by Maven, Ella
Mikko spent the time she was working flexing his limbs as much as he could from his cramped position. He had been sitting down with his legs spread on either side of my hips. He bent his knees and rolled his shoulders as if preparing for battle. In essence, he was.
I ate more but didn’t drink anything else. I already had to pee, and soon it would be urgent. The last thing I wanted to do was call down the Plikens to unchain me and use a bucket. I shivered as I watched Meri who had been hard at work for what felt like hours. She’d climbed down a few times for a drink from the canteen before returning to her task. I saw her try all kinds of things, like sticking her small claws in the lock, but the massive lock made her lock picking ineffective.
“Meri,” Mikko said suddenly, interrupting the tense silence that had filled the space. She jerked to attention.
He gestured with his chin toward a large metal box in the corner of the hold. “That’s the heat regulator for the ship. If you take off the outside panel, there will be hot coils inside. He looked around the hold. “If there is something metal, we can heat it on the coils and then directly apply it to the chain, we can melt a link. I just need them loose so I can break them without worrying about hurting Rian.”
Meri shimmied down the chains and leaped to the ground. She raced around the space in search of a heat conductor when York cried out. “There, Meri!” He pointed to a small panel in the well. “That’s a tool panel. There has to be something in there.”
With a flap of her wings, Meri elevated herself to the tool panel. Inside was a series of well-organized tools, all metal. She grabbed a wrench-looking object and immediately flew over to the heating element.
“Be careful, Meri,” Mikko warned. “It’s going to be really hot. Wrap something around the end you are holding so you don’t burn yourself.”
She accepted a strip of cloth from Crife’s shirt. As soon as she opened a small panel in the heating element, orange coils were visible. She applied the business end of the wrench, and we watched as it turned from yellow, to red, to an orange-ish white.
“Here, Meri,” Mikko called, pointing with one claw to a link near the chains around his wrist. “Careful of Rian’s skin. Melt a link here.”
“Careful of Mikko’s scales too,” I called out.
He shook his head. “I don’t care. I’d gnaw my own arm off to get out of here if I thought I’d survive the blood loss.”
His words wouldn’t have been romantic on Earth, but this wasn’t Earth, and he wasn’t human. Coming out of Mikko’s mouth, that declaration was romantic as fuck. I almost swooned.
Since the wrench cooled quickly, it took Meri four trips back and forth before the final piece of the link melted.
I gasped as Meri let out a victorious shriek. The chains around Mikko’s wrists loosened enough for him to pull his wrists apart. With his spikes away from my vulnerable neck, he let out a roar as he snapped the remaining chains from his body like Hulk. His collar fell off now it was no longer bound with chains. With a few slashes of his machets, my wrists were free.
I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck.
He wrapped me in an embrace, and I hadn’t realized how badly I needed a freaking hug until I was enveloped in his strength. Sitting so near but not being able to touch him without being gouged was torture. I sank into his warmth and his lips nuzzled the top of my ear. “Not much longer now. I told them they’d die on this ship, and now is the time to follow through on that.”
So I was turned on by his sacrifice and violent tendencies toward our enemies. Sue me.
Meri fluttered next to us, and I broke from Mikko’s hold to reach down and pull her against my chest. I petted her head and back and she preened as I cooed at her. “You’re so brave and smart, Meri. Thank you. I don’t know what we could have done without you.”
She peeked at Mikko and he reached out to scratch her under her chin. “You did good. A warrior hilphen.”
She puffed out her little chest and made a chirping melody that sounded very grand.
“Hey, uh, love the party over there but can we be invited?” York called out as he pressed his face against the bars of his cage.
Crife smacked him on the head. “Seriously? Be nice.”
“I am being nice! I want out of my cage though. You know I don’t good around too much metal. It gives me a rash.”
“I’ll free you as soon as I’m able,” Mikko said. “Next time one of them comes down here, I’m going to pretend to still be chained. When they come close, I’ll attack and then head up to finish the rest off. They need to believe you’re still caged, okay?”
“That makes complete sense,” Crife said with a glare at York.
With a sigh, York plopped down on the floor. “Okay,” he muttered glumly before itching at his neck.
I finally got a chance to relieve myself, although it was in a bucket since that was all we had. It was better than nothing. After eating some more and drinking the qua, we began to hear more footsteps up in the cockpit. Meri found a hiding spot tucked into one corner of the ceiling.
In order for it to look like we were still locked up, Mikko wrapped the chains around himself again with his arms crossed at his neck while I sat across from him, my hands held at my waist. We looked into each other’s eyes between his fists. “When I say now, curl into a ball.”
I nodded as my palms began to sweat. “Are you going to be okay? What weapons do they have?”
“Don’t worry about me.” He flexed his forearms. “I have plenty of experience fighting Plikens.”
His gaze drifted over my head as the footsteps neared the door of the hold. His jaw clenched, and his entire body tensed.
I stared at a pulsing vein in his neck as his machets vibrated.
The door of the hold opened. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two Plikens drop down. They glanced at the hilbobs, who remained quiet for once, before walking over to us.
I gulped when I saw they held gun-like objects in their hands. I didn’t want to panic, but suddenly I wondered if our plan was suicide. How was this going to work? How would Mikko take on everyone on this ship?
I didn’t have much longer to panic.
Mikko met my eyes, and in his, I saw a delighted battle lust. He opened his mouth, shouted, “Now!” and I dropped to the fetal position.
* * *
Mikko
My machets slammed into the two Plikens with so much force, it took them off their feet. They didn’t even have time to fire their laser guns. They clattered to the floor seeks before their bodies crashed down with a thunk. Machets littered their bodies. I tossed one laser gun to the hilbobs through the bars of their cage. York bobbled it in his paws like it was a hot coil before Crife snatched it.
“What was that?” I heard shouted above and knew I didn’t have much time before we had more company. I hauled Rian to her feet and handed her the other laser gun before gently shoving her into a corner where she’d be out of sight. Then, I stood in front of her, my wrists crossed at my neck with my machets pointing toward the hold door.
Plikens dropped down two by two and I took them out before they knew what had happened. Their bodies lay in a spiked pile until the leader—the one with the ring through his horns who had held a blade to Rian’s throat—figured out what was going on and stopped the rest of them from their sudden death at the end of my machets.
“He’s free!” He roared from overhead.
Blood dripped from my arms as my machets regenerated. The pain was immense. I rarely fought this many Plikens on my own where it was necessary to eject my machets at such a rapid rate. My hands were nearly numb from the pain, and my head spun with dizziness. I could hang on though. All I had to do was hear the panicked breathing of Rian behind me and suddenly everything was a lot clearer.
Ring-horn stuck his head down through the hole and before I could do a single thing, a laser shot pinged the ceiling near his face. He swore and ducked back up. I turned slowly to find Rian with her
laser gun pointed right at the hold, a snarl on her face like I’d never seen before.
I stared at her and she glanced at me.
Her shoulder shrugged with a jerk. “I hate him.”
“I’m glad I never got on your bad side.”
“Well, I never had a gun before.” She shook it, which made me a little nervous. “This thing is fun.”
“Look, Drix,” Ring-horn called from above. “You—”
“There’s nothing to bargain with now,” I yelled back. “So how about we fight it out. I won’t eject my spikes. We fight hand to hand. Or my machets to your blade.” Silence met my challenge. “Hello?” I called. “I’m ready to get out of the hold and lay on a proper bed. Use the cleanser. Bathe in your blood.”
“I hear you, Drix,” Ring-horn hissed. Quiet murmuring let me know he was discussing the terms with the few crew he had left. At least, that was what I thought until two Pliken dropped down on the pile of bodies and immediately fired their laser guns in my direction. One shot hit my thigh and I hollered as the pain seared through my flesh. As my leg buckled, another shot clipped the top of my ear.
Rian shrieked, the hilbobs screamed, and Meri came flying out of nowhere to circle their heads. Laser fire flew from all directions as Rian and the hilbobs opened fire. The Plikens sought to take out Meri who was doing everything in her power to take their eyes out.
Burning flesh filled my nostrils, and I ignored that the smell was coming from my thigh as I slid across the floor on my good knee. With one hack of my machets at their ankles, the Plikens hit the ground with cries of agony.
I went to finish off one of the Plikens only to find a laser shot right between his eyes, I turned to slash the throat of the other and gaped at the smoking hole in his chest.
Silence filled the room as laser fire stopped. I gazed around me to find Rian blowing the tip of her gun with a smirk. Meanwhile, Crife remained holding the gun in front of him, his already wide eyes huge in his flat face. “I…” he muttered. “I think I shot him.”
“You did,” Rian said. “I was the center mass shot. But between the eyes? You’re a natural Crife. Maybe you should be a hunter rather than a knitter.”
Crife’s gaze shifted to the gun as he lowered it. “A hunter,” he murmured in awe.
A laser gun dropped down on the bodies. “I accept your challenge,” Ring-horn called from above deck. Come up here and fight, Drix.”
I took a step and was stopped by Rian’s panicked, “Mikko!” I turned to find her gaze pinging wildly from me to the hatch above me. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “What if he’s lying?”
I shot her a smile. “Oh, he’s most certainly lying.” I took two steps toward the hatch and then leapt to the deck, rolling immediately as laser gun fire erupted from Ring-horn’s direction. I expected that and continued to roll until I hit the far wall. As Rian screamed from below, I rose to a crouch and then leapt halfway up the wall. With the flat of my boots, I pushed off and flipped over Ring-horn’s head as he wildly waved his gun in an attempt to take me out.
Mid-air, I lashed out my arm, and my machets speared him in the hand. The gun hit the floor before spinning to fall down into the hatch below. I touched down on his other side in a crouch, one hand braced on the floor, and shot him a smirk. “Ready to fight hand-to-hand now?”
With a pained roar, he withdrew the long blade strapped to his belt with his uninjured hand. “Come at me,” he growled.
I flew at him with glee. There wasn’t much I loved more than a good fight, especially with this flecker who’d made Rian bleed. I couldn’t get the mark on her neck out of my mind. It had taunted me the whole time we’d been chained together in the hold. When she’d gotten it, I could have sworn I felt the slice myself.
Ring-horn wasn’t a typical low-level vat soldier. He had training as he blocked all my blows. The blade sliced off some of my machetes, and I ejected the maimed spikes so more would grow in their place. Fresh blood dripped off my fingers as we continued to parlay with each other.
“How long before you tire out?” He mocked me. “Before you lose too much blood? Because I can keep going.”
“You haven’t met many Drixonian warriors, have you?” I slashed at him and grinned as blood spilled from a gash in his thigh.
He stumbled a moment before righting himself. “I think your reputation is overblown. You hid behind your females and your wealth, but you weren’t so strong when the Uldani tricked you, were you? We bought many of you.” He bared his teeth. “Easily.” He whipped his blade through the air, narrowly missing my chest. “I can’t wait to return to Vixlicin with your human. I think I’ll keep her for myself.”
I lunged at him, my machets ripping into his shoulder and nearly severing his arm from his body.
He dropped the blade from his useless hand on a wounded cry and staggered back toward the cockpit. One hand was gored with my machets and the other was useless.
I lashed out again, tearing into his mid-section.
He wrapped his one good arm around his stomach as blood bubbled out between his fingers. He coughed, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
I watched as his yellow eyes reached the conclusion he wasn’t winning this fight. A Drix with a female to protect wasn’t an ordinary Drix.
His back hit the control panel and he braced himself on it. His lips split in a red-stained smile. “Ah okay. I see how it is.”
“My victory?’
He tilted his head and shrugged his one good shoulder. The other gushed blood to add to the puddle of crimson on the floor at his feet. “You won this fight. But good luck with your… extremely short future.” He flipped open a small panel and slammed his palm down on a red button. The lights in the cockpit began to flare, and alarmed shouts came from below. The Pliken began to laugh, a gurgling wheezing sound that felt like nails in my temple.
“Engine release in fifteen… fourteen…”
“Engine release?” I echoed. “No!” I dashed to the control panel, but the sequence had already started, and I didn’t know how to turn it off. The panel was slick with the Pliken’s blood, and I only succeeded in smearing it more. If the engines released—a safety mechanism in the case of fire—we’d be flecked. No way to travel anywhere. Just… floating.
“Ten… nine… eight…”
Ring-horn’s breathing had turned more labored now, and his face had a gray pallor. He watched me with a dimming sparkle of glee in his eyes. “There’s a way to cancel it, but you’ll never find it in time,” he whispered. “You’ll die out here drifting through space. You, those filthy hilbobs, and your beloved human. Enjoy starving, Drix,” he laughed as I frantically searched for anything to turn off the engine release sequence. But there was no use.
I kicked him away from the cockpit and he lay sprawled on the floor gasping his last breaths. I dashed below to find Rian huddling with Meri and the uncaged hilbobs, her arms around all of them for protection. My brave warrior mate.
“What’s happening?” she cried.
I didn’t have time to explain. I didn’t know much about the Pliken cargo ships, but I knew the sides of the hull were connected to the engines. I had to get them, because when the engines released, doors would open in the hull. If they weren’t secure in the cockpit, they’d be sucked out to space.
“Six… five… four…”
I picked them all up in my arms, which were slick with blood, and stumbled to my feet. “We have to get to the cockpit, now!” I hollered. I leapt with every ounce of energy I had left to the upper floor of the cruiser, dumped my bundle, and spun around to slam the lever to close the hatch.
They rumbled shut just as the countdown uttered a final, “Two… one… Engines releasing.”
The whole ship rumbled and shook. Rian threw herself on top of the hilbobs, who shrieked in fear, and I watched out the front window as the engines… our ticket home… drifted away into the black of space.
Thirteen
Rian
In
the front lights of the cargo ship, two cylinders floated away. I crawled away from my position covering the hilbobs and stumbled to my feet to stand next to Mikko. “What are those?”
He stared at them blankly, almost in disbelief. “The engines.”
“The…” I blinked. “The engines? Like the vroom-vroom things that make us go?” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and nodded. The ship seemed unnaturally quiet. “So, we… no longer have, uh, things that make us go?”
“Right,” his said in a hoarse voice.
“So, what you’re saying is we’re just floating space debris right now.”
“We have the generator that powers the lights and cycles the air but…” His fingers curled into fists. “We can’t power the ship directionally.”
My brain was slow to catch up. In theory, I understood what he was saying, but it took me a moment to realize what that actually meant for our future. “So, we’re stuck here on this ship until we run out of food and fresh air.”
“We can’t call for help because we can’t alert the Plikens to our presence so…” Mikko’s eyes closed. “Yes,” he whispered.
I sank to the floor as my entire body went numb. The only sound in the ship was the raspy death rattle of the Pliken who had passed out. I gazed around the ship, at the hilbobs who huddled together with an exhausted Meri. The blood-stained floor. The laser-damaged walls. This was my home for the rest of my life. I expected my heart to pound in panic. I waited for the tears to come. But instead, all I felt was an odd sense of peace.
There were many times in my life when I thought I wouldn’t make it. When I wasn’t sure I wanted to make it. Arriving on this planet, I’d almost died in horrible, painful ways a handful of times.
If this were the way I was going to go out, with Mikko and my new friends at my side, well, I couldn’t complain too much. This was better than getting sold to some evil alien or forced to be separated from Mikko. This was the best I could have hoped for in this galaxy.