Free Rebel Kato (Shifters of the Primus Book 1) by Elyssa Ebbott Page B

have mobilized their torcher ships, he will not have the spare men to send after her. An assault against an enemy ship is no easy task, even for Primus warriors. He will need to bring every spare man if he hopes to minimize his losses.”
    I nod, not fully convinced. In the end, it doesn’t matter if I’m convinced. Even though I told Kato I couldn’t be safer than on The Hope when I execute my plan, I left out the part about my little white lie that turns out to be not-so-little. Had I actually been Chief Engineer like I told him on our first night together, the commands I would need to enter on the console would be simple. However, the only things I know about the consoles are what I had worked out on my own. While I have seen the commands I told the men about, I don’t actually know if they will work. Certain areas of the console are more complex than others. Sometimes it is as simple as drawing a few logical conclusions and other times, well, it’s like math that they don’t teach greasers.
    We reach our destination, which seems to be a military base carved into the trunk of one of the biggest trees I have seen. Primus males wearing suits of armor and holding spears jog around the large platform, readying supplies and torcher ships—boxy craft that look like a cockpit strapped to a single, massive cannon.
    “How do you know your father won’t be on The Hope? ” I ask Kato.
    “My father didn’t become king because he’s a fearless warrior. He became king because he is clever. He will suspect everything we plan—sabotage of his army, a sneak attack against the capital. He has no way to know, but he cannot afford to leave behind the city with no defenses. He will be there, organizing the defense.”
    “Why not just leave the city for now and then return to slaughter us when he’s done with my people?”
    “He’s clever but he’s proud. He will not allow me to enter his city unchallenged. More importantly, I would be able to seal our mating beneath the Sacred Tree and bring fertility between the Primus and your kind.”
    “Seal our mating?”
    “When we reach the heart of the Sacred Tree, I will take you while we are bathed in its sap.”
    “Oh,” I say, twirling a loose lock of hair.
    “And many will bear witness to our mating. It will usher a new era for the Umani and your people. A historic joining of bloodlines, starting with you and I.”
    “By bear witness, you mean like, bar-room bragging the next morning?”
    “Traditionally, the mating is observed by the entire clan.”
    “Right,” I say, feeling my cheeks burn bright at the thought. Fantasy is one thing. But actually having people watch while we. . . Yeah. I’ll have to talk to him about that one.
    We fly out of sight from the Separatists, but I already see several torcher ships flying in formation behind us. Kato pulls the ship into a climb until we are flying straight toward The Hope . It is a small speck against the sky when we crest the top of the trees. The sight of it makes me feel uneasy. I realize how many lives are on the line. How many lives might depend on me. Of course I could always try to find someone qualified to run the controls and explain the situation to them once we’re on the ship, but then. . . Then Kato would know I had lied to him.
    He would know I wasn’t a Chief Engineer and that I wasn’t known amongst my people. I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to hurt him like that. Even if it meant risking so many lives. But I might have to.

20

Kato
    I expect us to have several hours to set up Liandra’s plan when we reach The Hope but see that her hull is already riddled with leech ships. They stick to the outside of the ship like small insects, each capable of holding upwards of 100 Primus warriors. There are thousands upon thousands across the ship.
    Then I see the stars to our left flicking in and out of sight. Looking closer, I realize a small squad of Umani Corsairs are flying toward us. When they come within