Evie dropped her head into her hands. She should go for a walk or go sightseeing. Sitting here in the hotel room was only making her drive herself crazy. She stood and walked toward the door, grabbing her jacket on the way out in case the night was cool. She reached to push the button that would open the electronic sliding door, but before she could press it, a sharp knock sounded at the door.
Startled, Evie jumped and accidentally hit the button to open the door. When the door slid open, she saw that Xeywyn was standing there.
“Xeywyn! What are you doing here?”
“Hello, Evie. Is Toryx around?”
“I’m sorry but he’s not here. Can I help you with something?”
The giant Mognerthian let out a huge sigh. “I suppose you’ll have to do. I would have preferred to talk to Toryx in person, but I’ve received an urgent call from one of my remote trading sites in Galaxy Six. I have to go take care of a crisis over there, and I’m leaving immediately.”
Evie felt her heart drop. Did this mean that Xeywyn wasn’t going to help them with the ship they needed? But before she could even ask, Xeywyn was putting her fears to rest.
“I’ve secured the ship and water you need. It’s already waiting for you at the Docking Station.”
Evie’s jaw dropped. “Really?”
Xeywyn nodded. “Yes. Toryx is an old friend and I wanted to help him out. I hope he understands that I had to ask him for assurances before extending credit—I don’t have much of a choice as a Mognerthian trader. But since he got me those assurances, I got him what he needed as quickly as possible. Please tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t see him again before I left, but that I wish him the best and I hope he’ll be back in Mognerth sooner rather than later. I’d love a chance to catch up with him over some Mognerthian brews.”
Evie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, of course. I…I don’t know how to thank you, Xeywyn.”
Xeywyn waved away her excitement. “No need to thank me. It’s just a business deal. It’s what I do. I’ve sent the codes for the ship to Toryx’s e-assistant. Should be no trouble for him, but he can always send me a message if there’s any confusion.”
With that, Xeywyn was turning to leave. Evie called out another thank you after him, then ran back into the hotel room and started packing up her things. She packed up the few things that Toryx had left behind, and then left as quickly as she could. On her way out, she started typing a message to Toryx, telling him that they had what they needed and could leave the city immediately. She knew he’d be as eager as she was to get going.
By the time she reached the Docking Station, she still hadn’t heard from Toryx. So she decided to head to the restaurant. She didn’t care anymore if she crashed Skoria’s little party. She and Toryx had what they needed, and since Xeywyn was leaving town Evie didn’t have to worry that Skoria would try to get Xeywyn to change his mind about the ship. Xeywyn would be too busy with his own journey through a wormhole to Galaxy Six to worry about Skoria right now.
It took Evie about thirty minutes to get to the Mognerth Orb restaurant, and when she arrived there she wasted another minute or two just staring in disbelief. The place was huge, and obviously catered to Mognerth’s wealthiest citizens. Everything from the sign over the front door to the tables Evie could see through the large front windows looked incredibly expensive. Evie looked down at her clothes and knew she was horribly underdressed for a place like this. She hoped the hostess wasn’t going to laugh her out the front door.
But the hostess turned out to be impeccably polite, and when Evie gave her Toryx’s name and said she urgently needed to speak to him, the hostess pointed her toward a secluded table near the back left corner of the restaurant.
Evie had a feeling that Skoria had specifically requested the table because it was hidden behind a giant decorative palm, a realization that made Evie’s blood boil. Skoria had to have realized that Evie wasn’t just a simple friend. Even if Toryx hadn’t said anything, he’d walked into Skoria’s office with his hand on the small of Evie’s back. That’s not something you normally did with just a friend.
Skoria was after Toryx, and she didn’t care that Evie was in the picture. In fact, Evie was pretty sure that the only reason Skoria had even agreed to help them with Xeywyn was that Skoria wanted a chance to get inside of Toryx’s pants. Evie normally would have questioned why a woman as rich and famous as Skoria was after an alien from the distant, small planet of Zocrone. But now that Evie herself had experienced what an amazing lover Toryx was, she had a feeling that Skoria also knew that no one in the Seven Galaxies compared to Toryx.
But Toryx belongs to me. Even if they hadn’t had “the talk” or made anything official between the two of them, Evie was claiming him as hers. There had been something special between them when they made love. She might not be an expert on romances, but she knew that she and Toryx were meant to be. Surely, Toryx felt that way, too.
And Skoria was just going to have to get over it.
As soon as the restaurant’s hostess was sure that Evie had seen Skoria’s table, the hostess scurried off to attend to other duties. Evie approached slowly, keeping herself mostly hidden behind the giant palm for the moment. She was trying to decide what she was going to say. Part of her wanted to rip into Skoria, now that she knew they didn’t need the eccentric Mognerthian’s help anymore. But another part of her knew that the smartest thing to do was to get Toryx and get out of here with as little drama as possible.
Evie took a deep breath and started walking forward. She would take the high road and simply tell Toryx that she’d had some urgent news and they needed to get out of here immediately. But before Evie could make her presence known, she saw to her shock that Skoria was leaning over the table toward Toryx—and unless Evie was a total idiot and completely misinterpreting the situation, Skoria was intending to kiss Toryx.
Evie felt her blood boiling, and she opened her mouth to shout at Skoria. But Toryx beat her to it. He pulled back from Skoria’s intended kiss and stood abruptly, knocking his chair backward.
“What are you doing, Skoria?” he yelled.
Evie shrank behind the decorative tree as all eyes in the restaurant turned toward Toryx’s table. Skoria rose to her feet as well, moving much slower than Toryx but looking just as angry.
“What?” Skoria spat out. “You ask for my help and then want to try to act like there’s still nothing between us? We have chemistry, Toryx. Why do you keep trying to deny that?”
Evie felt her blood boiling. Who did this woman think she was? There was no chemistry between Toryx and Skoria! But Toryx probably wasn’t going to say anything. He was too worried about getting a ship and water to get back to Zocrone, so he was going to tiptoe around Skoria’s feelings and try to appease her. Evie wished there was a way to tell him that everything was already taken care of so that he wouldn’t let Skoria bully him around. But at the same time she also wished that Toryx would stand up to Skoria despite not knowing that Xeywyn had already set up everything they needed. Evie wanted Toryx to stick up for her no matter what.
But he wasn’t going to do that. He’d already proven that earlier today in Skoria’s office.
Or had he? To Evie’s surprise Toryx wasn’t backing down now. In fact, he was standing taller than before, and leaning in to get right in Skoria’s face.
“Skoria, whatever we had between us is gone. It’s ancient history. I don’t mind catching up over dinner as old friends, but I’m not going to date you again. I’m with Evie now. I know you realized that, so don’t try to play dumb.”
Evie felt her heart leap. He was actually sticking up for her!
Skoria wasn’t thrilled about this. She stuck a finger right in the middle of Toryx’s chest and glared at him with her three Mognerthian eyes. “Are you sure that’s how you want to act? I can make a little call right now to Xeywyn and tell him I was wrong about everything, and that he shouldn’t give you credit.”
Evie’s heart tightened in her chest, but T
oryx didn’t flinch.
“Do what you want to do, Skoria. If you don’t help me, I’ll find another way. I’m not going to be threatened or intimidated into cheating on Evie. I don’t care how much is at stake. Evie means more to me than anyone or anything in the Seven Galaxies, so do not cross me on this. If you insist on making this dinner into something romantic, then I’m leaving right now.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Skoria said.
“Yes, I would.” Toryx threw his napkin down and turned around to storm off. He took about three big strides and then his gaze fell on Evie. He stopped mid-stride and his mouth fell open. “Evie? What are you doing here?”
Evie’s mouth had been hanging open as well, but she snapped it shut now. She glanced around and saw that the entire restaurant was staring at them. Skoria had just seen her and was starting to storm over with a raised fist. Evie wasn’t sure whether Skoria was intending to actually punch her or just make a threatening gesture, but she wasn’t intending to stick around and find out. Especially not since many of the restaurant’s guests had apparently realized that one of the people arguing was the famous Skoria. All over the dining room, aliens from every race imaginable were pulling out their e-assistants and starting to snap pictures.
“Come on, Toryx,” Evie said, reaching out to grab his arm and pull him toward the exit. “We have to get out of here. Now. I’ll explain on the way to the Docking Station.”
For a moment, Toryx looked like he was going to protest. Thankfully, another angry scream from Skoria made him reconsider, and he nodded at Evie.
“Well, then. Lead the way.”
Evie took off at a run with Toryx right behind her. As soon as they were outside, Evie hailed one of the many water taxis that were constantly zipping through Mognerth’s canals. The boats looked like old-fashioned gondolas that used to be used on Earth, but these were anything but old fashioned. They were computerized and solar-powered, and they could travel at speeds rivaling the fastest modern hovercrafts.
Evie jumped in with Toryx right behind her. “The Docking Station, as fast as you can!” she yelled at the water taxi’s operator.
Only once the water taxi had taken off from the dock and Evie was sure that Skoria hadn’t managed to jump in with them did Evie take a deep breath and start to explain to Toryx what was going on. She quickly briefed him on what Xeywyn had said.
“I brought all our stuff with me,” she added, gesturing to the bags she was carrying. “We can leave right away, and we probably should.”
“I agree,” Toryx said, glancing over his shoulder uneasily. “I’m sure Skoria will be following us before long. She’s probably hailing a water taxi right now.”
“Exactly. And I’m sure she realizes that we’re heading to the Docking Station. We have to get out of here before she figures out a way to stop us. This is our one shot. Thankfully, Xeywyn is too busy and too far away at the moment to stop us, but once Skoria realizes that I’m sure she’ll try to find another way.”
Toryx was already scrolling through his messages on his e-assistant. “Okay! I have the codes right here. This is exactly what we need.” He turned to the water taxi’s operator. “Hurry! There will be a thousand extra credits in it for you if you can get us to the Docking Station before Skoria.”
The operator’s eyes widened. “You guys are running from Skoria?”
“Yes!” Evie said. “And she’s quick, so make sure you’re quicker if you want those extra credits.”
The operator turned around without another word of protest, and a few moments later the water taxi noticeably sped up. Evie’s pulse sped up as the boat sped up, and she and Toryx constantly looked over their shoulders. The water spray rising from the canal had soon soaked them both, but neither of them cared. They only cared about not getting caught by Skoria.
And they cared about each other.
Evie turned to look at Toryx, her eyes filling with tears. He probably couldn’t tell that she was on the verge of crying, since they were both so wet from the canal already. But when she spoke to him, she couldn’t keep her voice from breaking with emotion.
“You stood up for me,” she said. “You stood up to Skoria, even though you didn’t know yet that we already had a ship and water.”
Toryx looked back at her with a gaze more intense than Evie had ever seen it. “Yes, I stood up for you. For us. I realized after our little argument earlier that it didn’t matter to me if I saved all of Zocrone but lost you. If you aren’t in my life, there’s nothing left for me. I never intended to hurt you, Evie. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t clearer on where we stood from the beginning. But let me be clear now: I want to be your man. I want you to be my girl. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and you alone.”
Evie blinked back more tears. “You really mean that?”
Toryx took her hands in his. “Yes. You’re my destiny, Evie. And wherever that destiny leads us tonight—whether it’s to escaping and saving Zocrone, or to losing everything—it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you and I do this together. That we do all of life together. We’re one sludging good team.”
Evie felt her heart warming, and a smile spread across her face. “You’re right. We are a sludging good team.”
Behind them, Evie could suddenly see the bright lights of a water taxi coming toward them way too fast. Toryx looked over his shoulder and saw it too.
“Looks like Skoria found us,” he said. “Let’s hope we can outrun her.”
Evie nodded, but she felt strangely calm and at peace. Now that she knew that she and Toryx were on good terms, nothing else could get her down. And she believed with everything in her that together she and Toryx could make this escape attempt work. With the two of them working together, nothing could get in their way. They were going to save Zocrone together.
And then they were going to spend the rest of their lives enjoying living together in Zocrone.
“We’ll outrun her,” Evie said confidently as the lights of the Docking Station appeared ahead of them on the canal. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Ten
Toryx jumped from the water taxi onto the Docking Station’s pier when the taxi was still a good three feet away. He was holding Evie’s and his bags of supplies, and it was dark, but he still made the leap easily and landed with sure footing. He turned around quickly and reached back to grab Evie’s hand and help her onto the dock, then he quickly pulled out his e-assistant and paid the operator. He included the extra thousand credits he’d promised, plus a generous tip. And then, he turned and ran. Evie was already running ahead of him.
Skoria’s water taxi was closing in fast, and he had no time to lose. If he and Evie didn’t manage to get out of here before Skoria caught up, things were going to be complicated by a factor of about one thousand.
Xeywyn had put the new ship in the same hangar where the dropship had been. Toryx wasn’t sure what had been done with the drop ship and he didn’t care. That tiny ship was useless to them now.
But the ship that had replaced it was better than Toryx had expected. He stared at it in appreciation for a moment, even though they didn’t have a moment to lose. The ship was huge. It looked like it had a reinforced hull, and the most modern of engines. Xeywyn had made sure to get them a ship that had the best possible chance of making it through Zocrone’s unforgiving, stormy atmosphere. The ship also looked brand new. Its silvery blue paint shimmered in the bright lights of the Docking Station, and the word Savior was painted on the side in a bright red shade.
“The Savior indeed,” Toryx mused. “You did right by me Xeywyn, old friend.”
If anything could save Toryx and Evie and the entire planet of Zocrone, it was this sturdy ship.
Toryx pulled out his e-assistant and pulled up the codes to access the ship. When he entered them into the console in front of the ship, the ship’s engines whirred to life and the access door began opening, letting down a long staircase of steps for Toryx and Evie to climb up. Evie
was closer to the stairs and made her way up quickly, but Toryx was hot on her heels. Evie ran directly to the bridge to begin preflight checks, but Toryx went to check on the cargo.
Despite the fact that he was a big, tough Zocronian, the sight of that cargo brought tears to his eyes. Dozens of giant metal cylinders, marked on the side in Universal with the words “potable water,” filled the cargo hold. In fact, as Toryx checked on the rest of the ship, he saw that every spare space on the ship had been filled with water. Zocrone was saved, if only Toryx and Evie could get this water to them.
The sound of Evie’s voice on the ship’s intercom system snapped Toryx out of his reverie.
“Tor, get to the bridge and get strapped in, now! I’m less than a minute away from being ready to take off, and I definitely don’t want to wait around for Skoria to catch up with us.”
Toryx forgot about the water and ran toward the bridge. He had barley sat down in his seat when the Savior started lifting off the ground, its engines roaring with a deafening sound as Evie guided the ship into the Docking Station’s exit tunnel. Toryx gritted his teeth together as Evie picked up speed, flying way too fast through the tunnel as she made her way out. But if anyone could handle this, it was Evie. Toryx tightened the straps on his safety harness and vowed to enjoy the ride.
Less than a minute later, the Savior made it out into Mognerth’s open skies, and Evie immediately banked the ship upward, speeding toward the upper atmosphere and space beyond.
But their escape was not complete quite yet.
“We’ve got company!” Evie yelled.
Toryx looked at the video feed that showed on a screen in front of him, giving them a clear view of what was behind the ship. A ship twice the size of theirs was closing in on them with alarming speed, and he knew exactly who was in that ship.
“Skoria! She’s gaining on us!” He knew he was stating the obvious, but his nerves were so on edge that he couldn’t help yelling like a damn fool. He hadn’t come this far just to be stopped by a crazy ex-girlfriend who had let fame and fortune go to her head.
Taken by the Alien Rebel Page 7