Adrik (Titans #1)

Chapter 3

Adrik stood in the command center of his ship, hands planted on his lean hips as he glared at the large screen that took up the entire front wall of the bridge. The Cressida had detached from the other ship, but Adrik was reluctant to stray too far. Eyes narrowing on the screen, he waited to see if any cavalry would come to defend the dead ship that now floated uselessly in space.

Tyrate broke into Adrik’s concentration with a robotic, “Chief Commander?”

“Speak,” Adrik barked.

“If you have no intention of increasing acceleration, I suggest activating shields.”

Tyrate was right, of course. The ship’s AI was the most sophisticated in the galaxy, created and perfected by the best Titan scientists and technicians back on their home planet.

Tone emotionless, Adrik commanded, “Activate shields.”

“Shields activated,” Tyrate confirmed and then fell silent.

Adrik knew he’d requested a charge to be set on the other craft, needing to cripple it before he and his crew made off with the ship’s precious cargo, but he couldn’t shake the idea that it had been too easy.

The damaged ship had sent out a distress signal, which is how the Titans found it.

As soon as the Cressida was within sight of the distressed craft, Adrik recognized it as a Zeifer vessel.

Ziefers weren’t a warrior species.

They weren’t pirates either, which meant the females in their hold had somehow fallen into the Zeifer’s hands.

It made sense.

Ziefers were scavengers and traders, moving idly from planet to planet, salvaging and trading what they could.

That which the Ziefers couldn’t use themselves, they sold at markets on inhabited planets.

But how had Ziefers acquired human females?

Adrik felt the explosion of the Zeifer ship as the blast wave slammed against his ship’s shields and rocked the Cressida so minimally that only Adrik, his team, and Tyrate would even notice the nearly imperceptible movement. Gaze focused on the outlying areas rather than the blast, Adrik waited. Always up for a fight, if someone was out there waiting to ambush the Cressida, he and his Titans were ready. Hell, just the thought of battle had the exoskeleton that made up his body armor itching for release while the long fangs on either side of his mouth elongated.

“Chief Commander,” Pitch greeted with a guttural growl. “Kaze is having difficulty with the…cargo.”

Adrik smirked at Pitch’s use of the term ‘cargo’. Without doubt, Adrik’s other Titans would be excited and eager to aid in processing the human females. He wasn’t surprised that Pitch had taken the first opportunity to get out of the cargo hold and away from the women. It inspired an idea.

“What kind of difficulty?” Adrik demanded, eyes still on the screen in front of him.

“Obaida is having trouble extracting the females from their cage. The shadow female is making things difficult.”

Adrik tensed at the term ‘shadow’. He didn’t like it being used in reference to a human, especially a female. “ Demon female,” he corrected, not sure why he’d chosen the term but wanting his men to refer to the darker female as anything but shadow. Without blinking, Adrik ordered, “Have Kaze remove her, then deal with the others.”

“I already suggested this. But Obaida fears the dark…” He stalled to correct himself, “ Demon female could be injured if Kaze enters their cage. She is difficult and aggressive.”

That had Adrik turning to stare at Pitch, one brow quirking up as he commanded simply, “Stun her.”

Pitch’s lips thinned into a grim line. “I suggested this as well, but Obaida refused. He says that until we examine the humans, we don’t know if they can withstand a stun. He’s concerned that even on the lowest setting, our stunners might kill the females. They are slight.”

Adrik shrugged. “There are four. What’s the loss of one?”

Pitch’s brows speared down as his mouth fell open, exposing his own long fangs. Unable to hide his dissatisfaction, Pitch growled, “They’re female , Chief Commander.”

Interesting. Adrik turned to face Pitch fully. Bracing his long legs, Adrik clasped his hands, one over the other, at his lower back in the typical Titan Chief Commander stance. It had Pitch straightening his own posture and dropping his arms to his sides in a show of respect as he lifted his chin.

“I’m aware they are female,” Adrik groused. He had no intention of stunning or harming any of the females in any way. It went against everything Titans stood for to injure a female of any species intentionally. It had been a test. Because while Pitch had been tortured by human males, Adrik knew that the only human female Pitch had ever encountered had been one of the Titan mates that resided on Cesca Sol. He’d witnessed with his own eyes, Pitch’s curiosity where human females were concerned. Now, he had the opportunity to break Pitch of his aversion to humans, courtesy of their females. Feigning disinterest, Adrik gave Pitch his back and commanded, “Help Kaze and Obaida figure it out,” he bit out dismissively. He stepped closer to the viewscreen. “I’m busy.”

“Yes, Chief Commander.”

As Pitch exited the bridge, Adrik grinned. Not even on his ship an entire sleep cycle and already the human females were stressing his Titans. It’d be laughable if Adrik wasn’t so concerned that it was some sort of setup. That had his grin faltering, his dark brows spearing down. What if the females are part of the scheme? It was a risk that Adrik couldn’t take. With a deep breath, he turned to the glowing red orb floating in the center of the bridge. “Tyrate.”

The ship’s AI responded with a light pulse, “Yes, Chief Commander?”

“Have the men clear the hold, then gas the entire chamber.”

“And the four life forms, Chief Commander?”

“They stay in their cage. I’m not risking my Titans. Don’t use lethal gas. Incapacitate them. Female or not, the cargo will survive, or they won’t. We aren’t afforded the luxury of slow processing. One of them could be implanted with a tracking device or worse, an explosive. Get it done now.”

“Yes, Chief Commander.”

Eyes on the viewscreen, Adrik swallowed hard. Gassing the females could potentially kill them, but it was a chance he had to take. And something he’d need to do quickly before any of his men formed any type of bond with them. The Titans back on Cesca Sol, who were mated to humans, were overly protective of their human females in an almost galling manner. Adrik didn’t need that headache.