“Spare me the pity talk,” I tell him. “You slimy thugs were going to leave mine and my wife’s asses on this planet while you get away without a scratch.”
“To be clear,” he says. “We’re just leaving you on this planet. Your wife is carrying our bonus in her womb.”
"What the hell are you saying?" I ask. But Gallik just saunters over to me. He reaches for my nose ring, pulling on it slightly so that I wince. I contemplate lashing my jaws out at him, but that will only get me so far. I start to realize that was Becca's way of thinking once I see Gallik's bandaged hand.
"You were nothing when Reeta and I found you. Remember? Just a shivering brat on the street trying to pickpocket for bread money. Now, look what we've turned you into. A skilled fighter and a pilot. A cunning mind. A charming thief. You really should have been more thankful."
“Funny how you mention the skills I’ve picked up after I had left your silly smugglers club,” I say.
"You always had a sharp tongue," he retorts as he shakes his head. "I should just kill you now and do you a favor."
“Why even kill me at all?” I ask. “If you think so fondly of me, why can’t you just let Becca and I slip by?”
"Because in all of my experience I've learned that nobody really gets off that easy," he says. "Decisions have consequences. You've clearly proved yourself unworthy of being a part of this team. I gave you a choice, and still, you chose your wife and child."
"Sounds pretty reasonable to me," I say. "I think that's the difference between you and me, Gallik. You're just surprised that I'm the one that actually grew up."
I don't regret saying it, not even when Gallik slaps me across the face. I can still feel the sting of it when the front door of the car screeches open. Nemi and Meni stand in the doorway, but something is…off about them. Their faces seem slightly, well, dead, in a way. "I thought I told you idiots to keep watch," Gallik barks. Instead of a response, the two brothers collapse onto the floor, their faces thudding sharply against the luxurious carpet.
Behind them stands an exhausted and battered Becca, with an Avate at her side. The bandage on his wing tells me that it’s the same one that she saved…the one that I almost killed if it hadn’t been for her quick thinking and dangerous train walking.
“Hi wife,” I say, trying to smile even when I’m about to die.
“Hi husband,” Becca says tenderly, even though her lip is bleeding.
Gallik seems dumbfounded at the sight of them and points his blaster in their direction. "I see you've escaped, with a little help," he says, sneering at the Avate.
The Avate shifts his wings, straightening his body to appear taller. He clicks his beaked mouth in anger at Gallik. "You're just in time," Gallik adds. "I was about to kill poor Falax here."
"Not unless I kick your ass first," Becca says. There's that fiery Becca that I love.
Before I can warn her, though, she charges for Gallik. He catches her fist midair, his fingers wrapping around her knuckles and squeezing them until Becca winces towards the floor. I can only scream as Gallik fires a shot at her, then the Avate. But they're not dead. Instead, they freeze on the spot, paralyzed, except for their eyes wandering wildly in their sockets.
"It'll be much easier to transport her to Rissa this way," Gallik assures me. "Who knows, if you live through the bombing you might still get to see your child after all. Of course, there'll be a few thousand copies of it running around on Muran, but you won't mind will you?"
I struggle at my bindings, imagining my hands breaking free and clasping around his throat. I picture him choking between my fingers as I press them further into his windpipe, his face purple until he’s no more.
But I can’t. I can only stare helplessly at my wife as she looks at me with desperate eyes. “I’m sorry, Becca,” I say, watching her blink while the rest of her remains still as a statue. “I really should have listened to you. You were right about these guys, but I guess I didn’t realize it because I was getting caught up in the feeling of…well, you know, the glory days.”
Becca blinks a couple times, and for a moment I'm wondering if she's trying to communicate. Probably saying "I told you so," and if she is I deserve it. I've been an asshole to my pregnant wife during this entire mission, and I'm hoping that if we both get off of this planet alive we can make things better not just for us, but for our growing family as well.
“I love you, and if I could, I would still choose you over everything,” I say, tears forming in my eyes. I’m not one to cry, but damn when I think about Becca it really gets me going.
“That’s very sweet,” Gallik says with a sneer. “Unfortunately we’re going to have to take off now. We’ll finish the rest of Becca’s treatment on Rissa’s cargo ship.”
He latches his arm around Becca. She stares at me, terrified as she's dragged past Meni and Nemi's unconscious bodies. "Looks like I'm going to have to find myself a new team as well," Gallik says. "This one has proven to be…a little unreliable. Best of luck, Falax. I can't say that I'm not disappointed. I can only hope to find another pupil like you someday." He ducks his head as he steps back out into the city with Becca in tow.
The car lies silent for a while, save for some air traffic bleeding in from the outside. But I'm suddenly jostled as the train car rocks slightly back and forth. I glance over at the paralyzed Avate, his arms outstretched frozen in attack position.
More rustling, followed by the sounds of glass cracking until it completely shatters throughout the car. Three winged figures roll on the carpet like clumsy pumpkins, until they unfurl to reveal themselves.
Avates. Tiny ones. As they remove their goggles, I can see that they're just a group of kids. I don't even have to ask for help. They're already scattering around the car, armed with tiny laser daggers that they use to cut through my ropes. Gallik's contraption is useless against Avate technology.
I squeeze my burned wrists as I watch them shock the paralyzed Avate with a small device. He gasps for air as he collapses to the ground, the children catching him in their arms before he hits the floor.
"Where's Becca?" I ask them. The young Avates point outside before jumping back out into the hub. Before I leave, I reach out my hand to the adult Avate. "I owe you an apology," I tell him. He puts my hand down gently. "You’re forgiven," he simply says. "Your wife helped my people. I could see a conflict in your eyes. And yet, you did not shoot."
I nod at him. “Let’s take care of this asshole,” I tell him. He smirks as I take off towards my sleeping car. There’s something I need to grab.
Outside, several Avates hover above. Citizens nearby point up at them as they fly around the train in the station. I jump out from the sleeping car, Becca's baton in hand as I run towards the transport bay. The dropship waits in the distance, and no doubt Gallik is climbing aboard.
I run as fast as my feet can take me, but it's clearly not fast enough. I can see the engines already glowing with life. As I run, I feel a pair of arms clutch tightly around my waist, and before I know it my feet are barely touching the ground. I keep running, only to realize that I'm running on air. I look up to see another Avate, decked out in a tribal flight suit as she weaves in between villagers. We glide effortlessly through the station, and I try to avoid looking down, otherwise, I might puke all over these poor people.
"Head for that ship!" I cry out, pointing toward the transport bay. The dust starts to rise around Gallik's drop-ship as it's about to take off, but before it can, the Avate drops me on the windshield. I don't think she knows I'm unable to hold on that tightly. I almost lose my footing as the ship rises up, and I quickly reach into my pocket to pull out Becca's baton.
"You're making a huge mistake, Gallik!" I shout though I'm not sure he can hear me. I want to be sure, so I charge up a blast and send it right through the glass. Gallik curses as he covers himself, shards of window piercing through his hands.
I roll through the gaping hole where the windshield once was, flipping buttons along the w
ay that send the ship into a death spiral up into the air. I clutch the co-pilot's seat, holding tightly to Becca's weapon as it extends into a full-on baseball bat.
Gallik puts it in autopilot, and the ship swivels back under control, though the wind howls through the rest of the cockpit. He grabs for me, wrestling me to the ground as he punches me swiftly in the cheek. I swirl the blood in my mouth before spitting it out and kicking my feet into his chest to knock him off of me. We tumble back and forth in the cockpit until Gallik slams me hard into the co-pilot’s seat. He presses his forearm against my neck as he looks me in the eye.
“Won’t you ever learn?” He chides.
“I’ll admit,” I say between my teeth. “If I’ve learned anything from you, it’s how to be a quick-draw.”
He processes the words, but just like that, I've already pulled out the baseball bat, swinging it with a lightning-laced crack into him before he can even reach for his blaster. He explodes against a lever, sending the ship back into a deadly drop towards the docking bay. I take the pilot's seat, guiding it roughly down before I retrieve Becca.
The young Avates have scurried aboard, helping me un-paralyze her. Becca gasps, and before I can talk she cries, “The crates!” I see a timer in her hands. We’re down to ten minutes. Ten minutes and we’ll all be engulfed in a ball of fire.
We run from the ship, locating the other crates, about to be loaded onto the other trains, where they'll destroy thousands of Avates and their villages. "How are we going to get them all?" I ask. Becca nods at the tallest Avate. "Can you help us?" She asks. The Avates salute us before getting in formation. I grab Becca's hand and rush for the largest shipment of crates.
"Where are these going?" I ask.
"I have a plan," she replies, gesturing to the drop-ship.
"Does that thing have autopilot?" She asks. I catch onto her tone and her wicked smirk.
“You know what? I think so,” I say.
“You think we should-“
“Deliver this to Rissa’s ship?”
“Yes. Absolutely… I love you.”
“And I love you… Absolutely.”
The Avates are quick, flying from one train to another to gather crates. They've alerted the station officers of the bombs, and together we're hustling to stay alive. Becca keeps glancing at the timer in her hands, then up at the shadowy outline of Rissa's main ship just outside the atmosphere of Muran. "Falax, I don't think—"
“We’ll make it! Don’t worry!”
Groups of twos and threes drop their loads of crates into the cargo hold of the drop-ship. It's getting down to the wire, and my sweaty hands almost make me drop some of the cargo. Becca runs for the cockpit to put in the autopilot, but I suddenly hear her screaming my name.
"What's going on?" I ask as I board with her.
"The autopilot isn't working!" She cries. Sure enough, the button's been smashed from my fight with Gallik. She turns to me with worried eyes, and suddenly I realize what I have to do. "Do we have all the crates?" I ask.
“I think so, I mean, maybe—“
"Honey, I need you to focus," I say, grabbing her shoulders. "Get off the ship. I have to fly it until Rissa's ship can pull it in."
“No. You’re not doing that.”
"We have no choice. Get out of here!"
I kiss her, hard and quickly, not my ideal goodbye kiss, but we don’t have any time. She’s shaking as an Avate helps her back outside. As soon as she’s out, I pull the ship into a roaring arc, soaring straight up into the reddening sky. I won’t let this planet die, not after I contributed to nearly destroying it.
The ship climbs, and I look at the timer with just two minutes remaining. My breath is heavy, and my palms sweat against the steering handles. The air shooting through the broken window presses me hard into my seat, and after a moment I can see Rissa’s ship hovering in the darkness of space. The air feels thinner, and it’s harder to breathe.
One minute left. I unbuckle myself and do the only thing I can.
Jump out the window.
When I come to I'm still falling, looking up at the sky. Suddenly, I'm blinded by an incredible explosion. I can almost feel the pulse of a blast as I hurtle toward the ground.
The fire grows larger, almost the size of a sun as it flares across the atmosphere, bits of metal and shards of a ship burn up as they hit it one by one.
I'm expecting to be biting the dust, literally, but I fall sharply into the arms of an Avate as he catches and carries me back down towards Muran.
I can barely process what happens next. Becca's arms grip around my neck as we watch the fireball hover in space, casting light on the surviving and unscathed planet below. "Incredible," Becca says.
"Yeah, it is," I reply out of breath.
“No,” she says, and I notice that she’s looking at me. “You are.”
I kiss her again, long, slow, and full of love. The way that I always should. We can't even hear the concerned screams of citizens who had no idea their planet was about to be bombed.
Hey, not all heroic efforts are recognized.
EPILOGUE:
BECCA
“That doesn’t go there, Falax,”
“Are you sure? They really need labels for these things.”
“It’s not that hard. See? There, it fits perfectly.”
“Heh. Sounds like something else I know.”
"Oh, my gods. Not in front of the baby."
"Please, like she knows what we're talking about."
My husband and I are not on a wild intergalactic journey. We're not fighting off robot overlords or crashing in casinos on faraway planets. We've taken a break from that, at least for a while.
Instead, we have a much tougher client to attend to, perhaps the most dangerous and most important client of them all…our seven-month-old baby girl, Chiara May. This is the typical dialogue exchanged between my husband and me when we're changing her diaper, a mission we're always afraid to take on.
"Come here you little cherub," Falax coos as he hoists our pale purple-skinned daughter over his shoulder. "Let's go with daddy to count our last paycheck."
I laugh as I watch Falax throws coins into our safe, counting them in a funny voice to make Chiara giggle with delight. The embassadors of Muran have generously donated a large sum of money to us as thanks for saving their planet. We've even given them a special gift in return, whatever punishment they think Falax's ex-team deserves.
Our last paycheck is nearly three times as much as Rissa would have paid us if she were still alive and, you know, wasn't a murderous baby-stealing traitor.
It's funny to think of how scared I was when I first found out we were going to have a baby. The future ahead is still scary, but moments like these, watching our daughter smile in my husband's arms, I know that Falax and I are going to breeze through it.
"Oh, someone's finally getting sleepy!" I say with quiet delight as Chiara yawns, exposing two bottom fangs, just like her father. I'm so relieved that Rissa's weird potion wasn't able to take effect and turn her into a supersoldier. Though, we are still a little suspicious of her ironlike grip.
"Is it on the back or the belly? I can't remember!" I start to panic, but Falax shushes me as he drapes a blanket over the baby.
"Relax," he says as he leans over to squeeze my hand. "We got this. You're already an amazing mom."
“And you’re an amazing dad.” We share a smile as we gaze down at our snoozing bundle of joy. We thought we would miss smuggling, and we did at first, but I don’t think any amount of treasure could add up to the biggest adventure we’re about to face.
I jump as I feel a pinch on my butt. “Now we’ve got a new situation on our hands,” he teases.
“And what’s that?” I say with a sly smile.
“Just some mommy and daddy time,” Falax says as he embraces me.
I feel something hard against my thigh and realize what he’s talking about."This is very time sensitive," I tell him with all seriousness. "W
ho knows when she'll wake up?"
"Then we better get going," Falax says grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the baby's room. "We need to get to Planet Bedroom, stat!"
I used to be a wandering Earth girl. Then a smuggler, then a wife. Now, I'm a mother. It's not a life filled with explosions or roaring gunfire or speeding ships. But it is a life full of belonging, beauty, and love. It's the kind of adventure that stays with you for a very, very long time.
END
Preview: The Klaskians Series Book 1
The Alien Surrogate
By:
Amelia Wilson
Prologue
Life on other planets is viable. It is real.
On the morning of July 26, 2029, an astronomer woke to find that a new planet impossibly joined the solar system. The new sphere, less than half the size of Earth and located twice distance between it and the moon, was instantly viewed as a threat.
The astronomer shared his findings only with the leaders of the most powerful nations, who instantly prepared for war, all the while keeping the citizens of Earth in darkness about their new knowledge lest panic and insanity arise.
On July 27, one day after the planet was sighted, a message arrived requesting peace. On August 10, a photograph emerged of two blue-hued humanoid males shaking hands with the most powerful of the world’s leaders. An accord was signed, a treatise laying out the terms for peace. The agreement swore that no one species would invade the other’s planet, but visitation with permission was acceptable.
Society fell into stunned shock. Some were vindicated, their beliefs in other life now proved. Some were fearful, others spew hatred. Many were simply curious about the new visitors.
The new planet, known to the people of Earth as Klaskar, remained largely a mystery, as did the blue-skinned aliens, the Klaskians. It was generally accepted that their technology was widely superior to anything on Earth; their knowledge so diverse that they could adopt any language to communicate.
Forbidden Territory (Galaxy Smugglers Book 3) Page 6