Page 48 of Truthful Deceptions

With a roar and a war rattle, I charged up the ramp. Leaping off, I landed on the Vicpor, sending us both tumbling.

Before we even stopped moving, he was jabbing me with one of his sharp mid-appendage claws. It would take many stabs before he’d be able to get through my hard keratin plating, but it didn’t feel good.

Lifting my legs, I brought them down hard to give my upper body the momentum I needed to sit up, despite the weight of the Vicpor on me.

The move freed my arms and allowed me to grab his head and twist. I’d never be able to pull it off, but I was able to cause enough pain that he let out a high-pitched chitter-scream and stopped trying to skewer me. He clawed at my arms but stabbed himself on my quills. Several of them broke off in his arm, and goo dripped out.

It wasn’t blood; it was the fluid they used to control their arms. Their body moved using a hydraulic system instead of muscles. Letting go of his neck with one hand, I grabbed hold of one of the quills impaled in his arm and pulled it out. Goo spewed out, and the arm dropped uselessly to his side.

He stopped fighting and went limp. I turned his face to mine to see that he was catatonic. Vicpors did that when they experienced intense pain.

Letting go, I tried to get to my feet, but something hit me from behind. At the same time, I heard one of my crewmates make a sound of pain. None of us voiced our pain unless it was dire.

Worry made me act hastily and clumsily. The Vicpor’s weight was mostly on my back. I tried to do a push-up so I could roll him off, but he went for the vulnerable section of exposed skin at my neck.

He missed the first time, scraping his stabbing claws up the overlapping plates on the back of my neck. I needed to extract myself before he was able to do damage, but he'd wrapped several of his lower limbs around me to secure his weight on my back.

“Get off him!” Opal’s enraged cry was followed by the Vicpor jolting. He’d stopped going for my neck, so I reached back and grabbed hold of the first thing my hand encountered. It was one of the stabbing limbs. I pulled hard, putting everything into it. I felt something pop, and the Vicpor screamed and fell off me. I rolled over, but before I could sit up, he went back to trying to stab me with his still working mid-arm.

As I dodged his attack, I saw some kind of substance had been rubbed over his face right where his eyes emerged. It took me a moment to realize it was the goo from his hydraulic sacs.

Unfortunately, this Vicpor was trained. Despite being distracted and injured, he didn’t stop fighting. He kept me so busy blocking his blows I didn’t get a chance to act offensively.

“Stop! Stop or I’ll fire!” a voice yelled. The Vicpor I was battling suddenly withdrew. I jumped to my feet and turned to see the original Vicpor we’d found on the ship standing halfway down the ramp.

He had a clear view of all of us and was holding a weapon. By the way he was handling it, he wasn’t very experienced, but it wasn’t the kind of weapon you needed much knowledge or skill to fire. With one round he could kill me, the Vicpor near me, and both humans.

This was bad.

Opal

With so many opponents, I thought it would be impossible for the Talins to win. I thought about trying to sneak onto the ship and fire up the small maneuvering thrusters to create a distraction. It might even be able to draw some of the Vicpors on board.

I didn't get a chance.

To my absolute shock, the Talins didn’t seem to need my help. They took on the Vicpors with incredible skill. Did Talins even feel pain? If I was to judge by the way they shrugged off what the Vicpors managed to do to them, I'd say they didn't.

That all ended when the Vicpor that bought me from the broker stepped out of the ship brandishing a weapon.

The way everyone froze told me everything I needed to know about the deadliness of the thing he held.

“Put that down,” one of the Marpers commanded. “We don't allow weapons like that for a fight. That doesn't show bigness."

“I don’t care about bigness,” the Vicpor snarled. “I want both the humans and for us to leave. Brothers, grab them.”

At least half the Vicpors were basically incapacitated. Several had broken or disabled limbs. One wasn't moving at all, and I couldn't tell if he was knocked out or dead.

The ones that could get up turned to help the fallen ones instead of coming for us.

“We are hurt, brother,” one of them said, both his mid-arms limply dangling at his side. He used one of his working upper arms to help another Vicpor to stand and assist him to walk. All of them slowly and painfully made their way up the ramp and past the Vicpor with the weapon.

“We’ve already fought on your behalf, but you are safe now. The humans were your investment, brother,” another one said. “You will have to collect them.”

I hoped the Vicpor would retreat now that he didn't have his brothers to help. Instead he stepped to the side of the ramp and pointed the weapon at us.

“Get up and walk back in here or die,” he threatened.

For the first time, Sloane reacted. She turned her face up and smiled at the Vicpor.