Blood Thirsty (Tri System's Edge Series Book 2) Read online

  The general smiled as he placed a hand on the butt of his pistol. “She had to leave,” he replied. There was a faint quiver in his voice.

  Jarek glanced in the direction of Kalla’s ship. “Huh. That’s funny, ‘cause her ship’s still here,” he said. “So I’ll ask you one more time. Where’s Kalla?”

  “She’s gone,” the general shot back without any hesitation. “But don’t worry, you’ll be joining her soon.”

  Not one to mess around, Jarek bolted toward the general and rammed into him, knocking Quinn to the floor. Positioning his forearm against the general’s neck, Jarek pinned him down and asked again, “Where is Kalla?”

  Gasping for air and struggling to break free, the general finally managed the single word: “outside.”

  The answer was unexpected, and Jarek eased up for a moment as he tried to interpret what the general meant. Was she outside the ship, as in space? Suddenly he felt himself being shoved backwards just enough that he started to lose his balance.

  “Give her my regards when you see her,” the general said before firing several shots into Jarek’s chest. The force of the bullets knocked Jarek back even further, enough for the general to break free and get back to his feet.

  The bullets were only a momentary setback for Jarek, and before the general had time for another attack, Jarek was already standing again. “You really think a few bullets will save you?” he asked calmly.

  The general laughed as he holstered his gun. “No, but it was worth a try.” Then he charged Jarek, catching him by surprise with a right hook that sent him flying backwards to the floor. “But as you can see, I don’t really need it anyway.”

  “You’re a lot stronger than you should be,” Jarek acknowledged, as he stood up again.

  “Surprised?” the general said with a wide grin.

  “A little,” Jarek answered, “but it won’t make a difference. I’m still going to kill you.”

  “Oh, is that so?”

  Jarek reached back and pulled his sword from its sheath. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Now that’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

  “Says the guy with the gun.”

  The general appeared to be nervous now, and started backing away, looking around the room as though searching for something.

  “We were going to keep this simple,” Jarek began. “We even considered handing you over to the Directive, but you had to go and screw everything up.” Jarek paused as he thought of Kalla. He wondered if she was really gone for good. “And Kalla’s outside the ship? You actually threw her out of the ship? As in outer space?”

  The general shrugged and started laughing, but maintained his slow retreat.

  “Really shouldn’t have done that,” Jarek said as he started running toward the general, holding his sword out in front of him.

  The general turned and ran, keeping his distance from Jarek until he reached a nearby cargo bay where he abruptly stopped and crouched. When he stood back up again, he was holding a large steel rod in his hands that was nearly a meter and a half in length.

  Jarek noticed the weapon immediately, and as a precaution, he slowed his pace. He gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, preparing for a fight. “This ends now,” he said.

  The general sneered and nodded. “For you it will,” he replied, as he lunged forward with the rod, using it like a bow staff and swinging it toward Jarek’s upper body.

  Jarek blocked the initial blow with ease and countered with a swing of his sword that sliced into the general’s shoulder.

  “Well played,” the general said with a grin. “I see now that I’m dealing with an accomplished swordsman and not just a dumb brute.”

  Jarek smiled and moved in for another attack, forcefully thrusting his sword at the general’s torso.

  The rod met the sword just in time to block the attack, then continued to spin around until the end of the rod connected with Jarek’s jaw, followed by a quick jab to the chest. The force of the blow knocked Jarek backwards and to the floor.

  Using his arm, he wiped the blood from his mouth and growled.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, did that hurt?” the general taunted.

  Jarek pushed himself back to his feet and charged the general again, swinging his sword the moment he was in range.

  General Quinn barely managed to deflect the sword this time, but not the blow to his head from Jarek’s fist, which left him in a daze.

  Taking advantage of the situation, Jarek jerked the rod from the general’s hand and used it against him, delivering a hard blow to his head.

  General Quinn stumbled to the floor, but managed to roll out of the way just in time to avoid another hit from the rod. Then, attempting to reclaim the weapon, he quickly grabbed the end of it and pulled himself up.

  With his superior strength, Jarek ripped the steel rod from Quinn’s hands again, then spun around and kicked him square in the chest. He watched as the general flew back against a far wall and dropped to the floor. “We’re about done,” Jarek said, gripping the sword and tossing the steel rod away. He briskly walked toward his fallen enemy, intent on killing him.

  The general, clearly flustered by what had just happened, scrambled to his feet moments before Jarek reached him. “Please,” he pleaded, waving his hands.

  Determined to finish this, Jarek ignored the plea and lunged forward with the sword.

  Desperate, the general swung his arm up to deflect the sword, and instead of being stabbed in the chest, the blade cut into his shoulder. He rolled along the wall, forcing the sword to follow, and managed to yank it from Jarek’s hands. The flat of the sword slapped against the wall, dislodged from the general’s shoulder, and the weapon fell to the floor. Before Jarek could retrieve it, Quinn kicked out at the hilt, sending the sword sliding across the floor and out of reach.

  The general had just managed to stand up when Jarek threw the first punch. He repeatedly knocked the general to the floor and kept him on the move.

  Quinn struggled to get away, but his constant stumbling made it nearly impossible for him to escape. Each time he regained his balance, Jarek was right there with more.

  The general endured blow after powerful blow to his face and abdomen before he finally found an opening. He threw an uppercut that disoriented Jarek and knocked him backwards and off his feet. It gave Quinn just enough time to make his escape.

  Undeterred, Jarek quickly regained his senses and stood up again.

  But the general had other plans. “This is where we’ll have to part ways,” he said, just before unloading his pistols into Jarek’s chest. When the last bullet left the chamber, he holstered both weapons and sprinted toward a row of fighter jets.

  Jarek stumbled to the floor again. By the time he managed to get back on his feet, he could hear the hum of an engine fill the docking bay. And when he finally locked on to the source of the noise, the jet was already hovering several meters in the air. He could only watch as the jet glided toward the exit, then disappeared through the pressure shield.

  “This isn’t over!” he yelled, as the ship vanished from his view.

  ~

  The medic watched through the rear viewport as a soldier floated toward the body.

  “Got her,” the soldier announced over the comm. “Pull me in.”

  The line attached to the soldier’s harness suddenly became taut, as it pulled him closer to the small craft, until he’d reached the airlock.

  “Let me know as soon as you’re both inside and clear of the door,” the medic said.

  “We’re clear,” the soldier announced a few minutes later.

  The medic pressed a button on the control panel, and the airlock doors began to close. Seconds later, the room pressurized and the inner door opened.

  The medic stepped inside, followed by another soldier. “Let me check her vitals first,” he said as he knelt down next to the body. He examined her for a moment, then he looked up at the other men. “I don’t know how, but she’s still alive.
Help me get her to the infirmary.”

  The men lifted her onto a stretcher and carefully made their way to another small room on the ship where they laid her down on a bed.

  “Let the captain know we have her on board, and she’s still alive.”

  The soldier nodded, then turned and left the room.

  When the medic turned back to his patient, he was so startled that he nearly fell over.

  “Where . . . where am I?” the girl asked, now sitting upright.

  For a moment the medic was speechless, and he stared blankly at the girl.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  “That’s an odd question from someone who ought to be dead right now,” he said, still trying to accept what he was seeing. “Do you know who you are, or what happened to you?”

  She stood up from the bed and walked confidently toward the medic. “The name’s Kalla,” she said, with her hand outstretched.

  Tri System’s Edge

  Blood Thirsty

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20