The only thing Talyn knew for sure was that the western group of the pirate outlaws lived to prey on Andarion freighters. Most of all, they loved to take Andarions as slaves.
For some reason, the Porturnum leader hated the Andarion Empire and went out of his way to assault them as often as possible.
Talyn dove beneath the flaming remains of a Tavali fighter and came out in front of the Storm Dancer. He cursed under his breath as he recognized that ship. “Pit Viper to Command. This is the same Tavali group I engaged earlier. At least part of it.”
No wonder they fought like they did. This was a vengeance run. Something proven as his fighter was ID’d and one of the Tavali peeled off the rest of the Andarions to chase him.
Laughing, Talyn did what he did best.
Made their mamas cry. Fortunately for his, he flew as well as he fought in the Ring. At least that was his thought until he came up on a black Tavali fighter with a pilot who was amazing. Slippery bastard cut through everything Talyn threw at him.
Worse, Talyn was having a hard time dodging the return volleys. Whoever had taught this one to fight had known what they were doing.
As he rolled to avoid another round of blasts, he caught the name of the pilot that was written in Universal on his wing.
Blister.
What kind of stupid call sign was that? He didn’t even want to know what the Tavali had done to earn that moniker. Not that it mattered. This was a fiercely talented warrior, in spite of his name.
Talyn was actually worried.
“Viper! Point ten!”
Talyn hit his retro engines and pulled up and rolled. Brief blasts of color lit the silent darkness around him. Unfortunately, that move brought him into range for “Blister.” The pirate opened fire with some kind of weapon Talyn had never seen before. It shredded his shields and burned through the outer layer of his fighter.
“Viper-Ichi hit.” Talyn cursed as his controls shocked him. “My directionals are failing. Rear engine going dark.”
Farina flew straight at him to engage the pirates who had a hard-on for him. “Syndrome covering Viper. Need a beam, Andarions. Hurry!”
“Nightdice sheltering Syndrome and Viper. We need help. Viper’s taking massive fire and they’re going for his throat.”
Talyn jerked back as another shock went through his arm from the short-circuiting panels. He saw an Andarion fighter he assumed was Nightdice moving in to protect him.
Or so he thought.
One moment, he was opening the channel to warn Syndrome about two Tavali headed for her. In the next, the Andarion fired on him and his entire ship exploded.
Chapter 6
Felicia flipped through the news, looking for a report on Talyn and any possible battle he might have been involved with. There was nothing. Only stories about civilians who’d gone missing, and women who’d been attacked.
She forced herself not to pick up her link. She’d texted Talyn so much that she was afraid to do so again. At this point, he could have her arrested for stalking.
The link buzzed.
“Talyn?” she asked without even verifying the number.
“It’s Erix. Is this Felicia?”
“It is. Is everything okay?”
When he didn’t answer right away, it made her heart skip a beat. “I’m at the hospital.”
Her breath caught as tears filled her eyes. “Talyn?”
“He’s in surgery. They called me when they couldn’t reach his mother. I knew you’d want to know. I’ve sent a transport for you. It should be there any minute.”
“I’m on my way.” Hanging up, she started for the lift, then remembered she was in her nightgown. Frustrated, she ran to the bedroom and threw on her clothes as fast as she could.
She didn’t know how long it took her to get to the hospital. It was somewhere between a heartbeat and forever.
As soon as she entered the waiting room, she saw Erix, seated and looking sick to his stomach. Terrified and shaking, she rushed over to him. “Have you heard anything?”
He shook his head.
“Do you know what happened?”
Erix sighed wearily as he took her hand in his. “Tavali attack.”
Felicia scowled at the look on his face. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I overheard the medics talking. They think it might have been friendly fire that brought him down.”
“What do you mean?”
Anger snapped harshly in his white eyes. “They said that it was one of our own who fired on Talyn’s ship.”
“Anatole?”
“I don’t know. They didn’t say.”
Rage darkened her sight as she craved blood. “Is there any way to prove it?”