Free Hybrid Saga 01 - Hybrid by S M Briscoe

him?” she asked, incredulously, seeming to read his mind.
    “Are you going to give me ten thousand credits to take you out of here?” he asked, sarcastically, and pointed to where he had been looking. “I needed that bounty!”
    “Well, I’m sorry!” Elora apologized, with little to no sincerity. “But if you go after him, you’re going to get us all killed.”
    “Please, don’t let me hold you up,” he began, opening his hand to the madness breaking loose around them. “Feel free to find your own way out of here.”
    Elora stood there for a moment, glaring back at him.
    Jarred looked away first, and for the third time, he found himself giving in to her. Obviously, there was no way he could still go after Mac. He knew that. What was irritating him was his inability to stand his ground against this woman he’d just met.
    “So what are we going to do?” she asked, as though on cue. Her demeanor had softened now, which only added to Jarred’s frustration. She knew she had won . . . again.
    “We leave,” he answered, plainly. “As quickly and quietly as possible.” He glanced back at Orna, who he’d noticed had been quietly observing him.
    “I guess you’re coming with me , then.” It was a statement, not a question. Where else would she be going now, with her caretakers both dead? Jarred was starting to feel like a baby sitter himself.
    “I place my life in your hands,” Orna responded, pausing briefly before adding a single word. “ Hybrid .”
    Jarred felt a cold chill run up his spine at the comment, though he was unsure as to why, and slowly returned his gaze to the small being. She was staring back at him, speculatively, as though measuring his reaction, and it was immediately obvious to him that she had said it with the intention of getting a reaction out him. What she expected to see, and to what end, he hadn’t the faintest idea, but the fact that she was trying made him feel uneasy and his defenses went on full alert. He searched the being’s face for signs of malevolence or I’ll intent, but it was entirely unreadable. Even so, he felt strangely reassured that, whatever the being’s intent, it was not an immediate threat to him. Even so, his guard remained in place and instinctively he went on the offensive, stepping towards the small being, opening his mouth to question her.
    The sounds of the surrounding fire fight halted his advance and Jarred was drawn back to what he could be sure was an immediate threat. There would be time to delve deeper into Orna’s meaning and intent later, if he survived. Right now, there was the much more pressing matter of making his escape, with three unexpected stowaways.
    He looked to everyone in the group. “We’re heading straight for the ship,” he began, evenly. “You move where I move, when I move, got it?”
    Receiving nods of understanding from both Elora and Ethan, Jarred then looked past them to Orna.
    “I will keep up,” Orna answered simply, without being asked.
    Jarred observed the being a moment longer before turning his attention back to the action around the docking bay. There were no troopers bearing down on their location in particular, so they weren’t in any immediate danger. No gunfire was being directed at them presently, but a stray shot would be just as deadly as an aimed one, so he led the group out carefully, moving as discreetly as possible towards his docked freighter.
    The docking ring was madness. Everywhere people were running or returning fire on the Sect troops. The numerous docked vessels served as decent cover for the group as Jarred brought them under the nose of his ship. He fired a few rapid bursts from his plasma rifle, taking out two troopers that had taken notice of them. Moving quickly under the belly of the freighter, they came out beneath the entry hatch. Jarred punched a code sequence into the entry panel, the hatch hesitating a moment before opening and lowering to the ground. He sent Elora, Ethan and