Tiny and Fierce Margo Collins (acx book reading txt) 📖

created an atmosphere suitable for at least eighty-five percent of the species coming aboard.

“And the other fifteen percent?”

They will need atmospheric support. I am currently adjusting several healing chambers to meet their needs.

“Perfect.” We reached the north hatch, and I paused, drawing in a deep breath. “Okay, Blue, tell the planetary AI that we are good to go.”

A microsecond later, Blue responded. It’s done. The soldiers are withdrawing from the docking bay, and as soon as all the women are on board, she will unlock the docking clamps so we can go.

“Anything we can do for her in return?” I asked softly.

She says being a glass shard in the empress’s processing unit is enough.

I paused. “What about the hole the empress’s scoutship put in your hull?”

I have sealed off that portion of the ship.

“It wasn’t in the bridge?”

No, Captain. They came in through an unsealed storage chamber.

“So we’re space-worthy?”

“I am.” Blue sounded almost smug.

“What are we facing out there?” Morpheus asked.

“Blue?” The ship didn’t have to wait for me to speak aloud—she had plenty of receptors in this zone of the ship and had heard Morpheus perfectly clearly. She could talk to him, too, if she wanted, but for some reason had chosen not to. Until now.

Two guards remained behind to stand watch over the slaves—had they not been ordered to leave guards, the soldiers would have thought it odd. One guard is approximately forty-five degrees to your left as you exit the north hatch. The other is exactly fifty-one degrees to the right.

“I’ll take the one left and you take the one on the right,” I instructed Morpheus. “And if you get a chance, pass your extra weapon to whichever of our crew is closest.”

“I do know how to run an op like this,” Morpheus said dryly.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “But this is my ship and my op.”

He sketched a half salute. “Yes, Captain.”

“Once the guards are taken down, you stay and usher in the women. I will lead them to the hold.”

Adrenaline rushed through my veins, leaving my fingers tingling and a metallic taste in my mouth.

Theoretically, this should be easy, given the planetary AI’s help.

But when had anything ever gone the way I expected it to?

“Go!”

I popped the hatch open and dropped to the docking-bay floor.

14

Alder

The Bufo guards were filtering out of the flight hangar, called by an emergency alert from the ship’s AI which said the empress herself was under siege. In a case like that, keeping a few lousy breeder slaves in check lost all importance.

They moved like drones, focused on their new task, and none of them so much as looked back at the various female-gendered beings who should have been on the auctioning block tomorrow.

“If we’re here, then who the hell’s attacking the empress?” I mused, watching the last of the Bufo meatheads filter out of the city-size cavern.

Perhaps, click gnash, it is a diversion.

“No way Morph and Lise hacked the empress’s security system, Evik. Get real.”

It is not as flashy as releasing dozens of female slaves, yet it is effective if so.

“I’m telling you, Morph might be good, but no way he pulled this off. Someone else is on the planet with us, giving that good old bitch of an empress a run for her money.” I smirked at the thought. If anyone in the known universe deserved a double whammy of enemy activity, it was her ugly ass.

I feel you are happy that the empress is under attack. His mandibles ticked away, teasing me now. Perhaps, though, you could truly escape your pending nuptials by linking with the Bufo Monarch. A frog instead of a rat. Yes?

“Trade one nightmare for another? No thanks,” I shot my buggy comrade a glance, watching how his antennae danced. He was pleased with himself. “Anyway, it took Lise and Morph long enough,” I muttered, leaning against Evik for support. “I’m dying out here.” My skin had gone a sickly pale gray. I needed to breathe something more suited for my body, and fast. Just being inside Blue would help, as the default atmosphere was acceptable to my system. It even reminded me of home, flying high where the air was thinnest.

Evik sprayed beside me, a scent both nervous and relieved, acrid and sweet. The woman looks better, my egg sac and chitin sharing warrior as one.

His words called my attention to Blue. Lise and Morph crouched on the docking bay floor now, weapons at the ready. They were slowly moving in opposite directions, coming up to surprise two lingering guards.

He was right, the human woman looked better.

When she was directly behind the enemy, she stood upright and pressed the tip of the blaster to the Bufo’s skull. A sharp, yet muted zing sounded, and the soldier fell to the ground. Morph did the same. It was a quiet way to rid us of a problem, as instead of killing, they were simply stunning the frontal lobe and cerebellum. Movement and fine motor skills. The guards would be conscious as they rested prone on the ground, but unable to do anything.

Seeing Lise looking healthy and fierce instead of limp and nearly dead in Morph’s arms sent a rush of happiness through me, spiking my adrenaline so that I could stand more upright and use Evik’s support a little less. Lust, despite the fact that our new captain was wearing what looked like an oversized pair of pajamas, pulsed through my veins. I’d seen her in a tightly fit uniform. I knew the promises beneath the clothes.

You are feeling sexually heightened, my egg sac and chitin sharing warrior as one. Evik clicked and shuffled, still positioned on all fours as we moved stealthily around shipping containers and other ships.

“You know, Evik. Sometimes it’s better not to probe your friends’ feelings constantly.”

Yet, I feel you would happily probe our new captain. Deeply. And many times.

I hit him hard on the exoskeleton, and he did his approximation of a laugh.

We were nearing Blue now