure Talyani never exposed herself like that again. This captain had already shown he couldn’t be trusted by abandoning the colonists he’d agreed to transport.
She may have cut her hair, but she was still easily recognizable. If this captain noticed and revealed she willingly traveled with rebels, she’d be hunted for the rest of her life, just like them, brand or no brand.
Ranvir found himself face-to-face with a muscular, blue-skinned male holding a blaster as the doors slid open. He didn’t match the image he had from the captain’s voice.
“Fuck!” Someone swore deeper in the room. “It really is cyborgs.”
Ranvir ignored the comment, keeping his gaze locked with the Madae male holding the blaster. “You’re the captain?”
“No,” he said in a deep voice. “I’m Ree.”
“I’m Captain Ju.”
Ranvir tracked the whiny voice he recognized to an overweight, sweaty, red-faced male hiding behind the captain’s chair. “What is the status of your ship?”
“St…status?” the captain stuttered.
“Yes, status. Are your engines operable? Life support? How many people are on board?” Ranvir fired off his questions. Questions any good captain would be able to answer.
“I… I don’t know about the engines. We lost contact with engineering. Life support is holding for now. We have fifty colonists and five crew on board.”
“And where are they?”
The captain swiped the back of his shaking hand over his brow. “What?”
“Where are the colonists?” Ranvir gritted out.
“How would I know?” Ju spat out. “They scattered as soon as we came under fire.”
“Ganesha?” Ranvir spoke quietly, knowing the other cyborg would hear him.
“Scanning now, Major,” Ganesha responded and, after a moment, continued. “The majority of them seem to be in the cargo bay. There’s a group heading that way, but they’re stopping to search rooms on their way.”
“More pirates,” Ranvir acknowledged. “How many?”
“Six, Major.”
Ranvir looked to Ree. “Can you use that blaster?”
“Yes.”
Ranvir nodded. “Guide us to the cargo bay.”
“No!” Ju shouted as he moved to grab Ree’s arm. “Ree has to stay here and protect me. I mean us.” Ju gestured to the other crew member huddled on the bridge.
Ree shrugged him off with a glare. “I signed onto this ship to transport those colonists safely to Gamma-2, which means protecting them from pirates.” His gaze returned to Ranvir. “We need to go left.”
Ranvir kept a close eye on Ree as they made their way through the ship. The Madae were known as protectors but rarely traveled off their homeworld, a tiny planet on the other side of the Eridani Sector. For Ree to be this far from home was suspicious.
“I don’t care! I want that fucking door opened!” an angry voice shouted.
Ranvir stepped in front of Ree, taking the lead and adjusting his blaster's aim.
“The cargo bay doors are to your right,” Ree informed them quietly.