“You’re crying,” I said, seeing the tears in her eyes.
“They are tears of happiness.” She cuddled up to me and sighed.
We lay there for a time, muscles lax, but reality beckoned, so we eventually put our clothes back on and headed back to real life.
“Look who decided to join us!”
When Jules and I walked on the bridge, the girls let out a cheer.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” said Purshia, who ran to Jules and hugged her tight.
“Binarians are harder to kill than Tethian roaches.” Orcag laughed at his joke, and Purshia scowled at him.
“Shut up, sushi breath.”
“Hugs and kisses are nice,” said Orcag. “But what we need right now is for Jules to disengage the tracking device in our nanobots once and for all.”
“We?” said Ella.
“You expect me to help you?” Jules glowered at Orcag. “After you kept me in that box for over two years? I should kill you for what you did to me.”
“What I did was keep you safe,” he said, seemingly unafraid of her threats. “And it seems you had more freedom than I thought. You managed to trick me into thinking I had you under control, but I was just another pawn in your game. And it appears you have won.”
“Don’t turn this around on her,” warned Val. “You kidnapped her and kept her locked up, and you wanted to use her to make us your slaves.”
“Looks like you’ve got them worshipping you already.” Orcag laughed and shot me a grin. “You’re looking flushed, Sheriff.”
Ella took a newfound interest in me, and it felt like the words I just slept with Jules were tattooed in big letters on my forehead.
Jules turned to me. “Can we push him out the airlock?”
“Sorry, I gave him my word. We’ll continue to Keplon 5, as planned, fuel up, and make whatever repairs are needed, then part ways. Until then, can you to turn off the tracking devices in our bots? Or the grays are just going to find us again.”
“I’ve already done that,” said Jules. “They must be following you some other way.”
Ella was still staring at me, and I realized she knew what had just happened between me and Jules. She flashed me a little smile, but I didn’t know if that was good or bad.
“Maybe there’s a tracking device on Drogy,” Purshia wondered.
“Nah, he wasn’t with us on Malagag’s ship, and those bounty hunters found us,” I said.
“But the bounty hunters also knew which room we were in,” said Ella, finally taking her knowing eyes off me. “I don’t think they tracked us with the nanobots. That info must have gotten to them via someone on the ship who knew who we were.”
“We should check the drogan, just to be sure,” said Val.
Purshia remained at the helm, and the rest of us went to the cargo bay, where Drogy was snoring away in a corner.
“Hey, buddy,” I said as I approached. “You mind if Jules checks you over?”
He gave a sigh of disinterest and returned to his snoozing.
“Do your thing,” I told her.
Jules’s eyes glowed faintly as she scanned the sleeping drogan from head to tail. Drogy perked up, taking interest in what she was doing.
“There,” she said and pointed at the tip of his tail. “A metallic object is embedded under his scales.
Drogy curled his tail up to his mouth and licked the spot.
I petted his snout. “You mind if Jules gets that out for you?” I asked gently.
In response, the drogan uncurled his tail and laid the end of it in her hand. She focused on the last few rows of scales and moved her other hand over the spot.
“This might hurt, Drogy,” she warned.
He blinked heavily and laid his head down.
Jules pried one of the scales back and looked closely at the thick membrane under it. “I need a knife.”
I pulled a swiss army knife from my pocket and opened it before handing it to her. Drogy paid close attention to what we were doing.
“Easy now,” Jules told the beast. She made a small incision in the membrane, but Drogy remained calm and didn’t flinch. She handed the knife back to me, then held her palm over the incision. A small metallic object the size of a pill shot out of the incision and into her hand. We gathered around to look at it.
“Well I’ll be damned,” I said. “Purshia was right.”
“What do we do with it?” Ella asked.
“Destroy it,” said Orcag.
“No,” said Jules. “This will become our last known location if we do that, and the grays may still be able to track us down. We need to throw them off our trail.”
“What do you have in mind?” I asked.
“Attach it to a comet,” she suggested.
“A wild goose chase. I like it.”
We returned to the helm, and when we told Purshia she’d been right about the tracking device, she looked pleased at our compliments regarding her astuteness. When we told her our plan, she did a little spin and laughed giddily.
Half an hour later, we’d attached the tracking device to a probe and loaded it up. We located a nearby comet headed in the opposite direction of Keplon 5 and caught up to it. Purshia did the honors, guiding the probe to the comet remotely. She successfully landed it on the comet, and soon the tracking device was speeding away from us to parts unknown.
“That should keep those skinny bastards from finding us.” I watched the comet move out of range of our radar, and a sense of calm washed over me.
We arrived on Keplon 5 twelve hours later, touching down in the middle of a big city at a place called Orbits. At least that’s what the nanobots translated for me. Orbits was a spaceport and trading post for smugglers, space pirates, and other ruffians.
“They’ll welcome us with open arms,” Orcag said and laughed.
I didn’t believe the octopus-looking pirate any farther than I could throw him, so I told Purshia to gas up in a hurry.
“Not staying on beautiful Keplon 5?” said Orcag as I escorted him off the ship.
“Beautiful? This place is a dump.”
“It’s one of the last safe places for people like you and me. A man can disappear here and live a pretty good life.”
“No thanks.”
He offered me a knowing look and extended his nanohand. After a long moment when I absurdly wondered if he was hiding a joy buzzer in that hand, I finally shook it.
He pulled me in conspiratorially. “Safe travels, my friend. We are even now, yes?”
I laughed. “Not by a long shot.”
“You should not hold grudges,” he said merrily as he continued shaking my hand. “They are bad for the libido.”
“If I never see you again, it’ll be too fucking soon.”
He sketched a small bow, then slithered toward one of the greasy pubs.
“You should have let me kill him,” said Jules behind me.
“You’re probably right,” I said as I watched him disappear. I had a feeling I’d see him again, and I didn’t like it at all.
I scanned the perimeter, looking for anyone who seemed too interested in us and our ship, but everyone went about their business without seeming to take notice of us.
“Purshia should almost be finished filling up the hog,” I said and turned to climb the ramp back into the ship. “Let’s see if we can’t whip up a cheeseburger with that food replicator. Have I ever told you about hamburgers?” I kissed the tips of my fingers. “Delicious beyond belief. A nice slab of perfectly cooked beef, covered with condiments and resting between round slices of lightly toasted bread. They may very well be the pinnacle of human culinary achievement. Although pizza might give them a run for the money—”
“I’m not coming with you,” Jules said hesitantly.
“Huh? What do you mean, you’re not coming with us. Where will you go?”
“I have unfinished business I must attend to, and it will take me a long time to get where I’m going.”
“
Then we’ll all go together,” I declared.
“That’s sweet of you, Harry, but where I am headed, you cannot follow.”
“Why not?”
She leaned forward and kissed me gently.
“Did I just hear you say you’re leaving?” Purshia came up the ramp with smudges of grease on her hands and face, looking absolutely crestfallen. “Where will you go? How will you get there?”
“I will commandeer a ship that suits my needs,” she explained.
“But you can’t leave.” Purshia threw herself at Jules and wrapped her arms around her like she’d float away. “You’re part of our team now. Team Warwick.”
“I will miss you too, little Purshia,” said Jules, and kissed her like she’d kissed me.
My perky-eared girlfriend purred softly and lingered there with her eyes closed long after Jules had pulled away.
Ella and Val joined us, and Purshia told them the bad news.
“I made a promise to someone long ago, and now I must fulfill that promise.”
“Strong and mysterious,” said Val. “I will surely miss you.”
“Me too,” said Ella, and gave Jules a hug. “Thank you for all you have done for us. We won’t soon forget you.”
“You saved me,” she said and gazed at us like she was trying to burn us into her memory. Her eyes locked on mine. “You made me whole again, and I will never forget you. Perhaps someday the stars will align, and we shall meet again.”
I don’t know if it was the intense violence I had just been through, the broken bones and endless fighting, but I started to choke up when she hugged me one last time. I squeezed her tight, choking down my emotions.
Get your shit together, Harry. You’ll see her again, even if you have to search the universe top to bottom.
“There will always be a home for you with us, wherever we may be,” I said and meant it.
She smiled. “I feel the same way, but I must do this.”
“I understand. You take care of yourself, Jules. And if you ever need anything—”
“Anything at all!” Purshia interjected, pouting.
“—give us a holler,” I finished.
“I will,” she said, then walked out of our lives as quickly as she’d entered.
I let out a heavy sigh as I watched her go.
Val laid a big hand on my shoulder. “Come, Harry, I will make you feel better.”
“I’m fine,” I said and smiled, though my heart wasn’t in it.
Ella gazed at me with that knowing look, and Purshia snuggled under my arm and walked with me up the ramp.
We lifted off without any trouble and headed for the clouds. It sucked that Jules hadn’t been able to come with us, but I felt the excitement of exploration return nonetheless.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I settled into the copilot seat beside Purshia.
“Somewhere quiet,” said Val.
“Somewhere warm,” said Ella.
“Somewhere no one is trying to kill us,” said Purshia, and we cracked up.
We broke through the atmosphere, and the stars appeared in all their ethereal glory. The feeling of finally being free was overwhelming, and I counted my lucky stars that we’d made it through the last few days.
“You know what?” I said as an idea struck me. “Let’s go to Drogy’s home planet. He’s been through enough, and we can’t keep him cooped up in the cargo bay forever.”
“The drogan home planet it is,” said Purshia and typed in the coordinates.
I heard the familiar hum of the ship as the hyperdrive engine powered up, and then we shot into space toward adventures unknown.
Want More?
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Warwick: Episode 2: Galactic Fugitives Page 12
