“Ganesha.”
“We’ve been betrayed,” he spat.
The crowd parted, and three bounty hunters stepped forward, blasters drawn. Captain Ju and Feo stood close behind them.
“Who?” Ganesha demanded.
“Ju and Feo,” Ranvir told him, pulling his own blaster. The odds were against him, but he had to give Taly as much time as possible to get away. “Taly is on her way back to you with some colonists that warned us. Make sure she gets there.”
“We will, then we’ll come for you.”
“Forget about me,” Ranvir said. He dove for cover as all three bounty hunters opened fire on him. “If I’m not there when you have Taly secured, take off without me.”
Rising to his feet, he fired and ran in the direction Taly had taken. He didn’t need to verify his aim had been true. He never missed at that range.
He ducked between shadowy doorways. Two bounty hunters slowly crept down the street while Ju and Feo remained near its entrance. Obviously, they believed they were safe there. They weren’t. Ranvir had warned them on the ship what would happen if they betrayed them.
Lifting his blaster, he stepped out of the doorway and sent off two quick bursts. As they returned fire, the bounty hunters dove for cover, but Ranvir was already running farther down the street. Ju and Feo fell backward to the ground, sizzling holes at the center of their foreheads right between their eyes.
Ranvir cursed when he felt a searing pain in his leg. Stumbling, he dove into another doorway. He didn’t bother glancing down at the wound. He’d been grazed by one of the bounty hunters. His cybernetic processors were already analyzing and sending the necessary nanobots to repair the injury.
He should have stayed focused on the bounty hunters and ignored Ju and Feo. Still, it felt good knowing those two fuckers were dead.
Sticking his head out, he quickly located one of the bounty hunters slowly moving toward him. Ranvir fired.
Then there was one.
“Taly is on board,” came over Ranvir’s ear comm. In the background, Taly yelled over Ganesha’s comm.
“Problems?” Ranvir asked, fearing something had happened to her.
“Only with your cymar,” he heard Ganesha grunt. “What’s your status?”
“One target remaining.”
“Take him out and get back here. We’re starting to draw attention.”
“Take off without me.” Ranvir closed the comm but not before hearing Taly’s scream of denial. Taking a deep breath, he moved out of the doorway and rushed his remaining target.