Page 312 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Eoin

My heart was beating double time as I followed Jaxin around one of the many convoluted corners of the station.

We’d split up into teams of two to clear the station entirely of the crew that manned it.

The captain had ordered his men to subdue, but not kill, a tactic intended to minimize antagonizing the crimelord who owned this mining operation.

From the intel I’d gathered on the Yengar Space Station and from the mission planning meetings, I knew that this was one of the lesser Crimelords.

While they were all supposed to be on equal footing—equally evil and ambitious—it was still common knowledge that some of them were more powerful than others.

Until recently, Drameil had been at the top of the Crimelord council, but the rebellion of the gladiators and the subsequent blows they’d dealt him had significantly weakened his position.

Now, lesser lords like this one, Batok, were flexing their muscles, trying to grab pieces of Drameil’s territory for themselves.

The mercenaries were willing to take on any mission, but they didn’t want to antagonize Batok too much when he could later be one of their well-paying clients.

At least, I thought that was the Captain’s reasoning; he hadn’t explained it.

I was pretty sure it wasn’t a tactic that was going to fly down on the planet, but here, I could respect the choice.

Jaxin and I were in a corridor that curved; one wall was cooler than the other.

Though no viewscreens had been installed to save costs, it was obvious that it was an exterior wall, so Jaxin had begrudgingly switched the safety back on his beloved laser cannon.

We hadn’t run into anyone in a few minutes, not since we’d split up after the intense little skirmish when we boarded the station.

“Pay attention. I’ve accessed their systems, still counting twelve crew unaccounted for,” their communication specialist announced over our comm channel.

Jaxin and I shared a look; twelve was manageable against our boarding party.

The success of this mission all depended on whether their specialist had stopped any calls from going out.

If the orbiting station had tipped off the mining camps, our retrieval would become much harder.

“This way,” the Rummicaron weapon master said, nodding his head calmly in one direction when we hit a fork.

It was quiet in either direction, rust streaking down from the bolts along one wall, indicating some kind of leaking issue with the water tank behind it.

This station wasn’t well maintained, though it had plenty of staff to keep it running.

That meant one of two things: either Batok didn’t have the funds to keep this place in shape, or he didn’t have proper control of his people.

Deciding to risk it, I tapped my com to hail Tori on a private channel.

The urge to check in on her was too strong; I hadn’t liked the idea of leaving her on the shuttle alone with those Asrai, but I’d liked taking her along with me onto this station even less.

With how badly in shape this place was, I was glad I’d made the choice I had, though, it was unthinkable to risk a hull breach with all the shooting while she was on it.

“Eoin?” she asked, “What’s wrong?” My skin prickled at the sound of her voice right in my ear as she answered my call.

She had such a beautiful voice, it was no wonder she sang as magnificently as she did, and I was glad that I’d managed to hoard all her songs during our stay on the Varakartoom. I was a greedy bastard like that.

“Nothing is wrong,” I answered quietly. “Just wanted to check in on you. Everything quiet at the shuttle?” My fingers twitched with the desire to form a blade, the fine hairs on the back of my neck rising.

I spun around and ducked out of the way of the sharp edge of a sword.

If not for my instincts warning me, that slash would have decapitated me on the spot.

I hissed, catching the weapon on my arm, which I instantly gave a hardened shell of armor.

“What’s happening? Eoin? Do you need help?

” Tori asked frantically in my ear, and I couldn’t reassure her when a closed fist slammed into my sternum, robbing me of breath.

Grunting and gasping, I ducked out of the way of another sword blow, slipped under the guard of the Kertinal male attacking me, and embedded the jagged sword I’d formed over my hand into his gut.

This guy didn’t go down easy, though, the Kertinal was in excellent shape, which made his skin extremely tough.

From the sounds going on behind me, I could tell that Jaxin was fighting too, trading blows with a Xurtal male who fought with two daggers at lightning speed.

It made the giant weapon master look sluggish and slow.

I had no doubt he’d come out victorious, anyhow, he wasn’t the Varakartoom’s weapon master for show.

“Eoin!?” Tori yelled in my ear, sounding well and truly panicked now.

I leaped out of the way of the Kertinal charging at me with his horns lowered, gathering enough breath to reply.

My fingers flexed as I grabbed my opponent by the back of his shirt and helped his momentum along, slamming him into the nearest wall.

“Perfectly fine, my Tally. Just cleaning up a little,” I said, rubbing at my bruised but already healing sternum.

That had been a good blow with a metal-clad fist. As soon as the Kertinal collapsed in a pile against the wall, I reached out and consumed both his sword and the two gauntlets he wore, grinning when I caught Jaxin staring at me with his small eyes as wide as they could go in his gray face.

“All done too, don’t worry. Please answer me, what’s your status at the shuttle?

Quiet?” I yanked a bandage from a pocket and slapped it over the Kertinal male’s belly wound.

Adhering to the letter of the Varakartoom Captain, if not the spirit, I was pretty sure this bastard was a goner.

Considering the notches in his horns, I didn’t feel too bad about that.

Hardened killers added those to their horns to indicate their kill count. This one had at least eleven notches.

She made a huffing noise, annoyed now instead of worried. “Everything’s quiet, not a peep. Don’t let yourself get distracted, Eoin. Focus on the job, not on me. I’m fine.” The reprimand hit home, I’d risked calling her right when we’d been ambushed. I had been distracted.

“Just call me at the first sign of trouble, okay?” I demanded anyway.

The words escaped my mouth before I had the sense to stop them, and I regretted it immediately.

This is why Tori didn’t want to commit to a relationship: because I was an idiot who kept smothering her with my protective urges.

She just meant too much to me to be able to let it go.

I couldn’t lose her like I’d lost my family.

I had to get a handle on my own abandonment issues if I wanted to win—and keep—my Tally.

She growled out something that sounded like it could be a swear word, and then the call disconnected.

I was left staring down at the slowly dying but unconscious Kertinal, Jaxin staring at me with a grin stretching his tooth-filled maw.

When I shot him a glare, he grinned even more and shook his head, but he said nothing as he led the way further into the station.

Most Rummicaron, like Jaxin, were cold and emotionless, but Jaxin was one of those rare ones who was the exception. Right now, I really wished he weren’t, Rummicaron with feelings were far too observant for my liking.

With nothing else to do but try to end this mission as quickly as possible, I shrugged past my companion and jogged further into the station—this time with my senses fully focused on the job and not on Tori back at the shuttle.

*

Tori

I glared at the com device strapped to my wrist after I’d hung up on Eoin. I couldn’t believe that he, of all people, had let himself get distracted when he was on a job. That had never happened before, although I was usually safely aboard the Vagabond when he was risking himself.

“So? What’s going on? That sounded like a fight!

” Aramon demanded, interrupting my thoughts.

He’d gotten out of the pilot’s chair and was hovering right next to my seat, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a boxer.

“Should we mount a rescue? We should, shouldn’t we!

?” He eyed the open hatch of the shuttle with an eager grin on his face, making the death-mask markings that were so skull-like utterly macabre.

“No!” I said, clicking myself free from the seat harness so I could rise to my feet.

I was tiny next to this Asrai, and I had to tilt my chin back all the way so I could still meet his eyes.

The familiar feeling of a starting blush didn’t come, even though I fully expected it. “They are fine. You know your orders.”

If the twins left the shuttle, I’d be left here all alone.

That would definitely make me a little nervous.

The shuttle was a prime target for any of the crew on this station trying to escape.

I’d heard that hacker say, while we were heading here, that they had only one emergency pod.

Ziame and Kitan had given everyone on the Vagabond who needed it some lessons on how to pilot the shuttle, but I was pretty sure I’d forgotten everything again.

I was not touching those consoles with a ten-foot pole.

“I think I should check,” Aramon said eagerly.

He was no longer standing near me, but had drifted to the hatch, staring out into the airlock beyond it.

His brother had snuck close on silent feet, standing behind him while he rapidly worked on the datapad in his hands.

What was Solear up to? They knew their task was to guard the shuttle, and me, since I was on it.