Prince of Luster (26 page)

Prometheus pushed the man away, knocking him to the ground. “Fool! The
Titan
was warned too early. Before our ships could withdraw from the moon’s orbit and engage her. She now has the upper hand. But she won’t keep it if I can convince Darius Starlaw that I control the planet’s surface. He’ll want as little bloodshed as possible. I can ransom for the humans’s safety. Go now. Find as many humans as you can and round them up at the mines.”

“Yes, sir.”

• • •

Nova saw Prometheus long before he got to her location. She held onto Una and wove through the shadows. The city skyline behind her was ablaze. The heat from it kept her from feeling the intense cold.

As Limaxians drew nearer, she hid herself among metal packing crates and barrels, hunched down, and gripped the handle of the laser weapon, not intending to fire. There was no way to do so and take them all out. So she waited.

Frightened by the running, the smell of smoke, and the fear she sensed in her mistress’s body, Una began to wriggle fiercely.

Nova tried to hang onto the pup, but she broke loose and ran. As she saw the furry body scamper back toward town, her eyes filled with tears. Una would likely try to get back to the cave, but being so little, she wouldn’t know how to get over so much debris, most of it burning. And Nova had to sit there quietly and let the slugs go by. Any attempt to retrieve her pet would get them both killed. The best she could hope for was that little Una found some safe place to hide until she could find her.

She sniffed back tears, ducked her head, and gripped the weapon harder.

• • •

At the outskirts of the city, Forrell paused and leaned against a destroyed transport vessel. “I-I simply can’t go on. I c-can’t.”

“Then I’ll kill you and save the slugs the trouble.” Marcos shook his head and snorted in disdain. “I was damned near burned to death. Parts of me are still recovering, yet you can’t seem to pick up your pampered feet!”

“All right, all right. I’ll move.”

Through the snow they trudged. Marcos knew if they were caught out in the open, there was no chance to survive. Not from a slug attack or from the freezing temperatures. Several times, he glanced back at the city and felt his gut tighten. Somewhere, Nova was in the middle of all the burning chaos.

He had to get back to her. His first concern was Forrell and making sure the governor didn’t escape the justice that would surely be rendered back on Luster. But it felt like he was doing the worst thing in his life. Had it not been for his innate sense of duty, he’d have killed Forrell and gone after his beloved.

It took close to an hour to reach the cave. By then, Forrell was nearly frozen. Marcos took only a few moments to throw wood on the fire and light it.

“Stay put, and you might survive.”

“Wh-where are you going? I can’t stay here alone. Not in this filthy pit.”

At his wit’s end, Marcos grabbed the man and threw him against the hard cave wall. “You’ll die if you try to leave. The cold will kill you if Prometheus’s brawlers don’t. I’m going back for Nova.”

“The healer is dead.”

Marcos stalked to the governor, who had to back into a corner to keep from being pushed to the ground. “If you say that one more time … ”

“I’m sorry. Of course. She might have survived.” Forrell put his hands up to fend Marcos off. “Just go. I’ll stay here.”

“You’d better. If you were lying about no one else finding this place but you and one guard, you can be sure the slugs will make me seem like your best friend. Keep quiet, and stay vigilant.”

“I can assure you, Highness. I’ll wait right here for your return. The slugs don’t know about this cave. Or that you and the little healer are alive. I swear it.”

Marcos grabbed up a blanket to use as an extra wrap now that his cloak was no longer keeping him warm. He gritted his teeth to prepare for another long march in the cold. At least he could travel faster now.

All he could think of was getting to Nova. Nothing else mattered. He cursed himself a thousand times for not letting her come with him.

Making sure he left no trail for Forrell to follow, should he be so brave, Marcos trudged his way back to the city. Everything was ablaze. He cursed himself over and over for not having found another way to warn Darius and stop the Limaxians.

As he pulled up the hood of his cloak, wrapped the blanket tighter around his body, and bent into the cold wind, he went over the sequence of events that had just transpired.

There was no right answer. Things couldn’t have gone well when he was outnumbered and outgunned, and not while trudging around with a traitor, trying to save the man’s life when it wasn’t worth saving.

When he finally got back to the main marketplace, there were no people or slugs present. They’d apparently run and scattered in all directions.

Buildings on both sides of the road were severely damaged. All the roofs were burning, caving in, or gone entirely. The heat was intense, but he moved carefully forward, avoiding falling debris and the small fires blowing trash started.

As he searched for Nova and begged the Creator of all things for her safety, he also prayed for his brother. The
Titan
was several times larger and much better equipped than the average Limaxian warship. But Darius would’ve brought no backup since doing so would have appeared too hostile to an allied-planet’s dignitaries. His older brother might have been far outnumbered, and the star of the Lusterian fleet might be nothing more than scrap metal by now.

But even if immediate salvation were lost, lack of communication from Darius would result in more allied ships being sent. If he and Nova could stay hidden until their arrival, they could survive.

He pulled the blanket over his head and shoulders to keep cinders off his upper body. If the blanket caught fire, it could be discarded. But he had to move forward, through the burning debris, no matter what.

Two walls of flame suddenly burst skyward from both sides of the street. He ran until he came to the remains of Forrell’s home.

Like all buildings, the walls had been made of gray stone. The roof had been constructed of pressure-resistant glass and metal brought in on transport ships, probably at a time when trade vessels could still land without being restricted to the airfield. Still, the sturdier material hadn’t kept the structure from collapsing. Only the bottom part of the stone wall remained intact. Everything within the residence was now exposed to the night air. There was nothing but tons of rubble left.

He had to take a chance. As small as the colony was, he could still search for a long time before finding the woman he loved. “Nova!” he shouted as he strained to see through the burning beams of melted metal and rock.

No one responded, and he knew he was taking a huge risk. But he couldn’t have stopped calling for her if all the Limaxians in the galaxy were marching up the street behind him. Patience was lost. He couldn’t fathom going on without her.

Finally, he turned away. His heart broke as he searched under debris and found bodies. Faces of the dead were burned away; any clothing left was equally blackened. If she was among the deceased, he couldn’t tell.

Surely she’d made it. No one knew how to survive this planet’s disasters better than she.

A scraping sound on the paved street made him spin around. He had no weapon, but he could and would fight until his body gave out. But no enemy approached.

Running toward him—at a speed he wouldn’t have attributed to her—was little Una. She barked excitedly and launched herself into his arms.

Marcos hugged her to his chest. The poor little thing was shivering uncontrollably. Her once white fur was now sooty and scorched. As he held her, the pup licked his face and whined in a heart-wrenching fashion.

“Easy, little girl; it’s all right now. You’re okay.”

He gazed in the direction from which Una ran, took two steps forward then froze. Eight Limaxian warriors rounded the corner; Prometheus was in the middle of them. There was no mistaking the largest of the slugs or the one who’d dispensed the fire plasma so many months ago.

With no place to hide that wasn’t burning, Marcos put Una on the ground behind him, stood to his full height, and squared his shoulders. Prometheus stopped, momentarily blinked in surprise, and then grinned maliciously.

It didn’t take the evil creature long to recover his composure. The slug leader raised his laser and strode quickly forward. The distance between them was covered in seconds.

When the big slug was an arm’s length away, he and his minions stopped and growled.

As badly burned as Marcos was, he knew he’d been recognized. The vicious glare in his enemy’s bulbous eyes said it all.

“Marcos Starlaw. It
is
you, is it not?”

He lifted his chin, but said nothing in response.

“I knew you’d escaped death. I knew it in my bones,” Prometheus said.

“Why don’t we finish this here and now … just you and me? No brawlers, no fire plasma. Just us. As it should have been.”

“And why shouldn’t I just blast you and be done it?”

“Because you think my brother will bargain for my life.”

“Your brother is fighting for his
own
life. My warships have him on the run.”

Marcos’s eyes narrowed. The
Titan
might be fighting, but since Prometheus wasn’t there to witness the battle, then the conflict wasn’t going well for him. He’d landed on Delta Seven again to get out of the fray; likely to keep from being blasted to oblivion.

“I’ve had enough,” the slug leader angrily declared. “The trouble you and Forrell have caused will make your deaths sweet.”

“Forrell is already dead,” Marcos told him. “I killed him right after I made him lead me to the communication console.”

Prometheus’s lip curled, and his eyes glowed red. “I knew that worthless bastard would betray me. But I don’t believe you killed him. An enforcer would take him into custody so that he could stand trial. You’d want to see him pay for having you burned.”

Marcos moved closer to the slug and stared him down. “That was
your
doing. And I will see you dead for it. With or without a trial.”

“What I’ll do to you now will make all else seem trivial, Starlaw. While I would have preferred taking your life in front of all Luster, killing you and your brother on the same night will still leave a horrifying taste in the mouths of those creatures occupying your home world. And they’ll soon know I’m coming for them.” He raised his laser, grabbed Marcos by the front of his cloak, and shoved him hard.

Marcos stumbled back several steps and fell to the surface of the street. A hideous growl emanated from behind him, and before he could move or utter a sound, Una ran forward. His eyes widened by the sight she presented.

The little sweet ball of white fur was gone. In its place stood an animal whose head had expanded at least ten times. Her mouth was open. Protruding from gaping jaws was a set of razor-like teeth that were fully as long as his forearm. He froze, mesmerized by the unholy transformation.

Prometheus quickly aimed his laser.

With lightning-like speed and the strength of a jumping equine, Una leaped forward and up. She latched onto the Limaxian leader’s throat.

Prometheus dropped his laser to pull Una away.

Seeing his chance, Marcos grabbed the weapon Prometheus had dropped, rolled to one side, and fired. Three slugs went down. The other four turned and ran, screaming in terror.

Marcos slowly stood, barely believing an event he was witnessing with his own eyes.

Precious little Una—the cuddly little pup he and Nova slept next to on so many nights—had her horrifyingly long fangs sunk into Prometheus’s throat. She held on, vice-like, until the slug leader’s eyes almost fell from their sockets. His enemy’s face took on an unseemly pallor, and he soon became quite still. Gray matter finally ran from the slug leader’s mouth, down his chest, and into the street. The dead creature’s eyes began to glaze over. They were fixated on the stars overhead. By the light of the fires burning around them, Marcos saw the scene clearly enough. He’d witnessed the end to a tyrant. And by a very unlikely source.

Marcos took a deep breath and backed away as Una actually began to feed sparingly on slug parts. Eventually, she tore flesh away from Prometheus’s throat, leaving a large hole where his trachea had been. Then the pup shook the tissue violently and flung it aside. When she turned, he swallowed hard but didn’t move a muscle.

“
Una
?” he whispered as he stared at the furry, mega-toothed beast before him. She now seemed all mouth and fangs with no body or facial features at all. The site would have quelled the hardest warrior. He counted himself among their ranks, even as his hands shook.

Somehow, without showing any appendages used for ambulation, she waddled toward him. He held his breath.

When she was a few feet away, she shook herself rigorously, and her head immediately shrunk back down. The upper and lower fangs in her hideous mouth disappeared. In the matter of a few seconds, the cute little pet was there again. Her black little eyes shone brightly as she gazed up at him.

“I knew you weren’t a damned dog,” he softly murmured. “In fact, I’m not even sure you’re a
she
. But I’ll take Nova’s word for it.”

Una barked once and jumped way up and into his arms again. It was all Marcos could do to shove the laser into the folds of his cloak so he could hold on to the fluffy ball. The last thing he wanted to do was drop her and set her off again. He surmised she wouldn’t attack him since she’d never done so, but there was no sense taking chances.

“Guess you don’t like slugs either,” he said as she whimpered soulfully.

While holding her carefully, he grabbed up the dead slugs’s weapons, shoving each of them into his cloak pockets to conceal them. “Come on. We’ve got to find Nova.”

As he walked away, he slowly shook his head.

The deadliest enemy he’d ever run across had just been bested by a tiny creature whose instincts were obviously seeded to protect.

Who knew?