Page 36 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Ziame

We had to pretend things were normal for several hours—all to give my Abigail a chance to reach the doctor’s medical bay with the other human.

Still, I could tell everyone was on edge.

The mood was more subdued, and we were all very focused on our workouts while surreptitiously glancing at the two guards in the room.

I was in the middle of some bicep curls when Sunder sat down on the bench across from me. He nodded subtly toward the exit. “Geramor is talking with the guards,” he said softly. “I don’t think that’s a good sign. Move now?”

Turning to look, I hissed angrily, “Shit, you’re right.

Yes.” I stood and started toward the guards just as the door slid open and several more Krektar started piling into the gym.

Oh, this was bad. This was going to be a bloodbath!

The guards all had more weapons, such as blasters and guns besides their shock-sticks; they were prepared for our little uprising.

Geramor grinned evilly in my direction and slipped outside in the confusion. With a roar, I ran their way, my fire-starter clicking in my throat as I sprayed a cone of fire over the first two, the unarmed ones.

“Stop! On your knees!” they all yelled at us, even as I saw that my fellow males had followed along and were trying to engage. Then, the pain switch was hit, and I saw them all thud to the floor, leaving only me standing.

I puffed out all my blades, watched as the Krektar spun toward me in confused horror, and swung my tail to decapitate the first. Three down, five to go.

They were bringing up their weapons to fire at me, their self-preservation kicking in over the urge to keep their livestock alive.

I ducked, snatched a pain controller off the belt of the nearest fallen soldier, and pressed the off switch.

Then a blast hit me hard in the shoulder, and I staggered, dipped my knees, and swung my horns—bashing the first one into the wall and then impaling the next. It was enough. The other gladiators had risen and were taking care of the rest. The Krektar, even armed, were no match for the seven of us.

When the dust settled, I looked around. “Everyone alive?” There were six still standing, including myself.

Then Kitan bent down on one knee, touched his fingers to the throat of his friend Pu’il, and shook his head with a grim look on his face.

A gaping hole had been opened up in the red male’s chest, a double hit from one of the blasters.

“Damn it,” I growled, but the Sune male shook his head.

“It’s alright. Pu’il died free; he was at peace with this.

” The orange-furred male rose to his feet and appraised the carnage around us.

“Let’s get ourselves armed and finish taking over this bloody ship.

I’m ready to be free of this thing!” He fingered his pain collar.

“I’ll take a pain controller. I’m unaffected, so I can keep pressing the button even when they hit the switch.

” Then I told them to divide the weapons they were comfortable using among themselves.

I knew that I wouldn’t be any good at fighting with a blaster or gun.

In the arena, we all fought with melee weapons, but most were of the opinion that point-and-shoot should work.

“Frek’s probably on the bridge. We need to get control of that place, or he’ll start closing bulkheads,” I warned the others.

Then I ducked my head out the door and looked both ways.

It was empty right now, but I had no clue which way the bridge was.

I knew which way led back to the cells, though, so I opted to head the other way.

My shoulder ached and burned, but the hit was superficial.

My scales had absorbed most of the blast, even if they were a little charred around the edges.

I could tell from the way some of my cohorts were moving behind me that they hadn’t all been so lucky when the guns had gone off, but we were all committed now.

“We should split up. Likely, the doctor and the women are safe in the medical bay, but we need to make sure. There’s probably at least one Krektar there,” I said, and Sunder gave me a sharp nod and gestured at one of the others to follow him, splitting off and heading down a different hallway as we came to a crossroad.

Kitan seemed to know the way, gesturing us toward the bridge with a feral grin.

“She’s a beauty, this ship. I had a feeling it was a Star Class Cruiser from the sound of the engines, but these damn pirates made an abysmal mess of her.

” I didn’t care one way or another as long as he could fly the ship and we could get control of her.

At the doors to the bridge, we pressed our backs to either side of the hallway, Kitan across from me with a hand over the access panel.

“Ready?” I asked them, watching the two in the back raise their guns and nod, grim looks on their faces.

They knew they’d be hit with the pain controller if they didn’t kill everyone in the first round, but they were ready for it anyway.

Kitan hissed quietly, “Try not to hit any panels or we’re screwed. I doubt any of us are capable of fixing her if we mess something up.” A comforting thought, the last thing I wanted was to be stranded out in space if we blew a critical panel to smithereens.

Raising my hand, I counted down from three, and on zero, Kitan hit the panel, and we swept onto the bridge. There were three Krektar present: one of them, the inexperienced Thonklad, and one of them, Frek, who was scrawny and cowardly.

Guns went off as we surprised them, and all three hit the deck.

I didn’t know if they were all hit or if it was a reflex.

The next moment, the pain switch was hit, and my three fellow gladiators dropped to the floor as well.

Possibly, they could resist the pain, but in this case, it was smarter to go down when vulnerable and present a less obvious target.

I switched the control off and whirled to see Frek scramble to his feet—clearly unharmed—and try to make a run for it.

He was headed for the ready room across the bridge, and I managed to swipe him good across his back with my tail.

He screamed in pain and stumbled, but then the door slid shut behind him, my claws grazing the door instead.

There was a scream behind me, and I spun, ready to dive into the fray, just in time to see Kitan face the third Krektar. His arm got hit with a shock-stick, and he crumpled, several blasts going off at the same time. Both Kitan and the Krektar dropped like stones, smoke curling from their bodies.

“No! Shit, no!” I groaned, not wanting to lose another of the males. They were my brothers-in-arms now; they’d thrown their lot behind mine, so I was responsible. Whirling around, I located the last adversary—filled with anger, ready to rend him to pieces.

Deflating just as quickly when I saw that the other two males had cornered Thonklad behind one of the consoles, and the Krektar male was actually sobbing, his arms curled around his head.

I caught a look from one of the gladiators, Fierce, I thought his name was.

It was a little disgusted and confused. Clearly, just like me, neither male felt comfortable killing a prone and terrified target.

“Secure him,” I said instead, and with a look of relief, the two started complying.

“Watch the damn ready room and shoot Frek if he makes an appearance.” Then I bent down and slung Kitan over my shoulder.

The male was badly hurt, dying. Maybe if I got him to the Doc in time, he’d be able to save him. A male could hope.

I followed my nose as much as I could, but I had to backtrack twice, my scales twitching at the loss of time.

Securing the ship was important, and it wasn’t done.

With Frek barricaded in the ready room, I knew he could still do us some damage.

Saving Kitan’s life, if at all possible, was just as important, though.

We needed him, he was supposed to be our pilot.

My jaw firmed in determination, and tendrils of fire blew from my nostrils. I could do this—I would save us all. I wasn’t going to lose another male. I was going to make damn sure that Abigail was safe.

***

Abigail

Luka made a good show of having me lie down on the cot and slowly scanning each portion of my body. Lying through his teeth, he claimed I had internal bleeding and bruising and set about ‘fixing’ me up. The comments had made Uru laugh, so I guess it was believable.

The next thirty minutes were filled with fake healing procedures—mostly with the handheld scanner, thankfully—and research and re-synthesizing things at the panel next to the bed.

Luka took a blood sample twice to supposedly confirm a theory.

I was starting to worry he would actually have to give me a shot again, like that first night, when the door suddenly slid open.

My heart soared in elation, yes! That was the cavalry; they had secured the bridge! Then I realized it was Geramor, and he was by himself. The blue-furred male glared at us all, his eyes firmly settling on Uru, who’d straightened and was reaching for the pain controller.

Geramor’s mouth stretched open freakishly wide, showing off rows upon rows of terrifying, shark-like teeth. Uru squealed in fear, but the switch was hit, and I saw the attacking gladiator twitch in pain. I saw Uru’s look of victory.

I rose, searching for the nearest weapon, but Luka beat me to the punch.

The doctor was on Uru with such quick stealth that I barely saw him move at all.

Then, he jabbed a hypodermic needle into the Krektar’s neck, and with a hiss, the male collapsed.

Immediately, he grabbed the controller and turned off Geramor’s collar.