Lost Star by Hawke, Morgan (digital book reader .TXT) 📕

copper flooded Aubrey’s nose. Rage bloomed out of nowhere. Aubrey pulled the blade from the captain’s nerveless fingers, raised it, and plunged it down into meat and bone. Liquid rubies sprayed the air. He lifted the blade and plunged it down again, and again…

* * * * *

Aubrey sucked in a breath and tried not to cough. The chill air burned in his nose and seared every breath. The rocky ground was uneven under his unsteady feet. He was dead tired. The terrain was not exactly the most pleasant, just big, towering rocks and twisted, needle-leafed brush. He blinked watery eyes. He wasn’t quite sure, but it looked like it was getting lighter. Was that dawn?

He dropped to the ground and leaned back against a large rock, staring at the dirty blade of metal that felt fused to his hand. The captain was dead. Very, very dead.

Two-hours’-walk-away dead. And it had felt so damned good to do it that he’d taken a nice little walk up the brush-covered mountain, reveling in the feeling of finally defeating an enemy. He drew in another breath and coughed, and coughed, then spat a mouthful of blood.

His walk was finally over. It was his turn to die. He lifted the edged metal to his throat.

It clanged against the collar.

He winced. He needed to get that thing off or they would find him. He tilted his head to the side and pushed the metal sliver between his throat and the collar. He Interstellar Service & Discipline: Lost Star

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pulled. He pushed. He twisted. Warmth tricked down his throat. The sky turned an alarming shade of puke orange and rancid pink.

The collar stayed firmly around his throat.

Masculine voices spoke softly very nearby.

Aubrey pulled the metal blade from his throat and climbed to his feet. He backed away from the voices.

Three grizzled men in ratty black and gold Moribund Company uniforms came around the edge of the rock, carrying bolt rifles.

One of them frowned. “That him?”

Another looked at his hand. “That’s what the beeper says.”

The third held out his hand. “Come on, kid, time to go home.”

Aubrey backed away and raised his hunk of metal. “Fuck you. I’m not going anywhere.”

The third man took a step closer. “Kid, you’re going to be dead in two days.”

Aubrey grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

The second lifted his head. “What? Do you want to die?”

Aubrey bared his teeth. “Ask me if I want to live in a tank, asshole! Ask me if I like killing whole shiploads of people with the codes being raped out of my head!” He fisted his hands and screamed. “Yes! I want to die, you stupid son of a bitch!” He drew in a breath and choked. He grabbed his throat and started coughing…and couldn’t stop.

“Stupid kid! This air is killing you!”

Aubrey caught a small breath and backed away, raising the blade. “Go away!”

“We should let him die.”

“Moribund will kill us if we come back without him!”

“Shit.”

The three men came toward him.

Aubrey turned and skidded down a small slope. There was no place he could hide. No matter where he went, they would find him. But maybe he could stay out of range long enough to die.

“Damned brat!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

“He has a collar. He’s not going far.”

“Yeah, but we need to get him back in one piece and still breathing!”

“Fine.”

Aubrey crashed through the low brush and collapsed to his hands in a small clearing. His chest felt like someone was driving a knife into it, and he couldn’t catch his breath.

26

Morgan Hawke

A youth in an iridescent black suit stepped out of the brush, carrying a bolt rifle over his shoulder. His long, ghost-pale hair was bound back in a tight braid that fell to his hips. The youth stopped and stared down at Aubrey.

Aubrey sat back on his heels and stared right back.

The youth was obviously Skeldhi. He had the sharply pointed ears and a sculpted face commanded by enormous blue eyes. He looked about half a head taller than Aubrey, with broad shoulders on a sleek build. There was no way in hell Aubrey stood a chance against him, even without the bolt rifle in his hands.

The youth tilted his head to the side and frowned.

Aubrey scowled at him. “Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot me!”

The youth’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. His gaze darted past Aubrey’s shoulder.

“There he is!”

“I’ll get the brat.”

Aubrey turned sharply to look behind him. “Shit!” He lost his balance and fell onto his back.

The Moribund goon came straight for him.

Aubrey raised the hunk of metal with both hands. “Go away! Stay back!”

The man held out his hand. “Kid, come on, you’ll be dead if you don’t.”

Aubrey lifted his blade and aimed for his own heart. “I know, leave me alone!”

The man took a step closer. “I can’t do that. You’re worth too much money.”

“Oh, but you can.” The voice was young, and gorgeously, inhumanly, accented. A bolt shot echoed.

The Moribund goon gasped and fell back, as though kicked in the head.

Huh? Aubrey looked behind him.

The white-haired youth lifted the nose of his smoking rifle and arched a brow.

“You wanted him to go away, did you not?”

Aubrey felt a smile lift his mouth. “Yeah, I did. Thanks.”

The youth grinned, showing long white predator’s teeth. “It was my pleasure, truly.”

The other two Moribund men shouted and came running.

The youth pointed his rifle and took them both out without even flinching. He walked over to Aubrey and held out a hand.

Aubrey stared at the bone-pale hand. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He reached up and grasped his hand.

The youth lifted him onto his feet with hardly any effort. “I am Seht. And you?”

Aubrey took a small, shallow breath to keep from coughing. “Aubrey.”

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Seht nodded and smiled. “Well then, Aubrey, shall we find somewhere else to be?”

Aubrey wrapped a finger around his collar. “They’re tracking me with this. I can’t get it