by Lexa Luthor
Kal blocked any escape by placing both hands on the door, either side of Charlie. She was nearly panting, eyes blown from rising desire. However, her self-control was strong enough because she kept their bodies separate so their scents wouldn't mix anymore.
"There is something you must know before you go."
Keeping her hands against the wood behind her back, Charlie licked her lips and whispered, "What is it?"
"It is something you must take with you into space," Kal insisted.
Even more curious, Charlie nodded and promised, "I will." She watched how an inner turmoil flickered in Kal's eyes, and she nearly touched the flushed cheeks so close to her. "What is it?" she gently repeated.
"The morning after we were together was when I remembered, while I stood on the balcony alone." Kal was lighter, as if the god's dark spirit was pulling away from her very body.
Now confused, Charlie shook her head and asked, "Remembered what?"
"My old name," Kal whispered, but her voice was heavy. "My name was Sumner."
Charlie felt her jaw loosen, and she was overwhelmed with the need to kiss Kal again but instead fisted her hands. Her heart was thundering in her ears, and a soft pain started at the back of her throat.
"They say if something goes to space, to the heavens, then it will last forever." Kal was desperately searching Charlie's features. "Please, Charlie, take it with you because I will lose it again."
"I will." Charlie blinked against the sting in her eyes.
Kal bowed her head until their foreheads touched tenderly. "Tah, Charlie," she breathed, and relief was evident in her slumped shoulders.
Charlie shut her eyes and whispered fiercely, "I promise you, Sumner."
Epilogue
Carefully the shuttle entered the Pacifica's bay and hovered over its usual docking location, next to the second craft. Charlie switched on the magnetic anchoring system that drew the vessel down to the bay's hull. While she shut down the shuttle's systems, the bay pressurized, filled with oxygen, and a rush of hot air warmed the room.
Charlie stepped out but left the pilot's door open since she, Starr, and Raakor would return to Kander for the darakar. Most likely all of the crates would fit in both shuttles; otherwise, a second trip would be necessary. For the rare fuel, it was worth any number of trips and would save Charlie thousands of stills over time.
But first, Charlie needed to call Sallarus and find out what job he had for them. If their luck hadn't run out, then it would be a quick, easy job. Grinning to herself, she became excited to start another adventure soon rather than surviving on empty. As she passed the galley's open door, she noticed a metal mug and plate sitting on the counter. She hummed low and ducked into the galley, finding nobody around but knowing it was Starr's usual breakfast but half gone. Touching the mug, Charlie frowned at the now cold tea and found it rather strange.
Charlie left the galley and approached the cabins, noticing the serenity of it all. She tapped on Starr's quarters first and hollered, "Starr, I'm back!" After no answer, she picked up the pace and beelined to the cockpit. "Raakor?" she yelled while walking the short bridge to the cockpit.
An electrical pop forced her to sprint the rest of the way until she nearly collided with a swinging head that was tied to the top of the fuselage. Charlie ducked but slipped on something wet and toppled to the floor. She slid another pace before a slumped body stopped her from hitting one of the cockpit seats. Directly in front of Charlie was the decapitated body of Raakor.
"By the gods," Charlie breathed, and alarms rang in her head. She reached for her handgun, then jumped to her feet, nearly falling from all the blood smeared across the metal floor. Looking over her shoulder, she confirmed it was Raakor's head lightly swinging back and forth, red droplets falling from it. "No. No. No! No! N-n-no!" Her heart fell into her gut before it started pounding wildly.
"Starr!" Charlie took a cautious step toward the bridge until a sharp beep from the cockpit caught her attention. She peered over the pilot's chair and grew wide-eyed when a single word popped up on the panel. It simply said "RUN" in bright red letters, then it vanished after a minute and was replaced by a smaller RUN in the upper left corner of the panel followed by a second one then a third and one after another until the panel was filled with the word. Like a virus, it spread to the co-pilot's panel and silently screamed at Charlie.
"What the fuck is going on?" Charlie growled and moved between the chairs, but she stilled when the screens went black again. Another loud beep echoed in the cockpit, and then the time 1:53 filled both the pilot and co-pilot's screen. After a moment, it started counting down at one Earth second, closing in on zero. At 1:45, the Pacifica's internal alarms sounded throughout every room, and every soft light turned eerily red.
"Self-destruct sequence has been initiated. Time until self-destruct is one minute and forty seconds," the Pacifica's computer announced over the audio system.
"What?!" Charlie jumped into the pilot's seat and tapped the touch panel, but it continued counting down. "Fuck, no!" She made a few other attempts as the seconds continued winding down closer to the self-destruct.
"Sixty seconds until self-destruct."
"Fuck!" Charlie screamed and jumped out of the seat, rushing from the cockpit. "Nova, connect to Pacifica's AI." She took a step onto the bridge, sliding on the blood and nearly falling down again until she grabbed the ship's fuselage for balance.
"Connected," the techbit reported from the leather jacket's pocket.
"Begin procedures to start Shuttle One. Download all ship logs and surveillance from the last thirty hours," Charlie snapped while her legs danced across the wet floor.
"Proceeding to start Shuttle One."
Finally dragging herself past the blood, Charlie ran at top speed yet paused by the quarters, her frantic mind tried deciding whether to duck into her quarters. She slapped the reader that unlocked the door and drew it open. Rushing inside and gasping for air, Charlie frantically scanned the quarters until she spotted the only item that meant more than the ship itself.
"Forty seconds until self-destruct," the Pacifica announced.
Cursing loudly, Charlie took two wide steps, jumped onto the made bed, hopped off, and landed in front of the built-in drawers. Jerking open the top drawer, she tossed clothing items, ignoring the Pacifica's next self-destruct call out. Finally, she snared the precious item that always remained so buried until now. After pocketing it, she bolted through the room and down the halls, adrenaline nearly making her fly across the bay.
The craft was already humming, and it hovered off the metal floor with its pilot door still open. Practically falling into it, Charlie frantically worked the switches and signaled the bi-doors to open up to outer space.
"Logs and surveillance downloaded," the techbit stated.
"How much time until self-destruct?" Charlie barked and shifted the engine into reverse even though the bay doors were still opening up.
"Twenty-three seconds until self-destruct."
Charlie jammed the throttle in and forced the shuttle out of the bay, striking the top of the airframe against the upper door. "Come on!" Banking the craft hard, she barely skimmed past the Pacifica's hull side and slammed the throttle in again. "How much time?" she demanded from the techbit.
"Eighteen seconds until self-destruct."
At full throttle, the shuttle was hardly as fast as a ship and only designed as a small transporter between ships and planets. Even making it out of the Pacifica was no guarantee she was safe once the explosion rippled through space. Regardless of the distance in the next eighteen seconds, it would never be enough to escape the shockwave, but Charlie knew she still had a chance if she aimed for Kander rather than deep space.
"Time?" Charlie demanded as she watched Kander slowly become larger, about to swallow her.
"Four seconds until self-destruct."
"Oh gods," Charlie breathed and wiped her face, breathing harder as she mentally counted down the seconds. "Pl
ease. Gods, please." She was almost sure she would have a heart attack before the explosion got her. Desperately needing a distraction from her pending fate, she ordered frantically, "Nova, play Oldies list and start with 'Holding Out for a Hero.'"
"Playing Oldies list."
Just then, a bright light flickered in the rear camera and blossomed outward until it completely filled the screen on the dash. The flames silently roared and signaled the start of the explosive shockwave that surged and billowed out into space.
Charlie wrapped both sweaty hands around the stick and clenched her teeth, knees bracing against the consoles around her. "Please, please, please," she chanted and clenched her teeth.
The silent, unseen tidal wave suddenly grabbed the shuttle and launched it forward into Kander's atmosphere sending everything into pure chaos. For a brief instant, the shuttle surfed the wave until it crashed over the tiny metal cocoon and sent it tumbling into the atmosphere. Gravity gnawed at the hull sides, pulling and clawing at it, then forcing even more speed.
Charlie's scream overpowered Bonnie Tyler's voice, and she desperately attempted flying the craft as it flipped end over end. Nearly losing the contents of her stomach, she held it together until the massive energy wave blew past her into the deeper parts of the atmosphere. For one moment, she believed it was safe until she realized everything was too quiet. There wasn't even the slightest hum from the engine, and again Charlie's heart dropped into her stomach.
Using the touch panel, Charlie attempted the reboot signal for the engine, but it wouldn't respond to her. "Come on! Just restart!" Without it, the shuttle would be left to freefall to the planet and with very little control, especially during landing.
Cussing loudly, Charlie slapped the dash a few times until her anger was extinguished from her veins. After two deep breaths, she started coaching herself, "You can do this." First, she used the stick to lift the shuttle's nose and slowed the climbing airspeed before the airframe started melting away. Already gravity was growing stronger, and it dragged the ship downward faster. From the navigation side of the panel, there were only ten marches to go before she made it to the ground. With a deep breath, she paced herself on the flight down to Kander.
Everything was smooth until an unexpected, secondary energy surge lunged at the gliding vessel, grabbing it, and throwing it deeper into the planet's atmosphere. With the nose nearly pointing directly at the ground, the shuttle screamed through the atmosphere, then began spiraling out of control. In a corkscrew pattern, the spacecraft dove to Kander with no regret and no control.
Pure fear coursed through Charlie's blood and nearly seized her heart as the green landscape above her head spiraled closer toward her. Her cry filled the cockpit as she fought against the uncontrolled spiral dive to death. With all her strength, she wrenched on the stick and tried forcing the shuttle's nose to the horizon. Every single G-force fought back and tired every single muscle in her body.
The touch panel reported that only two marches were left before the shuttle hit the ground. Gradually, the horizon started rising up and crept closer to the shuttle's nose. Hope sparked in Charlie's chest and she prayed, "Please! Please, Kalatas!" It was the only god who could possibly spare her. Screaming for life, she used all her strength to pull on the stick, and the back pressure grew weaker.
Just as the craft reached half a march from the forested terrain, the nose kissed the horizon finally, and the airspeed bled off but not enough before it skimmed the trees. With tears on her cheeks, Charlie growled and gritted her teeth, ready for one ugly landing. Just as the shuttle's belly brushed the first leaves, she screamed and raged for all that'd happened to her in the past thirty-two Earth years. If this was her end, she looked forward to seeing her family again.
The trees' first branches smacked the shuttle's nose and smashed into the front window. Metal and wood fought while gravity jerked the crashing vessel into the cold, wet ground. One last, thick tree branch pierced through the cracked window and entered the cockpit before the spacecraft completely plowed into the dirt and grass.
The final slam into a large tree slapped Charlie's head back into the headrest, knocking her out for a moment. Soft water droplets patted her cheeks and stirred her awake again, her vision swimming for several minutes. Everything around her was green and brown, especially the thick branch inside the cockpit that'd shattered the front window.
Charlie coughed a few times, and pain lanced up from her stomach. She noticed the touch panel was damaged so she was forced to push the door open herself. When it was half way up, she tumbled out and crawled through the mud and grass to a nearby tree. After rolling onto her back, she gasped from the hot, white, searing pain flaring through her body.
Using the tree for support, Charlie sat up a little, then peered down at what she knew was in her gut. She laughed at the branch that had pierced her lower left stomach. Blood oozed out and soaked around her shirt.
Charlie laughed bitterly, which only hurt her further, but she hardly cared and thought about the irony of dying from wood getting her. Of all the ways she envisioned her death, it was never on the planet she'd grown up on and by a damn tree branch in her belly. If nothing else, she was happy to die in such a beautiful planet, rather than in the blackness of space. Gazing up, she smiled at the soft harmony of brown, yellow, and red leaves now that autumn was here.
Yet, tears started spilling and mixing in with the soft rain. She dropped her head against the trunk and sent silent apologies to both Raakor and Starr, for their deaths and how they probably died alone. When the heaviness crept into her bones, she shut her eyes and finally accepted what the Celestial Fates had in store for her. As a welcomed yet oddly familiar darkness crawled through her head, her last thought was with the only person who had awoken her heart.
And she whispered, "Sumner."
About the Author
Lexa Luthor is a voracious writer and reader of the Omegaverse trope especially including F/F pairing. In her books, every main character(s) is a strong-willed female, who navigates difficult situations but always ends up finding love with their mate. Every tale has a twist and is gripping, sexy, and even a bit adventurous.
When not writing, Lexa enjoys binge watching television shows like Game of Thrones or The L Word. Her other favorite hobbies are playing cornhole, rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs, and laying around the pool in the summer. At times, Lexa finds time to read romances (both dark and fluffy) and great sci-fi books but nothing else can beat a steamy, downright erotic F/F romance with biting, knotting, and slightly possessive love.
Get Social with the Author
Lexa always likes to make more friends, who also love Omegaverse especially F/F. Catch her at:
Website
www.LuthorPublishing.com
Email
[email protected]
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www.twitter.com/luthor_lexa
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Table of Contents
Cover
Contents
Blurb
Acknowledgement
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
About the Author
Getting Social
Table of Contents
Cover
Contents
Blurb
Acknowledgement
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
About the Author
Getting Social