by A. G. Wilde
It took him a while to pull his gaze from her and he finally looked upward, his eyes searching the roof of the ship.
She didn’t know what he was looking for but the fact there was still that tension about him, she knew they weren’t out of danger yet.
She’d lost count at how many of the maniacs they’d shot down but there had been a lot.
There could be more of them hiding.
“Herza,” he finally said.
Nia stiffened. She’d forgotten about the boss.
Now her own gaze searched above. Seeing nothing of note, she peeked around the side of the crate.
All she saw were the writhing bodies of the aliens. Some were crawling away but, still, none reached for their guns to continue the fight.
She guessed they weren’t as loyal to Herza as she’d thought.
“See that door?” Ka’Cit jerked his head toward a large set of doors at the end of the room.
“Yea.” She nodded.
“Make a run for it. I have your back.” Then he chuckled, she was sure. She couldn’t see it, but she sure heard it. “Not that you can’t handle yourself.”
His eyes were on her again and pride swelled within her.
She hadn’t realized her ego had needed that. It meant a lot coming from him.
He had shot most of the Niftrills while his whole attention had been on her. His aim was that good.
For him to say that to her…
Nia held back her smile.
With one last glance at him, she set off across the space.
She was light on her feet as she jumped over the bodies littering the floor.
She picked a path through the fallen Niftrills, one that had the least amount of henchmen and hence fewer hands that could grab her ankles and trip her as she made her way.
But a glance behind her had her coming to a stop.
Ka’Cit wasn’t running.
Instead, he was moving from Niftrill to Niftrill, flipping them over and taking the hood of their cloaks from their heads.
Their heads were bald and looked just like the exposed hand she’d seen earlier.
Like dark rock with lava flowing underneath it.
One of the aliens he held up had its arm exposed and Nia’s eyes widened in their sockets.
Now she knew why they didn’t bother to continue fighting when they were hit.
The Niftrill’s arm was swollen with what looked like a huge pocket of lava under flesh.
What the…
Ka’Cit kept moving from one alien to the other, flipping them over, checking their faces, until he stopped when he reached one of them.
She couldn’t hear what he said to the alien or what the alien said back, but he seemed satisfied with what he’d heard and he released the alien.
As the alien fell to a heap on the floor, Ka’Cit lifted his head to follow after her and that’s when their gazes locked. Something changed within his eyes.
His look was guarded, as if he expected her to say something negative, but she simply gestured to him.
“Are you coming or what, big guy?”
His gaze softened then and it dawned on her that she was learning to read him quite well.
As she started running again, she checked behind her to see if he was following this time. His steps were so silent, she wouldn’t have known he was if she hadn’t looked.
They finally came upon the huge doors and Nia halted.
“She’s watching us, you know,” he said when he reached her and the words sent a chill down her spine.
Nia’s gaze immediately went to the entry to the corridor where they’d come from, but no one was there.
“There.” Ka’Cit jerked his head and she looked in the direction he’d indicated.
She couldn’t see at first, not till a panel lifted in the wall high across the room like a set of blinds.
The tall female alien was standing there.
Herza.
She stood alone, her hands fisted at her sides and her tail swishing through the air in much the same way a cat would do when looking at a mouse.
The suddenness of seeing the female just standing there sent a chill through Nia.
“Oh my God.”
She was aware that Ka’Cit was punching in a series of codes into the panel by the door but she couldn’t take her eyes off the alien female.
Why was she just standing there watching them?
Why was she not attacking?
Why wasn’t she trying to stop them?
“Get in, ta’ii. Quick.”
Somehow, Ka’Cit had opened the huge doors, but his eyes were on Herza too as he spoke.
“What is she doing?”
His understanding of what she was trying to say only went so far, she knew. Ka’Cit didn’t respond and his gaze remained locked on the alien across the room.
It was as if they were having a staring match and Nia gripped her gun to her chest.
A sliver of fear ran through her.
She hadn’t been this afraid just moments before.
Not when the swarm of aliens had attacked them. Not with those same enemies now writhing in pain at their feet.
But now, with Herza watching them, her cold eyes focused on them only, the fear Nia felt was very real.
As she slipped through the doors with Ka’Cit following behind, he didn’t take his eyes off the alien above them till the doors sealed shut.
He turned to her then.
“Let’s go.”
The urgency in his voice was evident but she didn’t need any encouragement.
“There,” he said and Nia followed his gaze.
They were in the room with the large ramp now and there was a shuttle, well, two shuttles, parked within it.
The shuttles were oval, with two engines on each side and they were no bigger than commercial vans.
They headed toward the shuttle closest to them and Ka’Cit retrieved something from his pocket: a flat metallic card.
He pressed it against the shuttle and the back doors began to open.
He caught her gaze then and shrugged.
It sounded like he even chuckled a little.
“It was a…gift…that I…took.”
Right.
Nia couldn’t help but chuckle a little too but her eyes darted back to the huge doors that separated them from Herza.
The female really wasn’t coming after them.
Why?
“Come on.”
Ka’Cit gestured to the inside of the shuttle and Nia hurried in.
At the same time, he turned, aimed across the room, and fired a single shot.
An alarm began blaring immediately.
“Airlock. Compromised. Airlock. Compromised.”
Nia’s eyes widened.
Shit.
Not what you wanted to hear when all that protected you from the vacuum of space was said airlock.
The doors to their shuttle closed and they were suddenly in a small space together once again.
There was a set of suits secured to the inside of the shuttle and another set of doors behind her.
Ka’Cit let out a breath.
“We don’t have a lot of time. Herza will try to override the airlock soon or she’ll let us go.” He dropped his gun, pressed a button against the wall and the second set of doors opened. “Either way, we need to hurry. I’m probably more trouble than she wants on her ship, but we just injured her entire crew.”
He moved forward to the second section of the small vessel and Nia followed him inside.
There were two seats across from each other and a huge view screen in front.
She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she bent so she could see outside the shuttle.
“Come on.” Ka’Cit’s voice caught her ear. “I’ll strap you in.”
With his help, she was secured into one of the seats.
He slipped into the next one, secured himself, and began punching the buttons on the control panel.
She was in space.
The ship powered up almost immediately and Ka’Cit glanced her way.
Green eyes twinkled.
“Here comes the fun part.”
Wha—
Did he just say fun?
She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant by “fun” when the ship suddenly jerked forward before it rose in the air and turned in a wide arc.
Ka’Cit punched a few more buttons.
“Destination: Hudo III. Estimated time of arrival: Two clicks,” the ship said.
In front of them, the ramp was already partially open, but the gap didn’t seem big enough for them to fit through.
Nia gripped the control panel just as the shuttle shot forward.
They barely fit through the narrow gap.
“Let’s get you out of here, ta’ii.”
20
It was only when they were zooming away that Nia’s shoulders finally sagged.
There were no explosions behind them.
No one was giving chase.
Was it really over?
She glanced at Ka’Cit.
If it wasn’t for him, would she have made it this far?
He’d appeared at the right time, helped her through a difficult situation, and his presence had kept her calm.
She was staring his way, wondering how she was going to thank him, when he glanced at her.
What now?
“I…uh…” she began. But he couldn’t understand her. He probably never would be able to.
Still, she should thank him anyway.
It was the least she could do.
“Thank you, Ka’Cit.” His hand was resting on the controls and she leaned forward and placed hers over his. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
He seemed to freeze underneath her touch.
“I…I don’t know how to let you know that I’m grateful. I’m indebted to you. For all you did. You risked your life to come after me. You kept me warm when I was cold. Shielded me when people were trying to kill me.” She almost began tearing up and her throat went dry.
The situation had been more strenuous than she’d realized.
Releasing his hand, she leaned back in her seat, staring at the nothingness before them.
Space was really a dark void.
It looked like there was nothing out there.
No worlds teeming with life. No people. No Earth.
“Sorry.” She wiped her eyes. “What a time to get emotional, huh.”
A few moments of silence passed between them and she could feel him watching her.
“I guess, it’s nice to know people have your back out here, you know. I don’t have any family apart from Riv, Lauren, Sohut, and Cleo…no other friends…” She glanced his way. “But I’d like to think I can add you to that list too. A friend, you know.”
He blinked at her and she wished he wasn’t wearing his mask so she could see his face.
Finally, she released a sigh and shrugged.
“You can’t understand me, but maybe that’s for the best. I’m only ranting.”
Ka’Cit stared at her some more before something changed in his gaze.
Without a word, he reached into his pocket and took out the small square device she’d seen him with while in the ship’s underbelly.
He fidgeted with it for a little bit and she couldn’t figure out what he was doing.
“What is that?”
But he only glanced her way at the sound of her voice and continued fidgeting with the device.
For a few moments, she just watched him, trying to figure out what he was doing before he lifted his head and pierced her with his gaze.
Something in his eyes told her he was…smiling? But she couldn’t figure out why.
“Umm…” She gave him a nervous smile. “What’s happening?”
“It worked,” he said before reaching forward and pressing a few buttons on the ship’s control panel.
“Destination input,” the ship’s AI said. “Coordinates: AX#-4--5II3. Estimated time of arrival: Twenty sleks.”
“Huh? Wh—I thought we were heading home.”
He blinked at her but said nothing.
The hairs at the back of her neck rose. “Ka’Cit, what’s going on? Why aren’t you talking?”
But he didn’t respond.
Instead his shoulders set and he rose from his seat.
Whatever he was about to do, just from the way he walked toward the set of interior doors, she knew his mind was made up. When he reached them, he turned to look at her.
“You stay here. You’ll be safe.”
Wh—?!?! Safe from what?
He was leaving her?
“Ka’Cit!” She fumbled with the seat restraints to release herself but the doors were already closing.
As she looked over her shoulder, his gaze met hers just before the doors shut and a red light lit up overhead.
Just what the hell was going on?
He was gone.
Where?
She had no idea.
He was still in the ship, of course, but no matter how many times she pressed the button to open the interior doors, the red light remained lit and the doors remained locked.
She was pacing for maybe ten or fifteen minutes, completely losing her mind, when structures began appearing in front of them as the ship slowed down on its own.
Huge metal structures that looked like pins and needles stuck together materialized, it seemed, out of thin air.
“What the…” Nia froze, her eyes widening as more of the structures came into view.
The structures were gigantic, dwarfing the shuttle in their magnificence.
She didn’t know what to think but her feet pulled her toward the view screen.
There were lights blinking on some of the structures and some of the others looked like space debris.
Why did the ship stop here?
Drawing closer, she pressed her palms against the view screen as she looked out.
Far, far below, was a planet.
A round planet with vast orange landmasses.
She knew what she was looking at without anyone having to tell her.
It was Hudo III.
Home.
So he hadn’t changed their destination. But where the hell had he gone?
Spinning, she rushed back to the doors and, for probably the hundredth time, she slammed her hand against the button next them.
The ship’s response didn’t change.
A loud beep denied her entry.
She was acutely aware of the ship finally coming to a stop beside one of the huge metal giants.
There was a creak as it came to a stop and then silence.
“Ka’Cit? What’s going on?”
Could he even hear her behind the doors?
She got an answer, but not the one she’d expected.
The vessel’s AI spoke, so loud that she jumped.
“Airlock opening.”
Nia’s eyes flew to the doors. “What? No!”
But the doors didn’t open. They remained closed.
Maybe the ship made a mistake?
She crept closer to the view screen and looked out.
For a few minutes, there was nothing.
No movement. Nothing.
The only thing that told her she wasn’t frozen in time was the lights blinking on the large structure outside the ship.
That’s when she saw movement.
Her heart thumped in her chest, skipping a beat.
An intruder.
There was someone outside the…
But when the alien turned and she saw his face, her terror turned into confusion.
“Ka’Cit?”
Nia moved closer to the view screen.
Ka’Cit was in a dark spacesuit—one of those that she’d seen hanging on the interior of the shuttle no doubt—and he was looking back at her.
&
nbsp; He’d had to remove his mask before putting on the spacesuit and he space walked straight to the view screen, looking in as if to check if she was all right.
“What are you doing out there?!”
No answer, of course, and she had no choice but to watch him float away to the huge metal structure the ship had stopped beside.
The sheer size of the thing was even more pronounced when he drew closer to it.
The structure didn’t seem far from the ship, but it was difficult to judge the distance.
That made her heart lodge in her throat.
Just seeing him floating in the nothingness that was space unlocked a fear she never knew she had.
That’s when she saw the tether attached to the back of his suit.
Still…
Was he fucking crazy?
What the hell was he doing?
His feet landed on one of the metal pins and he turned to glance back at her once more.
Nia’s palm flattened over her mouth as she watched him turn and walk along the pin, arms outstretched on both sides to balance.
When he reached the central part of the structure, he dug into the pocket of his suit and she could barely make out the little square device in his hand.
Then he got to work. It seemed he had other tools in his pockets too because he somehow opened a panel on the huge metal structure.
Nia craned her neck to see what he was doing but between his spacesuit and the fact she couldn’t see around him, she could only guess his intent.
He was working on something and his movements suggested he was interacting with buttons within the thing.
Her brows furrowed as she watched him.
Just what was he doing?
As her heart thudded in her chest, her anxiety rising, her gaze moved across the metallic structure.
It was a satellite wasn’t it?
Like a huge, alien cell tower floating in space.
What else could it be?
It wasn’t a spaceship and it seemed to be orbiting the planet.
It had to be a satellite.
But that still didn’t tell her what he was doing.
Time seemed to slow down as she watched him, every beat of her heart sending more anxiety through her veins.
Seconds turned into minutes, and those minutes bled into one another. The longer he was out there, the shallower her breathing became until she was a nervous wreck who’d bitten down her nails so far, she was starting to bite flesh.