not taking them with us.” He stopped at the end of the block of chambers, smacked one of his palms against a control panel. “But we’ll free them. Why not?” He laughed at the utter chaos their carefully devised plan had deteriorated into. The doors to the prison chambers slid open. “The beings will have access to the communication systems and to escape pods. They’ll have a chance of surviving.”
Roars and shouts sounded behind them.
There was no gunfire. The prisoners weren’t armed.
Truth led his team slower than he’d like through the prison ship. At the end of each block, he accessed the control panel, released the beings trapped inside the tiny chambers.
A human male turned into the hallway. He gazed down at a private viewscreen.
When he looked up, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. Truth planted a projectile in the middle of the human’s gaping mouth, stepped around the corpse, continued walking.
His female bumped against him, that contact with her easing some of the tension building within him. “Thank you, Truth, for this.”
“Thank you, beautiful.” He grinned down at her. “Before I met you, I projected having a female would be…boring.”
Alarms sounded. Red lights flashed in the hallway.
That was fitting, was all that was missing from the situation.
He carried a warrior who was convinced he was dying from a leg wound, led a group consisting of a princess, a naked, long-haired Palavian carrying an equally naked prince, and a private secretary who was, no doubt, recording every moment of their adventure. They were navigating a prison ship filled with the enemy and half-starved, malfunctioning inmates. And the hallways were lit up like a firefight.
Truth laughed, the absurdity of their circumstance entertaining him. “It’s certainly not boring.”
They reached an intersection, stopped. Truth sensed another being approaching them. He raised his guns, preparing to shoot the threat if that was necessary.
“Oh fuck. Oh fuck.” A prison guard ran along the hallway perpendicular to theirs. “They’re free.”
Truth and his princess watched him pass.
The human’s expression was panicked. He didn’t glance in their direction. There was a 98.5659 percent probability he didn’t notice them.
Once the guard had disappeared from view, Nancy turned her head, looked at Truth.
Truth looked back at her.
His female’s lush lips lifted into a small smile. “Yes, it’s certainly not boring.”
He chuckled softly. She was a joy to have on missions.
His princess placed one of her hands on his lower back and they resumed their trek, silently navigating the hallways, avoiding the prison guards, freeing inmates.
As they approached the docking bay, a boom broke the quiet. The prison ship shuddered. The floor tilted under Truth’s booted feet. He reached out, secured his female to him.
The floor leveled once more.
Truth looked behind them. The Palavian stood…barely. His lips were set in a grim white line. The prince was held against his chest.
Valentin appeared to be unaffected. He met Truth’s gaze and sniffed.
“We have to move faster.” Truth squeezed his female’s shoulder and surged forward, increasing their speed as much as he projected the Palavian could handle.
Three very frightened prison guards stood in front of the doors to the docking bay.
“That’s a cyborg.” One of the males tossed his gun to the floor. “Fuck no. I’m out of here.” He ran in the other direction.
The remaining guards looked at each other and did the same.
“They’re scared of you, Princess,” Truth joked. He was tempted to pursue them, increase his kill rate by three, but he had a team to lead and a female to protect, and he projected the prison ship was one confrontation away from blowing up.
It was best to depart. Now.
He accessed the control panel, opened the doors to the docking bay, both interior and exterior, and unlocked the doors to all chambers, including the prison guards’ private spaces.
There would be no hiding from the inmates they’d tormented.
The ship was where they’d left it. It didn’t appear as though anyone else entered had the docking bay. That concern of his had not been realized.
He doubted Marthe could have defended the freighter if someone had sought to take it.
“Palavian, go first.” Truth stepped aside as the male staggered up the ramp, clinging to the prince, his beloved prize. “Valentin, tell Marthe to start the engines.”
The private secretary ran up the incline, obeying the command with no protests.
“Princess, it’s your turn.” She was his female. He wouldn’t board the ship unless she was on it.
“If I don’t hear you behind me, cyborg, I’m turning around.” She hurried into the vessel, her ass