Page 247 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Sunder

The fight was over, and we had sustained no casualties, though a few of my brothers had gotten injured.

Thorin was in the med bay with some serious burns on his back.

Eoin, the new kid, had taken a shot to his shoulder, but he was already bragging about it to Tori, so he was going to be fine.

I figured some of the others had burns, cuts, and bruises, but they were all walking.

Or’tal was standing with Ziame, their heads together as they discussed what needed to happen next.

I was happy to leave that to the Captain for once, to not be responsible for everything.

I had my mate, and soon I’d have my boys in my arms. Then Or’tal loudly said, in his deep, booming sub-harmonic voice, “The female, she is a magnificent shot. I do not suppose she’d be willing to enlist with me? ”

It was a good thing Thorin was out cold in the med bay, or we’d have had a fight on our hands.

As it was, Camila started laughing and shaking her head while she lovingly stroked the laser rifle hanging from her shoulder.

“I don’t think so. I’ve been screwed over by one military too many to ever think about doing that again. ”

There was a huff and a low growl that came from Da’vi.

The Kertinal male was leaning against a scorched wall, shaking his head.

Or’tal had to have seen him, he was sharp as a tack, that one, but he pretended as if he’d only just noticed his fellow Kertinal among my brothers.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Commander Da’vi Ertague, if I’m not mistaken. ”

Da’vi made another rude snorting noise, turned his back to the First Class spy, and stalked away.

Behind his back, I saw how his agile tail curled back and forth, the barbed and metal-clad tip coiling in a way that I knew meant something incredibly rude.

Or’tal didn’t seem too bothered. No longer having to act like the tough guy, he seemed to have relaxed considerably.

Laughing at my brother’s response, he turned back to Camila and clapped her on the shoulder. “Sure, I understand. No hard feelings.”

Kitan jogged by with a grin on his snout, his three tails coiling and snapping behind his back.

“Chloe, look!” he said, holding out a swatch of colorful fabric in front of his female.

Young Chloe was only a little older than Tori, and, like most of the other humans, she was clustered around Aggy, saying hi.

I thought my Fire was doing all right in there, so I had just let it happen, but I was keeping a sharp eye out for an opening.

Chloe was technically blind when not plugged in with her nav-port into the navigational computer, or she had been, when I last saw her.

Now, Kitan held up the brightly colored bit of fabric.

“What color is it?” he asked. She squinted at what he was holding.

“Red?” The male eagerly nodded. “Damn right it is!” So her vision was coming back, which was good, Luka had predicted that it might, as the damaged portions of her brain regrew.

As the females applauded her success, I called out to Kitan. “Brother, can you fly Aggy and me somewhere in the shuttle? We need to pick up our kids.” My announcement was met with a moment of silence, and then Aggy wriggled her way out from between the women and jogged toward me.

“Yes, please! We need to go get them,” she added urgently.

It had only been a short while since the fight was over, just enough time to clear the area, lock up the baddies, and rush the wounded to the med bay.

Someone was out reassuring all the slaves here that they were now safe.

Like her, it had felt like a long time to get to this moment.

I was sure that the kids were safe where I’d left them, but now that we were free, I wanted to hold my son in my arms and tell him that he was.

“Ah, sure, of course! Right this way,” Kitan said, his snout pulling into a happy grin as he gestured toward the Vagabond.

I jogged after the male and realized Aggy was flagging when she limped after us, so I dipped to pick her up in my arms. She curled her arms around my neck, her eyes huge, as I trotted after Kitan into the Vagabond.

Behind me, Chloe was easily keeping up, not seeming to need much help at all in finding her way.

We ducked into the hangar bay, where Ziame’s old stealth ship was parked along with the two short-range shuttles that came with the vessel—a Star Class Cruiser that had once belonged to some military in the Zeta Quadrant.

Pirates had owned it next, and now we were its owners together, or, if you believed Da’vi, her.

Boarding the nearest shuttle, Aggy and I strapped ourselves into jumpseats while Chloe and Kitan settled into the pilot and nav chairs up front.

Kitan was probably going to be flying by visual for a short flight like this, but I didn’t doubt that Chloe just wanted to hang out with her pilot partner.

I had heard it said that the bond between a pilot and their nav was something that transcended everything.

I explained to Kitan where he needed to go, and soon we were up in the air, racing toward the planetary defense tower that had been Arakon’s downfall. The clearing near the tower was tiny, but Kitan had no trouble landing the small shuttle, expertly setting it down between the overhanging trees.

Neither Aggy nor I waited before we rushed from our seats, the hatch barely open when Aggy squeezed outside.

I was hot on her heels as we reached the scratched, slightly warped panel that held this tower closed.

It took me a moment to pry open the lock, then I struggled to heave the warped panel out of the frame.

The Jukjuks that night with Aggy had not done this thing any favors, and my shoulder was starting to hurt again, which wasn’t helping either.

“Here, let me help, brother,” Kitan offered.

He’d shifted into his skin-form for the flight but shook himself into his bigger, stronger hybrid-form in the blink of an eye.

His clawed hands curled around the metal, and with a low growl of effort, he yanked the panel open.

The gap he exposed was at first not big enough for me to climb through, but Aggy was off again like a shot, calling out for the boys eagerly.

The sound of their voices answering was a balm to my soul, and I couldn’t help but sink to my knees in the open doorway, staring at the two kids as they leaped into Aggy’s arms, shouting for joy and exclaiming over the games they’d been playing on her datapad. They were all right.

Jett extracted himself from Aggy first, rushing to leap into my arms, and I felt tears sting my eyes. I had my boy back; my search was finally over.