Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon by Joshua Dalzelle Read Free Book Online

real name,” she demanded again, all but ignoring Jason and Lucky.
    “You will get only a warning, old woman, and then you will be on your way,” Crusher snarled in a sudden display of ferocity. “I’ve no time to waste on the likes of you.”
    “You will not speak so to the Caretaker, outcast trash!” one of the warriors shouted, moving towards Crusher. Things were going to shit quickly. Crusher stood to meet the challenge and the whine of Lucky switching to combat mode cut through the chaos. The female gelten, the Caretaker , calmly raised a hand. Shockingly, everyone seemed to heed her signal and froze in place.
    “You will calm yourself,” she admonished her warrior, “or you will remove yourself from this room.”
    “But, Caretaker!” he spluttered. “How can you let this renegade speak to you in such a manner?”
    She sighed, turning back to the table. “Because he is Lord Felex Tezakar, the Guardian Archon of Galvetor, and he may speak as he wishes,” she said quietly, locking gazes with Crusher. There was a clatter as both warriors dropped to their knees, placing their foreheads on the floor and prostrating before Crusher.
    “Tell them to get up,” Crusher growled. “They’re making a scene.”
    “You know that I cannot do that,” the Caretaker said. “Only you can command them.” The snarl that emanated from Crusher convinced Jason that he was about to strike the woman. Instead, he turned to the two warriors.
    “Rise,” he said simply. “Quickly! Off the floor, you fools.” Both warriors climbed to their feet but kept their eyes downcast, refusing to meet Crusher’s gaze.
    “Please forgive us, Lord Archon,” the one who had threatened him said. “We thought you long dead. Never would we raise arms against you.”
    “So,” Jason said conversationally, “anybody care to fill Lucky and I in on what the hell is going on?”
    “We should get to the ship, Captain,” Crusher said. “And as quickly as possible.”
     
     

Chapter 6
     
    “Hey, Captain,” Twingo called over his shoulder. He and Kage were hunched over something in the cargo bay that looked, at least to Jason, like a twisted chunk of space garbage. “What’s new?”
    “We’ve got some guests if you two would like to stop playing in the trash,” Jason said. Both of them spun around, then walked over to where Lucky and Crusher were also coming up the ramp, followed closely by their guests from Galvetor.
    “Guys, these are—”
    “Oh, shit!” Kage suddenly exclaimed as he spotted the two additional warriors. “There are three of them now.” He actually turned and looked like he was going to flee back up into the ship, but Twingo reached out and grabbed his collar.
    “Calm down, damnit!” the engineer said through clenched teeth. “You’re embarrassing us.”
    “What the hell is wrong with you?” Jason ground out before turning back to where the others had stopped to observe the commotion. “Don’t mind him,” he said with a smile. “He just gets a little excited. Anyway, as I was about to say, this is … you know, other than Caretaker, I have no idea who any of you are.”
    “Caretaker is simply an informal title,” the female gelten said with a slight smile. “A term of familiarity and respect, if you will. My name is Connimon Helick. The warrior to my right is Morakar Reddix and his younger brother, Mazer Reddix, is to my left. We are not a species particularly obsessed with formality, Captain. You, and your crew, may simply address us by our given names.”
    “Simple enough,” Jason said. “This is my engineer, Twingo, and our excitable code slicer, the one with two extra arms, is Kage.”
    “Greetings all,” Connimon said with a nod of her head. “Captain Burke, while I look forward to filling you in on why we’ve sought you out, I feel that it would be prudent to launch as quickly as possible. I can’t be sure, but we may have been tracked.”
    Jason sighed heavily, getting a sinking