“Oppuk was going to kill me,” she said and stretched up on tiptoe. Though tall for a woman, she couldn’t quite reach his fingertips. “He’s blaming me for the attack!”
He scooted closer to the edge of the small elevated deck just below the bridge, then another burst of automatic weapons-fire made him cover his head. A flake of metal scored his cheek and he could feel the warmth of his blood mixing with the hard, pelting rain.
“Maybe you should come down here instead.” She glanced over his shoulder and retreated behind the winch housing.
“I think you’re right.” He scrambled to his feet, then plunged down the ladder three rungs at a time. “Now—” He slid into her crevice and examined her purpling cheek. She was trembling beneath his fingers. “What’s this about Gov—?”
A human came into sight, firing with what looked to be an old Uzi. Kralik dove for cover, pushing Caitlin ahead of him. He heard the air whoosh out of her lungs as he fell on top of her, then struggled to bring his gun up.
Fragments of deck flew as the Uzi continued to fire. He moved again, pulling her along with him. They crouched side by side, breathing hard, and at this angle he could just glimpse their attacker’s face. It was painted, to match the camouflage outfit he was wearing. Fortunately, the rain obscured his vision worse than it did theirs.
Kralik edged back, then waited, gun at the ready. Caitlin got to her feet, going the opposite direction before he could stop her and presenting herself as a target. Though she hadn’t dropped the wrench, he noted.
“You there, you’re making a mistake!” she called out above the wind. “We’re human, just like you!”
With an incoherent snarl, the attacker spun and moved toward the sound of her voice, squinting to find her in the rain. Caitlin threw back her head and waited, never once looking at Kralik beyond and giving him away.
My god, she has guts, he thought, as the attacker moved into full view. He would only get one good shot and she had to know he could easily miss. His stomach contracted as he squeezed the trigger.
The man in camouflage jerked as though someone had cut his strings, then tumbled head over heels and fell twitching and bloody at Caitlin’s feet. She stared down at him, her body angled so precisely, hands extended, she might have been striking a classical ballet position.
But that pose wasn’t anything born of human culture, he realized numbly. It was one of those damn Jao postures, though he couldn’t tell which particular one. How strange to think that, under stress, she would fall back to that. She looked up at him and her blue-gray eyes seemed portals into another world altogether from the one he’d been born into. Was this what Earth’s children would all become someday, well-trained little Jaolings?
He took her arm and pulled her away from the corpse. “Are you all right?”
She blinked and the otherness fell away. She was just Caitlin again, all human, bruised, and very, very scared. He pulled her into his arms and clutched her trembling body.
* * *
When the other boatful of attackers reappeared, plowing through the immense gray-green waves, Aille knew they couldn’t wait any longer. If more attackers managed to board, they would be outnumbered and no one would be left alive to be rescued when his troops arrived. A very poor showing for only a few days into his first command! Pluthrak would be shamed.
He ordered Tully and Aguilera to cover them, then motioned Yaut and Tamt forward as he skulked toward the rail, employing what little shelter he could find. The trawler tilted skyward on this side and rolled with every wave, so that they had to struggle to climb, making themselves targets.
Tully fired two spaced shots, to distract the attackers as Aille crossed the last bit of open deck. A surprising exultation ran through him as he fought his way through the wind. This was what he had been trained to do for cycles now. He was finally getting a chance to be of use, in a refreshingly clear and direct way.