Hero by Cheryl Brooks Read Free Book Online Page A

when he saw two females approaching, both in the uniform of
    station staff. He automatically began to smile, but it was wiped from his face as he recognized one of them. Not her, specifically, but her kind.
    As they passed, his icy blue eyes met the darkly glowing feline orbs of the woman in question. Hatred for her and all her kind blazed up in him. However, he managed to hold his comment until they passed.
    "As if this day hadn't gone badly enough," he growled. "I thought we'd killed all those cats."
    "Want me to go get her?" Dolurp inquired, plainly itching for some action.
    "Don't bother," he said, tossing a glance over his shoulder. "Without one of their males, the females can't repro--" He broke off as he saw that the woman had turned and was staring after him. "--duce."

    ***
"Whoa, shit!" Windura exclaimed as the two men began to race toward them.
    "We're in trouble now!"
    Micayla had been on the alert from the moment that venomous gaze had locked
    onto hers and, pivoting on one foot, she snatched Windura's hand and sped off down the passageway, dragging Windura behind her.
    "'Stay away from sections twenty-eight and twenty-nine,'" Micayla quoted as she ran. "Why the hell don't you pay attention to your own advice?"
    "Trust me, he doesn't belong here either," Windura gasped. "I know who he is."
    "Tell me later," Micayla said, picking up speed. Rounding a corner, she almost ran into a load lifter carrying three huge barrels.
    "No shooting!" the Norludian driver exclaimed, waving his sucker-tipped fingers in alarm.
"We don't have weapons!" Micayla shouted as she passed. A pulse beam struck the barrels and they burst open, flooding the corridor. "But I guess they do," she added.
    "I'll bet they have friends around to head us off," Windura said darkly. "He's a very powerful man. We've got to get to another level. Someplace where there are more people."
    They heard the sounds of a crash and a scuffle behind them. Apparently the bad
    guys had slipped on whatever the Norludian had in the barrel. Micayla could hear
    shouted curses and insults. "Too bad they didn't break their necks," she muttered.
    "There's a lift up ahead."
    "How the hell do you know?" Windura demanded.
    "Remember what I told you before about knowing where everything is?"
    "Yeah, right. I remember now. Oh, joy."
    "You don't sound very happy about it."
    "Hey, I thought you were crazy at the time," Windura explained. "Any premonitions that we get out of this alive?"
    "Uh, no. Not really."
    "Make one up then."
    They reached the lift, Windura pounding on the control buttons and cursing it for being so slow. When the lift finally jolted to a halt, the doors slid open with a hiss to reveal two huge Darconians. "I told you we exceeded the weight limit," one of them said.
    "You never listen to me."
    "Aw, shut up," the other said as the dinosaur-like creatures lumbered out of the lift with their tails swinging behind them.
    Micayla and Windura dove into the lift and they both shouted out, "Level Ten!"
    The doors remained open for what seemed like an eternity before finally closing just as their pursuers came into view.
    "Shit!" Windura exclaimed. "This was a bad idea. They'll know what level we've gone to. All they have to do is look at the console!"
    Fortunately, the lift stopped on Level Five to allow three Drells to get on before continuing on to Level Ten uninterrupted. Being Drells, they insisted on getting off first when the ladies tried to push past them. Shuffling slowly with their all-concealing locks dragging along the floor, Micayla was about to rip their hair out in frustration before they finally got out of the way. "Rude little rats, aren't they?" she observed.
    "Can't stand them," Windura agreed. Glancing around, she read: "Level Ten, section thirty. Great. This is one of the docking rings. The station dead-ends here.
    Sections twenty-eight and twenty-nine are that way," she said, pointing to the right.
    "Come on," she said, motioning for Micayla to