“Mmm,” the ooli says, not answering. He glances over at me again. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline answering that. Would you like a refreshment of some kind? Noodles, perhaps?” He gives me an avaricious look. “Then we can get started on your qura’aki.”
“No thank you.” Mathiras moves away from the pods and toward me. “I appreciate the tour, but I’m going to go back to my ship and consider things.”
“Oh dear. I’m afraid that’s not possible,” the ooli says. “I can’t let you leave.”
Behind us, the doors whoosh shut. Mathiras immediately pulls out his blaster and points it at the ooli.
Arluz raises his hands in the air. “You should know that I’m simply the messenger. I’m actually not one of the scientists. If you kill me, you’re not solving anything.”
“But I’ll feel a kef of a lot better,” Mathiras growls. “Now let us go.”
Arluz shakes his head again. “I’m sorry. You know I cannot. What did you think was going to happen, showing up here with a qura’aki? Surely you’re smarter than that.”
Mathiras shrugs and activates his blaster, still pointing it at the ooli. “Exactly this. First rule of corsairing? It’s always a trap. Now, you have one last chance to start opening doors.”
“I cannot—”
Mathiras shoots him. The ooli collapses, and my mate grunts. “That’s for being rude to Helen.”
I quiver, because that is so sexy of him. “What now?”
“Now we open these pods and arm these females,” he says, waving his blaster at them. “And we take this place down.”
CHAPTER 88
HELEN
Following Mathiras’s lead, I tug open the first pod. A wash of fluid spills out and pools at my feet, and the woman inside sags against the hoses connecting her to the pod. I pluck them free and pull her into my arms as she flutters awake. “Hi there,” I whisper. “You’re going to be okay. You’re with friends.”
She coughs, sputtering fluid all over my arms.
At my side, Mathiras is freeing another woman, who seems a bit more alert than the one I have. She staggers to her feet as he tugs the last of the hoses free and then she notices just who I’m propping up. A wordless cry escapes her and she points at the woman in my arms.
“I know,” I say. “She’s got your face. They all do. We’ll explain later, I promise. For now, we just need to get out of here.”
She collapses on the wet floor, sobbing. The one in my arms whimpers, and then she stares down at my arm against hers and flails away from me. “Aliens! More aliens!”
“Good aliens,” I promise them. “I swear we’re good, right, Matty?”
“Very good,” he promises, handing one a blaster. He fumbles, dropping it to the ground, and then picks it up again. “We’re here to rescue you. The ones that are going to come through that door are bad guys. If they catch you, they’re going to put you back in that pod. I need you to shoot if anyone comes through there.”
Trembling, the woman holds the blaster up with shaky arms and points it at Mathiras.
He gently pushes the nose of the blaster away. “Bad aliens, not us. We’re the good guys. If I wanted to hurt you, would I give you my weapon?”
That seems to get through to her. Trembling, she nods and points it at the door.
Mathiras stumbles toward the next pod, leaning heavily against it. Worried, I cast a look in his direction as I move to the next pod, pulling it open. It’s not like him to be clumsy. He’s always so self-assured in all his movements. “Are you okay, Matty?”
He tugs the door of the pod open, and then falls, his eyes rolling back in his head. The woman collapses to the floor at his feet in a heap of limbs.
I bite back a scream, and when I scramble toward my lover, I stumble, too. What is wrong? I feel lightheaded, and when I get to Mathiras’s side, his eyes are fluttering, only the whites showing, as if he’s trying to wake up but can’t. I glance around at the freed women, but they’ve collapsed, too.
A gas.
Of course it is. We did the same trick back on the Buoyant Star. Get someone in a closed room and gas them until they pass out. A haze swims in front of my eyes, and I realize I’m about to go down, too.
I hold my breath, getting to my feet. If I breathe in any more of the gas, I’ll go down with the rest of them…and I know I won’t wake up. They’ll cut me into pieces and make copies of me. So I just can’t breathe.
And I have to escape so I can get Matty free. He’s too heavy for me to carry, and the other women won’t be able to help. A plan forms in my mind. Escape, then come back. I look around the room, searching for openings. There are vents at the top of the wall for the environmental system, and I shove one of the pods against the wall and climb it, sending a silent apology to the sleeping occupant. Once I’ve climbed to the top, I pry the grate from its location and peer at the interior.