The swirling gas that rushed into the docking bay chamber knocked her out, but Lilith recovered quickly. She blinked awake and stared at a seamless beige ceiling. She sat upright on a bed, the mattress spongy and oddly familiar. The whole room seemed familiar.

I am on the ark ship. The hazy memory of a journey taken long ago flitted through her synapses. The alien merchants had her, and they’d placed her in the barracks they used for storing acquisitions which meant she was in no immediate danger. I’m not, but what of everyone else? It didn’t take a cursory scan to realize she was the only prize in the room and it wasn’t because of a lack of space.

Row upon row of bunk beds, bolted to the wall, marched the length of the large chamber. Each one sported a foam-type mattress with slippery sheets and a small pillow. At the far end, just past the last bed, she noted the social grouping of couches and chairs, covered in a gray fabric with a hint of a silvery sheen. Angling her head, she glanced toward the other end, but she already knew what she’d see—long, gleaming white tables flanked by benches where repasts were taken.

A shudder went through her. She’d not missed the unappetizing lumps on a plate that didn’t harbor a pleasant taste. No amount of salt in the universe could have made those meals palatable. She could only hope the slavers had improved on their culinary offerings in the long years since her last voyage.

The familiarity with her accommodations made just for humans—abducted ones—didn’t bother her much. What was unusual was she was the only occupant. Her companions were gone.

She didn’t like it at all. Especially the loss of one particular person.

Avion, where are you?

He didn’t reply, but she touched the edge of his slumbering mind and relaxed a little as she realized he still slept off the effects of the drug the slavers had gassed them with.

A gas that worked on her as well, unlike the stuff they experimented with on Earth. How much they still have to learn. Too bad the humans weren’t nice to her. She could have taught them so much.

Didn’t I teach them not to hurt me? She did, and yet in the end, they hurt her worse by locking her away.

Rising from her bed, she noted they’d garbed her in a fresh robe while she slept. Cream-colored, and lacking adornment, it covered her from neck to toe. The slavers were fanatic about decontamination. Despite their space-faring habits, the Zvali’dus were quite susceptible to alien disease. Even a common cold could prove deadly.

I’ll have to make a point to sneeze on one. Giggle.

The floor, covered in a warm, sponge-like material, cushioned her bare feet as she made her way to the exit.

Before she reached the door to the chamber, it slid open, and a Zvali’dus slaver stepped in, flanked by some hulking beasts who closely resembled reptiles but walked on two legs. Their yellow, slitted eyes regarded her with hunger. The tummy kind, not carnal. Preferable really, given she knew from her databanks that their reproductive organs ejected spines from the tip when they orgasmed.

Not a pleasant way for a human to die. Good thing the merchandise was usually not for playing with. Unless a prisoner misbehaved. It only took one example of the alien lizards lust for people to fall in line—male and female.

The shorter gray alien presented her with a short bow. “Chosen one. You are awake.”

“Way to state the obvious.” She couldn’t prevent the sarcasm, the influence no doubt of the time spent with the cyborgs.

“We apologize for having put you to sleep with the others. However, it’s standard protocol when dealing with the lesser races.” A moue of distaste curled its thin lips. “Much decontamination was needed.”

Can we sneeze on him?

No.

Cough?

No.

Spoilsport.

For now, until she got some answers. Then, if she didn’t like them, she’d let her more devious side play. “Now that they’re clean, I want to see them.” Avion, oh Avion, wherefore art thou, Avion? Why that quote from a play for star-crossed lovers came to mind she couldn’t have said. She’d thought the story dumb when her Earth teachers made her read it, and yet…she couldn’t help thinking of the tragic tale of lovers that were kept apart. Except Juliette was too much of a weakling to do something about it.

“Contact with them might not be wise.”

He dared tell her what to do? “I don’t care. I will see them. You will not deny me. Don’t make me go metal on your ass.” Her other side slipped free and threw the threatening words.

Her erratic outburst had the slaver recoiling. “Were we mistaken in your status as one of the chosen ones? You are behaving in a very irrational manner.”

Damned straight she was. And I like it. She tossed her hair. “It’s called emotions. And how dare you question me? As you’ve noted, I am one of the chosen. As per the agreement with my creator, you are to show me respect and accord me aid if requested.”

“We are well aware of our duties. What would you like us to provide you with?” the alien asked, his expression placid.

Lilith, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling very controlled. The refusal to bring her to Avion—I need to see him—fed her rash side. “For starters, you need to take me to the origin planet.”

“Not yet.”

What did he meant not yet? Avion would die if they delayed too long. “Unacceptable.”

“We are sorry to distress you, chosen one. However, we cannot set course quite yet.”

Lilith stamped her foot in a gesture of frustration she’d not indulged in since her younger years. “I can’t wait. I demand you take me to the source planet now.” They had the technology to do it so long as their power crystals were charged.

The vertically-challenged gray being did not blink its large orb-like eyes as it replied. “Eventually you will be brought to the origin world but not until we’ve first dumped the impure ones.”

A gasp left her. By dumped, the commander of the Zvali’dus meant he would auction off the cyborgs at the nearest trader planet. Not only was that unacceptable—friends don’t let friends get sold off as slaves—any kind of delay put Avion’s life at risk.

Should have sneezed.

She’d do better than that. He’d better not push me on this. I will push back, especially if I spot a cliff I can use. Her other half giggled in her mind. How she disliked these pompous alien slavers.

First, though, before violence, she’d try reason. Her nanos insisted on it. “You can’t get rid of them.”

“I can and will. You know as well as I that abominations are not allowed to set foot on the source planet. Your mentor would be the first to forbid it.”

She lost a grip on her emotions in that moment and felt herself grimace. Some recollections resonated more loudly with her suppressed half, her mentor being one of them.

Arrogant, know-it-all ass.

Arrogant when it came to downplaying his own superiority but definitely knowledgeable—and unforgiving. “These are unusual circumstances. My mentor doesn’t know the whole story. These people do not work for the D’zpi.”

“Yet they bear their slave technology. Our scanners detected the presence of their distinctive hardware embedded in the central cortex of the biological hosts.”

“But they didn’t have it placed there willingly. The cyborgs mean us no harm. They just want help and answers. They are not slaves to the D’zpi, or anyone else. They are free thinking, like me.”

“Not entirely.”

The Zvali’dus commander had a point. The cyborgs would never be completely untainted so long as the computer chip remained in their brain. Yet, removing it would probably kill them unless they could find nanobots willing to choose them.

“You can’t sell them at auction. You know what type of beings will purchase them.” Those who would hold the cyborg lives in small esteem. Expendable workers for dangerous mines, fodder for violent wars, playthings for perverse bordellos. “You’d be giving them unjust punishment for a crime they didn’t commit.”

“I am not interested in excuses for their existence, nor are we going to counter current standing orders. The abominations are not allowed near the source world.” Even the Zvali’dus couldn’t name it. “Their banishment is part of the T’xa charter we signed, and we are not about to compromise our agreement with them.”

“I will not allow you to do this. I demand—”

She caught only a hiss of passing air before the tiny missile hit her.

Used to being invincible, Lilith was quite perturbed to find herself, for the second time that day, waking on a cot, but this time, in less desirable quarters.

They put me in a prison cell! One made for people like her. Forget traditional bars or holes in the ground. The more advanced species knew how to trap nanotech hosts. Pure power, disruptive and fatal to bots and flesh alike.

“Well, if it’s isn’t freaky girl. How nice of you to join us. Because it’s so much nicer when I can ream an idiot out in person,” Aramus grumbled, drawing her attention. “We can trust them, she says. They won’t harm us.” He squeaked the accusation in a high-pitched voice. “This is why I prefer to blow things up. At least then I get pretty lights and big explosions.”

Despite the complaint, Lilith found herself glad to hear Aramus’ voice. She’d, in a roundabout way, discovered her companions and no longer found herself alone. It meant it wasn’t yet too late to save them. “I never said anything about trust. Never trust a slaver.” Only the highest price brought their loyalty. “You should look on the positive side of our situation. They haven’t harmed us. As far as I can see, your tongue is still functioning, and your cognitive ability to find fault with the situation is thriving.”

Laughter, from more than one cyborg. “She’s got your number, Aramus,” Seth quipped.

“Fine. Laugh. That doesn’t get us out of these cages. Got a bright idea for that, freaky girl?”

A valid question, but not the most pressing one for her. “Did everyone make it alive? Where is Avion?”

Anastasia pointed. “Down on the end. He’s breathing, according to Seth, but he hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Are we all accounted for?”

“We are now that you’ve arrived, plus a few extra. You’ve never met them but say hello to the crew of the other explorer vessel in the cyborg fleet. Aphelion.” A male a cell over waved. “Deidre, MJ, and Xylo.” Faces that she matched to files she’d downloaded from the SSBiteMe. All cyborg and on a mission of exploration. A failed one obviously.

To better assess the situation, she required more information. “More cyborg prisoners? How did the Zvali’dus capture them?”

“Same way they got the SSBiteMe. They said halt or we’ll shoot. Common sense made the decision easy.”

“Lilith, have they said what they plan to do with us?” Anastasia asked from the energy-lined room beside her.

A telling frown creased her brow before she could stop it. Any time her emotions became intensely engaged, Lilith lost control of her body. Her stifled side grew stronger. Soon she might not be able to keep her locked away at all. “I know their intention. The Zvali’dus plan will not meet with your approval. Nor will it benefit Avion. They plan to auction you off at the nearest trader station or world.”

“Sell this beautiful face? How brilliant. They’d make a fortune, which would probably make up for the loss they’d take with my best friend. For some reason, people think he’s trouble.”

“Don’t you ever shut up?” Aramus growled.

Seth waggled his fingers at Anastasia and grinned. “Only when I’m kissing wifey poo.”

“Or I gag him,” she mumbled.

“Such sweet, sensual torture,” Seth sighed.

“Um, guys, shouldn’t we be planning our escape?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing? While we’ve been chatting, I’ve been multi tasking,” Seth announced. “First, I save us from this prison.”

“In other words, we’re fucked.” Aramus might lack elegance in his speech, but he knew how to get the point across.

“Aramus, really, why must you have so little faith?” Seth extolled as he stood in front of the force field. “Don’t underestimate my desire to move on to Plan B and then C.”

“What’s Plan B?” Kentry asked.

“Take over this ship of course.”

“And plan C?” Lilith asked, curiosity commandeering her tongue.

“Making sweet love to my wife.”

“Which leads us back to our first problem. How do we get out of these cells?”

“I’ll handle that part.” Seth extended his hands to the energy wall.

“Seth. Don’t touch it,” Anastasia warned. “Remember what Aphelion said happened to Serge.”

Lilith might not have been present, but she could imagine. Immediate vaporization. The intense concentration of pure electricity fried a person into the finest ash.

“I remember what he said, but I also don’t want to stay in this cell. It’s cramping my style, not to mention keeping me from you, wifey poo.”

Lilith wasn’t the only one who found herself watching in stunned silence as Seth’s skin rippled. The flesh-like tone seemed to harden, the hue of it turning slightly orange. It took on a glossy sheen, a surreal one, as if his flesh had become something else entirely. He approached the energy wall.

“Seth!” Anastasia’s voice rose into a screech as her husband stepped into the electrical field…and emerged on the other side.

More than one person gaped, Lilith included. “How did you do that?” she asked.

Obviously his skin change had something to do with it, but what had he done? Lilith had never thought to control her own body to the point that it changed physical properties. She would have said it was impossible. But then again, hadn’t she gleaned over the years, as the military waged their war, that cyborgs exhibited a variety of abilities? More like impossible feats, or so her mentor had taught her.

Did he lie? Or are the cyborgs even more evolved than should be possible?

Seth certainly seemed to have a firm handle on his abilities. He brushed imaginary lint from his cream-colored shirt, more like flickers of electricity that sizzled and popped, not burning him. “You seem to forget sometimes our nanos are capable of so many miraculous things. Rapid repair. Harnessing ambient energy into a kinetic force. Surviving extreme temperatures. If it’s capable of all those things, what about changing cellular structure? Becoming something new? In this case, a non-conducting material like plastic.”

“You turned yourself into a freaking Ken doll?” Aramus seemed incredulous.

As for Lilith, she giggled. “Does that make Anastasia his Barbie?” Even she had cherished one of the buxom blonde dolls when the scientists and doctors were still in the early stages of testing. She’d loved her plastic friend.

She threw a pretty wild tantrum the day the psychiatrists took it away to see how she’d react.

It took them months to repair the damage, but the good news was they gave her a new doll. The doctor, however, who had the bright idea? He never came back.

The comparison of the dashing couple to the famous toys triggered mirth in all of them. Levity in the face of adversity. I’ve done that, too, during some of my roughest moments. Stress relief was okay, so Daddy said, but giggling while covered in blood surrounded by bodies, bad, very bad.

Aramus sobered first. “Now that we’ve finally gotten to confirm Seth’s no better than a little girl’s toy, it’s time the rest of us escaped.”

“I don’t know if I’d suggest trying my method that quickly,” Seth replied as he placed his palm on a console set in the center of the room adjacent to the hallway of cells. “It took me weeks to master it. I was looking for a way to counter Taser fire. Trust me when I say it’s not as easy as it looks. Organic cells aren’t too crazy about the whole switch to plastic.”

“We can’t stay in here,” Aphelion said. “We’re sitting tin cans.”

“Which is why I’m poking the onboard computer. If you give me a minute or two, I’m currently working on hacking their system to free you all.”

Time wasn’t something they had an abundance of. Despite the lack of an audible alarm, Lilith suspected their captors knew of Seth’s escape. While the Zvali’dus themselves might not prove formidable enemies, their guards were. The hulking lizard beings from a planet much like Earth in prehistoric times, the daecrocs would arrive armed and, at eight plus feet, capable of taking on the cyborgs.

Should I tell them? Avion seemed to think she needed to divulge more instead of waiting for direct questions, but her mentor told her to never tell what she knew. Everything was a secret. Except, Lilith had let some things slip.

Bad, bad girl. Master will punish us. An urge to hide almost had her running. Instead, she slammed a few doors shut on her other voice and shared her knowledge. “Once Seth deactivates the walls, we must hurry. The daecrocs will be coming.”

“Would that be the giant dinosaurs that carted you in?” Xylo asked.

“Yes. They are extremely tough beings. Their skin is like an armor, very hard to penetrate. Their tails are barbed with a paralytic agent at the tips. They have only a few weak spots when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, like their eyes, of which they only have a pair in their head. They also have a version of an arterial vein in their necks, one on either side where the jaw connects.”

“What about their hearts? Same spot as us?”

She shook her head. “Lower, and protected not just by their shell-like skin but a cage of bone. As I said, very hard to kill.”

“About fucking time we ran into some decent competition,” Aramus said as he cracked his knuckles. “Do you think they’ll send enough for all of us to play with?”

She lost a hold on her jaw in that moment. I think he might be crazier than me. She almost clapped her hands in glee.

“There will be plenty of them to fight, and share”—what a novel concept—“if we are to take over this ship.”

“Fighting. Hostile takeover. This plan is sounding better and better all the time,” Aramus enthused. “Maybe you aren’t so bad after all, freaky girl.”

The backhanded compliment warmed her. Was the heat in her cheeks indicative of a blush? “In order to commandeer the vessel properly, we should hit a few key locations.”

“Shh. Don’t say them aloud,” Seth said. “The surveillance cameras are still on. No need to tell them where we’re going. Hold off until I get this blasted machine to behave.”

“Don’t force it, dude, stroke it,” Kentry hollered. “Isn’t that what you always say?”

Seth kept typing one-handed as his other hand raised and flicked a single digit.

Giggle.

“While we’re waiting for the geezer spy model over there to get things done, what can you tell us about this ship?” Adam asked.

“This is a standard ark vessel. It is immense, dozens of decks, a few square miles in size. It can house thousands of beings.”

“It’s a fucking space city,” Xylo exclaimed.

“Not quite,” she corrected. “The vessel itself is not overly populated. The majority of the space is designated for cargo, organic cargo, although the Zvali’dus are open to carrying other goods. Most call them slavers since that is what they specialize in. However, they will trade anything that will turn a profit.”

“We were caught by merchants.” Aramus groaned. “The shame of it.”

“Actually, their activities are more in line with the Earth definition of pirating.”

“Really? We were captured by scurvy pirates? Epic.” Aphelion wasn’t the only one beaming at the news.

“How big of a crew are we talking about on board?” Aramus asked.

“The Zvali’dus tend to rely on their impressive outer defenses rather than internal ones, so they don’t carry as many guards as they could.” The reason being escapes just didn’t usually happen. The cages were supposed to be foolproof. It would gall the slavers to know abominations had bested their system. “But we will encounter resistance, so arm yourself if you can.”

“I got all the weapon I need.” Aramus let a fearsome smile stretch his lips as he cracked his knuckles.

Old-school violence. Giggle. What fun.

“Okay, guys and girls, cameras are gone. Power bars coming down in twenty-eight seconds,” Seth announced as he tapped at a blurring speed.

Aramus whistled and drew everyone’s attention. “Now that the eyes in the walls are gone, listen up. Here’s what we’re going to do. Everyone snag a buddy as soon as the bars come down. Riley, you’re with me.”

“I’ve got wifey poo,” Seth sang out.

“Doc’s got my ass,” Adam announced.

Everyone claimed a partner, even Lilith, whose claim of, “Avion is mine,” didn’t go unchallenged.

Avion is mine. How nice that sounded. Possessive too.

“Um, I hate to question you, Lilith. But how are you planning on lugging Avion? No offense, but the guy weighs a ton and you’re not exactly on the robust looking side.” Kentry questioned her ability to carry Avion to safety.

Laughter bubbled. “I could carry a pair of him and not tax myself. Do not judge me by my exterior. My nanos will play with the gravity around him in order to lessen his weight.”

“Oh man, you have got to teach me that trick,” Seth replied. “It would come in handy when wifey poo takes me shopping.”

“She can teach you later. Right now we’ve got other shit to worry about. Now that we’ve got groups, Lilith, where are we going?” Aramus brought them back on track.

“Kitchens and the command center.”

“Kitchen? I’m pretty sure no one needs to stop and have a snack during a violent uprising.”

“Not the prisoners’ kitchen. The guard one. More specifically, the livestock pantry. Threaten the guards’ food source and you’ll see the Zvali’dus lose control of the daecrocs. The lizards might work for money, but they live for fresh food.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

She shook her head. “It is a strange weakness of theirs.”

“If you say so,” Aramus said with a skeptical note. “Aphelion, take your partner, MJ, along with Deidra and Xylo, Adam and Laura, Kentry and Rosalind to the kitchens. Kill whatever you have to but secure that area. The rest of us will follow freaky girl here to the command center.”

“Aye, commander.”

Everyone tensed in their cells as they waited.

“Three. Two, one.” Seth counted down, and at zero, the bars on the prison rooms winked out. In scant seconds, they all vacated their cells, not wasting time as they met their partner and took off running. Or, in Riley’s case, she ended up over Aramus’ shoulder. The poor thing still suffered from a case of humanity.

A cure would have to wait for later. They needed to get moving.

The plan? Evade capture and attempt to take over the ship.

With that goal in mind, Lilith carefully grabbed Avion.

Seth and the rest clustered around her. “Wifey poo and I will take point. Aramus, you and Riley cover the rear. Lilith, you and Avion take the middle and give us directions to where we’re going.”

Help? How novel. Remember your manners, her inner voice chided. “Thank you.” The not oft said words felt odd, but at the same time, having people around her who didn’t try to drug her or keep her prisoner in general felt good.

“Don’t thank me. This is what friends do. We cover each other’s ass in battle.”

Friendship at last?

Friends didn’t let friends get shot, or so she could practically hear Avion saying, which was why, as they jogged the long and wide halls leading to the command deck, she projected a small force field in front of them to deflect the worst of the laser blast aimed their way by the soldiers they encountered.

After their sixteenth hard-earned kill, a slightly disheveled Seth observed, “I thought you said they didn’t have much crew aboard.”

“They don’t. A true war vessel has thousands while we must deal with only a few hundred.”

“A few hundred she says. Decent odds I’d say. Or is the old spy ’borg in need of a nap?” Aramus teased.

“You’ve been chatting with Adam, haven’t you?” Seth grumbled right after he killed a gray-skinned being who thought the puny blaster he aimed at them would actually hold them at bay.

“I rather like the guy. He knows how to blow shit up.”

“Your obsession with explosions is a tad disconcerting,” Riley observed from her upside-down position. An armed position as Seth gave her the acquired blaster.

“You’d think you’d be used to explosions by now. You spend an awful lot of time together in his room.” Seth winked, and Lilith couldn’t understand why Aramus’ coloring turned a bright shade of red.

Was the cyborg ill?

No, just angry. Again.

“At least my woman doesn’t threaten to kill me.” Aramus dropped Riley and bellowed as he rushed a hulking lizard man who emerged from a T-intersection in the hall.

“Ah man,” Seth sulked. “That will even up the kill numbers again.”

“Poor baby. We’ll just have to find you some more of these crocs to kill.” Anastasia yanked the knife she’d acquired along the way from the side of the dead creature’s neck. She ran her fingers over its bare arm. “Smoother than you’d expect. I really like the leather on this one. Do you think their skin would make a decent pair of boots?”

Lilith absorbed the banter. While not directly involved, she quite enjoyed the minor skirmishes, and best of all, Avion woke.

“What did I miss?” he asked, his tone somewhat groggy.

“We were jailed. But Seth turned into a giant doll and we escaped. We are now fighting reptiles on our way to take over the ship.”

Avion groaned.

“Are you all right? Does something hurt?” she asked, flooded with concern for his wellbeing.

“Just annoyed I slept through all the action again. I really miss being a cyborg. I’m missing out on all the fun.”

“Fun?” She said it questioningly because she could practically hear Daddy’s voice, “War isn’t fun, but necessary.” However, in this case, given the natural adrenaline running through her body, her general level of contentment, not fabricated by a regulated release of the proper hormones to maintain a balanced physique, yes, she was having fun. Real fun. With friends.

Teehee. Look at me. And Daddy said I could never live in normal society.

Then again, not much about the cyborgs or this situation was normal. There wasn’t a set of rules or a handbook on how to act. A human one at any rate. She knew what her old mentor would say.

A host of the nanotech should always comport herself in a respectful manner. An old teaching that she’d pretty much forgotten. But, then again, a lot of what her mentor imprinted her with had been overwritten by the forceful will of her father.

Daddy Dear who locked me up and took away everything. Even her few friends among the staff.

However, now she had new friends, and they were depending on her.

She tossed up a shield, just in time, as a trio of daecrocs pounded into view. Then another trio.

“Finally a decent challenge,” Aramus enthused.

“Big one’s mine,” Seth hollered.

“Too late.” Anastasia smirked as she whirled, her blade having already sliced through a fatal vein.

“No fair.”

“I called it.”

“Too slow,” Anastasia teased as she slid along the floor and sliced the inside of the daecroc’s thighs.

A weak spot Lilith never thought to mention. Most beings wouldn’t be crazy enough to try that maneuver.  It seemed she’d not given the cyborgs enough credit when it came to fighting. She’d only ever observed the human recruits spar. Puny, quickly tired things that lacked grace and strength.

The cyborgs, however, were another thing entirely. Graceful. Violent. Efficient.

It was beautiful to watch.

But someone chafed at not being able to participate. Avion struggled in her arms. “Put me down.”

“I can carry you. It does not tax me.”

“Maybe, but it irritates the hell out of me. I’m not dead yet, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let my woman carry me around like a sack of bolts.”

It occurred to Lilith that she was stronger and could ignore his request, but her other half prevailed. A man has his pride. Let him keep it. Besides, he’d called her his woman. She rather liked that designation.

On his feet, Avion shuffled until his fingers touched the wall.

“Woo. Last kill.” Seth raised both hands in the air and did a triumphant strut.

“Show off,” Aramus muttered.

Avion turned his head to face her, even though he couldn’t see. She wondered how he always knew where she was.

“How much farther to our destination?” he asked.

“One last corner and then we’ll have to tear our way through the riot shield door.”

“What are the chances the hall is empty?” Seth asked.

“I’d say there is a zero percent probability. We will encounter resistance.”

“Last kill gets to fly this thing,” Seth whooped before sprinting around the corner.

He wasn’t alone. Anastasia, Adam, and Aramus were at his heels. Riley tucked closer to Lilith and Avion, the gun in her hand steady, but, given her human status, probably not too accurate. Lilith would have to keep an eye on her, lest the female miss.

Violence erupted out of sight, but the aftermath lingered. Bodies littered the floor, and blood made the smooth floors slick.

Lilith kept watch on Avion as he walked with too much nonchalance through the battle zone. Blinded or not, Avion didn’t seem to have too much difficulty navigating the littered hall. Even with his nanos gone, he was much more than a human.

However, he was fading. She needed to gain control of this ship and get them to where they needed to be.

The portal to the command area was sealed shut.

“Don’t touch it,” she warned as Seth neared it. “It’s electrified.”

Seth stopped a few feet short and stared at it. “How do we open it? I didn’t think to bring a blowtorch.”

“I usually do,” Aramus grumbled. “It’s in my kit bag on the SSBiteMe.”

“Lilith, any ideas?” Anastasia asked.

“Yes. We wait.”

“Wait for what? An invitation in?” Aramus snorted.

“Actually. Yes. If your other team is successful then…” Hiss. Click. The sealed door opened, and a squad of daecrocs with glaring yellow eyes and snarling teeth met them, weapons raised.

“Don’t fire,” Lilith ordered. “They’re surrendering.”

“That doesn’t look like surrender to me,” Aramus growled.

“Watch,” Lilith said. She moved to stand in front of them all, confronting the towering creatures. She stared them in their baleful eyes and stated, “Our people have conquered the kitchens. We control the food supply. Drop the guns, or I will give the order to have the live cargo sucked into space.”

“You think threatening to flush their fresh—” Aramus’ rejoinder faded as the weapons pointed at their face dropped and hit the floor with a clatter. “Are you fucking kidding me? They’re surrendering because we threatened to flush their steak?”

“Everyone has their price,” Anastasia replied. “What’s yours?”

The minute flick of Aramus’ eyes toward Riley was telling. Lilith could also understand it. Some things were worth more than loyalty.

“The ship is ours,” Lilith announced.

“You can’t do this,” the Zvali’dus slaver sputtered as he rose from his command seat. “This goes against the treaty.”

“So does locking me up and threatening to sell my friends.”

“Chosen ones do not behave in this fashion.”

“Nor do they do this.” Lilith leaned forward and licked the gray slaver, a big wet swab of tongue across his paper-dry cheek.

He squeaked. His eyes grew wide. He dared to slap her.

As if his puny blow could budge her. A smile on her lips—nothing tastes sweeter than revenge—she bent over and plucked a gun from the floor. In a single smooth motion, she straightened and aimed it at the slaver.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he sputtered.

She fired, and he hit the floor, the neat hole in his head nothing that could be repaired.

“What did you do that for?” Aramus barked.

Had Aramus forgotten? “Last kill gets to pilot the ship. Seth set the rules to the game. And I won.”

Her victory went unchallenged, and she set the course to the planet that had made her who she was.

In a sense, I’m going home. But she wasn’t counting on a warm welcome.