Weapons Master Galactic Gladia - Anna Hackett Page 0,45
stocky battle bot. It had a humanoid upper body, with wheels on the bottom. Huge saws were attached to the arms on its sides.
She glanced over. Maxon hung from the chains—bleeding and bruised. They’d beaten him several times to get her to comply. His glare was hot enough to melt metal.
In the stands around them, the crowd was wild. The warm-up races were finishing.
It was time for the real deal.
Her heart pounded hard, the heavy beat echoing in her head. She prayed Jax would get there soon with the others. She couldn’t see a way out of this mess, otherwise.
But she wasn’t going to let Vossol hurt Maxon.
She’d fallen for the grumpy, antisocial, brilliant cyborg.
“Get in.”
She suffered another hard shove and stumbled into the bot. The door clanged shut behind her.
“You drive, or the cyborg dies.” Vossol peered through the slit in the door.
“I will kill you,” she whispered furiously.
The alien laughed and pulled back. “Start your engines.”
She looked out the main cockpit window at the other two bots on the track. Inside, she spotted terrified kids sitting at the controls.
She sank down behind her controls and started the bot’s engines. Her hands were shaking.
This was her worst nightmare. Race and kill the kids. Or don’t race and Maxon dies.
Dammit. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t lose him.
The other two bots tore off around the track. Bellamy fingered the controls and followed.
She did a lap, following the dips and curves of the track. The mag-tech was here somewhere, right beneath her.
She raced around the track again, and realized one of the bots was gaining on her. It crashed into hers, and she was tossed forward in her seat.
The second bot raced past.
They whizzed around, the crowd a blur. One of the bots rushed closer, chains exploding out of its chest. They whipped around and cut into her bot.
Shit. She swerved and accelerated.
The whipping chain hit again, cutting the top of her bot’s cockpit off.
Fuck. She ducked, metal fragments hitting her. Through a huge tear in her cockpit, she saw the crowd roaring its approval.
Assholes.
Her opponent sped up. She took a jump and glanced down to the center of the track. She had a clear view of the maintenance bay in the center, with several prisoners repairing crashed and damaged bots below.
She came around the track again and saw the other two bots crash into one another. One got stuck on the other, dragging behind the lead bot, sparks flying.
Bellamy looked ahead. A large ramp was embedded in the track. Her pulse spiked. The dragging bot would hit the ramp, and it would destroy the cockpit.
And kill the driver.
No. No more death.
She slammed her hands on her controls and sped up. Her engines were smoking.
The still-functional bot whipped its chains around again. Bellamy dodged to the side, barely avoiding it. She activated her saws and used them to cut off the arm of the first bot. It set the second bot free, and it spun off across the track.
She drew side-by-side with the first bot. The kid inside was sweating, terrified, his hands clenched on the controls.
“Hang on!” she shouted, knowing he probably couldn’t hear her.
“I warned you,” Vossol’s voice came through her console.
She turned her head and looked at the viewing platform.
She caught a quick glimpse of Maxon in chains. Two Edull guards were beating him with staffs as he hung there, unable to fight back.
Cowards. Her stomach clamped to a tight point and she squeezed her eyes closed for a second. She couldn’t see a way to save him, the kids, and herself.
“Maxon, I’m sorry, I’m going to be a fearless woman from Earth.” She so wanted to make him smile again. To feel him moving inside her again.
But life never gave her what she wanted.
“Find your happy, Maxon.”
Bellamy sped up, whizzing around faster as the crowd gasped.
Two new bots erupted onto the track.
She drew closer and one fired a laser at her.
She darted out of the way, then rammed it. Her saw cut its weapon off.
Bellamy’s bot took a jump and sailed through the air. Another larger jump lay ahead. She needed to time this just right.
She pushed the last drop of speed out of the bot and hit the next jump. She wrenched the controls to the right.
Her bot flew off the track and crashed into the central maintenance area.
The saw cut through several parked bots, destroying them. She prayed all the captives got out of the way.
Her bot slid sideways, and she gunned the engine. The