Beauty and the Fleet (Intergalactic Fairy Tales Book 2) (19 page)

Beatrix scanned around for options, but there was nowhere good to go. Between them and the aircraft was about a hundred meters of open field. There was no reasonable way to circle around. The only real option they had was to retreat toward the house and that wouldn't do them any good.

Suddenly, the booming cough of the soldiers' guns stopped. Woolly stopped firing as well. His back went rigid. Before Beatrix could move to peek around the corner she heard a sharp voice echo across the open space.

"Beatrix," called Arryn's leech. "Come out here alone and we may consider giving you and your friends another chance at being blessed with a Partner, rather than being put to death."

She'd heard that euphemism before. He was offering to give them another chance to let symbionts take over their bodies. Beatrix shuddered involuntarily. This leech obviously didn't have full access to what Arryn knew of her, otherwise that wouldn't have been a bargaining tactic. It probably would have went the other way around.

Against her better judgment, Beatrix peeked around the corner. Arryn's body stood in the middle of the clearing, his dark fur gleaming in the sunlight. He radiated strength and confidence. He held no weapons; his arms were crossed before him. If he feared Woolly shooting him, he didn't show it. From what Beatrix could see of Woolly, his shoulders slumped in defeat, there was nothing to fear.

"What are you doing?" asked Torch, his mouth hanging open as he gawked at Woolly. "Shoot him and the rest of them will fall apart long enough for us to get on the ship."

"He can't shoot him; he's his friend," Beatrix explained.

"Then give me the gun," said Hands. He reached up and rubbed the scar on his forehead and then held out his hand toward Woolly's gun. "I've got no such problem."

"Touch my weapon monkey-man, and I'll take the offending arm off and beat you to death with it." His lip turned up in a snarl.

"Back off, Hands," said Beatrix, stepping between them. "Nobody is going to shoot him."

"And just why the hell not?" asked Hands, his eyes flashing with anger. "He took us all prisoner and then tried to put those...things on us."

"Because he's the reason that we were able to escape in the first place," said Beatrix, carefully keeping her rising anger in check. It wasn't his fault that he didn't understand the full extent of what was going on. If she'd been locked up in her cell the whole time, she wouldn't have either. She would have been first in line to put one through Arryn's head, probably two or three just to be sure.

"That doesn't make the slightest bit of sense," retorted Hands, taking a step to move around her toward Woolly. Beatrix stepped with him, blocking the way. "You've lost your mind."

"No," said Pickle. "This isn't what madness looks like. Let her talk."

While Beatrix wasn't exactly sure what Pickle knew about madness, Hands backed down. Beatrix looked around the corner of the shed. The leech seemed content to wait, so she turned back to her friends. She owed them an explanation if she was going to ask them to risk their lives the way she intended. "Everything we know about the Colarians is wrong."

"What does that mean?" asked Gadget. He looked tired beyond belief. They all did. Prison life had worn away at them.

"I don't have time for a long explanation, so I'm just going to give you the important bits and you're going to have to trust me about the rest." She looked to each of them. They all nodded, if a bit hesitantly. She had rescued them, but first she had left them. "The biggest thing you need to know is that the symbionts aren't really symbionts. They are mind-controlling leeches who hitch a ride on other species so that they can experience the sights and sounds of the world in a way their limited bodies couldn't otherwise. They aren't just dumb creatures that enhance their host's body in exchange for nutrients."

"Wait," said Torch, holding up a hand, his brow wrinkled in confusion. "Are you saying the Colarians convinced you they are victims?"

"No, I'm saying that I figured out that the Colarians aren't really a people. What we call Colarians are truly Leothen and the symbionts are the Anthrak. Look at Woolly there and you'll notice that one of the bands of flesh that should connect the symbiont to his forehead is missing." Her friends all turned as one to regard their unlikely savior. He looked decidedly uncomfortable for a moment and then went back to looking hostile. "I did the same to the Colarian that killed my father. One of you take a look out there at him and tell me what you see."

Hands did the honors and came back with a scowl on his face. "It has two bands of flesh on its forehead again. So what?"

"That just happened," said Beatrix. "Now he's completely under their control again. When he only had one connection to his head, he could break free of their control and even work against them in limited ways. He is how I knew that Woolly here would help us. He must have gotten discovered and they removed his old symbiont and replaced it. Now he's back under their thumb. He's a prisoner just as surely as all of us were."

The men all looked back and forth at one another with varying levels of skepticism showing on their faces. Pickle, on the other hand, looked horrified. "You mean, that we've been killing all of these innocent people who have had their minds taken over?"

"There isn't anything innocent about Colarians," grumbled Gadget. "They were trying to kill us just as hard as we were trying to kill them."

Beatrix ignored his comment, knowing that it came from past grief and that she would have said the same not very long ago. "I touched a glowing orb just before I came to free you all. It confirmed everything I just told you. The symbionts, the Anthrak, are a hive mind, like ants, or bees. They can communicate telepathically over short distances. They use the orbs to connect back to the main hive and sync their thoughts. They don't even think of themselves as individual beings. I touched their collective and was almost destroyed by it in the time it took me to fall to the ground. Trust me when I say that I know what I'm talking about."

As she was talking, she watched the eyebrows of the men creep higher and higher up their foreheads. Hands frowned and rubbed at the scars on his forehead. Beatrix could tell she'd come uncomfortably close to describing his experience with the Anthrak. Torch, always the quickest on the uptake and the last one to speak, stepped forward. "I guess we're all going to have to hope that if there is a god out there, he understands that we were just trying to defend ourselves when we have to answer for what we've done." Hands and Gadget nodded in agreement, looking a little green around the gills. Beatrix sighed in relief.

"So, if we're not going to kill any Colarians, how the hell are we getting out of here?" asked Hands.

"There are no such things as Colarians. Only Anthrak and Leothen. I won't kill any Leothen, but I've got no problem taking out the Anthrak," said Beatrix, a gleam in her eye.

"I know that look," said Torch, giving her a grin. "That means you have a stupid plan."

"You mean a brilliant plan," said Beatrix.

"No, I always say what I mean," said Torch. He shook his head and wiped a hand over his face. "Just because they usually work, doesn't mean they're any less stupid."

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

"We knew you couldn't resist a chance at getting your own Partner," said the leech, his smile looking all wrong on Arryn's face. He'd never looked that self-satisfied with his other symbiont. It was hard not to show her concern for Arryn. Since she'd touched the orb, it felt wrong to call him Josh. He'd gone through an ordeal that defied description to hang onto his name, the least she could do was respect it.

Beatrix walked slowly toward him, her hands held out wide so he could see she wasn't carrying any weapons. "Please, don't hurt my friends," she said, allowing a bit of her very real fear to bleed into her voice.

"Don't worry, we have no plans to hurt any of you if you cooperate. You will be integral in helping the Anthrak merge with your species. Your faster breeding rate will help us spread more efficiently through the galaxy."

The gap between them had closed to just a few meters. Behind her she could almost feel the nervous tension from her companions. Or maybe it was her own nerves. If this went sideways, they would all be dead. At least it would be better than having those things in their minds. "I've talked it over with my friends and they told me that joining with the Anthrak wasn't something to be feared. I'd rather do that than die here. It was a mistake to run." It wasn't exactly a performance for the ages. Her tone was flat and maybe even a bit sarcastic. She had to hope this new leech wasn't well acquainted with Nedran speech patterns yet.

"That is a wise decision, Beatrix," said the leech. "You will, however, have to forgive me if I don't take you at your word. Stop there and turn around."

Beatrix took a couple more small steps, pushing her luck as far as she thought prudent. There were still three long strides between her and the leech. She wasn't as close as she would have liked, but it would have to do. "Now!" she screamed.

Arryn's eyes popped open so wide it was comical. Just as quickly, they scrunched up in pain. Woolly must have done at least one of his parts: blasting a mental scream directly into the beast's mind. Beatrix launched into action, taking those three large steps as fast as she could while simultaneously reaching behind her to pull the knife she'd snagged in the kitchen. Gunfire erupted from at least two directions behind her, buying her a few more seconds. Arryn's arm lashed out at her, glancing off her shoulder. If she had been intending to charge head on into him, the blow would have landed squarely in her chest and completely incapacitated her. Instead, she stumbled and then slipped around behind him. She gave two swift kicks to the backs of his legs, driving him to his knees. Beatrix slid the tip of the knife under the black flesh of the symbiont at Arryn's neck. Her position was precarious. She was open to fire from the Anthrak in the ship, but not without risking hitting Arryn.

The scene was complete mayhem. They had convinced Woolly to give Torch his sidearm so they could fire at the Anthrak around them from two fronts. The Anthrak had responded with much better aim. The edges of the shed were quickly disintegrating. "Call them off or I find out what color your Anthrak guts are."

"This one being does not matter. We are Anthrak."

Despite his insistence that he didn't matter, some part of the leech hadn't yet overcome Arryn's instincts for self-preservation. The gunfire died down within a few seconds. "Come on out guys," called Beatrix.

Hesitantly, Torch peeked around the small shed and then, satisfied he wasn't going to be shot, waved a hand for the rest of the group to follow. Woolly brought up the rear.

Beatrix watched them in furtive glances, not wanting to risk the leech doing something stupid and getting them all killed. "Now, get your goons out of that ship." Without a word uttered between them, the shooters stood up and ambled down the ramp, their guns still switching targets from Beatrix to her friends. They walked off to the side and then slowly circled around so that they were standing in front of the dilapidated shed themselves. "Good boy."

After what seemed like days, her friends were all past her and creeping backward toward the open ramp.

"On your feet, slowly," said Beatrix. It was incredibly awkward walking backward with the knife still held at the back of Arryn's neck, but she managed. The ramp began to close and another dozen Anthrak with guns joined the two who had just left the ship, watching their prey escape. "That was close," sighed Beatrix.

The ship lifted into the air and tossed Beatrix off balance. She pulled her hand down from Arryn's neck in order to catch her balance. The leech was no longer in immediate danger. Gunfire erupted outside, pinging off the hull of the craft. Arryn stumbled past her.

"The leech is telling them to shoot us down," called Beatrix. "Somebody grab him."

"Watch out," called Woolly as he heaved himself from the cockpit. He was so fast that Beatrix didn't even have time to react. He bounded past her and knocked her to the side.

Her head bounced off the angled ceiling of the craft and stars exploded across her vision, threatening to claim her consciousness. The world spun and shouts boomed around her. A large body glanced off her and inhuman snarls were added to the mix. One of the snarls cut off and there was the unmistakable thud of a heavy body hitting the floor.

"Sting, are you all right?" asked a female voice, gentle hands clasping her shoulders.

"Just cut the damn leech off him then," shouted Hands.

"No," said Beatrix weakly, her vision still swimming.

"Yeah, if the leech is dead, it can't tell them to shoot us down," said Gadget.

"You should sit down, Sting," said Pickle. Something in her tone indicated it wasn't the first time. She was tugging at her shoulders, trying to get her to move.

"No," Beatrix repeated, stronger this time. "Stop!"

"Okay, sorry," said Pickle. "I just don't want you to fall down and hurt yourself."

"You'll kill him," Beatrix shouted. Nobody was paying attention to her.

Finally, the stars cleared from her vision and she saw Torch on the deck, his knee planted on Arryn's back. Arryn was still conscious, but his eyes swam in their sockets, not focusing. Her kitchen knife sawed back and forth. There was no time. She dived through the air and knocked Torch to the ground. The impact ripped the breath from her lungs and she lay there gasping while Torch climbed back to his feet.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, taking hold of the knife again.

She gasped repeatedly, trying to get enough air to speak. It was no use. Torch took hold of the knife again. She shook her head wildly and kicked at the deck. He ignored her. She had to do something or Torch was going to kill Arryn right along with his leech. If she kicked at Torch from her downed position, he could pull on the knife and finish the leech off.

Beatrix slid closer and did the last thing she could to save Arryn's life. She kicked him in the head—hard—with both feet. She would only get one chance to knock him out, and he was built like a tank. His head snapped to the side and the gunfire outside came to a halt. The ship continued to gain altitude and its conscious inhabitants all stared at Beatrix.