Taking Command by KyAnn Waters & Grad Stone Page B

light.
    “Tarik!”
    Tarik surged up as Darcolm slashed the blade downward, slicing deeply into Tarik’s shoulder and along his arm. Blood spewed from the wound. Terror shot through Shon. She aimed her blaster at Darcolm as he fought to deliver another deadly strike. Arm to arm, they struggled for control. In a brilliant maneuver, Tarik gained advantage, wrested the weapon, spun, and forced the blade deep into Darcolm’s side.
    Shon squeezed the trigger. A blast of yellow energy slammed into Darcolm’s chest, and he crumbled to the ground.
    Gripping his shoulder, blood oozing between his fingers, Tarik scrambled to the controls. “Evasive measures. Take us back through the Rincon.” He turned to Shon. “I can’t pilot. I’ve lost feeling.” His arm hung dead at his side.
    “32D,” Shon screeched. “Go to the infirmary. Bring back everything you can find. Sutures, H2O gel. Neuro blockers. Bring me glue. I don’t care. We need to stop the bleeding.”
    32D rushed from the room. Shon’s hands trembled as fear laced her blood as she took command of BioOne.
    “BioOne, you’ve been through the Rincon. You can do it again.” They would have to take risks, traveling closer to the anomalies. “Those ships can’t overtake us.”
    Tarik ripped his shirt and tied a tourniquet. “The ion energy field will disrupt navigation and sensors. The government ships will have the same disadvantage.” BioOne was smaller, could take more chances than the Tri’Neith ships.
    When they’d come through the Rincon before, Shon had worried. Adrenaline slipped through her veins like burning ice. Tamping down the panic, she did exactly as Tarik instructed standing at the helm, but it was BioOne piloting the ship.
    An explosion rocked the port side.
    “Was that from the Rincon?” she asked Tarik, remembering the fire balls that had arched over the ship.
    “No! Those fucking idiots are firing at us.” They fired again. “They aren’t just going to blow us up, they’re going to light up the whole fucking nebula.”
    If the blast ignited one of the gas pockets, the chain reaction could decimate the Rincon. “We need to get out of here.”
    A wave of energy crashed into BioOne. The ship spun, tumbling out of control. Tarik slammed into Shon. Gripping her arms around his waist, she braced him so he could use his good hand to gain control of BioOne’s navigation. “What the hell was that?”
    “If I had to guess, only one ship is pursing us now.”
    “Oh, no, your friends.”
    “Don’t think about it.”
    32D stumbled onto the bridge, arms overflowing with medical supplies, dropping items as she approached them. “As you requested.” She unloaded the pile into the captain’s chair. “How else may I be of service?”
    Shon stumbled over to the chair, rifled through the supplies and grabbed sedation patches. She rushed to Darcolm. Nausea churned in her gut as she felt for a pulse. “He’s dead.” Dead. Her hands trembled and her mouth grew dry. Oh, god. She’d killed a man. Her gaze snapped to Tarik. He fought to stabilize the ship. “Darcolm is dead.”
    And they were still alive. But Tarik was bleeding badly, and BioOne was giving them all she had.
    Shon scrambled to the men BioOne still pinned to the floor and slapped the sedation patches onto their skin. Now that they were unconscious, they could be dealt with once they were safe.
    “BioOne, all energy to navigation,” Tarik commanded.
    BioOne transferred all energy to getting them the hell out of the Rincon.

Chapter Seven
    BioOne emerged from the Rincon. Shon wanted to breathe easier, but her chest was tight and her stomach twisted into knots. “Tarik?”
    “I know.”
    The monitors were quiet. BioOne’s scanners continued to sweep both the Rincon and the surrounding space. Nothing. They were isolated, but for how long? “Where is the other ship?”
    “I don’t know. Destroyed maybe? If they are smart, they won’t pursue at the same speed we traversed the