G'baena's Pirates by Rachel Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

deserved a long, full, happy future. After everything he’d been through in his life so far, surely the goddess, or whatever deity Pendarians worshipped, would see fit to reward him.
    “ Del. ” Devlin’s voice came through the intercom, and Del moved quickly to the device on the wall. G’baena noticed the fine tremor in his fingers and felt even more wretched for the young man.
    “Yes, Devlin.” His voice sounded so sure, so very official.
    “I’m on route to your quarters. We have a situation that G’baena may be able to help with. I’ll meet you at your cabin, and we’ll head to the cargo bay together.”
    “Help with what? I don’t want her in danger.”
    There was a brief pause, and G’baena wondered what was running through Devlin’s mind. “She won’t be. Not with you and me protecting her.” His answer seemed to both relieve and concern Del , and G’baena felt a small surge of irritation that he hadn’t asked her if she actually minded helping. Not that she wouldn’t, but now that she was no longer a slave and free of the oppression of her fathers, it would’ve been nice to be asked.
    But, of course, at the same time, she was thrilled that there may be something she could help with, and terrified that she’d fail, and sick to her stomach that Del may get caught up in more unpleasantness.
    She spent the next few minutes bouncing between being irritated, grateful, frightened, and determined, so when the door chime sounded, she almost jumped out of her skin.
    Del was already stationed at the entry as if to stop her from opening it herself. He checked the external view screen before letting Devlin in. Devlin nodded to Del , some sort of wordless communication going on that she couldn’t possibly decipher, and then turned his attention to her.
    “G’baena, honey, we captured one of the attacking ships. It’s full of G’trobian males, and Ben believes that at least one of them is familiar. We were hoping that you could help us figure out what they’re thinking and maybe resolve this situation without bloodshed.”
    She was nodding even before he finished the sentence, but his next one made her smile.
    “You don’t have to do this. I promise you Del and I will keep you safe, and we’ll get you out of there at the first hint of danger, but really, you don’t have to do this. You just have to say no, and we’ll find another plan.”
    “I want to help,” she said, relieved to hear that her voice sounded more confident than she actually felt.
    Devlin watched her for a moment as if searching for something, then nodded and turned to Del. He pulled a stun pistol from the harness under his jacket and handed it to the younger man as a million fears ran through G’baena’s mind. She knew Devlin had been training Del in weapon use, but was he ready for such responsibility? She could feel Devlin’s confidence and could only conclude that Devlin believed Del was.
    “G’baena, is there anything that these men can do from a distance to hurt you? Any type of mind control or, I don’t know, any telepathic or telekinetic or tele-whoosi-what’s-it attack that could hurt you?”
    She smiled at Devlin's complete dedication to protect her. She really had no idea what other empaths were capable of, but she had no intention of letting Devlin know that. The man seemed on the verge of locking her away in an effort to keep her safe and maybe even a little angry at himself for not following his instincts to do just that.
    “I don’t believe so, no. Male G’trobians do not seem to possess the same level of skill as G’ntriel.”
    “Okay,” he said, curling his warm fingers around her cold hand. “Let’s get this done. The first sign of anything, any danger—seen or unseen—we will pull you out of there. Got it?”
    She smiled again. It was obvious that he would be happier if she stayed in the room, but he was willing to let her make her own choices. She reached up to touch his face, trying to convey