Page 135 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

The Praxidar gave us a time estimate that sounded doable, only a couple of minutes.

He seemed more excited than worried, but I figured that had something to do with that impenetrable safe room he had for himself.

Like last time, he’d scoot himself in there, and no one would be willing to stick it out long enough to get him out.

The muffled bang that sounded indicated that the first of the airlock’s doors had been blown off its hinges.

I shot a look at Camila, but she was intensely focused on the door, rifle at the ready and her body protectively tucked behind the dubious cover of the food processor.

Stepping back, I made sure I was to the side of the door, where I could watch both entrances but remain out of sight of anyone coming through the airlock.

Another bang and thud, the door crashed to the ground as its hinges broke.

It had barely collapsed when Camila was already firing her rifle into the opening, a quick burst that ensured everyone on the other side knew that breaching it would come at a cost. Then she waited, saving her power cells for shots that counted.

Of course, those UAR bastards rolled a type of smoke grenade inside, something that stung and burned my eyes.

I dove on it, flipped the escape hatch, and tossed the damn thing down.

Enough smoke had already filled the space to make things difficult, except for Camila, who, with her helmet on, wasn’t at all affected.

She got off a few more shots over the next few minutes while I waited tensely.

Then the sounds coming through the airlock indicated something heavy was moving through it.

The pinch on Camila’s face told me it was bad news, but she never lost her focus.

She didn’t waste ammo either, just steadily waited until she could get a shot off.

When whatever hulking thing was pushing through cleared the doorway, I could finally see it: a UAR marine with a big tower shield that covered his entire body if he ducked just a little.

He’d gotten through the narrow spot blocking Camila’s shots, but he didn’t see me coming.

I was on him from behind, hitting a weak spot in his armor with precision.

Thank you, Camila, for getting me familiar with this suit.

He went down like a ton of bricks, and Camila took care of the one following right behind him, leaving us with a two-man pileup. Then the hatch jiggled, and I knew we were in for it—for real. That Praxidar better hurry up.

*

Camila

My rifle clicked on empty, and I hurried to swing it over my shoulder and pull the pistol from my hip, aiming it to take out the soldier who’d taken advantage of the moment to rush into the room.

As he fell back, I glanced at Thorin, who’d managed to knock out two more marines coming through the escape hatch.

One was hanging over the edge, face to the floor; another was sprawled out at his feet.

He had that typical excited grin on his face that said he was loving every minute of this fight.

“Got it!” Jim said with excitement, and I drew in a relieved breath.

Yes, now my family would know what was going on, and hopefully Earth would get the damn message too!

From the corner of my eye, I saw the Praxidar rush to slither into his safe room.

With all his squishy parts so exposed, I couldn’t entirely fault him for that.

Thorin had seen it too. Now his blue-green eyes flashed my way.

“Go, I’ll hold them off. Get to the docks and get yourself out of here!

” Before I could even get a word in edgewise, he’d already thrown the remaining credits back my way.

I caught them on reflex. Then Thorin was between me and the breached airlock, his knives flashing with inhuman speed as he ducked between the shots fired and took out the approaching marine.

He had the poor soul in his arms, using the man’s own rifle to fire at the rest of the contingent of soldiers.

Damn it, that was just so sexy. He was insanely fast, and good at this.

“I am not leaving you behind, damn it!” I yelled at his back as I took up a position at the side of the door so I could shoot at the hatch or lay down cover for Thorin.

He was deftly making minced meat out of anyone approaching.

My pistol was almost out of charge, so I was holding back as much as I could, shooting only when I was absolutely sure of my aim.

“Yes, you are!” he yelled back. “You can go home now! So go!” I chose to believe he was trying to send me away out of some misguided idea that he was doing the right thing.

Even if Thorin had consistently proven that he didn’t care about following the rules, he had proven to be loyal to his friends.

The question was: was I more than a good lay to him?

Good enough for him to want to get me home safe?

The point was moot; he wasn’t going to get me to leave like this.

Shooting the next marine popping his head out of the hatch—seriously, what did they teach these kids?

—I yelled at Thorin’s back. “You dumbass, didn’t you hear my message?

I told the family I was staying here!” A resounding silence followed that statement on his end.

My pistol clicked empty as I shot the gun from the next arrival’s hands.

I twisted to look, watching in horror as Thorin was bashed bodily back into the room by a charging marine with a shield.

Two shots followed, hitting him in the leg and shoulder, his head colliding with the floor so hard it bounced twice. He didn’t open his eyes.

I dove for his body, pressing my hands to a heavily bleeding gash along his belly to staunch the flow.

“No! No! Don’t you dare!” I yelled, scrambling to pull the self-adhering pressure bandage from my thigh pocket.

I could hear the marines approaching at my back, yelling at me to stand down and surrender, but I ignored them.

I slapped the bandage on just as the barrel of a rifle was jabbed into my back.

With no choice but to raise my palms, I did, tilting my head to look the marine behind me straight in the eye.

“Do you know that we are trading our own people for weapons?”

The next moment, another, older Marine raised the butt of his gun and bashed it straight into the faceplate of my helmet. Everything cracked and spiderwebbed, the blow sending me sprawling backward onto the floor at Thorin’s side. The next blow struck my forehead and knocked me out cold.