by Drew Avera
When I looked at him, I saw the look of defeat on the man I grew up to recognize as a compassionate person with a drive unequal to anyone else I had ever met. He seemed hollow now.
“What are you going to do with us?” T'tireva asked, breaking the silence and causing a chill to run down my spine. If these men were anything like the ones who captured us and took us to Armilus, then our time was short.
Bora-Donna slowed his gait and walked next to my sister. “What did I say before, girl?”
T'tireva eyed him defiantly and I could see her hatred for the man evident in her flared nostrils. “You said you didn’t want to hear another sound or one of us would be dead, but if you wanted us dead, why wait?”
Her question was profound and terrifying.
“T'tireva,” Mom hissed, obviously trying to quiet her before something bad happened. Dad clenched his jaw tightly next to me as I watched nervously.
“Oh, did you think it was an empty threat?” He asked as he grabbed his sidearm and cocked it. The sound of an ion charge rang in the air around us. He placed the barrel in front of T'tireva’s face and smirked. “You have guts, kid, but in this line of work, guts get you killed.”
“You forgot something,” T'tireva said, showing no fear on her face.
“Yeah? And what might that be?” Bora-Donna asked, his obvious skepticism on the verge of making him laugh.
T'tireva only smiled.
From above, a blade stabbed into Bora-Donna’s hand, causing him to drop his blaster, but when I looked up no one was there. He held his bleeding hand and seethed in anger. “Go! Find whoever did this and bring them to me,” he ordered. The blade cut clear through his hand and the end protruded from the other side, blood dripping from the tip as it oozed out of the wound.
Distracted, Bora-Donna did not see Dad coming towards him, his clasped arms raised above his head. Dad brought his arms crashing down onto the back of Bora-Donna’s head, sending the man into the sandstone street with fresh cuts from his face striking the ground.
I looked on, mesmerized and excited, but fear still coursed through my body. “What’s happening?” I asked.
“A little help from a friend,” Dad said. “Grab the keys from his pocket and get these things off me and your mom.”
I knelt beside Bora-Donna and found the keys to the clasps, quickly removing Dad’s first and handing him the keys so he could free Mom. So many thoughts flooded into my mind, each one a flickering flame of what I had spent months wanting, but how things were coming together was so far away from how I imagined them. I never thought finding Mom and Dad would put us in this kind of danger. “What now?” I asked, not watching behind me as Bora-Donna rose from the ground.
He grabbed me by the back of my neck and spun my around, lifting me from the ground and bringing me face to face with him. “Now, you die.”
Chapter 18
Dangling from Admiral Bora-Donna's grip, unable to breathe, I watched as the light of the two suns begin to dim. All sound was muffled as my heartbeat pounded in my ears and the only thing I could focus on was his wide, hate-filled stare. I'm going to die, I thought. I was beginning to accept my fate as my oxygen-deprived lungs ached for another breath, then the world fell away as he dropped to the ground.
A thick, rusty chain wrapped around Bora-Donna's arm and jerked him backwards. After I hit the ground, I looked up with bleary eyes to see Gordus moving quickly towards the admiral, swinging the chain above his head. He leaped into the air and came crashing down, planting both feet into Bora-Donna's chest, sending the highly decorated naval officer smashing to the ground with an angry thud.
On shaky legs, I stood, rubbing my hand along my neck where the man's grip had been. My sweat started to burn where his fingernails had cut into my skin. "Are you all right?" Mom said as she reached out to me, panic in her voice.
I looked over to her, still trying to understand what was happening. "I think so," I answered.
Dad moved over to help Gordus take care of Bora-Donna, wrapping him in the chains, stomach down on the ground, bound tightly.
"Let's get out of here before the guards come back," Dad said through heavy breathing as he nodded a polite gesture to Gordus.
The five of us ran down the tight alley, looking out for the guards, hoping they would not see us. I noticed we were heading towards the scrapyard, but I had no idea why. "Gordus, where did you come from?" I asked, thankful for his intrusion into our situation.
He looked down at me with a slight curl of his lip. "I knew something was wrong when you two did not return from the Consulate Office, so I decided to see if you needed any help."
"But how?" I asked.
Gordus pointed up, where I saw Armilus running along the rooftops, the guards chasing after her, oblivious to the fact that we could see them. "I thought she betrayed us," I said, will a lump of anger-laden sadness in my throat. I knew she was the reason we were lured to the Consulate where Bora-Donna was able to find us. She was the reason for this to happen.
"Armilus is my sister," Gordus said. "She told me they released her in exchange for drawing you out. It took some convincing on your mother’s part, but she agreed to help Admiral Bora-Donna, then she came to me so we could do whatever it took to make sure he didn't carry out with his plan to execute you."
"So, you’re saying she did betray us?" T'tireva asked.
A look of sadness came from Gordus's eyes as we continued to run towards his scrapyard. "I know it all seems a muddle, but yes, with your mother’s blessing."
My eyes darted over to Mom, who looked at me apologetically. “It’s complicated,” she said.
Chapter 19
As we made it to Gordus’s scrapyard, he and Dad ran for a hidden trapdoor. Grabbing the large, rusty chain from the pile of heap, Gordus pulled the trapdoor out of place and revealed the hidden hangar underground. After several months of being on this world, I was shocked as the light of the twin suns illuminated the shiny skin of our ship. "How long has it been here?" I asked.
Gordus shrugged his shoulders and replied, "it's a long story. Maybe your father and I can tell you once we get out of here," he said, turning away from me and facing Dad. "All the repairs are done, Hawn. It took a while to get enough power in the storage battery to bring everything online, but we should be good to go."
Dad slapped Gordus on the back and smiled triumphantly. "I couldn’t have done this without you," he said as he moved to the edge of the underground hangar and descended the ladder, heading for our ship. All of us followed him down into the hangar and into the open cargo bay door waiting for us. "Everyone, get strapped in, this is going to be a quick takeoff." Dad shouted as he ran forward to the control console and strapped into his seat while the rest of us strapped into our seats in the main crew space. Now that I had the chance to breathe, I noticed that Gordus was wearing something reminiscent of a flight suit.
"Are you going with us?" I asked puzzled at first by his outfit and next by the fact he was strapping in across from me.
He looked at me and winked. "Auden, I've been you're ride off this planet for the last seven months. Unfortunately, it took that long to figure out where they were holding your Mom and Dad. My payment for stashing your ship was a ride off this godforsaken world."
"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked, angered by the fact no one took the opportunity to explain what was happening after all this time.
"When your dad came to me, in the middle of the night, he told me who was after him. Admiral Bora-Donna has been on Naxela before, maybe half a cycle before you arrived, and the way he treated my sister and me pitted Armilus against him. Her disdain for him resulted in her being arrested for false crimes and, ever since that moment, I've been looking for a way to get back at him. I'm sorry I kept this a secret from you, but your parents thought it would be best this way in case anything happened to them."
I looked over to my mother, as she wiped tears from her eyes. "We knew that unless we could provide evidence supporting his
treasonous acts, that he would be chasing us down forever," Mom said. "Your father saw an opportunity and we had to take it. I'm just sorry that we didn't have a chance to tell you beforehand. Gordus had a compelling reason to ask for our help, and it was the right thing to do. I think you will understand that someday."
I sat there, overwhelmed to know the last several months have been a ruse, and I felt just as betrayed as I would have been if my parents had left us maliciously. "I don't know what to say," I whispered under my breath, not wanting to say the words out loud, but needing to fill the awkward silence between us.
"You don't have to say anything," Mom said, as the ship began lifting out of the hanger. The cargo bay door was still open as we hovered near the ground.
"What are we doing?" I asked, feeling concerned by the fact we were not yet heading towards space.
Shots were fired and I could hear them over the sound of the roaring engines. Gordus jumped out of his seat, barely releasing the straps holding him to his seat before he darted towards the back of the ship.
"Armilus!" He called out.
I craned my head and saw Armilus running towards the ship, half a dozen guards on her tail, blasters firing bright arcs of energy in her direction. Seeing her run towards our ship made me angrier. I didn't like the helpless feeling of being betrayed by someone with ulterior motives. If not for Gordus’s part in convincing my parents to be caught, we never would have had to endure the hardships me and T'tireva faced all this time. But, if not for this ruse T'tireva and I may have gone the rest of our lives being chased down by Bora-Donna. I didn't know what to do with that information.
"Armilus, hurry!" Gordus screamed, as a shot fired in his direction, the energy blast striking him in the shoulder and sending him to the deck. He screamed out in pain, as he writhed on the steel deck of our ship, holding his shoulder as he struggled to look out at his sister running towards us. Another shot made it past our cargo bay door, the arc of electricity dispersing along the steel bulkhead, sizzling in the atmosphere around us.
"Auden, get behind something," Mom shouted.
I heard what she said, but I didn't listen. Compelled to do something, I released the straps holding me to the seat and ran for the cargo bay door.
Chapter 20
Forsaking my own safety, I ran towards the cargo bay door to Gordus as he lay on the deck writhing in pain. The guards, still shooting at Armilus, continued to fire random shots into our ship. Sparks flew overhead, but I had no choice if I was going to help Gordus get to safety.
"Auden, get back before they hit you," Gordus said, attempting to push me away with his one good arm.
"You are in more danger than I am," I replied as I reached for one of the straps attached to his flight suit and began dragging him on the deck towards safety.
"No, Auden, I have to help Armilus," Gordus shouted over the roar of the engine. I ignored his plea, continuing to pull him with all my might.
I looked out, watching as Armilus ran towards the ship, but I realized we were not at ground level and there was no way she would be able to jump into the ship when she was not close enough. "I'll take care of it," I said, as I dragged Gordus to the crew space. Once he was out of the line of fire, I turned to go and help Armilus.
"No, Auden, it's too dangerous," Mom said as she reached out to grab my arm. I shook it off and stared at her with no remorse for defying her wishes.
"Life has been too dangerous for the last seven months, Mom," I said. "But it didn't mean I didn't have to live it." I continued towards the cargo bay door, grabbing a length of rope from the bulkhead, tying it off to one of the tie-downs used to secure cargo in the back of the ship. I let the other end of the rope fall out of the cargo bay door towards the ground. I watched as Armilus ran full-sprint and leaped for the rope. I grabbed hold of the rope on my end, turned and shouted to my father. "We have her, let's go!"
With my words still ringing in the air around me, I felt the ship begin to lift off from where we were hovering. But Armilus still dangled helplessly below us, prone to being struck by a blaster. I have to get her inside the ship where it’s safe, I thought. Taking hold of the rope, I began my attempt to pull Armilus up. My muscles strained with each pull, but suddenly the struggle got easier. Confused, I turned to see T'tireva behind me helping me pull Armilus up.
"What are you doing?" I asked. "They might hit you."
"We’re in this together, Auden. If you're helping, then so am I." There was a fire in her eyes as she spoke and it inspired me to keep up the fight. Both of us pulled up on the thick, braided rope until Armilus grabbed the cargo bay door and hauled herself inside. The guards continued shooting at us, but thankfully we were far enough away that the charges dispersed harmlessly.
"Thank you, girls," she said in her slithery voice. "I really appreciate it."
Armilus walked towards the crew space, where Gordus lay on the deck and disappeared around the corner. Many conflicting emotions coursed through my mind, but I also felt pride for what I had done. It wasn't an easy thing to do, to rescue someone who you knew put you at risk, but I was proud nonetheless.
I took T'tireva’s hand in mine and inhaled deeply, my heart pounding in my chest. “Thank you,” I said.
I looked down at her as our ship carried us away from the world we hated. There was a tear in her eye when she stared up at me. “No, Auden, thank you.”
Epilogue
Hours later, drifting through space and away from Naxela, tensions appeared to have calmed down enough where I could collect my thoughts. Sitting around the crew space as our ship was commanded by autopilot, my parents spoke with Armilus and Gordus, the expressions on their faces more jovial than I expected after such a harrowing escape. I was raised to always respect my elders, and only speak when spoken to, but the thoughts running through my mind were not easy to silence. "Can one of you please tell me why this took place?” I blurted out, “I understand that Admiral Bora-Donna arrested Armilus, and Gordus saw an opportunity to free his sister, but I don’t understand why you two decided to get involved and leave me and T'tireva without an idea of what was going on," I said.
All eyes on me, my father was the first to speak. "Auden, the things that took place over the last several months were a culmination of years’ worth of hardship for our family. Once Bora-Donna became an admiral, he shifted his attention towards silencing people from his past who might come back to haunt him," Dad said. "I was not the first person to cross paths with him in a negative way. What drew me to action was that one of my other classmates from the Academy died mysteriously within the first few weeks of him putting on the rank of admiral. Word got to me that he was going to come after me next. Not wanting to concern you and T'tireva, your mother and I decided we would leave our home behind and try to seek refuge elsewhere. The problem was that everywhere we went, Consulate Navy ships were tracking us. Do you remember the bombardments we narrowly escaped before coming to this System?"
I nodded my head yes while Armilus continued to place bandages on Gordus's shoulder where the blaster scorched his skin. "I remember it."
"Well, for me that was the last straw. I tried to live life on the run, to escape Admiral Bora-Donna's reach for as long as I could. But as the weeks stretched into months, I realized running was futile. When I met Gordus, and he pointed out your mother's ring, I realized anyone who knew something about the Academy might be someone with more information that could be useful to our escape." Dad looked over to Mom, who slowly turned the Academy ring on her thumb the way she always did when she was nervous. "That night, after completing the repairs to the ship, I decided to ask Gordus what he knew about the Consulate Navy without mentioning my mortal enemy. I was horrified to find out that Bora-Donna's hatred knew no bounds and that he imprisoned Armilus falsely. I knew if we could get to her, then perhaps we could find a way to set up Bora-Donna where we would reveal to the Consulate that he was a traitor to our people."
"But why bother?" I asked. "People like that don
't shy away from scandals. What could you hope to gain by risking everything; why was it worth leaving me and T'tireva to fend for ourselves?" My words poured from my lips accusingly.
Mom stopped turning the ring on her thumb as she rose from her seat. "We had freedom to gain, Auden. I know it's hard for you to understand now, but sometimes the right thing for one person feels like the wrong thing for someone else. I know you're angry, and you have every right to be, but we didn't want to risk your being captured by Bora-Donna and his men. He would have hurt you if he had you in custody, and he would have done it to for the pure enjoyment of inflicting pain on your father and me. By turning ourselves over, and allowing ourselves to be taken captive, we felt we were protecting you by leaving you in the care of Gordus," she said.
I looked over to Gordus, the faint curl of his lips and nod of his head telling me the what she was saying was true. "How did you know he would take care of us, that he would not bring harm to us, or that we would've even gone to him in the first place?"
"Had you not shown up, I was supposed to go out and find you," Gordus said. "But I wasn't supposed to tell you what was going on. I was relieved when you showed up. I was resting after hiding your ship underground and out of sight. I'm sorry if you thought I made things difficult for you, but it was the only way I could protect you."
Protection? I felt anything but protected, I thought, having to live in the Attic and struggling to survive. "I'm having a hard time accepting this," I said under my breath.
T'tireva took my hand, tugging gently at my arm until I looked down at her. "I feel the same way you do," she said, "but we should focus on what's important now. Having our family back."
I knew she was right, but emotionally it was a lot to wrap my mind around. "So, did you get the information you needed to set him up?"