Page 46 of On a Rogue Planet
The Taskmaster hadn’t seen them yet.
He was too busy crooning to the cages that lined both sides of the room. Crooning to his captives. All women.
At first, Mal only noticed that they were all shapes and sizes. Then she noticed they all had darker skin tones. Honey browns to gorgeous polished obsidian.
Then she noticed the implants.
She hissed in a breath. All the women were Centaxian.
There were twelve of them. Many were naked, the rest in see-through wisps of fabric. They all looked tired, scared, and dejected.
Beside her, Xander was silent, but an icy menace pumped off him.
Before she could say anything, he was sprinting forward.
The Taskmaster barely had time to turn before Xander was on him.
Xander took the Rahl down and was systematically pummeling him in the face.
Mal raced up, tried to grab Xander’s arm. “Don’t kill him. We need information first.”
But Xander was like a syndroid, not reacting to her, set only on his task. His eyes were glowing neon.
“CenSec.” The Taskmaster’s face blanched. He kept raising his hands to protect himself, but Xander’s relentless punches were too strong.
“Xander!” Mal pressed herself to his side and planted her mouth to the side of his neck.
As soon as she licked his skin, his fists paused. He grabbed her, plastering her to him.
“There you are.” Her voice was a shaky whisper. “Okay, now?”
He gave a curt nod and set her aside. He yanked the Taskmaster up by his vest, wrapped his hand around the man’s neck, and held him several inches off the ground. “Where is the Antikythera?”
The Taskmaster shook his head, his face turning red.
Xander tightened his hold. The Rahl made a choking noise. “You are responsible for a lot of death and destruction on my planet. You facilitated the theft of something invaluable to my people. And you keep our women prisoner. You donotwant to disobey my order.”
Mal wondered how someone with such an impassive face and icy voice could come across so damned scary.
He lowered his voice. “You know I can kill you in an instant. Crush your throat with my enhanced strength, electrocute you with my implants, break your neck…should I go on?”
The Rahl made a gurgling sound.
Xander set the man on his feet. “Talk.”
“G-Gurion gave it to someone in return for weapons.” The words came out breathless and garbled.
“Who?”
“Don’t…know.”
Mal saw the muscles in Xander’s arm flex, his hold tightening again.
The Taskmaster’s eyes bulged. “No. No! I don’t know.”
“Where then? Where did he send it?”
“A planet called Technis. That’s all I know.”
