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"Wait!" Kolya slowed her pace as Corwin turned to face her. "You said this guy wants to make an example of you. Does that mean what I think it does?"

"Well, if you're thinking he's planning to kill me, then yes. He's killed people for a lot less." Corwin shrugged and resumed his course through the corridors. "If I don't turn myself over, they'll kill us all. I'm dead either way. At least this way I can make up for what I did to you."

I guess now the question is whether he's being honest or just trying to manipulate me again._Kolya glanced over her shoulder at Cora, Grishnag, and Ayastal as they caught up with her. _Not that it matters, I guess. He doesn't deserve to die just because he lied to me. Besides, there's no guarantee that they won't get rid of all the witnesses.

"Hold on," Grishnag said. "Cora's cooking up a little surprise for them."

"The conversation I just finished was with the captain of the orbiting ship," Cora added. "While we were exchanging threats, I worked my way through the comm connection and into their ship's computer systems. I managed to keep a narrow-beam connection open after he cut off his own channel to us. I overheard him issuing orders to the gunship crew." Cora aimed her optics directly into Corwin's eyes. "They're going to kill us even if we hand you over, and then they're going to steal this ship."

His face turned pale again.

Kolya's heart pounded. "Aw, shit."

Cora shook her head. "This ship is my baby. I won't let them get their hands on her, and I _won't_allow them to harm anyone onboard."

"How can you stop them?"

"My combat software includes a bleeding-edge cyberwarfare suite. Their ship is carrying a payload of missiles. I've just set them to target their own ship and launched them." Cora cocked her head. "The gunship has landed and one of its occupants is trying to hack the lock on the cargo ramp. I've unlocked it so they'll think he succeeded."

Kolya grinned. "Nice."

"It's not something I'm planning to celebrate. I don't enjoy taking lives, but since they were planning to wipe us out, I did what had to be done." Cora pointed at Corwin. "Wait right here until Grish returns from the armory."

"Bring an extra gun for me." Kolya watched Grishnag race on down the corridor and disappear around the corner.

Corwin sniffed, slumped against the wall, and dried his eyes with his shirt. "I'm so sorry about all of this. Kolya, I swear I'll make this right."

"Save it."

He winced and turned away.

"They're boarding," Cora said, keeping her voice low. Her jaw dropped. "What the hell? Lorkis just met them at the inner hatch."

"What?" Kolya stared at her. "What the hell's he up to?"

Cora activated a viewscreen set into a nearby wall console. A feed from one of the security cameras appeared, showing them a half-dozen people clad in armor and carrying plasma rifles.

At least they weren't wearing helmets, Kolya noted, though each of them had a heads-up display over their eyes. A headshot on each would end the fight quickly.

Cora shook her head and a faint hint of a smile appeared for a split-second. "Oh, of course. Two of them are women. Lorkis must've been watching on another monitor and decided to try his luck."

Running footsteps made Kolya glance over her shoulder to find Grishnag approaching with three rifles clutched in her arms. She passed one to Cora and another to Kolya.

"None for Ayastal?" Kolya raised an eyebrow.

Ayastal shrugged and held up her right hand. "Too small for me."

On the monitor, the intruders stopped in their tracks the instant they found Lorkis blocking their path. Lorkis beamed and held one of his hands out to the woman at the front of the team.

"Well, hello there. My name's Lorkis. Nice to meet you."

"Jesus Christ, kid," Cora muttered.

"Well, at least he's stalling them." Kolya shrugged and turned to continue on her way to the next hatch.

On the monitor in the corner of her eye, the woman snapped her gun up to aim at Lorkis. His eyes opened wide and he turned and bolted.

"Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

All four females bolted through the corridors toward the cargo bay. As they approached, Kolya noticed the muffled sound of gunfire growing louder and more distinct. They tore around one more corner a split-second before Lorkis zipped into view, slithering so fast that he lost control and plowed into the wall. He grunted, picked himself up, and launched straight at Kolya and the others.

"Run! They're right behind me!"

"Get under cover." Cora grabbed his hand and pulled him back around the corner. She leaned out just far enough to point her rifle at the spot where the invaders would appear.

Grishnag darted across the intersection and took a similar position.

Kolya stretched out on the floor near Cora's feet and aimed down the corridor.

"Jesus, you've been hit," Corwin said with a gasp.

Kolya glanced over at them and found a hole burned through the back of Lorkis's shirt, near his left side. The exposed skin looked like it had been grazed - probably not a lethal hit, but there was no way it wouldn't be painful as all hell.

"My luck with women gets worse every day." Lorkis winced and tried to hold one of his hands over the wound. "Never had a woman shoot me before."

Thumping footsteps approached from around the corner. Kolya tensed up and waited a few more seconds before the boarding team appeared at the end of the corridor. They stopped and pointed their guns at the crew.

Faint thumping, clicking, and clanging sounds seemed to come from somewhere above. Kolya glanced upward and noticed the intruders doing the same.

"That's what's left of your gunship," Cora said. "First I blasted a round straight through the pilot, then I ripped the whole thing to shreds."

The woman in the lead stared slack-jawed at her. A few seconds passed before she pulled herself together and spoke into the wire-thin mic jutting from her earpiece.

"Cutter? Respond. Cutter? Cutter!" She switched to another channel. "Wilson, this is Johnson."

The only reply was a chorus of shrill, frantic screaming. Johnson winced and cut the audio off before turning to gape at Cora again.

"Your mothership is breaking up in the atmosphere. What you just heard is your crewmates burning up alive." Cora kept her aim square on Johnson's head. "Drop your weapons and we'll take you to the nearest outpost. No one else has to die."

"You ... bitch!"

"Oh, what the hell do you expect?" Kolya snorted. "You were coming to murder us."

"Fuck you!" Johnson snapped her gun over to point directly at Kolya.

Oh, hell! Kolya's finger tightened on the trigger, but she hesitated. She'd never killed anyone before and wasn't sure she could bring herself to start now.

"No!" Corwin leaped out from behind Cora and threw himself in front of Kolya.

Kolya gasped and her heart almost pounded hard enough to punch through her ribs.

Cora tackled him, carried him across the intersection, and shoved him behind Grishnag just as Johnson pulled the trigger. The plasma beam from her rifle lanced through empty air and sizzled into the wall.

Grishnag twitched her trigger and blasted a pulse-round straight into Johnson's face. The woman barely started to scream before her brain fried and her body flopped over.

Cora gave Corwin a shove that sent him staggering all the way to the end of the corridor to keep him out of the line of fire.

Kolya winced and shifted her aim to the chest plate of the man behind Johnson's body. She pulled the trigger and scorched his armor as he leaped aside and opened fire. His shot hit the ceiling near the wall behind her. The plop of molten metal and plastic dripping onto the floor almost distracted Kolya, but she forced her gaze to remain locked on the five remaining intruders.

All of them began firing wildly as they backed toward the corner they'd come around a moment before.

Cora leaned out past Grishnag and blasted one of them in the side of his head as he turned to run.

Another man plucked a cylindrical grenade from his belt, popped the cap off and jammed his thumb down on the exposed button.

"Crap," Grishnag blurted.

He flung it straight at Kolya as the rest of them bolted.

"Grenade!" Cora grabbed the back of Kolya's shirt and hauled her up while motioning for Corwin to stay at the far end of the corridor.

Lorkis gasped and slithered to the opposite end of the corridor.

Kolya, Cora, Grishnag, and Ayastal charged toward the retreating thugs. The women followed them around the corner barely a second before the grenade exploded with a sharp bang that left Kolya's ears ringing.

The other woman in front of them glanced over her shoulder, spotted them, and shrieked. The others whirled and tried to raise their guns.

Ayastal spread her arms wide, plowed straight into them, and bowled them all over. One of the men managed to jam his rifle against her chest, but she swatted it away, clamped her hand around his head, and finished him off with a single, quick twist.

Grishnag scored another headshot and Cora leaped into the middle of the remaining three. Her movements became a blur, lashing out with speed and force that only a machine could manage. Before Kolya could take a single breath, all three sprawled on the floor with their necks snapped. She stared numbly, shook her head, and pushed herself slowly to her feet. She let the rifle hang loosely from her fingers until Grishnag turned to face her. Kolya handed the rifle over and took a few more slow breaths.

"Corwin," she finally mumbled, and ran back toward the scorch marks and blasted-open floor and wall panels where the grenade had gone off. She rounded the corner and found him picking himself up in front of the hatch at the far end. He grimaced, shook his head, and blinked. He took a step and then seemed to notice her.

"You okay?"

"I think so. You?"

He nodded. "I'm in one piece, but I might need to change my underpants."

She burst out laughing and kept it up for several seconds before she remembered how pissed off she was. She clamped her mouth shut and turned back to the females as he trudged over to join them.

"What a mess." Grishnag sighed and shook her head slowly.

Cora stared at the bodies and her expression twisted up as if she were about to cry. "I'm not looking forward to cleaning this up."

"Hmm." Kolya nodded toward Corwin. "Under the circumstances, I think it's only fair if he's the one who gets rid of the bodies." She caught him gaping at her and relented with a sigh. She clapped his shoulder and said, "I'll help you."

Grishnag smiled faintly and walked over to pull Cora into an embrace. "This was really rough on you, hon. Let's get Lorkis to the med-bay and patch him up. Afterward, you should meet up with the others and spend some time in one of the observation lounges. Just take it easy for a while."

Cora's lips quivered as she held Grishnag for a long moment and then braced herself and jogged around the corner.

"Come on, kiddo, let's take care of that wound."

Kolya turned back to Corwin, sighed again, and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Come on. Let's get this over with."