Pirate's Gold - S.J. Sanders Page 0,67
inhabitants who had attempted to hide from the creatures, only to die horrible deaths in the crash.
One door that opened confirmed that possibility as her eyes fell on the remains of an Elshavan against a wall. Whoever the poor bastard had been, they had clearly died in their attempt to take refuge in the empty room. They escaped the monster, but it hadn’t made their fate any better.
A heaviness curled deep within her at the clear evidence of the sad fate of the Elshavan as they silently walked down the hall. As terrible as it was to see the signs of massacre throughout the halls of the ship, the sight of the Elshavan dying without any way of escape made the dread sink deeper into her.
No one had escaped the Evandra alive.
Hopelessness filled the vile air, and alarm raced through her when a little splash rose with her every step. They had finally descended far enough into the zone that they were entering the flooded part of the starship. Her lips pressed together, thinning anxiously as the water began to climb until it covered her foot, and then rose above her ankle.
Just how deep was the water in the flooded part of the ship? Despite how disconcerting it was, she took some comfort from the fact that Veral wasn’t concerned. A soft growl was the only indication of his displeasure as the water climbed. Even those who survived among the crew had fallen silent as they endured the biting cold of the water as it came waist-deep on Terri. It was considerably shallower for most of them since only the amphibious Turogo were the height of humans.
“How much farther is it?” Egbor asked, his nose wrinkling in distaste as the murky water soaked the finely embroidered cloth of his long overcoat.
“At the end of the corridor,” Veral replied. “The Evandra’s scans show that the area is not completely flooded, but the water will get deeper still.” He glanced meaningfully to Azan. “The youngling may need to be carried…”
She gave him a sharp nod and turned, gripping the boy as she swung him effortlessly onto her back once more. She grinned. “He’ll be my personal parasite passenger until we get out of this accursed death pit, on my honor.”
“I am not a parasite,” Garswal grumbled but smiled as he tucked his chin beside the female’s neck.
Egbor made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. “Bah, keep him! No doubt a female such as yourself will never spawn any young, given that I never managed to get a proper heir off you. Useless female. Might as well mother a useless half-breed male,” he sneered. “You deserve the parasite, as you so aptly call him.”
Terri watched as Azan’s smile dropped away, her expression turning cold and hard. She wondered if the female would attack then. Every muscle coiled with tension, just waiting to spring upon the male.
Egbor laughed and opened his arms. “If you wish to attack, then do so, Azan. I will see to it that you are put down like a crazed beast for your mutiny.”
The entire crew stilled, their attention riveted to the pair. Azan’s eyes flicked over to them, and she noticeably relaxed, the tension draining away as if it had never been there, an easy smile spreading across her face.
“It does not appear that doing so would be in my best interest, Captain,” she said with a twist of her lips as she adjusted Garswal’s weight. “I hate you with all the fire of two suns, but I am yours, as always.”
The captain chuckled, the sound out of place in the empty silence of the tomb that the Evandra had become. “And that is why you are my second. You hate me, yes. I see it in your eyes just as I saw it every time that I laid with you, but you are my weapon. You know no other existence than your service to me. I know you too well, Azan. You will never risk everything.”
Terri wasn’t so sure about that. She would already have killed the captain herself if she had access to any kind of reliable weapon, and if the threat of the pirate ship didn’t hang over them. Azan’s position was different, but no less delicate if she had any plan to exact the vengeance that Terri had seen brewing within the female without serious repercussions.
Her eyes trailed over to the remaining Igwins. There hadn’t been many to begin with among the