by Ivy McAdams
That is, until something on the outside of the ship cracks and everything shifts like we’re caught in a storm at sea. A red light over our heads flashes while an alarm wails. The sound is enough to blast someone right out of bed and I cover my ears. Dax’s hand slides from my shoulder to around my back, pushing me down to ducking as a mechanical female’s voice echoes through the room.
“Warning. Structural damage to ship’s twenty-third exterior location. Gases and fluids of aether, oxygen, and nyprium detected.”
“Damn you, Krut,” Dax growls.
His warm hand slips free of me as he stands and stalks through the main room, kicking the unmoving henchman to a cubby next to the door. He smashes his hand against a panel above it and the small container’s hatch closes. A strange vacuum sound rolls through the wall as Dax continues on to the cockpit. I blink at a small screen over the door as the henchman floats out into space, then hurry after Dax.
The lights inside seem almost dimmer than normal as the red light flashes. The strobe is intense, fast and bright. Are we going to die?
“What happened?” I ask as Zeus and I crowd into the cockpit doorway.
Dax is already pulling up all exterior images on his screens. One contains feed of a cloud of white and orange gas pouring out of the ship and into open space. I definitely heard the computer mention oxygen and the thought of losing the air that I breathe at such a rate makes me sick to my stomach.
“That looks bad,” I observe. “Are we going to be okay?”
Dax shifts a couple levers without speaking. A pair of mechanical arms appear on the screen, positioned on either side of the damage. They light up and set to work repairing the small hole ripped into the hull.
He works diligently without pause. “No.”
My insides draw up tight and I curse his inability to sugarcoat a damn thing. “Excellent. Do we just die now then?”
“Krut left a parting gift that can’t be repaired by simple mechano-tech. We’ll have to take the ship in.”
“Aren’t we on a tight schedule or something?”
“It won’t matter if we break down out here in the dark depths of the galaxy. We’ll suffocate.”
“Peachy.”
Dax’s brows lift high.
“It’s an expression. Anyway, where do we take the ship? I haven’t exactly seen a gas station or garage anywhere.”
“There’s a repair platform on the way, not too far.”
“Will we make it there?”
He nods. “If we conserve properly.”
His fingers fly over the controls and I wonder if it’s difficult to pilot one of these things.
The ship picks up speed, though notably less than we were traveling at previously. I say a little prayer as I watch stars blur by on the screens.
The pretty whales have moved on—probably scared off by Krut and his craziness. Out of a bloom of purple gases in the distance, a glowing orb appears. It doesn’t take long for it to grow into a small blue planet. When we enter its atmosphere, the ship begins to shake. It rattles violently and I grab onto my armrests so hard that my knuckles ache.
“Strap in,” Dax orders.
I was so preoccupied with being restrained earlier that I didn’t realize my seat had a harness. I jerk my arms through and snap it in place. Zeus jumps into his seat on the other side of the cockpit and dips his head under his belt, shucking it down over his body and sitting back on his haunches with a whine.
“It’s okay, Zeus,” I call out over the rattle beneath our feet.
“Warning,” the lady’s voice overhead says.
It makes me jump and Dax’s shoulders tense.
“A nyprium piston in the ship’s twenty-third exterior location is missing,” the voice continues. “A second nyprium piston is compromised. Please follow safe landing procedures and disengage the ship’s thrusters.”
He growls and pushes the throttle. We dip below the planet’s clouds and a long expanse of ice and snow stretches over the surface. Thankfully, some sort of civilization isn’t far off.
“Send a peaceful greeting to Ycece,” Dax says as he fights another hard shake of the ship with counter-maneuvers.
“Warning. Outpost Ycece of planet Mandoorum is currently one thousand forty-three nitracs away. It is not advisable to fly that distance while the ship is in a compromised condition. Please follow safe landing—”
Dax hits a switch over his head and the disembodied voice disappears.
I clutch my harness and look over at Zeus in alarm. He dips low in his seat, tail tucked and ears pulled back in alarm.
“Dax,” I call.
“It’s fine,” he says. His voice is loud and uneasy, as if he’s not entirely sure himself.
Holy shit, we’re going to die.
But the outpost rushes at us, and soon I can see other beings moving around down in the snow. Orange and green fires glow against the white-blue surface. Small huts are scattered around the outside of the township. The structures get larger and better formed the closer to the center we get. Now they look as if they’re made of metal and more complex materials. Just as up to code as buildings we have on Earth.
Suddenly we jolt back and I gasp, clutching my straps. Dax pulls the ship up so tight that we slide backward a few feet, then lower into a stone yard surrounded by a tall fence, next to a wide metal structure. The ship shakes and shudders until it finally touches down in what looks like a high-tech mechanic yard, full of spaceships of all shapes and sizes.
“Made it,” Dax says. I can’t help but find his comment ridiculously self-serving.
“Where are we?”
“Ycece on Mandoorum.”
As if that means anything at all.
“Can someone help us here?”
“For a fee. They should be able to get the ship working again.”
I’m not sure which is better. Delaying my inevitable sentencing, which is starting to make my stomach churn and I wish it was over with already, or getting more time to enjoy my freedom. If that’s possible.
“So we get to hang out here for a few days?”
He grunts as he shuts the ship down. “I hope not.”
The hum beneath my feet fitters out, and in good time, because something clangs and clinks. Did a part just fall off?
Dax winces and rubs a hand over his face. “Well, maybe.”
He gets up from his chair and strides out of the cockpit. Behind him, one of the screens blinks with small beings running out of the building toward the ship. Boy, I hope they’re friendly.
I pull my harness loose and hop down to follow him. Zeus does the same. Dax goes to the exit hatch and opens the door. I hurry up behind him, unsure of what we’ll find outside.
A flurry of snowflakes swirl in front of us. They’re so cold they look blue. I wrap my jacket tighter around myself and shiver. I need a hat and some bottoms with more weight than a thin pair of leggings and a skirt. My teeth are already chattering.
Four of the short-statured beings covered in warm furs run up to the ramp that’s lowered from the ship. Three wear thick black goggles over their eyes. One has his pushed up on his pale green and hairless head. He calls out to Dax, speaking a foreign tongue that sounds like mouse squeaks.
Dax starts down the ramp and I follow, but he stops and holds out a hand to push me back.
“Stay here.”
As strange as it seems now, I feel safest next to him. I don’t want to be alone on the ship. “I won’t say anything.”
“No. You stay.”
My trembling back teeth grind together. “What do you care if I go down a few feet?”
“The wind is worse down here, and you’re already shivering.” His eyes are hard. Firm. “At least stay in the doorway.”
As much as I want to keep arguing, I can’t deny his logic. Dammit. The cold is biting and I can’t shove my hands far enough into my jacket pockets to warm them up. I move from foot to foot to keep warm as Dax and the small aliens speak.
&nbs
p; Despite the weather effects on my body, I’m captivated by the scene before me. One huge alien with sprawling horns and four that remind me of hobbit gremlins. On an ice planet somewhere else in the universe. It’s still difficult to grasp the situation, of course, but every new person or place we experience is mind-blowing.
The wind blows and I duck in close to the door frame to block it. Zeus whines next to me, sitting behind the wall rather than out near the ramp. When the wind picks up and a new billow of blue snow swirls by, I realize that the color isn’t an illusion at all. I drop a hand from my pocket and reach out to catch a few of the flakes, which really are blue-tinted.
“Appropriate,” I mutter through rattling teeth. “Better than yellow snow. But not by much.”
Zeus nudges me with his nose and I do my best to scratch his head once with my frozen hand, then I shove it back in my pocket.
I’m just about to give up and go hide inside when Dax comes back up the ramp. The gremlins are scampering off, some whipping tools out of their belts and squeaking.
“They will do the repairs,” he says.
“Thank goodness.” It’s been a very strange couple of days. I don’t want to add stranded in outer space to my list of new things I’ve done today.
“There are pirates in town though. So we must be wary.”
I grimace. “I didn’t want to go outside anyway.” Brr.
“It’ll be a cold night, but we’ll be safe in the ship.”
Something about the way he mutters the words triggers an alarm within me.
“Cold night?”
“The mechs can get the ship going by midday tomorrow if they start now. The heating cores won’t run with the ship shut down though.”
I swallow a lump of nerves. Yep, that was the bad news I was waiting for. “So we’re going to freeze to death?”
“We’ll be fine. We have blankets. And body heat.”
Chapter 8
As if I need another reminder of how fucking cold it is, another strong wind whips through and I shiver violently.
Dax takes one look at me and herds me back inside.
Zeus barks as the door zips closed.
“I know,” Dax grunts.
“What?”
“Zeus is concerned with your well-being.”
I glance at the dog, still trying to wrap my brain around Dax understanding him.
“Concerned?” My cheeks flare with heat. I want to touch my face, embarrassed by my reaction, but I’m not pulling my hands out again unless I need to.
“Humans are weak against cold.”
Part of me wants to defend myself, no matter whether it was Dax’s or Zeus’s opinion, but I’m still shivering and don’t have much of a leg to stand on. My fingers and cheeks feel like ice.
Dax puts an arm around my shoulders and leads me through the ship to the hallway. At first, I’m surprised by his nearness. Some of my muscles are numb, but I’m still very aware of him touching me. Nothing about his hold on me is tight or alarming, so I don’t attempt to shrug him off.
It’s much more comfortable than I would have guessed. Warmth from his body leeches into mine and strong muscles envelop me. I find myself leaning into him.
Is this what he was referring to when he mentioned body heat? Because I could get on board with this.
“Your body will need fuel to keep warm,” he says as we travel down the hallway. Zeus clicks down the corridor behind us.
The door to his bedroom is still open but we pass by it. At the next closed door, Dax hits the switch with his forearm. The metal plating slides open, and one by one, overhead lights in the galley flicker on.
It’s nearly as messy and run-down as the rest of the ship. More exposed wires and piping on the walls. Boxes of supplies stacked on the floor and counter.
Dax lowers me into a chair at the single small table protruding from the wall and goes to an open counter where two plastic-looking crates sit. He rifles through one, retrieves a handful of wrapped edibles, and brings them over.
Zeus sniffs at the table’s edge and Dax hands him one of the wrapped snacks. The dog takes it, encasing and all, a few feet away to eat it. I open my mouth to stop him, but he manages to peel the wrapper off between his teeth and a paw with curious ease, so I let him be.
Dax sits across the table from me. “The most favorable thing would be to fetch hot food, but that would be dangerous right now.”
The way his jaw flexes, I can’t help but wonder how much trouble I’ve gotten him in with the space pirates. If there was something I could do to help, I would. But being lost in space, escorted by a big alien guy that’s turning out to be far more complex than I would have imagined, is all really new to me.
“This will help though,” he says, picking up a package of food, fitting a corner between his teeth, and ripping it open.
He hands me what looks like beef jerky, but dark blues and purples swirl through it. Like a hard stick of fried rainbow ice cream, with a pungent, spicy smell wafting from it. I make a face as I take it from him, unsure if I want to venture into the land of dried alien snacks, preservatives and chemicals abound. I’m not starving like I was when it was blue taco time.
But I am still shivering. More than I ever remember doing so before. It’s like the cold is creeping through the hallways of the ship. I can just imagine all the dingy surfaces frosting over in the night.
Whatever will help me at this point sounds like a good idea. I fit the jerky between my teeth and tear off a bite. The spices hit me instantly and I cough. They burn my tongue and make my eyes water. I cough more.
Dax leaps up and returns with a mug of what looks like water. I don’t have a chance to worry that it’s not.
God, I hope it’s water.
It’s cool and refreshing in my mouth, dampening the fire. I chug it down.
“I’ve never seen such a violent reaction to the rations,” Dax murmurs from across the table.
I narrow my watery eyes. “Another human weakness, I suppose.”
He chuffs out a chuckle and the edge of his lip curls in the smallest of smiles. “Weak human that shoots at pirates.”
Is my hardass alien captor cracking jokes now? As much as I want to throw the rest of this jerky at him, I’m kinda enamored with that look on his face. Who knew a guy with horns could actually look good? Even though my lips burn, they move into a smile too. I mean, how could I not? He’s staring at me, his mouth pulling in an almost happy way. A sexy way. He’s not just teasing me. He’s flirting.
My pulse flutters and I swallow hard. Only that burns like a bitch, and I fall into a fit of coughs again.
Dax’s hand rests on my shoulder and he pushes the cup of water closer.
When he touches me this time, new tingles of attention fire across my skin.
That’s new.
I do my best to push all thoughts of him out of my head as I tilt the water back and down another couple of gulps. It eases my throat, but I push the jerky aside.
“That stuff’s no good,” he agrees, plucking the opened piece from the table and going to the boxes again.
He bites through the remaining piece of jerky in no time as he digs, and I watch with wide eyes. He must have a mouth and gut of steel. How can his skin handle such a burn? Is it numb? Would he feel it if I ran my finger over his lips?
I tilt my head to the side a little as my brain wanders in unorthodox directions. Like considering that he’s not a bad-looking guy. For an alien. And the way his wide shoulders taper down to his trim waist, even further to an ass that’s hugged delightfully by his black suit. It looks like a comfortable garment, just properly snug on the rest of him, but it sure clings to his ass like a good pair of jeans. Which feels like the weirdest statement to ever scroll through my brain given that he has a tail swaying behind him, emerging from what I assume is a hole in the back of his suit.
There should be a blockade in my consciousness that tells me this can’t be attractive, right? Tails and horns.
“Try this one.” Dax returns with more packages, these round and flat.
He opens one and hands me what looks like rosy pink tortillas. It feels bread-like, but the color is throwing me off.
“What is it?”
He settles his gaze on me with a soft huff. “What do you eat where you’re from?”
“Not this.”
I turn the soft pink disc over and give it a curious sniff. There’s no invading spice smell, though there’s a hint of something nutty. Maybe grains. If this stuff is bread-like, I’ll die. Thank God.
“Beings from your planet always seem so cautious of everything.”
I turn dead eyes on him and put a hand on my hip. “Humans, you mean?”
His lips skew to the side and he seems to re-evaluate his approach. “Just in general. I’ve seen distrust there. Another I picked up just a rotation cycle ago was afraid to breathe the air.”
“You’ve transported humans before?” For some reason that makes my stomach tighten and I force down an uncomfortable feeling.
He nods. “Only a time or two from Earth. More than that in central sectors.”
I frown, fingers clenched on my food. “There are humans in space?”
“Yes.”
“Like, same as me humans?” I attempt to rub the confusion pulsing in my temple and nearly slap myself in the face with the snack.
“Yes. Humans began traveling a few decades ago. They’ve stirred up a good deal of trouble too.”
That’s not hard to believe. But space traveling?
I stare at him blankly as all the questions roll through my mind. How many people know we’ve migrated part of our population to space? How in the entire universe have they kept it a secret for so long? That’s way more intense than any Area 51 shit. Aliens are real and humans are in space.
I’m feeling a little lightheaded.
“Eat that,” Dax demands, and I realize I’m still holding the uneaten pink disc.
