Corsairs: Kaspar (Corsair Brothers 2) - Page 120

"Yes. Just stay still. And keep telling me what's happening."

He tries to focus on the fight behind us—which is narrated by the sounds of flesh hitting flesh. "Killer is…really good at fighting. He's winning."

"He'd better be," I grumble. Sterre isn't letting go of him, so I try a tactic I know she hates. I reach between her second set of forelegs and start tickling her stomach. "Who hates a tummy rub?" I coo, even though it feels like the worst time ever to piss off my pet. "Who hates it?"

Sterre immediately lets go of him and tries to grab my hand, her jaws opening in a mock-bite. She's done this with me before, never breaking the skin.

"There's my girl," I say as Salvotor drops her to the ground. I turn and point where Kas is pounding on the face of one of the guards, the other in a heap at his feet. "Go help Dad!"

Sterre just looks at me and circles around my legs. I'm starting to recognize the protective look on her face, and it's obvious she's not going to leave my side. I turn toward Kaspar, but he's got things under control. As I watch, he drops the second guard in a heap on the ground and picks up the blasters, shoving them into his worn belt. He then pulls a cuff off of one of the fallen men, tosses it into the air jauntily, and turns back to look at me, a grin on his face.

"You loved that, admit it," I say to him.

"Felt good." He jogs back up to my side, and then frowns. "The alarms have stopped."

"Is that bad?"

"Depends on how fast we get out of here." Kas races past me to the doorframe of the ship, swipes the cuff, and then exhales deeply when the ship chimes and the portal opens. He turns back to me, a grin on his blood-spattered face. "Progress."

"Let's go," I say, grabbing Sterre's harness with one hand and Salvotor with the other. The splice is rubbing his neck, a wounded expression on his face, as if we've hurt his feelings somehow by letting Sterre maul him. I'll make it up to him some other time. We just have to get out of here.

Kas moves to the side of the door, putting a hand on my back as I drag the rest of our party inside. The interior of the ship is gray and sterile and looks nothing like the little ship we've spent the last two months marooned in. It's unwelcoming and reminds me just how little I know about spaceships. Sure, I've spent the last three years and some change on them, but the Buoyant Star had big, white halls and open spaces. This gray ship has square, closed-in halls that make me feel like I'm walking into a box. As I move forward, Sterre rubs up against my leg, practically shoving me into the wall—a wall that's lit up with buttons and panels and covered in writing of some kind.

At least Kaspar looks like he knows what he's doing. As Salvotor stands around helplessly, another alarm starts to blare. A different one. I wince, looking at my mate. "Is that us?"

"That's us," he agrees. Kas moves past us, taps a few buttons onto the panel, and watches as the door closes behind us. "You know how to use a welder, Sunshine?"

"No," I say. "But I think I'm about to learn."

"Good, because I need you to weld that door shut while I rework the wiring."

82

ALICE

Turns out that space welders? Not all that fun.

An hour after we've launched into space, I blow on the blisters peppering my fingers and nudge the hot, heavy welder with my shoe. I want to kick it, but we might need it again later. The ship surges, jerking to the side, and I can hear Kaspar cussing in several different languages over near the bridge controls, even though I'm all the way down a side hall. This ship's as big as the house I grew up in, but compared to the Star, it feels claustrophobic.

And just like on the Star, I feel helpless and useless.

Kas gave me a crash course on how to turn the welder on, and I had to spend the last while supporting it on my leg (also blistered) as it shot out a scary amount of knife-like flame. I welded the door shut, though, and then I went back over it a second time just to be sure. Even as I welded, others pounded on the door from outside, and I could hear them trying to break in. All the while, the ship's comm beeped as they tried to hail us, over and over again. Eventually, Kas went and ripped it out, and then went back to work on the panel.

Tags: Ruby Dixon Corsair Brothers Fantasy
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