Branded By Kesh (7 page)

“Fuck,” he muttered, righting himself and stepping back to the console. “Tractor beam locked on.”

A light started flashing on the console warning him of an imminent collision.

“Brace for impact!” he called out just as the two ships collided, the deep boom of the collision and the screaming of rent metal sounded through the bridge.

Knocked from his feet, Kesh pushed away from the floor to check the console.

“Report,” Tor’Arr called from where he’d been thrown out of his chair.

Kesh quickly looked over the console.

“There’s hull breaches on decks seven through nine. The Delarians have locked on and are boarding the ship on decks eight and nine.”

Tor’Arr looked back at him, determination on his face.

“We might have given in easily last time, but
not
this time.”

Kesh turned and headed for the pressure lift.

“Where are you going?” Tor’Arr asked.

“To make sure Magnolia is okay. She was in the kitchen by herself,” he replied reaching the lift and stepping on.

The doors slid closed behind him, closing him in the metal tube of the pressure lift.

“Kitchen,” Kesh instructed the ship’s computer.

Just big enough for four people, it had weight sensors that told the computer when there was a body on board. The lift hurtled down the four floors to the level of the kitchen and dining room. Pulling his weapons from the holsters on his thighs, Kesh hoped Magnolia was all right. He hoped she wasn’t too scared by what was happening. She and her family weren’t accustomed to the kind of lifestyle he and the crew were used to.

From what he could gather about them, they’d led peaceful lives travelling across space, collecting crew they met who wanted to live the same kind of lifestyle. He didn’t know how they made credits, or kept themselves, and he didn’t really care. All he cared about at that moment was making sure Magnolia was safe. He wouldn’t lose her now that he’d just found her, not like that, not to the Delarians.

He pressed back against the side of the lift, waiting for the doors to open, his weapons drawn ready for whatever he found on the other side. The doors slid open. Taking a quick look through the open door, Kesh saw two Delarians standing with their backs turned down the corridor.

He didn’t like shooting a man in the back, preferring that they knew what was coming, but the Delarians outnumbered them and had them at a disadvantage. He had no plans to die that day. He wanted to spend the night with Magnolia, buried in her heat.

Taking aim, he took out the two intruders in quick succession. Two quick head shots that killed them instantly. The heavy thuds of their bodies hitting the floor drew a shout from down the hall. Heavy footsteps sounded coming from the direction of the kitchen and dining hall. He pressed back against the sidewall of the lift, protected by the front of the lift.

Laser fire whizzed past him to hit the back wall of the pressure lift with a sizzle. The damage done to the wall of the pressure lift—the burned, heated metal panelling—showed the Delarians were also determined to kill.

There would be no survivors this time, no public hangings, and no chance of escape. Every member of the crew would have to fight for their life.

It would be a good way to sort out those that were suited to the life they led and those who weren’t cut out for it. If they lost crew, they could always pick up more. A ready supply of willing bodies were at the rougher stations, men who wanted a change of pace, or a change of scenery, or to get away from whatever authority was looking for them.

Taking a quick look, Kesh saw three bodies before he smashed himself back against the wall. Laser fire hit the back wall with another sizzle. Taking a breath to steady himself, he leant forward and squeezed off a shot. A thud and harsh swearing from the remaining two Delarians told him he’d hit his target.

Laser fire peppered the back of the lift. He leant forward again and fired off another shot, followed by more laser fire. One left. He checked his weapons before striding forward and firing at the same time. The last Delarian fell heavily to the floor. Making his way quickly and carefully down the corridor, Kesh walked around the bodies of the Delarians intent on getting to the kitchen and Magnolia.

The corridor was clear at the entrance to the dining room and kitchen, but Kesh didn’t allow that to make him complacent. He entered the dining room carefully, going in low, weapons held out in front of him. Both the dining room and kitchen were empty.

“Magnolia?”

No reply came from anywhere in the kitchen. Striding across the dining room, Kesh entered the kitchen. Pots sat on the stove, the heat turned off. Food lay on the long counter in the middle of the room, knives and partially cut rations left on chopping boards. The smell coming from the cooking food was tantalising, a rich, meaty scent that called to his instincts. His mouth watered for a taste of whatever Magnolia had been cooking, but he put it aside to look for her in the store cupboard and cold room.

Magnolia was gone, but she’d left in a hurry. She’d left in the middle of cutting up what looked like vegetables.

The only place he could think of that she would go was the cargo bay and her family.

Chapter Eight

I had to get to my family. The ship was under attack, and I had to make sure they were all right. I didn’t know what Kesh and his crew had done to these Delarians that were all over the ship, but they were straight out of a nightmare. I’d never seen a species that looked as scary. Their bulging red eyes would give me nightmares for a week.

A group of them had been down the corridor from the dining room when I’d slipped out. I had my heart in my throat as I hurried down the corridor to the lift, hoping they wouldn’t notice me. It was only a few floors down to the cargo bay. As long as I didn’t run into any of them, I should be able to make it to my family. We’d be safer together.

These Delarians had no reason to hurt us. Hopefully, they’d let us go. Hopefully they’d understand we weren’t part of the crew.

As the lift moved down, I stared at the brands on the back of my hands. I was filled with conflicting and confusing emotions, some of which I didn’t understand. But one thing I did know was that I was angry with Kesh for not warning me that it was possible that our coming together could trigger the brands to appear.

The pain had only lessened slightly, the burning morphing into a throbbing that had me clenching my teeth and wishing for some pain relief. There was no way I was going to be able to hide them from my family or Jaxxon. I wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable questions that would be asked of me.

I’d been thinking about Kesh’s comment about freedom since he’d left me in the kitchen, the thoughts swirling in my mind as I cooked. We wanted the same things, just for different reasons. It made me feel closer to him, understanding how he felt about being a pirate—I just wished he understood about the need for freedom in relationships I had.

The lift slowed on what I hoped was the floor of the cargo bay, floor eleven. I hadn’t been to all the floors, I hadn’t explored Kesh’s ship. I’d only been to the places he’d shown me, but I assumed a good part of the ship was taken up by crew quarters. The cargo bay was two floors high. A great cavernous space where sound echoed, it was cold and inhospitable. However, we just had to survive in there for the two weeks it would take us to reach the station we were headed for.

The doors to the lift slid open and I saw that the corridor was clear. It was a short walk to the cargo bay. There was a lift at either end of the long corridor and the cargo bay was roughly in the middle. I just had to make it down the corridor without running into any of the Delarians, and I’d be with my family.

As I hurried along the corridor, my shoes echoing on the bare metal floor of this level, a slight turn in the corridor hid the huge bodies of a group of Delarians. I skidded to a halt and stared at them. They were standing just on the other side of the cargo bay doors.

Weapons were aimed at me, causing my heart almost to burst out of my chest. I’d never had a weapon pointed at me before. The sound of footsteps behind me made me look back. A group of three of Kesh’s crew were walking towards me, weapons out, looking far more dangerous than I’d seen them look in the dining room.

Two groups of armed men, and I was stuck in the middle. I couldn’t go forward, and Kesh’s men would soon see the Delarians. All I could do was plaster myself against the wall and hope that I didn’t get hit.

I’d barely managed to move against the wall when the Delarians started to fire. Shouts came from Kesh’s crew and they returned fire. Laser fire whizzed past me. I barely breathed as I stood against the wall, not daring to move.

Bodies fell on both sides, until there was one Delarian and one of Kesh’s crew left. Searing pain ripped through my thigh as a stray shot from the Delarian hit me. Agonising pain ripped through my leg, pulling a sharp cry from me. Stars, it hurt. I stumbled away from the wall straight into their line of fire.

Pain like nothing I’d ever experienced before exploded through my back and dropped me to the floor with a scream. Pain short circuited my brain and everything went black.

* * * *

Kesh stood impatiently in the lift as it travelled down the seven floors to the level of the cargo bay. Magnolia had to be with her family. She had to be safe. If she wasn’t with her family, she was wandering the ship getting herself into all sorts of trouble.

The doors slid open with a quiet hiss. The corridor was quiet, too quiet. Walking forward carefully, Kesh made his way down the corridor. Delarians lay dead on the floor just outside the cargo bay doors and a crumpled heap with pale green hair lay on the floor further down.

Rushing forward, Kesh dropped to his knees next to Magnolia. Fuck, she couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t have lost her so soon after finding her. Turning her gently, he pressed his fingers against her throat. A reedy pulse flickered under his fingers. Barely there, it fluttered like a baby
shelc—
a small bird
with its tiny wings fluttering as it fed from the large
pringa
blooms of his home. Blood was smeared on the metal floor underneath her, the tang of it singing to his instincts.

Lifting her as gently as he could, he headed for the lift. Manik was the only one who could help—that was, if he wasn’t swamped with injured already.

“Medical,” he told the computer as he stepped onto the lift.

Kesh sent a silent thanks to the Universe that Magnolia believed in that he hadn’t met any Delarians on his way to medical. He rushed through the doors into silence. The beds were all empty, with no movement or signs that anyone was there except the weapon trained on him from behind one of the med beds.

“Manik?”

“You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you rushing through the doors like that,” Manik said from behind the bed.

“Yeah, well, I have more important things to worry about. Magnolia’s been hit.”

“Put her on the med bed,” Manik instructed him.

Kesh walked forward and laid her down as gently as he could on the shiny metal surface of the closest med bed, his hand coming away smeared in her blood. Reining in instincts that saw her as prey, he wiped his hand on his pants.

Manik checked her front and, finding nothing, turned her gently. A gaping hole in her clothing at the small of her back showed burned and bleeding skin. Another hole in her skirt further down indicated she’d been hit twice. Manik moved to the head of the bed and started pressing the control panel of the bed.

Kesh stood back as the cover of the med bed slid up from the foot end, covering Magnolia in a low, silver dome.

“She could have internal injuries, and she might end up with scarring,” Manik told him.

“I don’t care about scarring. I just need her to live.”

“It’s lucky she wasn’t hit in the head or chest. A direct hit to one of those areas would have killed her, stopping her heart or frying her brain. There are a few species that can survive direct hits, but they’re rare,” Manik told him.

The med bed let out a series of beeps as it scanned Magnolia. Kesh watched Manik’s face intently looking for some kind of sign as to Magnolia’s condition. The medic gave nothing away, as usual. The bed beeped one last time and the cover slid back.

“She has some internal damage, mostly bruising. The significant damage is to the muscles of her lower back and thigh. They’ll take lengthy regeneration to heal properly. She won’t be up and around for a few cycles and then she’ll have to take it easy for five cycles at least. It looks like we’ll be back to synthesiser food for a while.”

The doors sliding open sent Kesh spinning around, a weapon in his hand. Firing at the two Delarians who came through the door, he threw himself to the side to avoid being hit by their return fire. Rolling behind a med bed, he fired at one, felling him with a single shot, before targeting the second. The Delarian dove for a med bed, hiding behind its silver frame.

Inching his way along the solid frame of the med bed to get a better view, Kesh fired off a couple of shots towards the med bed where the Delarian was hiding. The Delarian’s head appeared around the side of the bed and Kesh fired two shots in quick succession, both shots hitting the man between the eyes.

Kesh stood and checked on Magnolia. She was still breathing shallow but even breaths.

“Stay while I set up the regeneration units. I need to calibrate them correctly, I can’t do that and keep my eye out for these bastards at the same time,” Manik told him.

Kesh nodded at him, then turned back to Magnolia. Sliding the hair off her face, he stroked a finger down the soft skin of her cheek. She was alive, and she was going to be all right. That was all that mattered to him.

A few injured crew staggered in as Manik set up the regeneration units on Magnolia’s bed, crew that were still able to walk. From the reports he was getting, there were a lot of crew aboard the ship who were too injured to make it to medical and just as many who were dead. Yet, the Delarians just kept coming.