Chapter 519

"Wait!" Kasandra shouted. "I’m entirely serious. I’ll get on an unarmed shuttle and come over to you. No tricks or deceptions."

Douvoi held up his hand to stop his adjutant.

He figured that this was all a lie still, but on the off-chance Kasandra really was as desperate as she seemed, he certainly would not mind having an easier time securing her.

"I suppose that being the owner of the ship’s wife, you have the authority and access codes to do something like that. But even if you did come over to me willingly, what of your brother? We’re here for him as well."

Kasandra snarled at him when he said this. Bringing a grin to Douvoi’s lips.

"He won’t give up himself with me. That’s fine though, isn’t it? Fahad said that Daxton only needs one of us. I’ll be enough."

Internally Douvoi was curing Fahad for having leaked such information, but outwardly he did not let his feelings show.

"Perhaps that’s true. Still, I’ve been ordered to retrieve both of you. I see no reason to stop when I’m obviously winning. Soon we’ll have breached your shields and disabled you thrusters. After that all we need to do is board the ship and retain you and Kaiden. It’s only a matter of time."

"If that’s what you really think, then you’re a f*cking fool." Kasandra spat. "You’ve got spies onboard, so you know that this isn’t a helpless cargo ship. Push us much further and Avery will deploy the vessel’s weapon systems even if it means giving up on our current assignment. Plus, I know that if you did breach the Intrepid, you would not leave anyone alive. For that reason, Kaiden and I have made a pact already. We’ll kill ourselves before you can get us."

Douvoi squinted his eyes and glared at Kasandra after she insulted him and made her threats.

He almost wanted to call her bluff just to spite her. Killing yourself was not something that was easy to do.

Even people that said it with resolve often found themselves unable to go through with the act at the last moment. It was something that went against a person’s nature and instincts.

However, since he had been presented with another option, it was not worth the risk of him finding out.

When Daxton had assigned him this mission after Fahad’s failure, there had been a quiet rage in his eyes.

Douvoi did not want to be on the receiving end of that anger because Kasandra and Kaiden took their own lives. He had already been instructed that he had to take one of them alive. Failure would likely see him joining them in the afterlife.

"Fine, you have my attention. What is it that you want for surrendering yourself?"

"Once you have me, I want you to leave. Stop your attack and let everyone else go. I’ve already lost my family before. I don’t want it to happen again. If I can prevent anyone else from dying, I’ll do it even if it means giving myself up." Kasandra said, a powerful resolve in her eyes.

Weighing his options, Douvoi decided that going along with Kasandra would be beneficial.

Even should this prove to be a deception as he suspected, it would hardly cost him anything. The moment that her lies were caught, it would be easy enough to continue their assault.

On the off chance that she was being truthful, though, he would have secured one of their objectives.

If Daxton later ordered him to retrieve Kaiden anyway, then Douvoi could simply use his sister as a hostage to force his cooperation. There really weren’t any downsides.

"Very well. When we’ve confirmed that you’ve left the ship on a shuttle, I’ll give the command to stop the attack. But know that if you do try and trick me, I’ll make sure that not a single one of your friends survive. Inf act, I’ll have that lover of yours captured and torture him in front of you until he begs for death. So do not try me." Douvoi said, his voice becoming a menacing growl at the end.

Kasandra meekly nodded her head in defeat and then ended the transmission.

Douvoi waited to see if she would go through with her end of the bargain, and only a minute later, a shuttle flew out of the Intrepid’s hangar.

The order to cease fire went out to avoid a stray shot hitting the craft.

Then Douvoi waited for confirmation from his adjutant that everything appeared as it should be.

"The shuttle appears to be unarmed as she said, and there’s a single life sign onboard."

Another transmission came through a moment later from the shuttle, and Kasandra was displayed on the console in front of Douvoi.

Immediately he could tell that her surroundings had changed from the last time she had contacted him. Presumably, she was aboard the shuttle flying away from the Intrepid.

The massive, disguised cargo ship came to a stop just a few moments after the shuttle left, and it attempted to lock a tractor beam on it to prevent it from leaving.

Yet, the tractor beam emitter fizzled out just a second after it was activated.

It seemed that Kasandra had anticipated that she would be stopped and had disabled the device before leaving.

Obviously, her husband would not just let her leave and sacrifice herself.

Douvoi watched all of this carefully. What he had seen so far made it appear that Kasandra was being genuine.

Although, until he saw her with his own eyes, Douvoi was not going to let his guard down.

"Okay, you’ve got me. Where do you want me to go?"

Douvoi smiled, and said, "Head over to this vessel and dock with it. Once my subordinates have secured you and confirmed your identity, I’ll give the order that we leave."

Once Douvoi had sent over the information, the shuttle Kasandra was on headed for the ship that he had indicated.

While he had doubted it at first, he was starting to believe that she really had given herself up to save everyone else.