Page 15

"They changed," Anson said in a low voice. "When you lost it in there. Just for a second. They weren't... Well, they weren t human."

He stared at Anson, cold dread pooling in his stomach. "What do you mean, 'not human'?"

Before the B Kaar could answer, the sound of weapons fire cut through the noise of the outpost around them. Three rapid bursts, followed by screams and the crash of something heavy falling.

They both snapped around toward the sound. It had come from the direction of the docking bays-where the Lady's Dream was berthed.

His heart stuttered. "Mira," he whispered, and then he was running, pushing his body to its limits, moving faster than he'd ever moved before.

Anson shouted something behind him, but he couldn't hear it over the overwhelming certainty that Mira was in danger. He had to get to her. Nothing else mattered. Not the pain in his head. Not whatever the fuck was happening to his body. Just her.

Please be safe . The words repeated as he ran, muscles burning with unexpected power, cutting through the panicked crowd with unnatural precision.

He had to get to her. Nothing else mattered.

* * *

Every sense sharpened as he ran.

He could pick out individual smells spilled fuel, burning circuitry, the metallic tang of blood. His hearing separated the sounds of panic around him, filtering through screams and footfalls to focus on the distinctive pulse of M'Suun energy weapons. Each burst felt like a countdown in his head.

The crowd scattered before him, civilian shoppers and merchants diving for cover. He shoved past those too slow to move, a detached part of his mind noting how easily they yielded to his strength.

Anson's footsteps pounded behind him, the B'Kaar cursing steadily in three different languages.

Davis! Slow down, you lunatic!"

Davis ignored him. His legs pumped harder, muscles burning with unfamiliar power as he rounded the final corner into the docking bay commons.

Chaos. It was a full-blown firefight.

M'Suun warriors had Covak and Jesh pinned down behind a cargo loader.

The massive Vorrtan had shifted into battle form, his crimson skin gleaming under the harsh bay lights, fangs bared in a snarl as he returned fire.

Jesh moved with cybernetic precision, her shoulder-mounted weapons picking off targets with surgical accuracy.

But there was only one thought in his mind.

Find Mira.

His eyes swept the battlefield, cataloging positions, threats, escape routes. There a flash of blonde hair behind a stack of shipping containers. She d taken cover near the outer edge of the docking bay, her small frame hunched as she darted glances around the container's edge.

Alive. She was alive.

He exhaled, shoulders loosening even as his jaw set in cold determination.

"Six hostiles, northeast quadrant," he barked to Anson, who had finally caught up. "Covak and Jesh pinned down at your two o'clock."

Anson nodded, ke'lath lines beneath his skin pulsing as he assessed the tactical situation. "Ryke and Rann?"

"Don't see them. Might be closer to the Dream ." He drew his sidearm, checking the charge. "I'm going for Mira."

"Like hell -"

He was moving before Anson could finish the protest, darting between cover points with a speed that should have been impossible. His body seemed to know exactly where to place each foot, how to balance his weight, when to drop and when to surge forward.

A M'Suun warrior spotted him, swinging a heavy energy rifle in his direction. Without thinking about it, Davis rolled beneath the shot, came up on one knee, and put two rounds through the attacker's faceplate. The M'Suun dropped, weapon discharging wildly as his fingers spasmed.

An errant energy bolt sizzled past Davis's shoulder, close enough that he felt the energy signature wash over him. Pain exploded through his system, like liquid fire racing along his nerves, and his vision whited out as he staggered, barely catching himself against a cargo container.

Fuck. Not again.

The agony was worse this time. More intense. More focused. Every cell in his body seemed to vibrate with it. His muscles seized, locking him in place as sweat beaded across his forehead. He ground his teeth together to keep from screaming.

"Target down! Moving to assist Tell!"

Anson's voice sounded distorted, as if reaching him underwater. Davis fought through the pain, forcing his eyes open. The world looked wrong. Colors too bright. Edges too sharp. Movement leaving trails across his vision.

A M'Suun warrior stood just fifteen meters away, aiming directly at him. The sleek weapon in his hands glowed with the same purple energy that had hit him at the concert venue. The warrior hesitated, head tilting in what seemed like confused recognition.

That moment of hesitation was all he needed.

The pain crystallized, transforming from agony to raw power that flooded his system. His muscles unlocked. Adrenaline washed through him. He launched forward, covering the distance to the M'Suun in a blur of motion.

The warrior didn't even have time to pull the trigger before Davis grabbed his weapon. Tearing it from his enemy s grip, he smashed the stock across the M Suun s helmet with enough force to crack the reinforced material. The warrior dropped like a stone.

Two more warriors spun toward him, weapons raised.

Davis dropped the damaged rifle, drew his combat knife, and moved.

The blade felt like an extension of his arm as he slashed across an exposed section of the first attacker's armor.

The second operative managed to fire a glancing shot that scored across Davis's ribs.

He didn't feel it. Not as pain. It was just another surge of energy feeding whatever transformation was happening inside him. He took them both down in under ten seconds, movements so fast his own mind could barely track them.

Breathing hard, blood pounding in his ears, he turned back toward where Mira was. One of the enemy had flanked around and was heading toward her hiding spot, weapon raised.

"No!" The word tore from his throat, primal and raw.

He crossed the distance in a heartbeat, catching the M'Suun from behind. His knife slid between ribs and the warrior collapsed, twitching.

"Davis!" Mira's voice cut through the combat haze.

She stared at him from behind the container, eyes wide. Not with fear of the M'Suun. With fear of him. Of what she'd just witnessed.

Something twisted in his chest. He wanted to explain, to apologize, but another barrage of energy fire forced him to drop beside her, shielding her with his body.

"Are you hurt?" He gripped her shoulders, looking for injuries, barely aware of how tightly he held her.

She winced. "I'm fine. You're not."

"Doesn't matter." He released her, realizing he'd been leaving bruises. "Stay behind me."

Across the docking bay, Rann appeared, engaging three M'Suun warriors at the same time.

Davis watched as Rann dropped into a spinning low kick that swept the feet from beneath a second M'Suun, followed by an upward strike that could have only come from the same combat school.

It wasn't adaptation or mimicry. It was muscle memory-the kind only acquired through years of identical training.

And it wasn t just similar to the way the M Suun fought. It was identical.

M'Suun troops poured in from three directions, and Rann pivoted, anticipating their movements seconds before they materialized.

The conversation he'd overheard in the maintenance corridor echoed in his mind: 'No, they don't suspect anything yet.'

Between shots, he kept Rann in his peripheral vision, noting every reaction, every move that seemed too perfect, too prepared. This wasn't just combat instinct. No, Rann knew these attackers.

"We need to move," he told Mira. "Anson's working his way toward Covak. If we can reach them -"

"We're cut off." Mira pointed toward a fresh squad of M'Suun warriors entering the bay from the east entrance. "They're blocking the main route back to the Dream ."

He assessed their options rapidly. Not good. The M'Suun had them pinned down, slowly closing the noose.

"There's an emergency exit behind that row of pressure tanks," she continued, her voice steady despite the chaos around them. "But we'd be exposed crossing the loading zone."

He nodded, surprised by her tactical awareness. "I'll draw their fire. You make for Covak's position -"

"Wait." She grabbed his arm, looking across the bay. "That loading bot. See it? It's still active."

He followed her gaze to a heavy-duty cargo loader, its manipulator arms idle but indicator lights showing it was powered up.

"If I can access it remotely..." She was already pulling her datapad from her jacket, fingers flying across the screen.

"You can interface with that?" he asked, impressed.

Maybe... yes. She whistled softly as she worked. "Some things are the same the galaxy over," she murmured, a small smile touching her lips. "I recognize this architecture. Different language, same logic."

He watched her work, covering their position as she bypassed security protocols. Her expression grew intent, the same focused look she wore when gaming. A bead of sweat traced down her temple, but her hands remained steady.

The loading bot's lights flashed from standby yellow to active green.

"Got it," she whispered.

The massive machine lurched into motion, hydraulic arms extending.

It scooped up a cargo container and pivoted, servo motors whining, then hurled the container directly into the M'Suun.

Metal shrieked against metal as the container tumbled across the deck, taking out three warriors and forcing the others to scatter.

"Now!" He grabbed Mira's hand, pulling her up as they sprinted toward Covak and Jesh.

Anson laid down covering fire as the loading bot continued its rampage, now swinging wildly.

They reached Covak's position just as Ryke emerged from a side corridor, assault cannon thundering. The Reaper leader s precise fire cut down two more enemy warriors.

"Careful with that!" Rann shouted as Covak reached for a discarded enemy weapon. "It's gene-locked with a failsafe." He caught himself, then added, "Standard Imperial protocol."

"Fall back to the Dream ," Ryke bellowed over the chaos.

They retreated in coordinated pairs, leapfrogging between cover points. Davis kept Mira tucked against his side, watching her back as she used the loading bot to create havoc in their wake.

The ramp to the Lady's Dream appeared ahead-blessed safety just meters away. He caught his breath as a warrior broke cover from behind a maintenance hatch, weapon leveled at Mira.

Davis didn't think. He shoved her forward, spinning to place himself between her and the threat, raising his sidearm in one fluid motion.

Their shots crossed in midair. The M'Suun's blast sizzled past him, close enough to raise the hairs on his neck. His round took the operative through the throat, dropping him like a puppet with its strings cut.

Gogogogo! he ordered, pushing her ahead of him and using his bigger body to cover her as they pounded up the ramp. The moment they cleared the threshold, it began to rise, the Dream's engines already cycling to full power.

"Jex, we're clear! Go, go!" Ryke ordered, leaning against the bulkhead on one side of the ramp, his weapon trained on the ever-closing gap.

The Dream's engines roared, artificial gravity struggling to compensate as they rocketed away from the docking bay. Davis kept his feet, one arm still wrapped protectively around Mira's shoulders.

The adrenaline, or whatever had fueled him, began to ebb, replaced by a bone-deep weariness. He leaned against the bulkhead, still unwilling to release Mira completely.

She looked up at him, face flushed from exertion but unharmed.

"That was..." She swallowed. "What you did back there..."

"You saved us," he cut in. "With the loader. Quick thinking."

A small smile touched her lips. "I do play a lot of tactical sims."

The moment stretched, fragile and electric. For an instant, all the confusion of the morning, all the rage and strangeness faded away. There was just this her eyes on his, the warmth of her pressed against him, alive and safe.

Then Covak's booming voice shattered the moment.

"Everyone check for injuries! That was too damn close!"

Mira stepped back and looked him over, her expression softening into concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly. "I thought I saw you get hit."

"I'm fine," he replied, surprised to find it was true. Whatever energy had coursed through him during the fight had left him exhausted but intact.

She nodded, relief visible in her expression.

He caught Rann looking at him across the ramp, but as soon as the pilot saw he d noticed, he looked away, sliding something into a thigh pocket.

Davis frowned. He d worked with the Reapers for years, and he d thought he knew Rann. But there was a lot that didn t fit about their pilot a lot he hadn t worked out. Not yet anyway.

That would have to wait, though. He had bigger things to think about right now. Like the impossible strength and speed that had moved through him during the fight. What the hell was happening to him?

The question echoed as he made his way toward the crew quarters, each step bringing a fresh wave of fatigue. Whatever was happening, he'd figure it out.