Home Front (Star Kingdom #7) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,152
be enough, that he would still incapacitate her with his fire.
Then another roar filled the corridor. It was Mouser. She’d found her feet. Still hunched with pain, she sprang at Framer.
He jerked his big gun to the side to aim at her, but she bowled into him first. Qin managed to slip her leg between the lieutenant’s legs and jam her hip against him. Gripping his arm, she twisted and threw him over her shoulder. He smashed into the bulkhead.
Mouser screamed, utter agony tearing from her throat. Qin snatched the lieutenant’s rifle off his back, the strap snapping, and grabbed her own weapon off the deck. As she whirled to help her sister, she halted short of shooting. Mouser was on the captain’s back, her legs wrapped around his chest, her hands gripping the sides of his helmet. The wrist control for the pain implants lay in pieces on the deck.
The captain struggled to shove her off, stumbling into the bulkhead. He’d already dropped his weapon. Mouser tore his helmet off and threw it down the corridor.
“I’ve had enough from you!” She grabbed his head, and Qin realized she would tear that off too.
“Wait!” she blurted, though she wasn’t sure she should. “We may need him as a hostage. To negotiate with the other captains to get out of here.”
Mouser, her hands gripping the sides of Framer’s head, looked back at Qin. Eyes identical to her own stared at her with frustration and anger.
“If it doesn’t work out,” Qin offered, “we can space him later.”
Without releasing her grip on his head, Mouser jumped down.
“You’re going to die for this insurrection, you bitches,” Framer snarled, triumph rising above the pain in his eyes. Did he think he’d won? “And you’ll never get away from my brothers, no matter what you do to me and my ship.”
As Qin came forward and collected his weapon, Mouser shoved Framer sideways, his unprotected head smashing against the bulkhead. He crumpled to the deck.
“Are you sure we can’t space him now?” Mouser asked.
“Let’s see if we can use him first.” Qin hugged her, relieved she hadn’t made a mistake in bringing Mouser along.
Her sister hugged her back. “We’re going to get out of this and away from all of them, right?” Mouser sounded like she needed to believe that, that she wouldn’t end up back in that communal pen, back serving the Druckers.
“Damn straight, we are.” Qin released her—they still had work to do. “Let’s carry him with us to the bridge.”
She’d intended to help, but Mouser grabbed the unconscious pirate by the hair and dragged him down the corridor by herself. Smiling, Qin followed, watching her sister’s back.
Asger gaped when Qin walked onto the bridge with her sister, who was dragging an unconscious pirate by the hair. The gape turned to a proud grin when Qin explained that their prisoner was the ship’s captain.
“Now we have a bargaining chip.” Asger pointed to the comm panel. He, his father, and their band of crushers were currently on hold.
Some underling had commed them, demanding their surrender. Asger had stated that they’d taken over the ship and demanded the Druckers surrender. The last he’d heard, the underling was getting the captain.
Qin came over to stand next to Asger, leaning her hip against the smashed console. He rested a hand on her shoulder. Though he didn’t know if their situation had improved vastly, he felt better having her on the bridge with him. And he hoped it meant something that she’d acquired the most valuable possible prisoner on the ship. Would the captain’s brothers care enough to save his life?
The prisoner groaned. Qin’s sister hefted him to his feet and pinned his arms behind his back.
“This is Captain Khan,” a tight voice said. “I’ll have the name of whoever thought it was a bright idea to take over my brother’s ship.”
“I’m Sir William Asger.” He shifted the camera to make sure the pirate would see his knight’s armor and pertundo. “And he deserved having his ship taken over. He stopped and boarded my transport ship and attempted to kidnap one of my crew.”
Asger thought the pirate captain would pretend he didn’t know what he was talking about, but he snapped, “Qin Three is ours, not a member of some Kingdom crew of one. What are knights even doing here? Your system is at war.”
“Gathering allies. Such as genetically engineered warrior women who are well past their majority and cannot legally be kept as slaves.”