Queen of the Savages - Complete by Lisa Lace

promised Du I would take care of this."
    "Why would you do anything for Ja-Idin Du?" Tracy said, surprised.
    "It's complicated, and it doesn't matter." Quargan turned away to address the ships remaining in orbit around Kerdos.
    "Fleet, this is Quargan. On my orders, fire on the transport ship. After you're done shooting at it, I expect to see nothing left."
    Alarms rang throughout the ship. Rev looked at a monitor.
    "Every ship in orbit is arming their weapons, and they're pointed right at us!"

Part 3: Revenge
    Tracy stared at the ugly face of the pirate, enjoying the feeling of cold rage washing over her.
    How dare he? How dare he try to take her life when she'd been through so much?
    He had no idea who she was.
    She looked at the line of ships, many of them almost as large as a battle cruiser. The planet was still visible through the cloud of spacecraft.
    Seeing the planet gave Tracy an idea.
    "Rev, we still have engine power, right?" she asked. "Can we move closer towards the planet?"
    A slow smile spread across Rev's face. "Yes!" he triumphantly. "I understand."
    "Understand?" said Tev. "Understand what?"
    "They'll have to follow us into the atmosphere to shoot down," said Tracy.
    She sat quickly in a seat and buckled in as the transport banked sharply and dove into the atmosphere.
    They were headed for the capital planet of the Kerdos Empire.
----
    The spacecraft descended violently into the atmosphere. If Tracy had not been strapped in, the shaking and bucking around here would have given her a concussion. From her seat, she watched the screen, trying to keep an eye on the ships trying to shoot them down. Four of the smaller ships had followed her and fired lasers and them. Fortunately, because of the turbulence, they couldn't land a hit.
    ANOTHER warning sounded throughout the ship, and a voice spoke. It was the ship's computer.
    Insertion angle too steep. Level off to avoid crash landing.
    The ship bucked wildly. Tracy's heart thumped as the ship began to spin around in a circle. Tracy's stomach lurched as both Rev and Tev worked the controls furiously in a futile attempt to regain control of the ship.
    They fell straight through the clouds and Tracy saw a lush carpet of green beneath them.
    The brothers were sweating now, drips falling off their brows. The ship shuddered as Rev managed to level the ship and bring its flight path under his command.
    At the same time, a patrol of fighter craft swept up past them, firing on their pursuers. The lead ship following them was blown apart. A second ship tried to escape, but was unable to evade the heavy fire and was destroyed. The final two ships fled into a full retreat. Half the patrol followed them in pursuit, and the other half settled around the transport in an escort formation.
    "Your highnesses, this is Commander Ta-Crevon. We have monitored the transmissions to learn of your arrival. With your permission we will escort you to Ombrit Air Station. The High Council awaits you there."
    "Thank you, Commander," said Tev, giving a sigh of relief. "Permission granted."
----
    The transport rumbled down the military runway, and Rev guided it to a halt. When the ship taxied to a stop, Tev glanced at his brother.
    "You act like you've done this all your life," he said. "Did you do that much flying while we were apart?"
    "No," said Rev. Then he leaned over and whispered something in Tev's ear. Tev laughed.
    "Quite right, quite right." Tev turned to Tracy and winked at her.
    "What? What's that?" said Tracy. "Are you talking about me?"
    "Not at all."
    Tracy crossed her arms. "I'm an alien, that doesn't mean I'm deaf or stupid."
    Rev just shrugged his shoulders. "Let us go meet the High Council."
    When they were at the hatch, Tev pushed some buttons to open it. Soon warm sunshine streamed down on them as they stood in the hatchway.
    Tracy saw that a set of temporary stairs were pushed against the hull. A green carpet lay on the tarmac below them, and a row of soldiers lined either