Petr's Mate Read Free

The last hours would be thin, though.”
    “That
makes boarding easier,” Chevon muttered . “I’ll have the boarding party
readied. Once it’s in the cargo hold, they can sweep through.”
    Petr made the decision
immediately. “I will go with them.” Chevon’s sharp
look said he wanted to argue but was hesitating. “I ’ ll remain behind the first men
in, but I ’m intrigued by this craft.” He was also highly trained in close-quarters combat,
more so than even the highest ranking of the security personnel that Chevon would be sending in. Petr knew what it was like to
have to fight for his life every moment of every day.
    The commanding officer gave a
slow nod. “As you wish, sir.”
    One of the other officers called
out the time to intercept. Giving Chevon a nod, Petr
headed through the cruiser for the large cargo hold that would be the unusual
craft’s home for the time being.
    It
seemed to take much too long for them to pull the ship into the hold. The first four from
security began their sweep. From his vantage point at the area they had managed to open on the craft, Petr watched the men pause to
look around now and again before moving on.
    The
interior of the ship was oddly cluttered. Very inefficient, to his thinking. The stench of death
permeated the air. Never a good sign. Two more from security went in to do the follow-up sweep behind the other team,
which is when Petr stepped into the craft. He had to keep his head bent
slightly while moving. At the joints between sections, he practically had to fold
himself in half to get through.
    A
very inefficient design, indeed. He shook his head, only to freeze a moment
later at the sound of blaster fire. But what rocked him to his core was the
feminine scream. It cut straight to the protective center of his being and had him racing through the craft
in the direction it continued to come from.
    Two
of the first security team were down, dead. One of the men Petr had followed in
was holding a blaster pointed at the head of a hysterical woman. Pushing the
weapon down, Petr ordered him to move into a position to watch the one
direction and had the other man look at
the direction they had come from.
    He
then crouched down before the woman. She still cried, the tears pouring freely
over her cheeks, but her screams had calmed to whimpers of an emotional agony that had her arms
locked around her chest while she rocked back and forth. “We are not here to harm you,”
he said in his most gentle voice.
    She
flinched, and the whimpering grew louder. The rocking movement had ceased, but now she shivered as if
freezing.
    Going
with instinct, Petr undid his uniform jacket and shrugged it off. In slow, smooth movements he wrapped it around
her shoulders, keeping a watchful eye on her should she feel the need to strike
out at the unknown. Then he held out a hand to her, palm up, and waited.
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    Samantha
was shaking. First Dillon lost his ever-loving mind, but then these huge men boarded their craft. No, that
wasn’t right. She looked up into the eyes of the man that had knelt before her.
She knew that two men had taken off after Dillon while one held a weapon at her head, but this man was different. He
was a leader ,
if the way the others bowed to him was any indication. She didn’t understand
what he was saying. His words made no sense at all to her but then he said
something else. It sounded a bit like medical only with a thick accent, like a combination of
Italian and Latin, melodic and beautiful. Her teeth were chattering, but the jacket that he wrapped
around her was starting to chase the chill from her body.
    His
scent surrounded her, affecting Sam in a way she was so uncertain about.
“Samantha,” she said, pointing to herself. “Doctor Samantha Henry, United
States, Earth?” She saw the confusion on his face, his very handsome and striking face. His eyes were a bright, vibrant green and his hair was
white blond and military short.
    She
looked