Page 27 of Logic Broken

Maybe that’s why Akri hadn’t gone into detail about why he even needed what was on that thing. Because face it, I might love my action movies and my sci-fi shows, but I was no hero material. I loved adventure but torture? I was going to cave so freaking hard. Then the thought crossed my mind that by keeping my mouth shut, I could maybe prevent Akri from getting hurt… Could I do it for him? My body filled with a wave of resolve and I knew. Yeah for him I could.

“What is that?” I asked, opting for the playing dumb tactic. In response the male hissed again, the sound rattling up my spine, causing goosebumps all over my body. I really, really wanted to disappear into that damn couch, but since that wasn’t an option, I settled for clenching my fists.

“You know what it is! You took it off my gladiator Brake! Where did you find him? You’re too young to have been the one who stole him from me! Where was he?” He shook his fist with the amulet in my face again, as if that could somehow make me remember what he wanted to know. He threw the chain around my neck, holding me by it for a long, protracted moment and then he hissed and shoved back as he let go, forcing me to stumble into the couch a second time.

The name Brake did ring a bell, it was what those bounty hunters had called him when they tried to stop us near Akrod’s docks. That had seemed like a simple case of mistaken identity, but now it was obvious it wasn’t. Had to be the name of the male Akri had come to possess. He was dead, brain dead. Akri had explained how he’d gotten into the body, but how he’d ended up on Akri’s ship? I had no clue.

I shrugged, trying to go for that unconcerned act, “No clue what you’re talking about.” And then I found a bold streak in me again, that streak that made me love adventure, that allowed me to land on my feet when I’d discovered myself kidnapped from Earth. “Why would I tell you? You’re a Sythral without gold, you’re no threat to me.”

The long vertical slits in his cheeks vibrated with the angry hissing noise he made. I was scared to my core but somehow I managed to remain seated where I’d landed and stare up at him with defiance. Defiance I definitely wasn’t feeling anywhere as strongly as I was making it look, this could be a terrible mistake, hitting him where it hurt the most.

“How dare you! You have no idea! You filthy, disgusting, classless, dumb thief!” he spat and then he tilted his head and jutted his chin at one of the guards. It was a Krektar that outsized and outmuscled me at least three times over and he manhandled me to my knees, yanking my arms behind my back with a painful wrench. I couldn’t prevent a pained moan from escaping and I could tell that it excited the Sythral to hear it.

“You are going to be your own downfall, just like on the planet!” the Sythral declared, pacing in front of me as the Krektar guard held me. A gleam in the red eyes of the evil creature in front of me made me want to flinch back into the stocky body of the guard behind me. “No stupid thief outsmarts me, and you are stupid!” he reiterated. I wondered what he was talking about with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Had I done something that had allowed him to find us? Was this my fault?

The cuffs clicked around my wrist when they locked magnetically and a hand on my shoulder kept me in place on my knees in front of the alien creep. His red eyes glowed with glee as he watched me in this new, vulnerable position. Another head jerk had the guard melted away, back to his spot against the wall. The Sythral waved with his cane, that gold tip arrowing for my face and I flinched back even though it wasn’t moving fast.

I was seeing stars the next moment, he’d moved like a cobra, snapping out an open palmed hand and hitting me in the face with it. “Do not move!” he said, and then he added much more gleefully, “You don’t even know, do you? How that silly water contraption led me right to your cave. You might as well have lit a fire, would have been warmer while you waited for us to catch you!”

Oh shit, I hadn’t been thinking about anything but the burning desert heat the next day. I hadn’t realized someone could be searching for us from the sky, that a simple bit of tarp would be like painting a bullseye on our backs. This was my fault, and I should have told Akri what I’d done, I thought that I was helping. But I’d gotten us caught instead. Maybe the Sythral thought this information would cause me to talk, that pointing out my mistake would make me more amendable to caving. I was only more resolved to do better this time, to not fail Akri again.

I knew not to move this time when the cane with the gold tip gently moved in front of me, tipping my chin back so I was looking the Sythral in the eye. “You think you can cause my downfall, think again! Who are you working for? You’re a nobody, you’re not smart enough to engineer this kind of plan! Was it Dexi or Lakola? No, Jalima sent you, didn’t he?”

Oh boy, Jalima? I knew that name, he was one of the major Crimelords that ran the criminal elements in this Quadrant of space. One of supposedly twelve; he was currently rumored to have claimed several major pieces of territory that once belonged to Drameil, another major Crimelord that had fallen on hard times. And I knew that he had annexed all of the territories that once belonged to Carator when he was killed half a year ago.

My eyes went wide with shock, this was Drameil. No wonder he was so furious, and no wonder all his gold was gone. Hard times? This was a complete fall from grace. Unfortunately, he took that as an admission, hissing furiously, cane swinging through the air with a whistling noise. I did the only thing I could to avoid that blow, I threw myself to the left, landing painfully on my shoulder. The cane went over my head, missing so closely that I could feel the air displacing along my cheek.

Drameil roared, a deep, rattling noise that sounded almost like the breaths of some poor sap dying. “I knew it! That ambitious toad! I am going to kill him!” The cane was raised above his head and I feared that he was about to start whaling on me with that thing. I braced myself to roll out of the way, aware that a blow with that cane would break bones when wielded by a being like a Sythral.

I was a goner if he landed more than just a few hits; he would crush my rib cage. I couldn’t let that happen. I had more to live for than ever, I had to find Akri. “What did you do with Brake?” I yelled out, my voice little more than a squeak. The cane came down and I rolled but not fast enough. An inch above my arm the thing came to a stop and a pair of glowing red eyes met mine.

“You want to know where my gladiator is?” he hissed and a tongue slipped out from between his thin, parchment-white lips. “Why do you care?” Something cold and calculating passed behind those evil eyes, and I realized that he’d sensed the desperation behind that question. I thought I was just distracting him but in the face of coming pain I’d showed him my hand, showed him that I cared about where Akri was, even if he didn’t know that Brake was no longer Brake.

I didn’t answer the question, just kept on staring up into his evil face, glaring at him. This was probably suicidal on my part but he wouldn’t understand my reasons anyway. Adventure wasn’t so fun when I couldn’t see the way out and when I was facing down something this abhorrent to life. My mind filled with the thought that I hadn’t even told my silly, nerdy AI that I loved him. Despite the risks we’d taken together, I didn’t blame him for a thing, and I would do it all again if I had to make that choice.

“Oh, that must have been wholly unexpected, thief,” the Sythral drawled smugly. He was no longer furiously enraged but cool and collected and the sudden switch derailed me. He even backed off, walking to the other side of the room where a cabinet against the wall clinked as he opened it. Pouring himself a glass of lurid green Peckana in a crystal glass, I remembered the sickly sweet drink, which induced mild hallucinations in some species.

I didn’t know what he thought he knew, but it was probably not good news for me. Two guards popped up on either side of me and I was hauled to my feet by my arms, forced to dangle between them while my toes barely scraped the floor.

“Yes, with his mate imprisoned, Brake is going to fight harder than he ever has before. He’ll win me back all my money in the arena, and then I’ll crush that fool Jalima. He’s going to wish he never crossed me.” The fallen Crimelord raised his glass of Peckana in the air as if he was making a toast to me. “And when Jalima is dust I will capture the Beast and his brothers once more and I will see to it that they all pay for what they cost me.”

I jerked in the grip of the two guards holding me, furious that this bastard thought he was going to win. Even if he was calling Akri Brake, I knew he was right. Akri would fight for me, he would hate himself for it every step of the way, but he’d fight if that meant I would be safe. I wanted my taser back, and I wanted to pummel this bastard like I’d done the last, to make him pay for the pain he so enjoyed inflicting.

The door opening caused all of us to turn and look at the portal. All I saw was a yellow blur, followed by a gurgled scream. The guard on the left of the portal flew back, pinned to the floor by Akri; he wasn’t moving anymore. Akri rose with the laser rifle from the guard in his arms, a deadly expression on his face as he leveled the gun at the next Krektar with cold precision. That male was raising his own gun, but he was too slow. The rifle whined as it went off and the second guard went down in a heap.

The males holding me up dropped me like I was a sack of potatoes. Without my hands to catch me, I thudded painfully to my knees but I managed to soften the blow by rolling over. It allowed me to see the two males charging Akri, engaging him in a fight. I also saw Drameil back up to the wall next to the drinking cabinet. He flicked a switch and ducked through a hidden doorway that opened for him.

By the time Akri had disposed of the guards, Drameil was gone and the panel was sealed. I cursed out loud, but my disappointment at seeing the bastard escape faded when Akri dropped down next to me and pulled me into his arms. “I got you, Jenny. You’re safe sweetheart!” he declared, his chest heaving from the rush of battle, his body pumping out heat against my own chilled skin.

“Oh God, Akri! You’re okay! I was so worried!” I told him. “He escaped. We have to get him or he’s going to keep trying to hurt you…” I had no doubt of that. Drameil thought the gladiator Brake was his best way to return his riches and restore his power. Whether that was true or not, he was desperate enough to fixate on Akri and never stop trying.

Akri opened his mouth to speak but the Sythral spoke first, his voice coming through the ship’s intercom system. “Intruders in the waiting room, I want them caught, right now!” That couldn’t be good. He was alerting everyone on the ship to our position, we had to get out of here.

“We’ll hide,” Akri assured me, his hands swift as he took the restraints off my wrists and hauled me to my feet. “This way,” he urged and hand in hand the two of us rushed from the room and started running through hallways as dark and black as the room I’d woken up in. Then he locked us into a room and grinned. “Help is coming, don’t worry.”

Vagabond

Ziame