Discovery at Nerwolix by C.G. Coppola Read Free Book Online

Pobo
flies onto him, forcing his small blade into the neck.
    I race over and find Reid, Jace and Booker
pulling at the rope around their ankles, trying to rip it free. The
Dofinike that was dragging Reid—the first one I shot—starts
stumbling up to his feet but as I reach the Rogues, I hit him
straight through his head. He plops forward into the snow, staining
it red. The second Vermix tries getting up but I shoot him in the
shoulder and he falls forward after the first. Before I can get in
a lethal shot, Pobo pounces on his form, jetting his blade into his
neck over and over.
    “Pobo!” I cry, dropping to Reid’s ankle.
“Here! Cut the rope!”
    The Pwebole races over and slides his blade
between the twine.
    “Good! And the other two,” I command,
helping free the rope from Reid’s ankles.
    “Where’s Sampson?” he asks, our hands
working furiously.
    “I don’t know…” I shake my head, fumbling
with the binds. “And I don’t know where the other Rogues are. Able
went flying and—”
    Reid yanks the rest of the rope off and
jumps to his feet. I quickly shift to Jace and Booker, helping them
pull their restraints free. Once all three Rogues are up, Pobo
returns to my side. “Pweboles follow orders. Always have.”
    “Who knew this little bastard would save
us?” Jace starts to laugh when he looks around. “ Whoa… ”
    “Come on,” I toss my Traxpire to Reid as I
grab one of the Vermix weapons for myself.
    Jace and Booker retrieve theirs from the
other two Dofinikes just as another Vermix lands in a thunderous
leap before us. He lifts his talons to swing but Reid pins him in
his neck and he falls backwards, darkening the snow.
    “Keep together!” he orders as we make our
way across the red and white battlefield, Pobo shuffling by my
side, his blade out and ready. We move toward the cave’s mouth,
Vermix flying at us, attempting to tear our small group apart. But
with each one that lands nearby, a Traxpire explosion rips through
some part of their body, immobilizing them as they sink to the
ground in red. “Watch out for the Arizals!” Reid yells.
    “We have to find the other Rogues,” I scan,
trying to remember which direction Able had gone. “They’re being
taken somewhere.”
    “I know,” Reid nods, his Traxpire up and
aimed. “Where the fuck is Sampson?”
    “We need to get off planet,” Jace keeps to
my side.
    “Not without the other Rogues,” I say.
    “Not without everyone,” Reid commands.
“We’re all leaving—together.”
    “Boss—behind you!” Booker calls, firing his
Traxpire at another Vermix.
    The Rogue skims him in the shoulder, but the
Dofinike merely cups it with his talons. With his yellow eyes
narrowed, the Vermix launches himself at us, taking me and Reid
down under his weight. I choke out a painful scream but Jace and
Booker manage to throw the Dofinike off, blasting him through his
temple until he falls limp in the snow next to us.
    Reid scurries up first, pulling me to his
side. He has an arm around me, squeezing me so tight it hurts.
“Stay close to me!”
    “Boss!” Jace points over a mound of snow,
maybe twenty yards away. “I think I see…”
    We follow his focus and find three more
bodies being dragged through the snow. One lies limp while the
other two squirm, trying to get free.
    Reid pauses, lifting his Traxpire to aim.
“Fallon, can you make the shot?”
    “Yes,” I do the same.
    “I’ll take the left and middle. You go for
the right,” he looks to Jace and Booker. “We’ll give you a head
start.”
    “Pobo, go with them,” I say. “I need you to
cut the rope from the three being dragged.”
    “Pweboles follow orders. Always have.”
    Reid nods to the two Rogues. “Go.”
    Jace and Booker take off, the furry blue
Pobo running on all four legs next to them. Following Reid, I lift
my Traxpire and focus on my target.
    “Got your shot?” Reid asks.
    “Yup.”
    “Let’s take it at the same time. In three,
two, one…”
    We both