Gravity (Dark Anomaly #1) - Marina Simcoe Page 0,71

Vrateus, quickly giving a sign to someone inside the mess hall.

More crew members rose from the floor, joined by a few rushing out to join them. Armed with long, jagged pieces of metal, they menacingly moved our way.

“Keep back, or I’ll shoot,” Vrateus warned, raising his weapons.

Snarling—their teeth bared, jaws and mandibles snapping—they kept advancing on us.

Vrateus opened fire. I jumped aside, ducking from a piece of metal hurled my way. The sharp edge caught my upper arm. Thankfully, the material of my suit held. The blow hurt but left no cut.

I bit my lip, swallowing the cry of pain, afraid it would divert Vrateus’s attention to me. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.

Two aliens snuck up behind us somehow, rushing us from the back. I aimed and shot quickly, leaving neither of them a chance to throw the long rods they wielded.

“Are you all right?” Vrateus asked over his shoulder, his attention on the entrance to the mess hall.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Holding both guns up, he moved forward. A few of the males piled by the wall stirred.

“Down,” Vrateus ordered, pointing one of his guns in their direction.

Either realizing the threat or out of the habit of obeying his authoritative tone, they froze.

He entered the mess hall. Keeping my gun pointed at those in the corridor, I quickly glanced around him and into the hall.

The room looked like an explosion had taken place. Every piece of furniture had been upturned. Debris, spilled wine, and remnants of food littered the floors, along with puddles of vomit and who knew what else.

The aliens lay and sat everywhere, some still chewing or drinking, others already motionless. A few of the climbing species clung to the walls at various heights.

A huge pile of scrap metal had been erected in the center with a chair placed on the very top of it. Crux reclined in his makeshift throne with the other errocks lounging below him. Leaning against the pile, Wyck was chewing on what appeared to be a vasai leg. Chained to him, Lesh lay at his feet. All three of his heads were gnawing on a long bone.

Everyone who was still alert snapped to attention as Vrateus entered.

“What a mess you’ve made, crew.” He curled his lip in disapproval. “It’s disgusting. You’ve been without your captain for barely a day and look at this place!”

A few of them shifted uneasily, glancing around the trashed mess hall.

“They have a new captain.” Crux rose to his feet.

Due to his massive size, he looked impressive, towering over the room from the height of the metal junk pyramid.

There was no graceful way to climb down it, though. Crux scrambled to the ground, sliding and tripping over his feet. Once on the floor, he stood tall again, his fists on his hips.

“Great to see you here,” he smirked. “Now, you’ll finally be executed. The female is mine, as she should’ve been all along.”

Other errocks moved closer, flanking their leader. The rest of the crew, however, stayed where they were, staring with confusion at the two men who both claimed the title of the captain.

“Relinquish your claim to my position,” Vrateus said calmly. “Or deal with the consequences.”

“I’m relinquishing nothing!” Crux spat on the floor. “Hey boys!” he shouted, “Grab this phoney. As your captain, I give you my permission to do with him as you please.” He shifted his weight to another foot. “And bring the girl here. Will you?”

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze for a moment. Back to back with Vrateus, I moved my gun in a slow arch, gauging where the next attack would come from.

One of the kreers let go off the wall. With a high-pitched wail, he grabbed a loose cable dangling from the ceiling and swung our way.

I shot. The kreer crashed to the floor, blood trickling out of the smoldering wound in his chest.

“You’re good?” Vrateus asked me, keeping his gaze on Crux.

“Fine,” I bit out, forcing myself to relax my grip on my weapons, since my hands had started to cramp and shake with tension.

He addressed his rival, “You can’t just proclaim yourself the captain, Crux.”

“Well, you did.”

“Right. After I’d killed Raex in an honest fight. I didn’t poison him in secret, like a coward.” He swept the room with his gaze, raising his voice to get the attention of anyone who could still focus on what was happening. “You have to earn the title by winning it.”

“Do you want to fight me?” Crux folded his arms