on this vessel were unfamiliar, and given the state of the base as a whole, he hadn’t been confident it would make the journey over here. But there was no way he was allowing his draanthic brother access to an imperial shuttle with telemetry on where the rest of the fleet was. There was also the little... surprise... packed into the back of this one.
“Confirm survivability ratio for the human females,” he demanded, ignoring the hails as the pirate ship spotted him.
His breathing caught for a second. Tavik had the women. He had Indra, and just knowing that sent a shudder of dread through Nyek’s body. It wouldn’t take his brother long to figure out who... what Indra was to him. He would make her suffer, just to make Nyek suffer knowing he was the cause of pain for the delicate little human female...
Miisan’s voice sounded almost irritated. “Survivability of females still stands at eighty percent. Less the longer you take to get aboard. You know your—”
He cut her off before she could go through the warnings of how dangerous this was again. He didn’t want to hear it. No matter how dangerous, no matter what the risk to himself, he would rescue Indra and Gracie.
Rescue his delicate little human female.
Because she was the one he wanted to claim... the one he wanted a lifetime of love and happiness with. Even children if the lady goddess should bless them in that regard. Even if she didn’t, he would live a happy man with Indra at his side. The fact he’d found his mate was proof that the lady had saved his life during the Vesh not to punish him but because she had other plans for him.
And he was alone.
K’Vass had been so badly injured that the AI had ordered them to enclose him into one of the remaining biotubes so she could stabilize his condition and Stephens, although he had sworn he was okay, was too badly concussed to be of any use. It had taken some fancy verbal footwork to get him to agree to “guard” those who remained—Seren during his treatment and Keris, still locked into her unformed body. He’d finally agreed when Miisan had pointed out he might be the last man left standing to save everyone.
Nyek sighed, goddess save him from human egos.
He keyed the comm to accept the call from the ship ahead of him. A self-important, clipped voice filled the small cockpit. “Base shuttle. You are cleared to land in shuttlebay one. Touch down and prepare to be boarded. Noncompliance will result in your destruction. Any hostile action toward the boarding party will result in your destruction. Do you understand?”
“Reading you loud and clear,” he replied, entering in the new course vector that would take him straight into the shuttle bay whose doors were opening in front of him. The back of his neck prickled as he flew inside, every instinct he had screaming this was a bad idea. They were right. Allowing himself to be captured was a bad idea.
But it was the only play he had—the only play Tavik wouldn’t see coming.
The hangar bay doors closed behind him and he could almost feel the “clunk” as they did, locking him in. Even with the weapons on the shuttle, there was no way he could fight free from in here. He was trapped.
Keeping his mind on his task, he maneuvered the shuttle on thrusters to land it gently on the lit pad. Once the landing struts were locked down into place, he cut the engines and sat back in his chair.
His fingertips traced the edge of the scar on his left wrist as the shuttle access door slid open. Warriors poured in, heavy boots on the deck plating and others breathing his air.
“Up, blasphemer,” a harsh voice ordered behind him, the muzzle of an assault weapon nudging his shoulder.
Keeping his hands raised to show he meant no harm, Nyek rose slowly and turned, walking into the back section of the shuttle. Within two steps he was stripped of all his weaponry with his hands manacled in front of him.
“Move,” the first warrior, whose floor-length cloak proclaimed him to be the one in charge, ordered, motioning to the doorway.
Nyek inclined his head and obeyed. The quicker they removed themselves from the shuttle, the better. They were all too antsy being shut in this small space with him. His lips quirked. Perhaps not all of his brother’s warriors had bought into the tale of