Extinction Wars 3: Star Viking by Vaughn Heppner

Author:Vaughn Heppner
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2014-09-27T07:00:00+00:00

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“He’s more dangerous than you realize,” Ella told me.

She and I peered through a two-way mirror. The tiger in question—Ras Claw of the Shi-Feng—sat on a chair behind a table. It looked like an old-fashioned police interrogation room.

The tiger was taller than average, about seven and a half feet. He had wide shoulders and narrow hips, an athletic looking Lokhar specimen. A bare line in his stomach showed stiches where Zoe Artemis had sliced open his gut with a laser. He stared at the two-way mirror.

Ella pointed that out to me. “Whenever the door opens, he becomes tense. It’s as if he’s waiting for you.”

“I believe that once he realizes who you are in particular, the tiger will attempt to kill you.”

I nodded absently, realizing I could use that to my advantage.

“You’re not listening to me, Creed. The Lokhar is a killer, one of their fighting specialists. He’s a hand to hand expert.”

“So what?” I said.

Ella Timoshenko knew me better than most people did. She might have divined my thinking.

“Do you really believe you can defeat him that easily?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Sometimes, you’re not realistic,” Ella said. “With his internal bionics, he’s probably stronger than you are.”

“Do you even know how much I bench?”

“He weighs more, too,” she continued, ignoring me. “Worst of all, he has his claws.”

“I’m faster.”

“If that’s true,” Ella said, “it’s not by much.”

“He’s been drugged lately and badly cut. How good can his condition be?”

Ella waved her hand dismissively. “In his mind, we’ve dishonored him. Losing the stomach bomb—you can’t understand his shame. He’ll do just about anything to wipe away his humiliation. Assassinating humanity’s leader—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “I’m not humanity’s leader.”

“I know you keep giving the Earth Council spaceships. For some reason, you don’t like the idea that you’re the one who wins or loses it for us. But for good or bad, Creed, everyone knows you’re leading us to victory or to destruction.”

I swear I could feel the weight of that pushing down on my shoulders. I was just the chief Star Viking, though.

“Whatever you do,” Ella said, “don’t let him know who you are.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said.

“Are you really sure you want to go through with—”

“Enough already.” I motioned to the attendants to open the cell door.

“I wish you’d let me handcuff him first,” Ella said.

“Oh,” I said, “before I forget. There’s one thing. Whatever happens, don’t enter the room to help.”

Ella gave me a hard look.

“Those are my orders,” I said.

“What are you planning, Creed?”

“Watch through the mirror,” I said, “and you’ll find out.”

***

The bigger attendant opened the door, although the man stayed out of sight of the Shi-Feng assassin.

I stepped into the doorway, stopping to stare at the tiger.

He grew tense, glowering, but making no move to get up.

I moved into the room and listened to the door shut with a heavy whomp and a click. Finally, I put my hands on my hips.

“What’s your problem?” I asked in Lokhar.

His eyebrows rose in surprise. I don’t think he expected me to know his native tongue.

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