The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,134
against his ribs. How was this possible? “Eliana?”
She emitted a sharp grunt of pain, then—sounding much more alert—said, “Ah hell, it wasn’t a dream. That sucks!”
He shared an astonished look with Barus.
“Dagon?” she said. “Are you there?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for leaving the line open. How long was I out?”
“Three days.”
“Damn. I had hoped I’d sleep longer than that.”
“My apologies. I woke you. We hadn’t heard from you in a long time.”
“And you thought I was dead?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
When next she spoke, her tone conveyed a smile. “I told you I could make the oxygen last longer. How much do I have left?”
“Press the blue button on your sleeve again.”
A female voice speaking Lasaran announced, “Fifteen hours and forty-two minutes of oxygen remaining.”
Barus shook his head. “How did she make ten hours of oxygen last three days?” he asked in Segonian.
Dagon shook his head.
“What did she say?” Eliana asked.
“You have fifteen hours and forty-two minutes of oxygen left.”
“Damn. So I’ve already used up almost half of what I had?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t suppose you found any allies who were close enough to swing by and pick me up, did you?”
“No. All were farther away than we are.”
“Are you still headed my way?”
“Yes.”
“Have you found any other survivors?”
“No. But the Lasarans have recovered several escape pods.”
“Were any of my people rescued?” she asked, hope brightening her voice.
“Not yet.”
“Oh.”
“But we are all still searching.”
“Thank you.” She had a nice voice, deep for a woman and a little husky from sleep. He didn’t like hearing the disappointment that darkened it now. “What about the Yona? Has anyone found any of them yet? I know those guys look and act as though nothing ruffles their feathers, but I’m sure they don’t want to die out here either.”
“No Yona soldiers have been rescued yet.” He opted not to tell her that the bodies of several had been drifting in space near some wreckage found by his fellow Segonians. The soldiers had done what they were trained to do—they had remained on the ship, fighting until the last minute, and died when the ship was blasted apart.
“That sucks.”
He frowned. “I don’t think my translator is accurately defining the word suck.”
She laughed, a happy sound that made his lips twitch until she grunted in pain again. “I was wondering how you were speaking English to me. You have a translator?”
“A translator chip,” he elaborated. “All starship commanders and crew members have one. The Lasarans sent us an upgrade that included ten Earth languages so we would be able to communicate with you when we found you.”
“Cool. I’m guessing your chip is telling you that suck means to close your lips around something and create a vacuum?”
“Yes.”
“That’s actually correct. But the phrase that sucks is slang used to express… well, either annoyance or sympathy, depending on how it’s used. Like if someone said My boss just fired me, you might respond with Wow, that sucks.”
He nodded. “I shall commit that to memory.”
“So you’ve spoken with the Lasarans?”
“Yes.”
“Do they know who attacked the ship?”
“Gathendiens launched the attack.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she practically shouted, fury entering her voice. “The Gathendiens did this?”
Eyebrows flew up all around the bridge as crew members exchanged looks of surprise.
“Yes.”
“The same Gathendiens who used a bioengineered virus to try to exterminate the Lasarans?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, seriously, Dagon, you have got to find a way to reach me before I die so I can hunt those bastards down and kick their collective asses.”
Barus grinned. “I like this woman.”
“Who was that?” she immediately asked. “I don’t recognize his voice.”
“He’s my second-in-command, Barus.”
“Nice to meet you, Barus,” she said, her voice still full of pique. “I take it you don’t like the Gathendiens either?”
“I loathe the Gathendiens,” Barus replied.
“Good. Then do me a favor and help Dagon find a way to reach me faster so I can help you kick those fuckers’ asses.”
Grins broke out among the crew.
She didn’t ask them to find her so she would live. She asked them to find her so she could exact vengeance. Every man here understood that.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry about that,” she said, the words more calm and carrying a little chagrin. “I hope I didn’t offend you. I tend to have a foul mouth when I’m upset, and I know nothing about your culture. Do you guys, by any chance, curse or use foul language when you’re angry?”
Dagon grinned. “Yes, we do.”
The hesitance left her voice, replaced by a smile. “Good. Now if you really want to put my mind at ease, you’ll