“I love you, too. But don’t worry. We’re going to make it through this. I swear it to you.”
And with that, Evie turned her attention back to the flight controls and banked the ship downwards.
“Man the communications system!” Evie shouted at Toryx as they headed into the outer edges of the storm. The Savior started shaking as the first big gusts of wind rocked her on every side.
“I’m on it!” Toryx shouted. “I’ll keep trying to get a hold of the gate techs until someone answers. You just fly the ship.”
Evie didn’t answer. She was too busy flying already. Or rather, attempting to fly. The ship was like a feather being tossed around in a hurricane, nearly impossible to control. But she had to try. She put all power to the engines, doing her best to keep the ship at least somewhat steady. It was a losing battle but she tried. She was burning through fuel at an alarming rate, but she didn’t care. They weren’t leaving Zocrone’s atmosphere again today. Either they made it into the City Dome or they crashed on the surface. There would be no in between, and no other escape.
The next fifteen minutes passed without Evie saying a word. She concentrated fully on flying, while Toryx kept attempting to hail someone from Zocrone.
“Zocrone Central, do you read me? Zocrone Central this is Toryx Keizer requesting permission to make an emergency landing. Zocrone Central do you read me?”
Over and over Toryx repeated these words with no response. Evie watched as their altitude got lower and lower. They were close enough to the City Dome now that surely the communications systems should be able to pick up their messages and respond. Evie started thinking through every possible worst case scenario. What if the communications system had been knocked out completely? What if the water reserves hadn’t lasted quite as long as everyone had hoped, and everyone in Zocrone was already dead? Or what if Daxar was angry over the fact that Toryx and Evie had escaped against his wishes and had given orders not to communicate with them or let them back into the City Dome. The lower they flew the more Evie started to give up hope.
But then, suddenly, a crackling voice answered Toryx over the speaker. “Toryx? Is that really you? What the sludge! We thought for sure that you and Evie must have crashed on the surface!”
“We didn’t crash. We made it out and back and we have water. So could you let us in before we DO crash? It’d be a shame to get all this water so far just to lose it in the last ten minutes.”
There was a short pause and then the voice came on again, sounding just as shocked but a lot more hopeful. “Of course, of course. Radar’s showing that you’re currently closest to the Dome’s west airlock. Is that correct? Hard to know if we can trust the radar right now.”
Evie nodded at Toryx, and he quickly confirmed the airlock for the gate tech.
“Roger that,” the tech said. “We’ll have the airlock open to the outside in approximately three minutes.”
Evie’s heart leapt. They might actually make it. If her educated guess was correct, it was going to take approximately five minutes to get to the gate. As long as she could keep them relatively on track for the next five minutes, this would work.
Keeping on track wasn’t easy, though. The closer Evie got to the City Dome, the worse the gusting wind seemed to get. Evie banked the ship left and right, up and down, using all of her best tricks to keep the ship flying straight and to avoid the large chunks of debris flying through the air. But the Savior was a much bigger ship than the Starburst had been, and it wasn’t easy to maneuver it. At least the thing was built like a tank. Evie had taken a couple of direct hits from large pieces of debris, and the ship seemed to still be flying reasonably well.
She just hoped that reasonably well was going to be good enough. She had to have at least some control over the ship as she came in for a landing at the airlock. If she came in too fast she could damage the airlock, or worse, she could hit part of the City Dome and damage the Dome itself.
“Let’s try not to completely destroy the city on the way in,” she said quietly to herself through gritted teeth.
Evie scanned the status screens. Everything was blinking red with warning lights. The fuel was low, the engines were overheating, and the ship wasn’t staying level for more than a few seconds at a time thanks to the wind gusts outside. But the screen Evie was especially interested in was the radar screen. Thankfully, it still seemed to be functioning correctly, and she could see the City Dome quickly approaching.
She was coming in much faster than she wanted to, but the wind gusts were too much for her to combat. She was just going to have to do the best she could. After about another minute, the Dome and the airlock gate were close enough that she could see them even through the clouds and debris. Her heart leapt. They were really here, on the cusp of this long journey being over. She just had to manage to not crash the ship in the final moments.
Toryx saw the Dome too, and he let out a whoop of excitement as he first pumped the air. “We’re here! We’re really here!”
Not quite yet. As far as Evie was concerned, they weren’t home until they were actually in the airlock. But she did agree that even just seeing the Dome was heartening.
“Are you strapped in?” She yelled over at Toryx, even though she already knew he was. But she felt like making sure that both of them had their safety harnesses secured gave her at least some level of control over the situation.
“I’m strapped as can be,” Toryx yelled back. “Just take us home.”
“Roger that. Heading home.” Evie’s heart swelled at the thought of home. She had been without a home for so long. After leaving Earth and joining the Starburst’s smuggling crew, Evie had felt homeless for so long. And even though she’d been living in Zocrone for a few years now, she still hadn’t quite reached the point where she felt like it was truly home.
But now, as she risked her life and Toryx’s to get back into Zocrone with the water that would save the planet, she realized that she had never considered anywhere “home” as much as she now considered Zocrone to be home. It was where she lived, where her crew lived, and where the love of her life lived.
And sludge it all, she was going to save this planet or die trying.
Under Evie’s direction, the ship ducked and rolled wildly. She kept her speed steady as her view of the airlock grew clearer. She tried to keep a straight course toward the airlock, and for a while she succeeded. But every now and then a gust of wind would throw the ship horribly off course. All she could do was correct it as quickly as possible and hope that one of those gusts wouldn’t hit them when they were actually heading into the airlock.
She glanced over at Toryx and saw that his blue face was a much lighter shade of blue than normal. He looked pale and worried, and Evie was sure she did too. This was their only shot. If the ship crashed into the City Dome it would kill them for sure, and it might damage the City Dome enough to kill everyone inside.
But all Evie could do was her best, and that was what she vowed to do as the Savior approached the airlock.
“Come on, come on,” she whispered as she found herself within ten seconds of this whole thing being over. “Ten, nine, eight—”
A huge gust of wind hit the ship just then, causing it to drop quickly. The hull of the ship was far below the airlock now, but the ship was moving too fast for Evie to change directions or stop before they reached the Dome.
“We’re gonna hit the Dome!” Toryx yelled.
But Evie barely registered the fact that he was yelling. She was pulling all of the controls as hard as she could, doing her best to bank the ship upward. With only a few seconds, she had no time to even say goodbye to Toryx. Either this worked, or they were both dead with no last words to each other.
The thick glass of the City Dome seemed to rise up to meet them, and Evie heard herself screaming. But she never took her hands off the controls. She threw her whole focus into a last ditch effort to get the ship back level with the airlock. As if by some miracle, she saw the airl
ock coming into view again. Was it possible? Where they going to make it?
She slammed on the controls again to level the ship out, and then slammed on the brakes. Only then did she squeeze her eyes shut, bracing for impact. Even if she had gotten back to the airlock, she’d been going too fast. She was going to crash into the other side of the airlock and kill herself and this entire City Dome. Evie fully expected to wake up dead.
But when the ship skidded to a stop and she opened her eyes, she wasn’t dead. And according to the status screens blinking in front of her, the shop hadn’t crashed either. It was still in good condition, and there were no smoke or fire alarms going off.
Slowly Evie turned around and looked at the airlock gate behind them. It was in the process of closing, slowly shutting out the storms behind them. She looked over at Toryx, who was staring back at the gate as well. His jaw was hanging open in disbelief. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, until the gate had fully closed behind them and the airlock system’s computerized voice announced that pressurization to Zocrone’s atmospheric temperature would now begin. That meant that in a matter of minutes, the gate that led into Zocrone would be open and Evie and Toryx would be home.
Home.
“We did it,” Evie whispered, looking over at Toryx with tears in her eyes as she slowly unbuckled her safety harness.
“We did it!” Toryx whooped. He tore off his safety harness and then pulled Evie into a big hug. Evie let the warmth of Toryx’s arms and the warm happiness of victory envelop her. They’d done it. They’d made it back in one piece.
All that was left now was to see how Chief Daxar was going to treat them after they’d deliberately disobeyed his orders. Evie and Toryx both turned to face the airlock as it started to open.
The moment of truth was upon them.
Chapter Twelve
Toryx felt his stomach clench nervously as the airlock gate continued to open. Then he grabbed Evie’s hand and led her toward the ship’s exit. They walked off the ship together with their fingers intertwined as the gate finished opening.
A crowd stood there watching, including several Zocronians, many of whom Toryx recognized. There were Zocronians who worked as gate techs and Zocronians who worked in the mines. And then there were the humans—Evie’s crew of Nova, Anya, and Maisie. Maisie was holding her young son Ayaan, and Anya was holding her infant daughter, Plalda. Beside Anya stood her husband, Kromin; and beside Maisie stood her husband Jarmuk. And then, beside Nova stood Daxar.
Toryx met Daxar’s eyes and felt like his heart stopped in his chest for a moment. Daxar was not only his Chief, but also one of his best friends. They’d known each other since they were little boys—way before any of the pressures of surviving the challenges of life in the Seven Galaxies had been thrown their way. Memories flooded Toryx’s mind, and he wondered if their past would mean anything. Would Daxar give him grace because of their long history? Would the Chief forgive him for leaving since they’d brought back water to save the Zocronians? Or would Daxar’s nickname of “Grumpy Blue” prove truer than ever?
Daxar’s eyes were dark black, the classic indication that a Zocronian was experiencing deep emotions. But what was the emotion? Anger? Joy? Relief?
Toryx opened his mouth to tell Daxar that there was plenty of water on the ship. Before Daxar passed any kind of judgment on what Toryx and Evie had done, Toryx wanted to be sure that at least the Chief knew that the unauthorized mission hadn’t been in vain. But before Toryx could get anything out, Daxar was running toward him with outstretched arms. To Toryx’s surprise, there were actually tears in Daxar’s eyes. Toryx had known Daxar for forever, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen tears in the man’s eyes before. Out of the corner of Toryx’s eyes, he saw that Evie’s human friends had also run up to embrace Evie. Their eyes were all filled with tears as well.
“Tor,” Daxar said, his voice choked with emotion as he pulled him into a big bear hug. “I thought we’d lost you. When you left…the storms…I thought no one could survive.”
Toryx returned the bear hug, giving Daxar several affectionate slaps on the back. “We made it. And we brought water back from Mognerth.”
Daxar took a step back. “You did?” his voice was optimistic but guarded at the same time, as though he didn’t want to get his hopes up for nothing. Before Toryx could answer, one of the gate techs was running out of the Savior, yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Water! Water! They weren’t kidding. This ship is full of water!”
The crowd surged forward to look, but Toryx didn’t move from his spot. He just shrugged and gave Daxar a sheepish smile. “Sorry for disobeying you, Chief. But I’m hoping the water will atone for my sins.”
Daxar’s tears spilled over now. “Toryx, we thought we were dead for sure. This City was days away from running out of water. Even if we’d sent out a ship today and it made it, many would have died of dehydration before the ship returned. You and Evie have saved us. I don’t know how to thank you.”
A wide smile spread across Toryx’s face. “Just don’t kick us out of Zocrone for going against your orders. That will be thanks enough.”
Daxar grinned and laughed. “I guess you can stay.”
Toryx looked over at Evie, who was being hugged by all three of her crew members at once. Her face radiated happiness, and his heart felt like it would burst at the sight of her. Everything felt right in the world at that moment. Evie and he were alive and together in Zocrone. Daxar had happily forgiven them for leaving without permission, and most importantly, Zocrone was saved. If Skoria’s predictions were correct, and Toryx was sure they were, then that meant that the storms would be ending soon. Life in Zocrone would return to normal, and trade would resume. The Zekkardite mining facilities would once again be bringing in a big income for the Zocronians.
Toryx turned to Daxar with a sheepish smile. “Oh, and also…we kind of owe a Mognerth trader a bunch of e-credits for the ship and the water. I was hoping you might be able to help out with that. He’ll take payment in Zekkardite.”
Daxar gave Toryx a concerned look. “I’ll give you as much Zekkardite as you want. But…we can’t get it out until the storms end, and no one knows when that will be. Surely, you explained this to the trader?”
Toryx nodded. “Yes, the trader is aware of the storms. But I actually have some good news. It sounds like the storms will be ending soon.”
Daxar raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Toryx grinned. “Yes. Walk with me and I’ll explain everything to you.”
Toryx led Daxar toward the ship, where he would be able to show the Chief the water supplies they’d brought. As they began walking, he began telling Daxar Skoria’s predictions about the storm ending.
Daxar’s mood lifted more and more as Toryx continued to explain things.
Zocrone was saved, and the drought was almost over. And even though Toryx knew that Zocrone was just one tiny planet among thousands, in that moment everything felt like it was right in the Seven Galaxies.
Zocrone was saved.
* * *
“Fellow citizens,” Daxar’s voice boomed across the city center. “We’ve gathered here today to honor Toryx Keizer and Evie Riaz for their brave, selfless journey to bring water back to Zocrone. I will be the first to admit that I was wrong not to send them out sooner. Thankfully, Toryx knows me well enough to know when I’m full of shit, and he took a chance on going against my orders to make a last ditch effort to save Zocrone.”
Daxar looked over at Toryx and grinned, and Toryx grinned back at his lifelong friend, feeling immensely thankful for this moment.
It had been a week to the day since Evie’s and Toryx’s daring return to Zocrone. The water they’d brought with them had been deposited into the city’s reservoirs, and, with proper conservation measures in place, the water would easily last another year and a half. As long as Skoria’s weather predictions were correct, that would be more than enough to get the Zocronians through until
the strange storms ended.
Today, Daxar had gathered all of Zocrone together to award Toryx and Evie medals of honor. As Toryx looked across the crowd, he could hardly believe this was real. He had come home thinking Daxar might not let him back into the City Dome, and now here he was, being treated like a hero.
He should have known. Daxar could get angry and have a temper, but he always saw things the right way in the end. And at the end of all this water mess, Daxar had seen that Evie and Toryx had done the right thing.
Toryx turned his eyes from the crowd to look at Evie, who was standing directly to his right. She looked lovelier than ever, with her dark black hair hanging in silky loose waves around her face, and her deep blue eyes sparkling with happiness.
She wore a traditional Zocronian outfit—a shift dress with a mixture of bright colors. The hot pink, neon green, and brilliant orange looked vibrant against her glowing skin, and Toryx couldn’t help but stare at her. For the first time in his life, he felt like destiny had truly done right by him. Having Evie for his girl felt like a dream, but it was real. He really had won the heart of the most spectacular girl in the Seven Galaxies. He would never take that for granted.
He would never take this moment for granted either—standing in front of the whole city of Zocrone, knowing that his and Evie’s bravery had saved all these people. He’d always tried to work hard and be a good citizen, but now he felt truly accomplished. No one could ever question his love for Zocrone.
Daxar finished up his speech, and then came to stand in front of Toryx with a bright medal of pure gold that hung from a shimmering purple ribbon. Daxar placed the medal over Toryx’s head, then was handed another medal to place over Evie’s head. The crowd went wild cheering as Toryx and Evie officially received the highest honor one could receive in Zocrone.
The Alphas of the Seven Galaxies Page 52