“What’s your point?”
“My point is, we are in a holding cell. Raxxians keep livestock in central, windowless compartments as a rule. They are designed to be able to be interchanged with other units from other ships if needed.”
“Great, we’re in the middle of the ship. That doesn’t change anything.”
“But it does. This is a safe place. At least, as safe as one could hope for in such an encounter.”
Victor puffed up his chest in a display of bravado. “You may be worried, but I’m not about to give up this chance to play it safe. I’m not worried about my safety.”
“Clearly not.”
“And I’m not afraid of these Raxxians. And I’m sure as hell not going to sit here cowering when we could be using this diversion to escape.”
“All you will do if you engage them is get people killed.”
“It’s worth the risk.”
“To you, perhaps, but the others should decide their own fates.”
“Why do you care? I thought we were nothing more than livestock.”
“To the Raxxians, yes. But my people have been at war with them since before I was born, and I am no supporter of their brutal ways.”
“So you’ll help me then?”
“I did not say that I would—”
The door abruptly slid open, cutting their argument short just as another blast hit the ship. The two Raxxians fell through the doorway, knocked off their feet from the violent impact. Victor did not hesitate.
He jumped on top of the nearest guard, latching himself onto his back where the Raxxian’s long claws and sharp teeth couldn’t reach him. His hands fumbled for what he believed was a weapon on the alien’s waist, but he was unable to pull it free. Victor looked to Heydar with panicked eyes. The Raxxians were getting back to their feet, and he had failed in his attack miserably.
The aliens were far, far tougher than he’d bargained for, and his frantic blows failed to so much as faze them. The other guard grabbed Victor and pulled him from his comrade’s back, flinging him to the center of the room. Both were fixated on the human who dared attack them. It was clear who would be their next meal.
Heydar’s shoulders sagged for just a split second as he weighed the options. Weighed them and came to a decision.
His meaty fist reached the first guard’s neck even as his boot-clad foot was swinging into the abdomen of the other guard, sending the first to his knees, gasping for air as the second doubled over from the brutal impact.
Unlike Victor, it seemed that Heydar had more than enough strength for this engagement.
In a flash he moved between the two Raxxians, his deft hands having no trouble drawing their weapons from their belts and using them against them to great effect. The wicked blade taken from the smaller of the pair opened up a trio of wounds, any of which would have been debilitating, before lodging firmly in the alien’s neck. The Raxxian dropped in a heap. Darla saw it was clear he couldn’t have called for help if he wanted to.
The other managed to block the first of Heydar’s follow up attacks, but an elbow caught him in what must have been a vulnerable nerve plexus of some sort. Heydar didn’t hesitate, shoving the guard’s pistol-like weapon flush with his torso and squeezing the grip, discharging its energy right into the Raxxian’s body. Heydar squeezed again, the weapon smoking as it cooked his target’s insides.
Heydar let go, the smoldering corpse dropping to the deck. He looked at the weapon in his hand in disgust and threw it aside.
“Why are you tossing that away?” Victor asked in disgust, rushing to retrieve the gun.
“It is not meant to be used in such close proximity. The power cell overcharged. It is useless now.”
Victor didn’t care, tucking the weapon in his waistband then retrieving the other guard’s functional unit. He turned to the other prisoners.
“Come on! This is our chance!”
“Do not be a fool. Your ill-conceived attack has already placed this group at great risk.”
“So we make the most of it,” Victor replied. “I’m not wasting this one chance. You said it, we’re livestock and dead meat anyway. At least this way we might get lucky.”
The other prisoners muttered amongst themselves. Some rushed out to join him, while others remained frozen in place. Heydar looked at the group and made another difficult decision.
“I will help,” he said. “But I do not think this will end well.”
Victor merely nodded and took off out the open door, followed by more than half of the prisoners. Heydar saw the fear in the eyes of the remaining livestock.
“Close the door behind us,” he said. “If the ship decompresses you will be safe.”
With that he stepped outside. Maureen moved to the door to close it, but Darla hurried past her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to see about getting out of here,” Darla said. “Look, I’ve got to do something. Thank you for all your help. Be safe.”
Maureen paused a second, nodded to her, then hit the control panel. The door slammed shut in her face.
Darla turned to Heydar.
“Okay, big guy. Now what?”
“Now we catch up with the others. This way.”
The large alien hurried through the corridors as the ship bucked and rocked from more Grommix attacks. The frequency of the blasts was shortening. Their ship must have gotten a lot closer in the time it took to escape their holding cell.
Victor and his group had spread into a ragged column far ahead, eager and motivated, but not terribly organized. And with the ongoing attack, the men and women were being tossed side to side with every blast.
Heydar closed the distance as fast as he could with Darla following close behind, but the ship was being bombarded with ever-increasing ferocity. He stopped, cocking his head, the tattoos behind both of his ears seeming to churn under his skin, as if amplifying sounds inaudible to the normal ear.
His head whipped around in as close to a panic as Darla had seen him. He roughly grabbed her by the arm and lunged for the nearest door, keying it open and shoving her inside, closing it behind them in an instant, holding on tightly. She couldn’t help but notice just how hot his skin was. They were in luck at least. The compartment was empty. Another holding area that was currently without inhabitants.
“What the hell do you think you’re—” she began.
The lights flickered as a massive explosion shook the ship, followed by two more. The violent bucking threw them both to the floor in a heap. Heydar scrambled to the wall and grabbed on tight, pulling Darla close to him, placing his body over hers, his weight pushing her against the floor and wall, his mass creating a protective cave of sorts.
The lights flickered again then abruptly went dark as another blast shook the Raxxian ship. Faint emergency lighting kicked in, but only barely. Darla was grasping for words when the world went upside down and the distinct tearing sound of shearing metal rang through the craft’s hull. Loud pings of heat shielding burning off followed a moment later as the Raxxian craft began burning up as it hit what had to be atmosphere.
“What the hell—?”
“We must be close to a planet,” Heydar interrupted. “The ship is breaking up.”
Despite his heat so close to her, Darla felt her blood run cold. They were out of the frying pan and very much in the fire. Literally, it seemed, as more heat shield panels melted and broke free.
Heydar drew her even closer, pressing himself down against her.
“Hold tight.”
“Why? What’s going to—”
The ship tore apart, the constituent parts flung far and wide across the atmosphere as the Raxxian ship ceased to be. Weightlessness came and went as they plummeted toward the surface, but Heydar held strong, pinning them both in place. Then, just when she was sure they were done for, a rumbling thrust drove them both hard into the deck as emergency landing jets kicked in, slowing the falling wreckage in a painful instant.