This week’s theme for Snippet Saturday is a fight. Instead of giving you a scene where my characters fight either physically or verbally, I’ve chosen a scene from House of the Cat where the ship is attacked by pirates. This is definitely a fight for survival!
HOUSE OF THE CAT by Shelley Munro
Camryn gave a gasp of mortified horror, her face flaming. “Get out of my head.”
“I—”
The wail of sirens brought a curse. Ry scooped her up like a troublesome parcel and dumped her on a chair. She’d scarcely settled her butt on it when Mogens leaned over and buckled her into a harness. He sat beside her and strapped in, his body tense while he surveyed the blackness outside the ship.
“What is it?” Camryn finally gathered the courage to ask, alarm swooping through her belly when the ship suddenly dropped. Her stomach followed, feeling as if it’d landed on the floor at her feet. “What’s happening?”
“Pirates,” Mogens said tersely, his attention on the porthole and instruments.
Pirates? Camryn craned her neck, watching the fast-approaching black ship with acute trepidation.
A violent explosion seared her retinas. Their ship tilted. A second explosion tossed the ship in the other direction, forces throwing Camryn against her harness. A squeak squeezed past tight lips. She glared at Ry, casting blame. His fault. All of it.
Hell, she was gonna die.
“Another black ship at Nor-nor-west,” the man at the controls said in a tense voice.
“I see him. Three total.” The captain sat totally at ease.
Why weren’t they firing back?
“Looks like Banio colors,” the warrior said, her blue eyes narrowed to angry slits. “How the hell did they know we were in this part of the universe?”
“Get ready to fire,” the captain said.
“Ready to fire,” the pilot answered.
“Ready to fire,” the warrior confirmed.
Camryn grasped the edge of her seat with a white-knuckle grip. Scared rigid, she closed her eyes to shut out the ships firing on them and almost immediately opened them again. A harsh sob jammed halfway up her throat.
“Fire.” Cat Man—Ry—finally gave the order.
The ship bucked. Camryn’s stomach divebombed south. Yesterday she’d have welcomed a reunion with Gabriel. Now, in the face of death, she learned she wanted to live.
Flashes of light detonated across the black depths of space. Had they hit the other ships? Blind from the bright flares, Camryn couldn’t see. One of the ships returned fire. Their pilot attempted evasive action but wasn’t quite quick enough. The ship tilted at an acute angle. Shook wildly. Alarms screeched. One of the aliens cursed.
“Fire in the hold,” Ry shouted. “Nanu and Kaya to the hold.” Two of the crew unbuckled and leapt to their feet.
“Come in, Indefatigable,” a mocking voice transmitted. “We have you, Monsieur Coppersmith. Surrender so we can claim the très bien bounty on your pretty head, no?”
“Fukk you, Banio. Fire!” Ry took over Warrior Woman’s gun.
Simultaneous shots rang out. A ship exploded in a fireball. Scant seconds later something clipped their ship, sending it into rapid rolls. The other crewwoman flew from her seat, belting into a fixed chair with a sickening crunch. She moaned.
Ry fired his gun again. “Yep, hold steady. Mogens sitrep on Jannike.”
Mogens unfastened his harness, grabbed his satchel and scrambled across the bridge to the woman.
“Camryn, man the gun,” Ry ordered.
“Me?”
“There’s no one else. When I say fire, push the black button.”
Camryn fumbled with the harness release. She teetered across the bridge with gangly foal steps.
“Buckle the harness.”
Another order. Damn, she didn’t want to die. Shaky fingers clicked the harness into place. When she stole a glance at Ry, his green eyes held approval. Calm confidence.
“Ready?”
Camryn licked her lips and nodded, the ball of nerves inside her stomach huge and bigger than any pre-race nerves. This couldn’t be any worse than killing aliens on a computer game. Surely? “Yes,” she said hoarsely. “Black button. Push on command.”
“Line her up, Yep. They’ll expect us to go for the stricken ship. Target the other first. Bloody mercenaries.”
Ry glared out the porthole. “On three, Camryn.”
Camryn gave her palms a furtive wipe across her trouser legs. She swallowed, wished for a shot of whiskey. Her knees quaked and she felt strangely disembodied. Just a game, she told herself. A silly kid’s game.
“One. Two. Three. Fire!”
Camryn’s sweaty finger slid across the black button, depressing it. The ship bucked, a metallic screech grating against her ears.
“A hit! Great shooting,” the pilot shouted.
“Once more,” Ry ordered.
The pilot lined them up. Ry shouted orders. Camryn fired. When she focused, after a huge explosion of bright light, not a single ship showed in the black vacuum outside.
“We got ’em, Captain,” the pilot shouted in jubilation. “They’ll think twice before they engage a frigate again. Long-range guns get them every time.”
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To read more Snippet Saturday excerpts follow the links below:
Shelli Stevens
Emma Petersen
Shelley Munro
Mari Carr
Lissa Matthews
TJ Michaels
Juliana Stone
Taige Crenshaw
Eliza Gayle
Elisabeth Naughton
Ashley Ladd
McKenna Jeffries
Lauren Dane
