Microsoft Word - RecklessBounty (14 page)

“It’s nothing,” Johanna rasped, gasping for breath. “God, I could drink a gallon of water!” she murmured, wiping the sweat from her brow.

Tyler came limping back toward them, from engineering, and held his pistol as if he was ready to do some heavy damage. His eyes filled with relief when he saw that they were still in one piece.

“We heard an explosion all the way down in engineering. Dylan told me to hightail back here. He’s managed to slightly gain some leverage against that damn AI, and says Lucy is still fighting him. I’d wager that it’s only a matter of time before we have full control of our ship.”

“Yes, but that still doesn’t take care of the boarding party that is trying desperately to knock down our door,” Samantha retorted.

Tyler ambled over to her and stood in front of her, resting his hand on her shoulder. He looked between Johanna and she.

“Are you sure the two of you are unharmed?” his voice had become soft and he briefly touched the side of Samantha’s soot covered face.

“We’re both fine. Though Johanna seems to be a bit deaf at the moment. No worries though, I’ve lost my hearing briefly before and it came back.” She tried to sound optimistic, but she still worried about Johanna. “Have you seen Veronica and her husband?”

They made their way to the bridge as fast as they could, considering the fact both Tyler and Johanna nursed injuries. The door to the bridge was also reinforced, as was the door to engineering, so at the moment Dylan would be safe. Samantha planned on taking them back to the bridge, and making their last stand there if need be. She licked her dry and cracked lips, and smiled when Tyler produced a bottle of water from the bag that he’d slung over his shoulder.

“Dylan gave me this. He also said there were some new gadgets inside of it that you may find helpful, though he specifically instructed me to not touch any one of them. He said I’m butter fingers when it comes to such things. Honestly, my brother sure can get on my last nerve,” he joked, carefully watching Johanna, who seemed about ready to drop.

“Johanna,” Samantha asked worriedly, pressing the water into her hand. “Drink this,”

she instructed. Johanna’s shoulders continued to slump and she seemed paler than usual.

“Thanks!” Johanna rasped. “I really needed that.”

They burst onto the bridge, nearly colliding with each other in their haste.

“I’ll be fine,” Johanna murmured, and at Samantha’s expression of doubt, she pressed her sister’s hand, and stressed, “
Really.
”

“Get off of my bridge!” the male AI commanded indignantly. He crackled into existence and pointed angrily at them.

“Oh, why don’t you shove it where the sun doesn’t shine!” Samantha suggested.

She turned to shut the bridge door. And began heaving and groaning. Budging the heavy thing was proving more difficult then she had originally thought. Another explosion rolled through the ship. She gulped, suddenly realizing they had a
very
slim chance of emerging from this battle still standing.

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“Here let me help,” Tyler offered, staring at her with his warm sensual eyes.

For a moment, Samantha felt herself longing to press her lips against his sweetly wanting ones. She could feel his hands roaming across her body. She shivered, swallowing again thickly.

Her body tensed as he brushed against hers and put his strength into assisting her.

She stood there mesmerized for a moment. She marveled at how capable he could be when they were in a bind. Love surged in her heart, and then her more sensible side, reminded her that it was no time to get moony. Besides which, he had abandoned her.

Shaking her head to remove the imaginary cobwebs, she turned toward her sister.

“Any luck in getting back into the mainframe?” Samantha asked.

Johanna looked up at her with a look of intense concentration.

She envied Johanna. Johanna was a brain. She could tackle just about anything, she put her mind too, and emerge the winner. She on the other hand, was good at thinking on her feet, though working a computer sometimes proved difficult for her.

But if someone needed a good slam down, then she was the one to be counted on.

Samantha settled herself in the co-pilots chair, and brought up what she could on the view screen.

Ships still swarmed around them and the hope died in her heart that someone would come to give them a much-needed hand. She didn’t want to openly admit it, but she’d wet herself with excitement if a friend dropped by to help them.

Problem was, Samantha hadn’t made many friends in her life, and those she could count on were light years away. The rest of her friends, were onboard
Excalibur
with her, bravely joining her in facing her darkest hour. Even Veronica seemed willing to do what she could.

Samantha turned her head at the male AI’s shout of distress. His deep baritone filled the room, and her heart leapt in her chest, when his program shut down. Samantha sat on the edge of her seat, hoping and praying that Dylan and Johanna had once again worked their magic.

“Take that, you little piss ant!” Lucy cried. Lucy slowly materialized before them. She was there, but she didn’t seem to be giving off her usual blinding brilliance. “Hi you all, Lucy’s back in amazing action!” Lucy grinned. She tucked her purple hair behind her ear, with her ring adorned hands. “What did I miss?”

They all jumped in their seats.

“Is that just me or does it sound like they are ramming the door?” Tyler asked, looking at her briefly with worry glistening in his eyes.

Lucy sighed. “Give me a second and I’ll figure it out. Internal systems are now up and running, back in my control, though I can’t seem to gain access to the internal weapons array. I think that big jerk has hidden it from me. Just give me another sec....” Lucy’s violet eyes lolled back into her head, as she searched through her systems.

“In answer to your earlier asked question, Veronica is down with Ross in engineering.

Seems he knows a thing or two about the internal workings of a ship, and he’s helping Dylan.

Veronica on the other hand, is standing guard at the door, vowing to give any pirate that is bold enough to come through the door, and I quote a world of hurt,” Tyler declared, staring down at her.

“I don’t trust Veronica completely, but if Dylan trusts her to be that close to his domain with her weapon, than I guess that I can trust her…for now,” Samantha added.

Lucy hooted triumphantly, causing them all to jump. Another loud slam against the door caused them all to tense, and draw their holstered pistols.

“Everything will be fine,” Tyler promised.

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Samantha stared up at him. She gripped her phase pistol tightly.

“Tell me, Tyler, what makes you think that everything will be fine?” Samantha asked.

She aimed her phase pistol at the door.

“You’ve never failed me before,” he murmured.

Her breath caught in her throat at his softly spoken words. Damn him, for being so charming. And damn her, for always falling head over heels for that charm.

She was just about to respond when a striking figure of a man, appeared on the view screen. Johanna’s mouth dropped open slightly and Samantha could see her sister struggled to keep her mouth shut, and the drool safely inside.

Samantha stood up, losing her balance she fell against Tyler. He quickly caught her, and kept his hands on her, while she searched for something to say. At the moment she had been struck speechless and that was quite a feat for her. She could feel the taste of doom. She trembled slightly.

Standing regally in front of her on the view screen stood the most infamous space pirate that had ever lived. His ship,
The Emerald Star
was one of the biggest and most advanced war ships, she’d ever read about and now the legend behind so many bone-chilling tales stood right in front of her.

“Just what I need!” she muttered.

The Red Falcon smiled roguishly down at her. His gorgeous eyes twinkled with some sort of secret joke.

* * * *

“Greetings, dear ladies, may I be of any assistance?” he gallantly inquired.

Samantha continued staring up at him in dumbfounded amazement. She knew if she had a mirror, a goofy expression would be reflected back at her. Shivers of excitement raced up and down her spine as she digested his offer. It wasn’t everyday you were offered help by the most famous pirate of the age.

Tyler rested his hand possessively on her shoulder and she tensed beneath his touch.

Why he thought he had to stake his claim was beyond her. She wasn’t attracted to The Red Falcon’s physicality. It just felt surreal to be in such a presence. This would make one good story to add to her lifetime experiences. The Red Falcon was everything she’d ever imagined he would be in living flesh and then some.

His dark blue eyes glittered down at her and his trademark crimson cloak, gave him an air of authority. He wore extremely tight black breeches and his loose white silk shirt, made him look like a hero from a bygone movie. His fiery red hair was even brighter than she’d imagined.

She swallowed as a dry lump emerged in her throat. It seemed as if the tales spun about him were frighteningly true. She’d always thought the stories had been tweaked from mouth to mouth, but nothing seemed to be lost in translation. He was indeed a living legend. Iconic even.

The Red Falcon was handsome all right but her heart still belonged to Tyler. Even though she was still deeply in love that didn’t mean that she was dead, at least not yet. Looking never hurt. Now, if she touched, that would be a different story. But she had the blackness of space between them, so she was safe and sound.

Johanna, she noticed was also having a good time studying him. Samantha slipped back into her body. She couldn’t let the Red Falcon unnerve her. She stared up at the Red Falcon and cocked her head to one side.

“No. Actually, we’ve invited the crazy assed pirates to pilfer and pillage our ship.” Her sarcasm didn’t go unnoticed.

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The corner of his full mouth twitched. His bewitching eyes fell to the pistol she held in her hands and he slowly smiled, again.
Damn
. That smile could light up a darkened room.

“Well, dear lady, if you have everything safely under control, I will hasten to depart and leave you to it,” the Red Falcon declared smoothly, smirking as Samantha scowled up at him.

She hated asking for help. But since she’d been stupid enough to turn down his original offer of help, she’d have to swallow her pride and speak up before he left and they were left to face their fate.

“
Wait....
” She put up her hand and pursed her lips. What she was about to do, would probably turn her stomach.

He raised his hand to cut the channel but his hand froze in mid-air and he stared merrily down at her.

Right at that moment, Lucy’s eyes re-focused and a treacherous smile broke across her face. She put up her hand and waved a farewell.

“Say bye-bye, you bastards!” Lucy declared.

She had obviously managed to gain control over the internal weaponry
The Excalibur
had been equipped with. The weapons came to life, just as she waved goodbye. Cries of agony, carried through the intercom to them and Samantha stared over in shock at Lucy.

“You didn’t?” Samantha asked. She was nearly stricken breathless by the thought of numerous dead bodies strewn throughout her halls. That would be one bloody job to clean up.

Frankly, she didn’t want to have any hand in it.

“Of course, I didn’t
kill
them. I am not programmed for such a thing. Though I’d wager they won’t be walking properly for at least a few days,” Lucy remarked, a cheeky gleam present in her violet eyes.

Samantha let out a sigh of relief and returned her attention to the large view screen. Then she began laughing, unable to control herself. She’d just faced death. Truly faced death and yet here she stood unscathed. She’d probably used up another one of her so-called nine lives.

She’d almost asked for help, and yet when the chips were truly down, and she had assumed that everyone was out for the count, Lucy of
all
people had saved the day. With tears streaming down her face she sank into a chair. Tyler stared quizzically down at her, raising one eyebrow. His look of concern only made her go into another fit of hysterics. They still weren’t out of the fire, but she had to do something or she would go insane.

“Has the beautiful lady lost her mind?” the Red Falcon inquired.

Johanna snapped angrily to attention, and if looks could kill The Red Falcon would definitely be a heap of ashes.

“If you had just gone up against a mad world what would
you
do?” Johanna demanded.

His wide smile faded, and his eyes lost some of their glitter. “Dear lady, I exist in a mad world, and I’ve managed thus far,” he answered.

Samantha wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, and hiccupped.

“Thank you, for offering to help us. It was greatly appreciated. But we now have to do some clean up duty, so if you wouldn’t mind I’ll send you my thank you card through the email,”

she started, just as she heard his throaty chuckle.

“Your reputation does
not
do you justice, Sam Cassidy,” he drawled.

As his words sunk in, Samantha stared stupidly up at him. How the hell did he know what her name was? She stared over in confusion at Tyler and Johanna.

“Cut the crap, Falcon!” she commanded. She wanted him to come clean about how he knew of her. She’d never crossed paths with him before. Since she tried to keep a low profile RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 60

his comment raised her curiosity.