Shoo-wup! The sound of a percussion blaster firing.
More shrieks, then the furious shout of a man. A pair of figures lunged from behind the hill, grappling with each other.
Tina had seen only stills of Tragooms in the past. They’d been ugly enough in static poses, but the creature grabbing for and swinging at Osopa was a nightmare on cloven feet.
Its face resembled that of a wild boar, complete with tusks curling out of its lower jaw to bracket its snout-shaped nose. Warts growing bristled hair sprouted all over its heavily jowled visage. Triangular ears on top of its skull and tiny eyes completed the porcine vision.
It was immense, as gray and appearing as impenetrable as the concrete slabs sheltering Zac. Its legs were thicker than Tina’s waist, and what swung into view beneath the ragged loincloth it wore wasn’t much thinner. Remembered tales of human women being raped by Tragooms sprang into Tina’s mind.
No one could survive that.
It was far larger than Osopa, and it didn’t react to the blows the fast-moving Kalquorian rained on it. Tina realized he no longer had his blaster, and she cried out in horror.
Zac, still cowering in his hiding place, grabbed her pant leg and yanked. “Hide! Hide!”
Even if she could have moved, she wouldn’t have fit in the fissure he sheltered in. Tina was frozen, watching as Osopa dodged blow after blow that would have killed him if they’d made contact. His quickness saved him, as the knife that flashed in his fist did nothing but bounce off the Tragoom’s hide. The foul beast kept shielding the vulnerable parts Osopa had told Tina about.
She gripped the slim-bladed knife he’d given her. She didn’t dare call to her Nobek, fearing a distraction would get him killed when they fought so close.
They were slamming against the hill Zac hid within, dislodging pieces that bounced off them. The Tragoom hardly noticed, but Osopa was bleeding from at least a dozen cuts. He never flinched, however. He kept punching and stabbing, trying to find an opening.
He smashed the Tragoom against the hill. The monumental creature thudded hard, lost his balance, fell to his knees. With a victorious shout, Osopa sprang at his foe.
A mass of cement chose that moment to slide from high above, bouncing down with earsplitting crashes. One large piece hurtled at Osopa as he jumped. They met in midair, the chunk hitting the Nobek in the chest.
It drove him backwards, towards the deep pit. Roaring, the Tragoom batted other falling pieces aside, bolting upright as it did so. It charged Osopa as he teetered off-balance, using its body as a battering ram.
There was a frozen instant during which the shocked fury on her Nobek’s face imprinted itself on Tina’s memory. She screamed his name as his arms pinwheeled, as he staggered and lost purchase on the ground.
Then he plunged into the crevasse and was gone.
Chapter Twenty-two
Rocks rumbled and crashed. The Tragoom stood at the edge of the pit, snorting. Tina stared in disbelief where Osopa had been a second before. There were no screams of pain from her beloved. Just…silence.
“Osopa!” she yelled. He couldn’t be injured, not her tough, no-nonsense Nobek. It wasn’t possible.
There was no response. With a dismissive grunt, the Tragoom turned in her direction. Zac whimpered, and the sound of scraping told Tina he was wedging himself as far into his shelter as he could. She was all there was between him and the monstrous brute that had beaten Osopa.
Realizing the futility of her position was oddly freeing. She had no doubt she was about to be hurt, and there was no hope to avoid it. In accepting it, she filled with courage to do what she had to. Tina took up a defensive stance, holding the slender knife at the ready.
“Tukui’s on his way, Zac. When the Tragoom comes for me, while I have it distracted, run. Find the search party. Find Tukui and Yorso.”
His sobs were his only answer. She couldn’t press him to obey. The Tragoom was stomping towards her.
Good. You got rid of the Kalquorian. Now disarm and bring her.
Tina refused to take her eyes off the Tragoom to discover who’d spoken, but she didn’t have to. A gray-skinned alien, as small and spindly as the Tragoom was monumental, wandered into view. A Bi’isil, carrying a slender silver rod.
It was only then that Tina noted the black and metal ring circling the Tragoom’s neck. A control collar. The bigger alien was enslaved to the Bi’isil.
“Call it off,” she screamed as the Tragoom closed in. She brandished the knife.
She had no idea if the Bi’isil responded. The Tragoom reached for her, its noxious reek of spoiled meat and rancid garbage so thick she could almost see as well as smell it. Ignoring the lurch of her stomach, she launched herself upward, jumping as high as she could, Osopa’s knife plunging toward the monster’s tiny, muddy eye.
It caught her, yanking her against its granite body. It batted the knife out of her fist with a careless blow. Her wrist erupted in horrendous pain. She screamed but kept fighting. She had to give Zac the chance to escape.
Unfortunately, her kicks and blows, while hurting her, didn’t faze the Tragoom. It slung her over its massive shoulder without reacting to her violent struggles. It grunted at the Bi’isil.
The child is too young. I have no interest in training something useless.
The Tragoom grunted again.
I don’t care if you’re hungry. I have better things to do than wait for you to dig it out. Put her before me so I can inspect her worthiness to serve.
The words were in Tina’s mind. She’d forgotten Bi’isils communicated telepathically.
She was given no time to consider the matter. She was set on her feet before the gray alien, which looked at her with cold interest.
At least, she supposed it was interested. It was hard to tell what emotion it felt. Its head, larger than Tina’s, sported huge black eyes. In contrast, its nose and mouth were mere slits. It wore a white tunic over its miniscule frame. It couldn’t have been more than four feet tall. Tina wondered how such a tiny frame could support its huge skull.
“Get this thing off me! I don’t consent to whatever it is you want,” she yelled, trying her best to yank free. The Tragoom yawned, its carrion breath gagging her.
Your consent matters not. I require a non-Tragoom slave to care for my home and personal needs. You’ll serve as required. It nodded to the Tragoom. Bring her to the ship, and I’ll perform a sexual trial. After that, you’ll be fed. Her, if she proves inadequate.
The Tragoom shoved Tina before it, its grip on her upper arms bruising. She dug her heels in, kicking rubble as she shouted and fought.
A small figure darted at them, flinging stones. Tina cried out in horror. It was Zac.
He pelted the Tragoom, yelling, “Let her go, monster!” When he ran out of rocks, he tried to tackle the fiend, wrapping himself around the Tragoom’s leg. “Leave my sister alone!”
The Tragoom released one of her arms to pluck Zak off and fling him aside. He fell hard with a grunt. Tina shrieked when the boy went still.
“Zac! Zac! He’s hurt! Let me go, you sorry bastards!” It was her turn to pick up a rock. She sent it flying at the Bi’isil. It barely jerked out of danger.
The Tragoom restrained her, keeping her from grabbing any more stones. The Bi’isil came close.
Lesson One in proper protocol. When addressing your master, it will be with absolute respect. Never, under any circumstances, will you strike me. Take off her helmet.