When Lendar peered around the corner, his eyes were immediately drawn to not one but two of them. With vertebrae thrusting from the ridges of spiny backs, their bodies were curled, snouts tucked into hind legs. His assumption had been right. Dwears!
On Earth, they would be recognized as a mix between a bear and a wolf. Large as a grizzly with the speed and precision of a wild wolf. A keen killing machine. They had smoky gray shaggy hair that seemed to never appear clean no matter how many baths they had, and their unmistakable wet dog stench filled the hangar air.
An accidental slip of Lendar's foot on the stone floor, and both the Dwears' long ears quickly tuned into his location. Without appearing to have woken up, their ears continued to point his direction. A first alert in this finely tuned defense system.
Lendar slowly backed away, making his way towards the unlucky guard he'd spotted sleeping earlier in the corridor. Lendar made sure the man would not wake anytime soon with a swift knock to his temple from the butt of the guard's own gun he'd swiped. He would be unconscious for some time now, so Lendar lifted the man up and hauled him over his shoulder.
As he carried the man towards the doorway, he used a knife he'd also taken from the guard to cut each power source to the corridor lighting. One by one, the lights went out as he approached the stone archway leading into the hangar again. At the hangar entrance, the hallway was completely dark, except for where the hangar lights spilled through the doorway and onto the floor.
Lendar knelt in the shadows and sheathed his knife. He scanned each row of ships along the hangar walls until he found the one he was looking for.
There she was--Nazarus--waiting for him.
With his escape plan coming together, Lendar slid the man's body off his shoulder. He gripped the man's belt with one hand and his shirt collar with the other. Swinging the body back and forth to build up enough momentum, Lendar eyed the pile of junk that looked to be a safe enough landing spot. He wanted to keep from crushing the guards head with an unfortunate slam on the concrete floor. It seemed a small favor for using him as bait.
With as much force as he could muster, Lendar launched the awkward bulk into the air. The body sailed into the hangar, and by the time it crashed to a noisy landing on the pile of junk, Lendar was crouched in the corridor, gun drawn. He was ready.
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Pandora's Chase
Science Fiction"An entertaining, epic sci-fi outing in compact form....the author delivers a narrative with an impressive pace, a protagonist whose single-minded mission retains focus, and a few surprises along the way... " - Kirkus Reviews He opens it. His br...
