~ The Bounty Hunter ~

by

Tamia Dawn Osburn

Amy cried out when sparks showered down upon her. Her arms flew over her head until the rain of sparks were finished. “I can’t believe this is happening. Now I know why that man was selling the ship so cheap. He was being hunted down like an animal.” Slamming her hands on the console, she muttered a few harsh chosen words in several different languages. She pushed away from the control panel and swore again. More sparks flew from overhead; Amy’s hands flew to cover her head as they showered down upon her.

“This can’t be happening.” Her voice was rough and dry. Letting her hands fall to her sides, her hands balled in tight fists. “Who are they and what do they want?” She couldn’t get through to the other ship, since the communications were destroyed when the ship took its first hit.

She didn’t know the man’s name who’d sold her the ship. She didn’t care at the moment when she’d made the purchase. She only cared to get away from her home world, the only world she knew, to search out a place where no one knew her. To start a new life.

“Damn that man. He knew something was going to happen when he sold me this ship,” she muttered harshly, trying to bring the ship’s system back on-line. Nothing was working. Soon, she’d be losing what little oxygen she had left.

“I don’t want to die out here. Alone,” she whispered. She began taking slow, shallow breaths, to reserve the oxygen. The room was blinking with red warning lights. The ship began to rise in temperature, sweat began to coat along her arms and back and forehead. Amy started to search through the ship’s records, trying to find the ship’s manual, but couldn’t locate it. Or any kind of records. The monitor was showing ‘data not found’. They were wiped clean.

“That damn bastard,” Amy spoke with a hard voice, her hands slammed on the console again. “If I can get back, I’ll demand my money back. If he’s still in jail.”

“Computer?” she asked, and then waited for a response. Nothing. The computer wasn’t responding to voice commands. “Shit.” Amy fell to her knees to pry open a side panel. Sparks flew at her. “The wires are fried.” She stood and wiped her hands against her thighs. “I hope that bastard has some spare wiring stored somewhere on this ship.” Spinning around to step off the bridge, she was knocked off her feet when a laser torpedo struck the ship. Her back was slammed against the console. “Ow!” She cried out, her back burning with pain. Her elbow hit the console with a little more force than it should have when she pushed away from it.

“Now what?” she asked, cringing with pain, her hand rubbing her sore elbow. She braced herself when the ship was struck again.

~ * ~

“What the hell is going on here?” Edge watched the scene unfolding before him through the ship’s monitor. Four ships were attacking Kine’s ship. He quickly brought up the weapons; no one was going to take his bounty from him, not if he could help it. Edge turned his weapons on the invading ships while quickly noticing Kine’s ship was disabled, then he began firing on the invading ships.

“I want Kine alive. Can you break into his ship’s mainframe, check on its status?” Edge ordered the computer while taking the ship into a series of twists and turns, firing on the invading ships around Kine’s.

“Kine’s ship isn’t responding to my requests. I broke into the ship’s mainframe. The ship’s mechanics are down; the oxygen level is extremely low.”

“He isn’t going to make it,” Edge spoke harshly.

“I need to tell you, the person on that ship is a she.”

“What?” Edge sat up in the chair, a look of surprise written on his face. “What do you mean that Kine isn’t on that ship? Isn’t that Kine’s ship?” he asked through clenched teeth, his fingers firing the weapons at one of the invaders until it disappeared into deep space.

“The life sign I picked up indicates that a woman is on the ship and her life signs are weakening and she is unconscious. I didn’t pick up on any other life signs or bodies. There’s only one person on that ship.”

“Get her out of there. I don’t think I can hold off the other three ships much longer.” His gaze flew to the monitor. “And her ship looks as if it’s going to explode at any moment.”

“Aye, Captain.” A few seconds later, “She’s been brought aboard safely and I placed her in one of the cabins.”

Edge commanded, “Take us into hyper-space. Now!” He was thrown against the seat when the ship went into hyper-space. The stars became a blur of white light. He stood and took one last glance at ship’s monitors before he spun on his heel and left the bridge. He made his way down the short corridor then stopped suddenly. “Which cabin did you place her in?”

“Yours.”

“Figures.” Edge wasn’t surprised the computer had placed her in his cabin when it could have placed the woman in one of the other cabins in the ship or the cells. “What is her condition?” Pausing outside the door to his cabin, he waited for the computer to answer the question before barging inside his cabin.

“She’s very dehydrated, a slight concussion, bruised ribs and cuts and scrapes,” the computer informed him. “I’ve tended to most of the injuries but she needs to drink some liquids for the dehydration.”

“I know.” Edge opened the door then stepped inside. The room held dimmed lighting but his attention was on the sleeping woman on his bed. His breath caught in his throat. Her light brown hair was fanned out against the white pillow. Her pink-tinged lips parted with her breathing. She looked so small in his large bed. Edge stood, staring at her while his heart hammered against his ribs.

She began to move her head to the side; Edge could see that her face was flawless. His fingers itched to trace the smooth, creamy skin of her neck.