Hyperspeed Dreams by Anna Carven

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lodan’s fingersitched with the need to draw his sword and kill someone, but he held back, because Tasha was in his arms.

His sweet, precious human, who came up with such endearing lame jokes in the face of her imminent demise.

She was brave.

She never steered him wrong.

And now, he was more certain than ever that she trusted him.

That meant the Universe to him.

They had a system going; Tasha would whisper directions in his ear, and he would relay them to the boss, who was at the head of the formation.

Tarak left a trail of death in his wake, slaying the human guards before they even had a chance to draw their weapons or alert their comrades. The Third Division warriors hadn’t even gotten a look-in yet; the boss was just that good.

Lodan wasn’t surprised that Tarak had decided to personally come along for this mission. He was one of them, after all; a First Division warrior trained in the fine art of bloody combat. He relished fighting in close quarters as much as any of them, and sometimes, when the pent-up anger got too much, one just had to go down and engage in a little bloodshed.

More so than most, Lodan understood.

These humans; this so-called Praetorian—whatever that meant—they had crossed one too many lines to be shown any kind of mercy.

Firstly, they’d knowingly obtained plasma weapons.

Secondly, they had somehow gotten their hands on the one thing that could so easily destroy a Kordolian’s will to live—Enqua.

Thirdly, they had taken this sweet, innocent human—his human—and turned her into a killer against her will. They had almost broken her. And that was unforgivable.

What else were they doing behind the scenes? What else were they capable of?

Above them, Jeral was probably doing the same thing, cutting a swathe through any human resistance as he cleared an exit route—just in case they had to find another way out. Given free rein to do what he did best, he would also concentrate on securing The Praetorian’s digital records.

Free rein, huh?

Lodan couldn’t help but feel a little envious, although Goddess knew his brother probably needed the action right now.

Jeral had also been stewing over something these last few rotations. Lodan didn’t fully understand it, but he knew it had something to do with Jeral’s most recent mission to Zarhab Groht to capture some sniveling bastard called Sagarath Rexu.

Something about a human captive he’d rescued.

Jeral could be a bit unpredictable sometimes, so maybe it was a good thing that the boss had let him loose on his own.

Lodan knew better than to question Tarak’s orders. The boss always seemed to know what they needed.

He pressed the release on Tasha’s chest-armor and glanced down at the dokari. Still purple. That freaked him out. The shot of Zharek’s analogue that he’d administered hadn’t really done much. That meant the remaining Enqua in her system was running dangerously low.

He’d thought they had more time. How could Zharek’s calculations have been off? The bastard was rarely wrong.

Not long now, my Tasha. Just hold on.

She tapped his arm. “Up ahead, there’s a big metal barrier door with red and black lines in the middle. If you go through there, you’ll get into the restricted zone, which is where all the classified assets stay… scratch that, I should call them people—who don’t want to fucking be there.”

Lodan’s heart clenched at the thought of Tasha being kept somewhere against her will.

Why did humans always act so morally superior when they were capable of doing shit like this—to their own people?

He relayed Tasha’s directions to Tarak through the comm.

“Already here,” the boss informed him. “The way is clear. I’m about to cut through.”

“You may come across human prisoners. Tasha requests that we spare them… if possible.”

“If possible,” Tarak agreed. “But if they have been used as weapons, their masters will probably try and wield them against us. Be prepared to face the real offensive. It has been suspiciously easy so far.”

“Agreed.” Lodan lengthened his stride as the purplish hue of Tasha’s dokari grew more intense… edging a little closer to pink. “I need to push through now. She’s gonna die if we don’t hurry the fuck up.”

“Come, then. Can she run?”

“Not at the moment. She’s too weak.”

“I’ll cover for you. You know where you’re going?”

“Tasha’s directions are even clearer than yours.”

“Obviously, you are besotted. Once we get inside, prepare to face plasma fire. You will need to shield her.”

“With my nanite-tainted body,” Lodan growled. “Let them burn me to a crisp if they have to. I’ll get her there.”

“I know. Let’s go.”

Lodan gave Tasha a squeeze and lengthened his stride, picking up speed as he passed the Third Division warriors. Recognizing his intent, they quickly made way for him.

Two of them peeled away, heading back toward the entrance, no doubt to secure the area so nobody could surprise them from behind.

“Here we are.” Lodan spotted the metal doors Tasha had told him about. He entered the so-called restricted zone through a neat two-person-sized hole that had been carved out of the metal by none other than Tarak’s Callidum blade.

Suddenly, they were in a wide, brightly lit corridor. The light grey floors were highly polished. The walls were a blinding shade of white. Good thing Lodan had his visor, otherwise all this damn brightness would have irritated his eyes.

The corridor ended in a junction, splitting into left and right.

A searing plasma flash exploded from the left corridor; the one they were supposed to take.

As expected.

Tarak and his men were already down there, fighting through troublesome humans, clearing the way for Lodan and his precious cargo.

Suddenly, she went limp in his arms. The dokari was so close to turning red.

Lodan ran faster than he’d ever run in his life.