For that reason, he did not relinquish his grip on his mate as he led the way through the water, following the route on the ship’s schematics that would take them to the private quarters of the prince who reigned over theEvandra, and the attached storage chamber that contained all of his personal wealth. Veral was confident that he would be able to force access to it. In all the revolutions he spent salvaging, he had never failed to gain access.
That was not what concerned him.
What concerned him was if he would be able to do it fast enough to ensure Terri’s safety should Experiment 226 return. Of slightly less concern was how Egbor might react if the treasure he anticipated and promised was not waiting for him. The odds were good that the prince and his wealth escaped the doomed starship before the slaughter reached him.
He compartmentalized these worries, however, devoting his focus to the situation at hand. He knew the moment Terri began to shiver, the armor ineffectual to the prolonged exposure to the cold water as it crept higher. It only just barely reached his chest, whereas the water sloshed above her breasts and occasionally splashed high enough to touch the sides of her neck. Even her hair secured at the back of her head was soaked.
By the time they reached the large door that marked their destination, her teeth were chattering and her lips pale with cold. Despite her low body temperature, she didn’t complain as she pushed through the water. Not even the youngling offered any complaint from where he was perched on Azan’s back. Silence descended over them like a shadow, the cause easy to identify. Veral was aware of every movement as the pirates looked around nervously with their advance, the sour scent of fear nearly as thick as the quiet.
He tensed as he felt Terri flinch, a startled sound of surprise escaping her, breaking the silence.
“Something touched my fucking leg. Oh, shit—what is that?” she yelped.
Veral’s eyes narrowed as he spotted something long moving in the water near her. He identified it just as a shaky laugh left her.
“An alien fish. Thank fuck. It was just a fish.”
“Ugly thing,” Azan commented, her eyes following it to where it had disappeared beneath fallen debris.
Though Veral refrained from commenting on the observation, he did not understand it. The fish had an enormous rounded head with eyes that took up most of its face with a long, skinny body and narrow tail and fins. It was made to adapt, to thrive in the carved-out riverbed in the ravine. It was perfect for its environment, and this was admirable.
He scanned the area once more for any sign of 226 before turning his attention to the door. Laying a hand on the door, he began to cycle through codes to override the locking mechanism.
“Is this it?” Egbor asked as he pushed closer.
Veral hissed at the male, his snapping vibrissae forcing the pirate to withdraw before he bent his attention once more to the locks. The captain’s hand had gone to his blaster, but Egbor settled back to observe without further attempts to speak.
Veral grunted in satisfaction. He could not afford to be distracted.
One glyph settled and locked in place, and then a second. The third eventually locked in as well. He just needed one more and the override would be complete. He felt it then, his vibrissae picking up on the approach of a large object moving in closer. His muscles tensed, readying for attack as he waited for the last glyph to lock.
The water stirred around him, and he heard Terri’s breath hitch as she brushed closer, her head whipping around. Slowly, he turned his head and watched a large fin break from the water just as the creature let out a sonic burst. The vibrations washed over him, thrumming through sensors, disorienting his systems. He reeled back, his shoulders hitting the door as he turned his mate in his arms. His body spun to cover her as the final glyph locked in the place.
The door slid open, water flooding into the once sealed room. Thrusting Terri away from him upon entering, Veral turned back toward the door, his vibrissae fanning out around him as he braced himself. He was aware of his mate reaching forward to grab Azan’s arm, hastening the female through, slowed not only by the drag of water, but by the weight of the youngling on her back. The female would have been swallowed up by the water when Egbor used her body as leverage to push himself through the door if it had not been for Terri’s grip on her arm.
The guard did not fare so well.
In an attempt to make his way toward the door, the captain did the same to him, using the male as leverage to shoot forward through the water. Caught off balance by the captain’s push toward the cabin, the male’s feet came out from beneath him, plunging him into the water. He was only down for a moment before he resurfaced, but when he did, Veral knew the guard would have no opportunity to try to save himself.
Screams broke out as the male was pulled beneath the waves, disappearing once more. Terror filled the male’s face seconds before he vanished again beneath the surface. This time, however, he did not emerge.
He was followed by another, but that male’s cries were drowned out by the panicked shouts of the pirates as they rushed to the door, their limbs thrashing in their desperation to flee from the corridor.
Pitilessly, Veral commanded the door to shut.
The door did not slide shut quickly, but fared better than most starships as it pushed through the water. Veral threw his shoulder against it, pushing with all his strength to hasten its progress. Three of the small Turogos managed to swim inside in time, followed by four Blaithari. All else was lost behind the door.
If Veral had been any other male, he might have felt some regret, but he was not. All he felt was a cold satisfaction that those who would have posed a direct threat to him and his mate were gone. For the sake of his female, however, he was glad that the screams were fleeting before silence descended once more. It was only broken by the sharp strikes of 226 as it tested the door. But even that gradually fell into silence.
“Holy shit!”
Terri’s soft exclamation drew his attention. Turning away from the door with an agitated whip of his vibrissae, Veral’s eyes sought her out and found that she had waded into the room while everyone else had been focused on the door. Even Egbor jerked around in surprise, unaware that the human among them had beaten him to surveying the room.
What the male had been too slow to see was Terri tucking something into a hidden storage compartment on her armor. Instead, he had caught Terri in the act of scooping up a small pile of gems arranged on a table beside the high bed on which she sat. Just behind her, Veral could make out what was left of the prince.
A threatening growl rattled from Veral as Egbor strode over to her and leveled his blaster on her. Veral wasted no time moving through the water toward then, his attention locked on the male, tracking his every move.
“Hand them over to me, female,” he ordered.