"No."

Casey tensed as she saw the two men in the back start to move forward. One of them reached for the front of his pants, always a bad sign, his full interest locked on Rachael.

"Listen to me, Rachael. Do you know how to fight?"

The woman gripped Casey tighter shook. "No. Why?"

Casey swallowed hard. "That one is undressing and so is his friend now. They are stripping, which is damn bad."

Rachael's head swung toward the back of the shuttle and she whimpered. "Oh, God. Don't fight. Maybe they won't hurt us too much. They always say to not fight your attackers."

Rage hit Casey. She turned her head to glare at man who had brought her into the shuttle, dread hit her as he removed his shirt slowly, his eyes locked on her breasts. The three men were going to attack them.

"I'm not going to let this happen without a fight."

"Are you nuts?" Rachael gasped. "They are like seven feet tall and built like linebackers.

It would be like punching a brick wall if you hit one of them."

"They aren't seven feet tall, maybe just under six and a half feet, and they aren't as muscular as Argernon is so maybe they aren't as strong. I'm not going down without a fight. Are you with me?"

"You're crazy." Rachael released her to back away.

Casey glared at the man who'd brought her into the shuttle. He opened his pants and pointed at her. He snarled, motioning at her clothes. She knew he was demanding she take them off. She shook her head. No way was she going to strip and make things easier for him. He was going to attack her. Her mind frantically worked. Attackers never expected women on the defense.

The other two men lunged forward, both of them grabbing Rachael by her arms, lifting her. Casey was stunned for seconds as she jerked her head around to see the two large men carrying a kicking and screaming Rachael toward the back of the shuttle by her arms. Both large males were totally naked. Casey instantly moved to go to Rachael's defense. She even took a step before a large hand gripped her arm, spinning her around violently. She yanked out of his hold, stumbling back, glaring at him.

The man growled at Casey, showing sharp yellow teeth. His eyes narrowed as his nose flared. Casey lunged at him, turning as she hit his body, making him stumble as her shoulder hit his ribs hard. He hadn't expected her to do that so she caught him off guard. They both went crashing down to the shuttle floor.

Casey landed on top of the man. He gasped out as she slammed her knee into his groin as hard as she could. She knew he had nuts. Argernon had them and this guy was humanoid too. He hissed in pain a second after her knee slammed into the vee of his thighs, proving that he definitely had something there to hit. The alien threw her off him to curl into a protective ball, groaning as he cupped the front of his pants.

She rolled on the floor, slamming into benches, knowing that was going to leave some bruises on her body as she forced herself to stand up. Rachael's scream rang through the shuttle.

Casey saw the other two men pinning the woman to the floor with one hand each at the back of the shuttle. With their free hands they were tearing at Rachael's shirt. Both men had their attention fixed on Rachael as they stripped the struggling woman. She was screaming and trying to fight them off but her blows didn't deter them. With their backs to Casey they hadn't seen what she'd done to her attacker and were unaware that she was behind them.

Casey didn't think. She screamed as she reacted, running at the two men to try to stop them from raping Rachael. She saw one of them turn right as she launched her body at him. She hit the man's back, her fingers clawing at him. He tensed, managing not to fall over as Casey's body hit his. She grunted as she flattened against him. Her fingernails found flesh, clawing frantically as her nails dug into his skin, making him roar out in pain. He twisted hard, flinging Casey away when she was unable to hold on.

She rolled across the shuttle floor once again to come to a halt when her body slammed into an unforgiving surface. A wall had stopped her this time, leaving her sprawled on her stomach. Her hip hurt the worst, followed by the pain in her elbow. She lifted her head to watch the man she'd attacked rising to his feet. She saw blood on his arm, coming from the fresh claw marks she's left on his shoulder. Rage filled him as he stood his full height.

Behind him his friend turned his attention on Casey too. It gave Rachael a fighting chance. Casey saw Rachael sit up. She was bare from the waist up. Rachael screamed, looking crazy with terror. The man still gripping her thigh turned as Rachael clawed at his face. The man screamed too as he struck out blindly with his fist.

Casey saw it happen almost too quickly for her eyes to follow the motion. The man punched Rachael. He was strong and his fist slammed brutally into Rachael's face, level with her mouth and nose. The impact caused a horrible crunching. Blood flew as Rachael's head snapped back, her body flung flat to the floor.

Everything inside the shuttle seemed to freeze, even time. The man who'd been approaching Casey slowly turned, staring at Rachael's still body. The man who'd hit Rachael backed up in obvious horror, releasing her thigh. Blood ran down his face from the claw marks along both sides of his cheeks that Rachael had just put there.

Casey was stunned for long seconds before she could move. She crawled to Rachael.

Neither of the two men moved. Casey crawled faster. Rachael was sprawled on her back, her body bared except for what her pants covered. Casey was shaking badly as she reached the still woman. She stared down at her in horrified shock.

"Oh God."

Hot tears fell down her face. Rachael was dead. Her lifeless eyes were open, staring at the ceiling of the shuttle. Her nose was broken, blood seeping down her face from the damaged area of her mouth and nose, her jaw looked broken as well. With shaking hands Casey touched Rachael's warm skin at her throat to search for a pulse. She felt nothing. Rachael was definitely dead.