The Xarren Escape (Plundering the Stars Book 2)

by James David Victor

  Amara stood beside me, staring at Rowan. She’d never really liked him all that much, though she hadn’t flat out distrusted him like Pivek had, or if she did, she didn’t let on. Thankfully, she was kind enough not to offer up an “I told you so,” because I probably would have punched her if she did. Amara just sighed as she looked on.

  “It’s done then,” was as all she had to add.

  Yan cleared his throat and pursed his lips in a grim nod. “Yeah. It is.”

  Everyone crowded around us and stood in silence. They all could understand the weight of the moment and this death. Beleak and Rayvan knew who he was and what he’d done, and no doubt Yan had told his cellmates the same. A friend turned traitor. One of the worst crimes a soul could commit.

  Our silence ended when the manor was rocked by a massive explosion.

  “Okay, we need to go now!” Amara said. She tapped on her wrist communicator. “K? K, do you read me? We have the package. What was that explosion?”

  He didn’t answer for a second. But then through a bit of static, he said, “Not sure. East wing just exploded. There’s scattered blaster fire here and there. I’m getting scattered chatter from imperials. We need to leave.”

  “Okay, come to the hangar.”

  “Roger.”

  Amara looked to the rest of us and pointed her too-big plasma cannon at the hangar. “Let’s get out of this hellhole!”

  “No arguments from me,” Elvonna said, hefting her grav-axe over her shoulder. Her and Jax followed after Amara as she took off at a jog for the hangar, though Jax glanced back at me, as if he wanted to make sure I was still here. Then Beleak and Rayvan followed, and I was about to do the same, but Yan pulled me by the elbow.

  “Hold on,” he said.

  I turned to him. “What is it—”

  Suddenly, he pulled me to him and kissed me.

  He kissed me.

  I melted.

  Fire. I was on fire. He sent fire through my veins. I was stunned, but then I was kissing him back, hungry for more, both of us desperate and happy and crying and smiling all at the same time. I wove my fingers through his stringy black locks that felt greasy as hell and needed a washing, but I didn’t care. His hands went up and down my back, and my skin was pebbled and all the hairs were on edge. I was breathless, and my heart was like a rapid-fire gatling laser.

  Then he pulled away from me, both of us breathless.

  He smiled. I smiled back. He grabbed my face and planted one more firm kiss on my lips, so hard that my lips felt swollen and aching when he pulled away.

  “Sorry. A part of me has always wanted to do that, but I didn’t realize it until just now.”

  I had nothing to say to that. In fact, I couldn’t form any words at all. Yan understood that, snickered, and bonked my forehead with his own playfully. That just made my heart skip a beat. He inclined his head toward the others. “Let’s get out of here.”

  All I could do was nod. With a smile, he jogged away. I just stood there frozen, my entire body hot and vibrating. With shaky hands, I touched my lips. They tingled. Swollen. Hungry for more. I ran both hands through my red locks that were knotty and needed a good combing. I smiled and let out a breath. Oh boy, Materelle preserve me.

  I composed myself and followed after Yan and the others. The manor stopped shaking, but I was sure it was still chaos all around. I hoped we didn’t kill any servants, but my fury had been too great. Hopefully, Xarren had been caught in the mess and was dead under a pile of rubble somewhere.

  Even if he wasn’t, it didn’t matter. My friends were alive. Yan was alive. Jax was alive and back in my life. I had my family back, and everything was going to be okay.

  Materelle was right. Hope was the best thing.

  15

  Chapter 15 (YAN)

  My heart hurt, it was racing so fast. I couldn’t believe that I kissed Jinx. I could hardly believe she was actually alive. And I kissed her. Saints… I never thought I’d want to do that. But when I saw her, it was like everything stopped. Nothing else mattered. I just wanted to kiss her. Hug her, hold her, never let her go. And kiss her some more.

  Oh, how I wanted to kiss her some more.

  Had I always felt this way about her? I didn’t recall thinking of Jinx in a romantic light. Hell, even just yesterday when I’d thought of her, it was only as the best friend I’d ever had. Again though, when I saw her there, wading through the smoke, something clicked.

  Something that made me smile and long for more and hope for a better future than the one this galaxy handed me.

  But I could sort that out with her later. For now, we had to get the hell out of this crumbling manor.

  The hangar was a mess. The bay doors were blown open, the roof had caved in, and most of Xarren’s prized ships were trashed. It seemed my friends made quite the mess upon their arrival. That made me smile.

  We walked down the metal catwalk to the hangar floor, which was sleek and shiny and inlaid with nice mosaic tilework that depicted some Elarri nonsense—or it had before we blew the hell out of it. Now it looked like a warzone, with chips and pieces blasted out of it, messing up whatever stupid design Xarren had commissioned. If he even was the one to do it. This was an old manor.

  As we made for the doors to the outside, the doors behind us opened and Elexae thugs stormed in. Half a dozen of them. No, more. They didn’t hesitate to open fire.

  “Run!” Amara yelled. She lifted her plasma cannon and launched a blue ball of death with a whoomph that made the air crackle. I didn’t need to see the impact when it smacked into the catwalk and the Elexaes. I took off at a run with Jinx and the others. Beleak and Amara lagged behind to cover us.

  As we came to the open doors, the most beautiful sight awaited me in greeting. The Sanara, my precious ship, descending from the night sky in the plaza outside. It was enough to make a poor Goon cry.

  The bay doors were descending before K had the landing gear down. Pivek was on the ramp signing like crazy at us. It was a welcome sight to see him.

  ‘Hurry! Imperials coming! Probably paid off by Elexaes.’

  That was all the urgency I needed.

  I took Jinx by the hand and led us onto the ramp, past our Bantiss engineer and into the cargo hold. The others weren’t far behind. Blaster fire came from the hangar as more Elexaes showed up, but their aim was awful, and their little blasters couldn’t put a dent in the Sanara’s hide.

  We started to rise. The ramp closed. We were in the air, rising and rising into the atmosphere. Safe and sound. A part of me wondered—hoped—that some of the other prisoners had gotten out of there in the confusion. I was sure some of them were probably criminals, but any enemy of Xarren Elexae was at the very least an ally.

  But enough worrying about them. My friends were alive and safe.

  We sat on the cargo bay floor, catching our breath. Then we started laughing and crying all at once, all of us. Relieved. Alive. We did it. Holy hell. Saints above.

  I hugged Pivek, and K once he put ship on course with jump coordinates and descended into the cargo bay to greet us. Introductions were made, hands were shaken, and hugs were doled out. It was amazing how our family had grown somehow, despite the tragedy that led to this moment. Would we all stay together—me, my crew, Jax and El, Rayvan and Beleak? Hard to say, but either way, we had a bunch of new friends, and that certainly wasn’t a bad thing.

  We still had work to do, though. My family needed me, my blood family. Xarren might have been dead, or maybe he was alive down there, but my sister was still being kept in a brothel somewhere. If Xarren was alive, his wrath would go to them first. I couldn’t have that.

  I strode past K—and an imperial fighter?—to the cockpit. No surprise it didn’t get past his notice, as he was right on my heels. The Sanara was my ship, but it was his baby.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Unfinished business.”

  “We’re already at jump.”

  I turned around to face him.
“Well, change the coordinates.”

  He crossed his arms. “And where is it you suggest I change it to?”

  “Xarren has my sister, and probably knows where my parents are. I’m not going to assume that he’s dead. I’m not that lucky. He’ll kill her and them because of this. He threatened me with them before. I need to rescue them. Rago will know where to find them.”

  I thought K would respond with some questions, or agree immediately, but instead, he offered me a smile—a big smile—which was not something you saw from Ketellin much. If ever.

  I frowned. “What?”

  “Come with me.”

  So, I did. My heart started to race again. What was this about? What did he know that I didn’t?

  The comms room/social hub of the ship was crowded with all our friends, who were right at home, eating and drinking and laughing and telling stories. It made me smile to see this. Jax and Jinx were reminiscing, which made me happier than anything. For both of them. Amara and Rayvan were looking at a gun together, and Beleak and Pivek were telling stories.

  It was almost too perfect, but sometimes, the saints gave you these moments. Not too many in one lifetime.

  K made for the middle of the room, the holo-communicator. “What is it, K?” I asked him, hands on my hips.

  “This.”

  He typed something into the computer and all of a sudden, a projection of a planet appeared. It was a small rocky thing, with mostly mountains but also a ring of lush green and lakes around the equator.

  I stared at it as the room grew quiet. “I don’t… What am I looking at here?”

  “This is Caelum 3, a small habitable planet in the Free Systems. Modest trading ports, lots of mines but manages to stay out of sight of the Mining Guild. Lots of refugees live here. Good honest people, people looking to start anew.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He smirked, which again, was odd for him. “This is where your family is. Mother, father, and sister. They’re safe. It’s where we’re headed.”

  My whole body went still. Numb. “What? How?” Tears came to my eyes. Jinx came up next to me and laced her fingers through mine, smiling bright, her eyes glistening as well. I still had that urge to kiss her again, but this took precedent.

  “Rago contacted me the night we went ahead with the heist. Said that in that data we sold his boss, he found your family’s names. Tried to warn us that something was wrong, but by that point, it was too late for you. He did say he would take some of his men and rescue them. Which he did.”

  Tears were well and truly falling now. So many tears today. My friends, alive. Jinx, alive. And now my family was safe and out of harm’s way? And we blew up Xarren’s house and possibly killed him? This was the best day ever!

  I choked back a sob and wiped my eyes. I would have ordinarily been too embarrassed to cry in front of everyone, especially some relative strangers, but I didn’t care anymore. I was far too happy. I let go of Jinx’s hand and hugged K.

  “Thank you, K.”

  “It was Rago, Yan, not me. But you are welcome.”

  I pulled back and smiled wide. Turned to the others. “I guess there’s no need to waste any more time, everyone.” I grabbed a bottle of Harvagan Wine, three hundred years old and one of my prized possessions. Never opened. I uncorked it. “Let’s celebrate!”

  Everyone whooped and hollered, and we all had the night of our lives.

  It was early morning. Or felt that way to my body. Morning and night had no meaning in the vacuum of space, given we were still jumping. The Free Systems were a good distance from Imperial Space, and for good reason.

  Amara had gone to bed and so had Beleak and El. The others were talking and playing cards. Jinx and I, however, sat in the cockpit, side by side, with a bottle of lesser wine and our hands in each other’s.

  We didn’t talk about our relationship, or feelings, or any of that. We were just content to enjoy each other’s presence, just a lot closer physically than before.

  “I can’t wait to meet your family,” she said, cheeks flushed from the wine, and with a bright smile that made my heart skip a beat.

  “They’ll love you.”

  “They better.”

  We both laughed. Then the laughter died, and we were looking into each other’s eyes. And she leaned in and kissed me, just a soft lingering kiss, one that took my breath away and made me crave more.

  In that moment, the ship shuddered as we came out of jump, and the paradise that was Caelum 3 appeared before us. Beautiful. So many possibilities awaited there. A new life. A new beginning. Maybe a place where Xarren couldn’t find us. I didn’t know what the future held for all of us. We all had different goals and dreams, and some of them would probably send us on our separate ways.

  Not me and Jinx, though. No way was I leaving her side ever again. No matter what she wanted to do with her life, I’d be with her.

  But whatever the future held, there was hope. We were going to be okay. Whether it was the saints, or Materelle, or whoever watched over the universe, I knew they had smiled on me and my friends, and I thanked them.

  I picked up my glass and raised it with a smile. “To new beginnings,” I said.

  Jinx grinned. “To a fresh start.”

  We clinked our glasses together. To hope. To a future that didn’t look so scary anymore, one that wasn’t an uncertain mess.

  The stars no longer seemed too dim.

  Thank You For Reading

  Thanks for reading The Xarren Escape, the second book in the epic Plundering the Stars series.

  Well, it looks like they finally got the happy ending they were looking for. It’d be pretty boring to end this way, though. Make sure to check out the next story and see shat kind of trouble Yan, Jinx, and the crew get mixed up in.

  The next story in the series is called The Torgoran Revolt and you can order it now on Amazon.

  Get The Torgoran Revolt here:

  amazon.com/dp/B089MBC67B

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