In just a fraction of a second, this woman made me feel better than I had ever felt during this entire mission. As I watched them fly high in the light of the moon, I feel strangely at peace. I can't imagine how Gallik would call these people savages.
CHAPTER SIX: ONE OF US
FALAX
“Bless Rissa for packing sausages,” Reeta says dreamily as she fills her plate. The whole team, including Becca, are treating ourselves to a big breakfast this morning. “Strange,” Nemi says. “I could have sworn we had more biscuits than these.”
"They're with the cheese," Meni says.
"I know, but there's a whole case missing. Along with some other stuff from the pantry."
Eyes dart suspiciously from one teammate to the next, but we continue to eat as if we won't give it another thought. The team seems apprehensive today. I also don't like how Gallik has been looking at me lately. I know he wants me to think about the future, and whether or not I see my wife in it. I've been doing my best to actually not think about it, especially not after Becca and I's lovemaking session last night. I reach over and squeeze her hand, giving her a warm smile. I know this mission hasn't been easy for her.
“So, Becca,” Reeta says poking at her food. “Do Earthlings give birth quickly or is their gestation period extensive?”
"I'm not sure if I feel like answering that," Becca says. She's been trying to get along with the others, but I can tell there's a strange rift in between her and them. She says it's because they've been asking so many questions about the baby that it's starting to make her uncomfortable. "We’d love to talk about our past missions while Falax has been away from you guys,” she adds.
"Very well," Reeta says, with a hint of annoyance. "What's life like on Earth? It's rare to see humans out here."
"It's very green," Becca says. "And uh, they don't know much about intergalactic species. You can imagine my surprise when Falax captured me for the first time." "Captured?" Gallik asks, his eyebrows raised.
"Becca was supposed to be a bride for my ex-king," I explain. "He was a major creep. But we kind of fell in love along the way."
“Interesting…” Gallik says, thinking. “I thought you were seeing that Nansi girl. What was her name?”
"Alani," I mumble, feeling tense from the talk of one of my ex's. Becca also tenses beside me, having seen and fought Alani in person. "Also, I wasn't seeing her. She was a monster who hypnotized me and literally sucked the life out of me."
"Sounds like any relationship, am I right?" Meni jokes as he nudges his brother. Nemi laughs along with him, and I rise out of my seat. What's with all the harassment today?
I stand up to leave, but as soon as I do, the car violently begins to rumble. Through the windows, a black blur flashes by, a spear cracking into the glass. "The Avates!" Gallik says, pushing off from the table. The others quickly follow suit, heading for the weapons car to fend them off. I grab Becca and pull her to the other side of the car. We're met with shattering glass, feeling the rush of warm air flooding into the space around us.
An Avate with thick dark goggles flies to the other side of the train, slamming his body against the glass and threatening us with his spear. “We have to get you out of here,” I warn Becca.
“Falax, I think we should—“
Before she can finish, Reeta emerges with her blaster. She lunges over the breakfast table and fires a shot through the now gaping hole in the window. "Get them outside" Gallik commands. "Before they tear this train up."
“Can’t we just stop the train?” Becca pleads. “Maybe we can work something out.” "These people don’t negotiate, honey,” Gallik retorts, cocking his rifle. He tosses another one at me. "Belated birthday present," he comments as he jumps through the hole in the window and climbs to the top of the train.
"Falax, don't go with them," Becca says as she grabs my arm.
"I'm only making sure Gallik and the others are okay," I reassure her. She's not buying it. "I'm not stupid, you know," she says. "This isn't the time to impress your friends."
Her comment stings a bit, but is it because she might be right? Then again, we’re part of a team. I can’t let the others get hurt on this mission. “Keep your baton on you,” I tell her as I kiss her on the cheek and scramble out through the broken window after Gallik.
As soon as I'm halfway outside, I get the wind knocked out of me as a soaring Avate collides into my body with astounding force. I can barely hear Becca's cries as I'm dragged high into the blinding light of day. I wrestle with my attacker, trying to get a solid punch in his beaked face. He swerves his head, awkwardly struggling until he crashes on top of the train. The others fighting hard against the other Avates, their guns blazing.
It's almost nostalgic to be fighting alongside them again. Despite our hiccup earlier, being able to work with my teammates rejuvenates me, and I knock one of the Avates from my back. Wind whips at our faces as the train continues forward on its track. The enemies fly in formation, their massive wings swirling around them as they waver up clouds of dust.
Nemi and Meni stand back to back, firing a shot into an enemy's wings. He goes down towards the ground, lost behind the moving train. The others are furious at us now, and dive bomb towards us in an all-out attack. Gallik knocks me out of the way to fire at them until they begin to retreat. Except for one.
Reeta holds him tightly, pulling his wings behind his back. The Avate whimpers in pain, which bothers me a bit.
"Looks like we saved one," Gallik says proudly. "Well done, Reeta. Those wings will make a fine display."
This is quickly turning sour as he points his gun directly into the panicked Avate's head. Gallik has a thirst for violence, but I've never seen it like this. "Maybe you shouldn't," I say, stepping forward. Gallik turns to me, raising an eyebrow. "Alright," he says. "Maybe I shouldn't, but maybe someone else will."
The team spreads apart and Gallik places the gun in my hands. “I don’t want it,” I tell him.
“You’re going to let this creature live after what he’s done to your team?” He says. “You’ve been walking a fine line, Falax, but it’s time for you to grow up and defend yourself…and defend your family.”
The gun is heavy in my hands as I stare into the frightened face of the winged man. The Avate's aren't my enemy, they're Gallik's. I point the gun at the Avate, my hand trembling. The rest of the team watches me, their eyes hungry, waiting to see what I'll do next.
“Stop!” A voice calls out. Becca climbs onto the train, her footing shaky as she finds her balance. “Falax, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Becca! You can’t be up here! Not when you’re-“
“Save it!” She shouts over the howling wind, bounding towards us. “Put that gun down right now.”
“Are you crazy, woman?” Reeta shouts.
“They tried to attack us!” The brothers say in unison.
“This isn’t who you are!” Becca shouts. “You’re better than this!”
“Think carefully, Falax,” Gallik warns. “Your family is counting on you.”
Which family, though? The one I’ve made, or the one that I’ve left? Which one matters more? My eyes dart from Becca’s to Gallik’s. This isn’t a hard question when I know the answer is right in front of me.
“Oh, to hell with it!” Gallik exclaims, tearing the gun from my hands. “I’ll do it myself.”
There's a sharp pang, followed by a crackle of energy. Gallik cries out as the gun flies from his hand, clattering against the tracks, left behind in the dust. Becca grips her Baton, smoke still emanating from the end. "We're not killing anyone," she says. "This is their land. They're just trying to defend themselves against people like us."
“They’re savages!” Gallik argues.
Becca ignores him, leaning down in front of the fallen Avate. She reaches into her pocket, pulling out a small beaded trinket and showing it to him. He seems to recognize it. Becca says something to Reeta, who begrudgingly lets him go. The Ava
te flies into the air, struggling to fly at first, but gently gliding away towards the horizon.
Becca pushes past the rest of the team. All of them glare with hatred at her and at me. I've failed them. I should feel good about this, about my choice, but I just...don't. "You should learn to keep your wife on a tighter leash,” Gallik says sternly as his shoulder bumps harshly into mine. I ball my fist until my knuckles are white. How am I supposed to raise a family if I can’t even choose what’s right?
CHAPTER SEVEN: PRECIOUS CARGO
BECCA
As if I weren't already an outcast in this group, my little stunt on the top of the train today has most likely severed any chance of Falax's old friends accepting me. It's also caused a slight rift with Falax, to my disappointment. As smugglers, sometimes we have to take lives in order to save ours. But there's a difference between killing for defense and killing for sport. They could have tried to negotiate with the Avate, as I had done successfully once I dealt with Gallik's trigger finger. But I knew after Gallik's comments about the people in the villages that he wasn't a negotiator.
I keep picturing Falax with that gun in his hand. He had an odd look in his eyes, a conflict forming in them. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I hadn't climbed up there to stop him. To Falax's knowledge, the Avates are evil, but he's been absorbing that information from Gallik.
My thoughts are interrupted as the door to our room slides open. Falax pulls a long-sleeved shirt over his head, keeping his eyes towards the floor of the train car. I stare out the window, watching the lamps of the villages flicker in the night as we pass them by.
Our arguments are standoffs. We wonder who will be the one to decide who is right and who is wrong and, depending on the argument, if one or both of us will be victorious. I've personally had enough of the silent treatment from all sides of the train today, and I sit down on the bed and cross my legs, ready to get serious.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey," he replies quietly. A great start.
"Do you want to talk about what happened this morning?" I ask, keeping my arms crossed over my stomach, resting on my thighs, trying to balance the weight inside of my chest.
"What's there to talk about?" He asks, his voice tired.
“Well, there’s that whole thing where Gallik was forcing you to kill someone for him.”
“He didn’t force me to.”
“So he wasn’t the one that put that gun in your hand? You were just going to willingly shoot that Avate? Is that it?” I’m trying to keep my voice steady. I have a habit of going off the rails a little bit whenever I’m upset.
“They were attacking us,” he counters, sitting on the edge of the bed. He keeps his back turned towards me, a tactic he often likes to use when we’re having a serious discussion. “If we let him go, he might have killed us.”
“He might have," I emphasize. "We always try to negotiate, remember? You told me that when I first started smuggling."
He rests his hands on his head, sighing heavily. "What's going on, honey?" I ask, shifting my tone as I scoot closer to him. I wrap an arm around him, but he's not very receptive to it.
“I’ve had this strange feeling all day,” he says. “Gallik told me to grow up and defend myself, and to defend my family.”
“Well, that sounds like solid advice,” I say. But Fallax shakes his head.
“I know he doesn’t mean our family,” he replies. “He’s been wanting me to be a part of the team again.”
I don't like where this is going. Don't get me wrong, I'm fully supportive of my husband and his decisions. But the entire time I've been on this mission, I've had weird vibes about Falax's old "team."
“You’re not going to, are you?” I ask. “We said this was going to be our last mission before the baby is born.”
“I don’t know,” he says. “I could keep making us money. Support you and the baby.”
“We have more than enough loot, babe,” I say, squeezing my hand on his arm. “And after this job, we’ll be set for years.”
When he doesn’t respond, the realization slowly begins to creep in. “You don’t want to stop smuggling, don’t you? You weren’t ready to have a baby…”
“No, I want to, trust me. But, just being with them all again, the whole team and Gallik, it just makes things hard, you know?”
“I don’t think I do.”
"He's almost like a father to me, Becca. I know he's a little hot-headed, and I don't agree with everything he says. But he has a point. Our team is like a family and, I don't know, it's hard to leave that behind again."
A silence hovers between us, and he leaves my side so he can pace the room. None of this makes sense to me. Falax can't give up being a smuggler. He's one step away from pushing me and the baby aside if it means getting to hold onto that forever. I've tried to contain it, but my anger slowly bubbles up inside me. I tell myself I won't explode, but it sort of…slips out.
"Remember that they had absolutely no trouble leaving you behind?" I say, my voice tense and calculated. "You didn't offer to stay on that lava planet. They pretty much arranged for you to be stuck there while they got away! What kind of family does that to someone? Certainly not one that cares about you."
"You don't know them!" Falax argues. "We've been through everything, very difficult times too. You would know about them if you weren't being so rude to everyone!"
"Rude? I'm just trying to be safe!" I say, a lump rising in my throat. I can't cry, not here and not now. "I've had bad vibes ever since we came aboard on this mission. You said so yourself that smugglers can't be trusted. But as soon as your old friends come back from out of the blue you've decided to just throw caution to the wind!"
“You don’t think I’m already struggling with this decision?” His voice is louder now as his anger matches mine.
“There’s hardly a decision to make here, Falax. You married me, and we’re having a baby. It’s a big surprise for both of us, but I kind of need you now more than ever.”
"I don't even know if I can be! I'm giving up the only thing I know how to do, and these guys are giving me another chance at it. What am I if I'm not a smuggler?"
"Uh, how about a husband and a father?" I'm fuming now. He keeps calling these people his family when they have no trouble sacrificing him for their own needs. Falax won't say anything, and I'm panicking. I thought when we got married that we'd know how to figure out things like this. Looking at him now, seeing how conflicted he is between these two worlds, I start to question where his loyalty lies.
"Think it over," I say with finality. "Think about what's important." I get up from the bed and rip open the car door, slamming it behind me as I leave Falax behind. I'm feeling nauseous again, and I need to get to the cargo car to get the rest of Rissa's stuff.
The car is packed, and I brace myself against a wall of the moving train to keep from tipping over or puking my guts out. I scramble to find my container carrying my pre-natal drink. The swelling feels much stranger now, and I clutch my stomach trying to ride out another wave. I'm starting to question if or how this drink is supposed to be helping me at all.
Finally, I find it, after digging through several supply crates. I find the dark red liquid, taking a gulp before putting it away. As I stand up to leave, though, something catches my eye. One of the crates, the ones we've been shipping this entire time, is slightly opened.
They'd been sealed for days, and due to Rissa's specific orders, none of us are allowed to see the contents inside. The lid of the crate lays slightly off-center, leaving an ominous and dark gap along the edge. I know it's against our orders, but curiosity gets the better of me. I check the door to make sure nobody is coming before gently pushing the lid towards the back of the crate. It squeals open slightly, and once light shines on the contents my eyes widen with terror.
Stacked neatly, covering every single square inch of the crate, are cubes. Hundreds of them, glowing with a pulsing yellow light from their runelike patter
ns. All of them perfect replicas of the same cube we stole from the robot base a while ago, the one Rissa placed on the table when we accepted the job.
There's something else attached to them, dozens of intricate silvery wires. My eyes follow them through the maze of cubes, discovering that they're all attached to a device on the lid of the crate. The device has numbers in it, just several hours, counting backward, and my heart thunders in my chest.
They’re explosives. Hundreds of crates of explosives.
I need to tell Falax. I don’t care about what just happened between us, we are literally a giant train bomb trekking along the desert, and it’s about to blow up very soon.
"Aren't they something?" I hear a voice that makes me jump, and a firm hand is placed on my shoulder. I shrug it off, standing to fight back, only to see Reeta behind me. "I don't think you're supposed to be looking at that," she says, tilting her head to the side. "Rissa gave us special orders." She throws a punch at me, which I dodge. I reach for my baton, only to discover that I had left it back in my car. I struggle with Reeta as she slams me against another crate, holding my head down.
I try desperately to scream, to kick and fight my way out. But to my horror, I see a thin silver needle quickly slipping into my arm, and I'm overcome by a heavy weight over me as consciousness leaves me. "Get her to the engine car," another voice says. I can't feel myself being dragged across the floor, but before I pass out I can see the blurred shape of Gallik standing over me, and the devilish smirk on his lips.
CHAPTER EIGHT: FAMILY
FALAX
I feel terrible about last night. Right after Becca had left, I had my answer. I should have stopped her. I even tried looking for her last night, but couldn't find her anywhere on the train. She didn't even come to bed either, which I find strange. I've been wandering the train all morning, hoping to find her so I could tell her that I made my decision to stay with her and the baby. She was right, there wasn't even a decision for me to make. I know I have to stay with her, and after thinking about it and stupidly wrestling with myself like I usually do, I realized what's best for both of us.
Forbidden Territory (Galaxy Smugglers Book 3) Page 4