The Grace of Herendar trembled under Ashley's fingers as the pirates docked, and she scrambled around the hull to stay out of sight. It was something of a miracle that she'd managed to catch hold of the ship after being sucked out of the airlock. She'd only managed by sheer bloody-mindedness and luck.

Hanging on until the pirates closed had been painful and difficult. She'd almost let go more than once, but if there was one thing that life as a scavenger in Earth's ruins had taught her, it was how to keep her grip. And once the pirates cut the tugs free, she'd been able to scramble up onto the side of the ship unobserved.

Kosar wasn't going to get rid of her this easily. Especially not if he was going to try to face their enemies alone.

When the second of the enemy ships undocked, she saw her chance. Hauling with all the strength remaining in her arms she pulled herself towards the airlock they'd blown open. The dragon tech forcefield was enough to keep the air inside but it wouldn't keep her out. As long as the pirates hadn't left a guard on it, but then, why would they do that? They were expecting to face one enemy, trapped inside the ship.

That's what she told herself as she clambered over to the opening and peeked inside, hoping that she wouldn't be greeted by a gunshot. Nope. Nothing. The airlock was empty. Pulling herself inside, she breathed easier as the ship's gravity took hold, and for a moment she just lay there on the deck, recovering her strength.

Get up, Ashley, she told herself sternly, looking at the ceiling and gasping for air. Come on, you're here to help Kosar. You can't do that if you're not going to even stand up!

With a wince and a heave, she pulled herself to her feet and looked around. Aside from the burned-open hole in the airlock door there were no signs of the attackers, but they had to be here somewhere. Maybe Kosar's already dealt with them?

No. I'm never that lucky, and even if I was, there's still the third ship full of pirates that hasn't docked yet. Ashley felt certain that they'd have come in if the boarding party was losing — which meant that, as far as the pirates were concerned, things were going well.

We'll just have to see what I can do about that, Ashley thought, trying to come up with a plan. The trouble was that she didn't know enough about what was going on.

Should she go fore or aft? The bridge had the controls for the ship's systems and the monitoring system spread through the ship. But that didn't matter if the enemy got hold of the engine room and the stardrive. Kosar would be back there, defending the prize.

The enemy, on the other hand, could be anywhere. They'd have to sweep the whole ship after all, so as soon as she stepped out of the airlock she'd risk running into them.

That's a problem I'll just have to face.

She took off her helmet and clipped it to her belt. It was a risk if the ship depressurized for any reason — but right now she was more interested in being able to see and hear clearly. About to step over the threshold to the rest of the ship, she paused. What if someone was watching? Sticking her head around the doorway suddenly seemed like a great way to get a bullet through it.

Fortunately, she had other options. Pulling a mirror from an equipment pouch, she was grateful that she'd kept her scavenging supplies at hand. Including the extending pole she could use to hold up a small mirror and look around the corner.

No one shot it. No one was visible. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the Grace of Herendar to save her man.

It wasn't easy to keep quiet in the heavy boots of a spacesuit, but Ashley knew her life depended on it. If the bad guys heard her, she knew she had no chance in a fight. Maybe if she took someone by surprise... but she didn't think she was going to be able to creep up on an alert pirate. And when her best weapon was a wrench, she wasn't confident it would do any good even if she could.

Gunfire sounded from the direction of the engine room and she paused. Yep, that's where Kosar is alright. Ashley fought against her instinctive desire to run to him, to help him. Running into a gunfight was a stupid damned idea.

A shame I didn't come up with a better plan before coming back to help, she thought, gritting her teeth and trying to think quickly. I guess it's time to improvise.

Given how badly everything she'd planned had gone, making things up as she went could only improve things. She turned her back on the sound of violence and hurried towards the bridge. The monitors there would give her a view of what was happening, and maybe that would let her help Kosar. If the fighting was at the back of the ship, maybe there weren't any enemies to the front? It seemed like it was worth a go.

She wasn't that lucky, though. As she approached the bridge she heard voices from it. Arguing voices. Quickly ducking into one of the staterooms, she held the door open and listened in.

"—can't be serious, Captain. I'm not a fighter, I'm a scientist!" Ashley's blood ran cold as she recognized the first voice. Cooper. He was here with the attackers. She'd been right. He must have had a contact who could put him in touch with Mr. Johnson, and the businessman would have had a lot of use for him.

It was probably down to him that they'd been able to figure out how useless the data she'd given them was on its own. Cooper might be many things, but as a scientist he knew what he was talking about.

"I don't care what you are," an angry voice replied. "The damned dragon's in the engine room and we're all going to go and pull him out. You will be fine here on your own, Doctor, and you can keep us on target."

Kosar's alive! That sent a thrill through Ashley. Despite the sounds of fighting she'd been worried, but she should have known better. These thugs weren't going to put him down easily. Now I just have to find a way to help him win.

"You can't leave me here alone," Cooper whined, his voice making Ashley want to hit something. Preferably him. "What if something happens?"

"You'll be fine." The pirate didn't sound convinced, but he didn't want to waste time arguing. "The alien's trapped in the engine room, and there's no one else aboard. You do your job here and you're perfectly safe. I'll be back as soon as the alien's dead."

With that, the conversation ended, and Ashley pressed herself against the inside of the door. It was pure luck they hadn't seen her on the cameras — luck, and the fact that an angry dragon shifter was the kind of thing to keep their attention focused on the engine room.

Footsteps hurried past outside, men running towards the fight. Kosar was outnumbered and badly outgunned, and he couldn't last long against so many opponents no matter how skilled a warrior he was. Ashley bit her lip, trying to control her fear. What if one of the mercenaries had stayed with Cooper? She'd been in fights before, but never against anyone as dangerous these pirates. And she'd never gone looking for a fight.

Hefting her wrench, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the stateroom. There was a first time for everything.

To her relief, the bridge was empty apart from Dr. Cooper who sat watching the screens Kosar had set up. The array of screens showed the whole ship, and Ashley caught sight of herself on one of them. It was an odd sight, seeing herself creeping forward, wrench in hand.

Fortunately, Cooper hadn't spotted her yet. His attention was focused on the largest screen. It showed the engine room, lit in the strange multicolored pulses given off by the stardrive. There was blood everywhere.

The sight of it was enough to freeze Ashley in place, her heart in her mouth. But it couldn't all be Kosar's. There he stood, pressed against the wall beside the doorway, still ready to fight even though he was bleeding from several wounds.

There were bodies, too, and that was where most of the blood came from. Other images showed her the corridor outside the engine room, and she counted five unmoving humans between them, two inside the room and three outside. Kosar had been busy.

Unfortunately, the enemies weren't stupid, and they weren't keen to keep rushing to their deaths. Two gunmen covered the door with their heavy rifles and others were setting up a gadget against the wall.

"Careful," Cooper said, voice high-pitched and full of nerves. "You can't get this wrong, we have to make sure that the stardrive isn't damaged!"

A crackly voice answered him from the radio he held, the static not masking the speaker's impatience. "We know what we're doing. Just give us our target and don't worry so much."

Creeping closer, Ashley started to be able to make out the details of the device. It looked like some kind of heavy gun, braced with its barrel pressed to the wall. And, looking between the two screens, she saw that the pirates were setting it up exactly opposite where Kosar waited.

They were going to shoot him through the wall. She swallowed nervously and lifted her wrench. I have to stop them, have to warn Kosar, she told herself as she made the last step forward.

Maybe Cooper saw her on the screen. Maybe she made a noise. Ashley didn't know how, but at the last second he twisted aside and the wrench hit his shoulder rather than the back of his head.

The impact ran up Ashley's arm, a sickening feeling of steel meeting flesh, and she almost dropped the weapon. Cooper screamed, in shock as well as pain, leaping aside and trying to get some distance from her. Desperate, she swung again, and this time the wrench thudded into his stomach. He staggered back, staring at her wide-eyed.

"You!" he snarled the word, hate in his eyes, and his hands scrabbled at his belt for something. "What the fuck are you doing here? Never mind. This time, your boyfriend won't save you."

"I don't need him to take you down," Ashley said, following him and looking for an opening. The armored military spacesuit he wore seemed to have protected him from the worst of her attacks so far. Ashley was keenly aware that her own suit was a civilian model. Great.

But that didn't matter. She had to win this fight, and fast. Cooper's radio barked questions, and if someone else came to check on him she'd lose everything. She jumped forward, swinging hard.

Cooper lunged at her, raising an arm to parry her swing. The wrench thudded into him and he howled in pain, but it didn't stop him, and the impact put Ashley off balance. Cooper's shoulder struck her and the two of them tumbled to the deck, rolling over and over in a desperate struggle to come out on top.

Something cracked into the side of Ashley's head and for a moment everything spun around her. By the time she'd recovered her senses, Cooper had her pinned under his weight, looking down at her with crazy eyes and raising his hand high. He was holding a heavy flashlight and dimly Ashley realized that must be what he'd hit her with.

Wonderful, we're both just hitting each other with whatever comes to hand. Somehow that thought was hilarious to her, and she wondered just how hard that blow to her head had been. The flashlight came down in slow motion, aimed at her face, and she almost didn't react at all.

Behind Cooper, she could see the wall of screens, and on them Kosar. Facing down an army of foes, because of her. She couldn't abandon him, couldn't let the weakest enemy defeat her. Drawing strength from the sight of her mate, she desperately swung up her wrench to block Cooper's attack.

More by accident than design, the wrench struck his wrist rather than the flashlight, and Cooper cried out again. His weapon went flying across the bridge and it was his turn to be frozen by the pain. That gave Ashley just enough time to swing the wrench into his face and he tumbled off her, clutching at his head. Rolling up to her feet Ashley struck him again for good measure, and he stopped moving.

For a sickening moment she thought she'd killed him. Not that she'd mourn him much, but the thought of ending a life shook her. His chest still rose and fell, though. He was unconscious, not dead.

Better than he deserves, she thought as she hurried to the controls and prayed that she was in time. The pirate commander was barking demands over the radio, telling Cooper to respond, but they hadn't fired the gun yet. One of them was at the controls, though, and as she watched, three of the pirates started their way back up the ship towards the bridge. She only had seconds to get to the door and seal it against them.

The controls for the ship's intercom were too confusing for her to unravel now, but she didn't need to be precise. Hitting all the switches, she shouted into the microphone.

"Kosar! Move!"