She wrinkled her face, and looked toward the six men and women advancing down the corridor. The human part of her head said taking Pritchard’s hand and hiding behind him was a great idea. The part of her that had fur and claws didn’t stick around long enough for her to do it.

  Surely that squalling yowl hadn’t come from her throat?

  It didn’t matter. Chaos erupted behind her, and howls followed. The blonde woman’s voice was as full of fury as Tika could have wished.

  “Donovan, call them back. I swear, if she loses one patch of fur over this…”

  Fur, schmur! Tika though behind a haze of panic. If they caught up with her, she was going to make it look like it had been snowing dog bits…inside a space ship! She darted around a corner, hearing the scrabble of claws drawing closer—and ran straight into a stun beam.

  Someone was yelling ‘Not in the head,’ but she paid them no attention.

  It took three before she stopped, her jaw too numb for protest, her arms and legs shocked to immobility. The howling got closer and the same voice shouted. “Increase the charge. Them you can shoot in the head.”

  Them? Tika asked herself, And why not me? That’s specist!

  She might have said as much, but her tongue was still fuzzy and refused to form words.

  Someone tossed a blanket over her, and propped her up against a wall before tucking the edges in. Not long after, the woman crouched in front of her.

  “Funny thing about colony law,” she began. “If the surviving member of a colony has other colony affiliations on the world under dispute, then their originating colony claims still stand and they can enter negotiations.”

  Other colony affiliations? Tika thought, but had to wait until her tongue loosened up. She couldn’t even protest when Donovan crouched beside her, pulled the blanket tight around her and scooped her up.

  The woman raised an eyebrow. “You like playing with fire, wolf boy?”

  He curled a lip, but didn’t reply, and Pritchard nudged her. “Smarter than he looks, Cat.”

  Catriona smirked. “We’ll see. I’m looking for a liaison, here.”

  Tika glared at all three of them…still couldn’t make her words work…and contemplated murder, instead. The effects of the stunner were wearing off by the time they reached a small guest cabin.

  Donovan set her down outside it, waited for her to secure the blanket around herself, and then stepped back. Tika gave him a frown as she followed the woman inside, surprised when Pritchard stayed in the corridor, as well.

  “What’sh thish all about?” she managed, losing her grip on the blanket as the woman thrust a pile of clothes toward her.

  “You need to get dressed,” Catriona told her.

  “And you are?” Tika demanded.

  “Agent Catriona Delight,” the woman answered. “We answered the karovi call for assistance.”

  “Then why did you think they’d killed my colony?”

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Because they were the only ones there,” Delight replied, “And they could have staked a rival claim.”

  Tika shrugged. “Why would they?”

  Delight cocked her head and studied Tika’s face.

  “It’s a beautiful world,” she answered. “Prime settling, nice biodiversity, good pharmaceutical potential, if your reports are to be believed, and the promise of mineral deposits. I can see why the raiders tried to take it.”

  “Have they laid a claim, yet?”

  Delight gave her a slow, sly, smile. “They have. Claimed they found the burnt-out ruins themselves. We had to prove it wasn’t them.”

  “And did you?”

  The agent gave her a hard smile. “The karovi have footage of the ship and the shuttles.”

  “So why didn’t you believe them?”

  “Because they’re as technologically advanced as we are. They could have doctored the footage…and that is what Croftings is claiming.”

  “Croftings?” Tika’s voice shook. “But…I used to work for them. Why would they…”

  “You were one of their top researchers. Are you saying you hadn’t sent them reports about your initial findings on this world?”

  Tika’s face colored. “No. I mean, yes.”

  She sighed.

  “Let me try again. I did send them a report. Just one…and I was waiting for a reply. I had permission from the colony leaders since it looked like we could partner with Croftings in the development of a new pharmaceutical. It would have been a real boost to the colony’s finances, given us a jump on the second year.”

  Delight took a small machine out of her pocket, glanced at the readings on it and then glanced at the nearest security camera.

  Holding the device up to the camera, she said, “Told you. Now get yourselves moving, or they’ll get away.”

  “What was that?” Tika asked.

  “Lie detector,” Delight told her. “Reads the nans in your system to verify you’re not lying. Did you see any of the traders?”

  Feeling dazed, Tika nodded. “Yes.”

  They’d put nans in her system?

  “Is this because of the bite?”

  Delight stared at her. “What bite?”

  Tika nodded toward her shoulder. “On my shoulder. Where the cat-people…”

  “The karovi?”

  Tika nodded. “They said it was the only way to save me, and they were arguing, and the cub…”

  “Oh.” Delight’s face lost all expression, and her eyes took on a faraway look as though she was talking to someone else. When they snapped back into focus, she laid a hand on Tika’s arm and guided her to the san unit.

  “Why don’t you get changed, while I sort this out?”

  Tika froze. “He won’t get into trouble, will he? Will any of them?”

  Delight’s face gave nothing away. “Let me look into it. Now, go and change. We’re calling a conference with the Explorer’s Dream, and I need you on deck and dressed.”

  “Go,” she ordered, when Tika continued to hesitate. “This won’t take long.”

  Tika went, and when she came out, she was relieved to be clean and dressed and in a room of her own. She booted up the console standing behind one of the panels and then stopped. It wasn’t like she had anything to work on. All her files had been in the colony’s system.

  Her heart sank. All her research…

  She slumped in the seat, and then brightened.

  Not all her research. Her implant retained her field notes. It all depended on how many of them she’d transferred the night before the traders had turned into raiders.

  Oh… the agent wanted pictures of the traders… Surely there were recordings still on file?

  She tapped open the console, and typed the command that would allow her to review her implant footage. Now, she understood why they’d bombed the settlement. Even if the colonists hadn’t survived, the company had wanted to make sure no records survived…not even in the implants of the dead.

  She remembered the three explosions she’d heard from the shelter of the cave.

  Well, they’d taken care of that, all right. If they’d used an incendiary mix…nothing would have remained. Her mind raced, but if Croftings was involved they’d have wanted to secure her research notes…all of them.

  Had they taken out the clinic first? Or last?

  She dove into the system, trying to find any footage or reports on the colony’s loss…and then she went looking to see if any of her discoveries had made it to the web. Croftings’ announcement of a new medicine based on a ‘new’ discovery sent her heart plummeting all over again.

  Her parents had run the clinic in the center of town, and she’d had the lab in the back. If Croftings had her notes, it meant there really was no hope the lab had been spared.

  Tika stared at the screen, tears tracking down her cheeks, as she stared past the Croftings’ advertisement into nothing.

  It had been her fault.

  She’d made the colony a target.

  A sob wrenched out of her, and she clapped her hands over her mouth, looking around before remembering she was in a private room, on her own…and that there was no-one to see. Tika folded her arms across her chest and allowed herself to weep.