The warriors around her chuckled. While they each carried blasters or O-rifles, she kept her swords and daggers sheathed, aware of what awaited them on the other side of the bay’s door.
When she reached it, Simone studied the access panel beside it. “Does anyone happen to know the code for this?”
Krigara moved forward. “I do. I circumvented their security protocols and inputted a code of my own.” He typed in a series of numbers or symbols.
When the door rose with a rumble, she smiled. “Aren’t you a handy fellow to have around?”
He flashed his teeth in a grin.
Simone steeled herself against the scents of blood and death. The fact that she was familiar with both, thanks to the thousands of vampires she’d slain over the centuries, didn’t mean she liked it. And this time, they were almost overshadowed by the stench of stagnant swamp water Gathendiens’ seemed to emit. “Damn, Gathendiens stink,” she complained as she led them up the first corridor.
The men behind her murmured their agreement.
She had encountered more Gathendien soldiers than anticipated on the ship, so plenty of corpses awaited them. Simone didn’t slow when she came upon the bodies. She simply stepped over them, intent on reaching those she’d left alive. Thanks to the blood transfusion, the worst of the fatigue that plagued her had receded. Most of the cuts and gashes she’d sustained should already be mending, the edges drawing together and sealing before fading into scars. And yet the wound across her back began to burn. She hadn’t thought it a big deal—just another deep cut like the others—but now regretted not letting Janwar take a minute to look at it.
Though she healed swiftly, it wasn’t always a comfortable process. And that imaashu stuff he’d sprayed on some of her other cuts would’ve spared her the pain.
She gave a mental shrug. Oh well.
A swishing sound alerted them to movement nearby. The others raised their weapons and slowed their pace. Simone merely rounded the corner.
Half a dozen Gathendiens lay dead in a cluster. The bastards had thought piling on her would bring her down, but it hadn’t. It had just made their soft bellies easier targets and given her access to their blasters.
A long smear of blood began at the edge of the group and led up the corridor to a survivor who used his arms to drag himself forward on his belly. Every time he pulled himself along with his arms, the tip of his thick tail braced against the floor and helped with a push.
Simone tilted her head to one side as she watched him. “Hmph. I didn’t take the tail into consideration.” It was kinda cool that they could use their tails in such a way. She glanced at her companions. “Some survivors may have gotten a little farther than I estimated.”
Upon hearing her voice, the Gathendien gasped and rolled onto his back.
She tensed, ready to dart forward and confiscate any weapon he might raise. But his hands were empty.
“We disarmed all the survivors,” Krigara mentioned.
She raised her brows. “While I was in the transport?”
“Yes.”
They must be quick workers.
Janwar frowned as they strolled forward. “Why isn’t he using his legs?”
“Because I kneecapped him,” Simone told them.
All stared at her with baffled expressions.
“I shot him in the knees with a blaster that I yanked off one of them.”
“Ah.” Janwar stopped near the Gathendien as he rolled onto his belly again and began slithering forward faster.
“Okay. How do you want to do this?” Simone asked as she stepped in front of the Gathendien to halt his progress. “Do you want to interrogate each one as we come upon them or round them all up first?” She had little experience with interrogation. When hunting vampires, she’d always found it best to dispatch them as quickly as possible. Such always seemed more merciful, particularly since many of them wouldn’t have become psychotic killers if they hadn’t been infected with the Gathendien virus that damaged their brains. The only time she’d paused to ask questions had been when she and her brethren needed to hunt down some missing Immortal Guardians an enemy had sought to turn into his own personal army.
Janwar pondered it a moment. “I think it would be best to round them up first.”
“Once we have them all together, will we do good cop/bad cop or bad cop/bad cop?” she asked.
More blank looks.
“Good cop/bad cop is when one of us is nice and pretends to want to help them to win them over while the other scares the living bura out of them.”
Janwar’s lips twitched. “Ah. Bad cop/bad cop.”
She nodded. “I’m guessing that’s equally effective.”
“Even more so when you interrogate one of them in front of the others.”
“To give the others incentive to talk,” she finished for him. “Okay. I tell you what…” She glanced around. “They’ve got a lab up around the corner that looks more like a torture chamber. Two barred cells abut it, so anyone stuck in them can witness firsthand what they do to their test subjects.” She sneered the last word, infusing it with every ounce of disgust she felt for the alien race that had tried—and was still trying—to eradicate humanity so they could obtain Earth. “We can put them all in there.”
Janwar nodded. “Sounds good.”
“I’ll collect the survivors for you since I remember where they all are,” she offered.
But he shook his head. “It’ll go faster if we all do it.”
Not really. He didn’t know she was preternaturally fast and strong, though, and she thought it best to keep that to herself. Old habits died hard. And she wasn’t ready to reveal just how much she differed from Lisa, the only other Earthling he’d come into contact with.
“Do you want me to draw you a map or something to help you find them?” Though the Gathendien ship was considerably smaller than the Tangata, it still contained a maze of corridors.
“No need.” Janwar tapped several commands into the electronic pad he wore on one wrist. Seconds later, a three-dimensional holographic image rose above it, displaying a multi-layered map of the ship, complete with blinking red dots that indicated the locations of all remaining life forms aboard.
Stepping closer, she located the six of them on the map and smiled. “That is so cool!” She took Janwar’s hand and gave his wrist a slight twist, then moved his arm this way and that to alter the angle of the building. She even passed a hand through the image, distorting it momentarily. But it swiftly reconfigured itself. Laughing in delight, she glanced up at him. “How did you get the plans for the ship?”
“We have the plans for every military ship, Aldebarian Alliance member or otherwise.”
Amusement wafted through her, momentarily making her forget the pain in her back. “I’m guessing that’s pretty helpful, considering your piratical endeavors.”
He nodded somberly. “Very helpful.”
Laughing, she didn’t realize until then that she still held his hand. It dwarfed hers and bore the calluses of a soldier or hard worker. Releasing it, she couldn’t resist waving her hand through the image one more time.
Janwar’s lips twitched.
“I don’t suppose I could talk you into making one of those for me, could I?” she asked, indicating the wristband.