The Last Atonian

Chapter 3:

Veerna led the way down the hall, her hand firmly on the gun at her hip. Nobody questioned her as to where she'd gotten it from; they apparently realized that silence was their best option. Veerna smirked mirthlessly; fear was her greatest weapon, whether with allies or foes, it didn't matter.

Of course, Veerna failed to gamble on the fact that one among their group had just one member of his family remaining, and that he would do anything—even challenge Veerna's authority—to save his sister. As the group crept through the corridor, a piercing scream made Veerna want to clap her hands over her ears. Yulia jumped like she'd been stung, and Don blanched. But it was Xander Weni who had the worst reaction. "That—that was Suzan," he whispered, mostly to Don.

"Pity," Veerna interrupted, before Don could respond. "But we can't risk them catching us. We'll have to leave her behind."

Moving with greater speed than Veerna had thought him capable of, Xander slammed the butt of his rifle into her forehead. She stumbled back and he ran towards the sound of the scream. Instinctively, Veerna grabbed for her gun, trying to ignore the pounding headache threatening from the painful blow. By the time she'd leveled the gun in Xander's direction, though, he had already run around the corner and out of her line of sight.

"He's going to get himself killed!" Don exclaimed in a barely-restrained whisper.

"Oh, I'd love to let him," Veerna muttered, rubbing her forehead. "But our group is small enough as it is, and one of us is a useless shrink. I'm not going to mention who."

"Gee, I wonder," Don grumbled.

She frowned at him as she tried to think. The sound of gunshots interrupted her train of thought, and Don visibly paled. "By the stars, I really hope they didn't just shoot him!" he exclaimed.

Veerna shoved the useless psychologist aside and sprinted down the corridor. Behind her, she heard the other two attempting to keep up with her. As she ran, she morphed her physical appearance into that of a male Federation officer. She clearly heard Don mutter as he sprinted along behind her.

She held up a hand, stopping the other two behind her as she looked around the corner. Xander, the crazy security officer, was standing in front of a group of the slavers, holding his bleeding shoulder. A girl was being held by them—his sister, Suzan, Veerna remembered. Rulon stood in front of Xander, still menacing him with the gun. "Spit it out, boy! Where are they?"

Xander shook his head, pure stubbornness covering his youthful features. "You may as well kill me. I won't tell you anything until you release my sister, and I'll know if you're lying."

Veerna turned to Don, blowing some of her newly-brown hair out of her eyes. "Don," she said. "I'm going to need you to get Suzan out of there when I start talking, get it?" She morphed back into her original form, giving her white head of hair a toss.

"S-start talking?" Don stammered, but before he could further protest, Veerna stepped out from behind the corner.

"Rulon! You ugly little coward. Are you looking for me?" She crossed her arms, hiding the gun in the crook of her elbow, that way, he would believe her to be unarmed.

The eye of all the men were on her, as well as their weapons. She was pleased to see that they had shoved Suzan's unconscious body aside and had left Xander standing there, looking confused. Don moved behind him, tapping his shoulder and jerking his head down the hall. Veerna could not find Yulia and surmised that she had probably remained out of the way, back in the hall they had come from. That was better for Veerna. The less people who saw the Atonian, the better.