by A. G. Wilde
He sure as hell seemed as if he wanted to though.
She didn’t know why on Earth he kept warning her to be afraid of him.
All she knew was that she wasn’t. She wasn’t afraid of him.
Fear wasn’t what she felt for him.
She was feeling an emotion far from that. An emotion she wasn’t sure she wanted to acknowledge.
It almost felt wrong to feel that way.
Finding intimacy felt like finding happiness.
And she didn’t deserve that. It felt wrong.
How could she live a happy life when her sister’s life was taken away so horrifically? How could she, with good conscience, do that?
Eyes searching the room, she realized there was nothing for her to wear.
The towel she’d gotten on the Isclit ship was lying on the floor where she’d dropped it, but there was no way she was putting that on again.
Not to mention that it was dirty, it also carried memories she’d rather not relive.
Walking over to the chest she’d seen Crex take a trouser out of, she rummaged around in it till she found what looked like a shirt.
It was much bigger than she would have liked, but it would have to do.
It was obviously his and she hesitated for a second before draping the thing over her shoulders.
As she fixed the fabric over herself, a soft knock against the wall made her raise her head.
Diana stood there with folded clothes in her hands and a smile on her face.
“I see you’ve freshened up,” she said before walking in.
Piper smiled. “Had to, or I’d have started growing my own colony of aliens soon.”
Diana chuckled and rested the clothes on the bed before raising her hand to her red hair.
She looked a bit woozy but Piper noticed she was dressed in what she could only describe as a sort of cargo pants and a shirt.
“Here are some clothes for you. It was the best we could find.”
It was the same outfit as the one Diana was wearing and Piper shrugged as she pulled on the cargo pants. They fit well enough, luckily having an adjustable waist.
Substituting the shirt, she realized this one slipped over her head easily but still hung from her shoulders.
Grasping the excess at her belly button, she tied a knot, tightening the fabric against her skin.
Diana was still rubbing her head when she looked back at her.
“You ok, hon?”
Diana nodded. “Yea, I just feel a little, out of it, you know.”
She understood. They’d all been through a lot.
“Come on,” Diana said. “The girls want to chat.”
Leading the way, Diana walked back to the room she’d first entered when they’d boarded the ship.
The men, or rather, the alien men, were all grouped around a table.
As soon as she entered the room, Crex’s eyes met hers and followed her as she walked in.
“Piper!” Athena exclaimed, getting up from a seat at another table where all the women were. “How are you feeling?”
Athena glanced at Crex as she said this and Piper realized the human was very wary of him.
“Couldn’t be better,” she smiled as Athena grasped her hand and led her to the table with the men.
As she cleared her throat, the bull with the horns raised his eyes to Athena and Piper saw his gaze soften immediately.
Just what was going on between these two?
“This is Xul,” Athena breathed, as she used her head to indicate she was referring to Mr. Bull. “Care to introduce your crew, captain?”
Xul. So he was the one who’d rescued Athena.
No wonder they seemed to have such a connection.
Xul seemed to smile slightly before going around the table and introducing all the men. There was Kyro, who apparently manned the ship; Kyris, the handsome alien who’d had his hand draped around Song; Yce, who said “hello” to her with his mind; and, last but not least, Crex, who had not stopped watching her intently.
As she muttered thanks for the rescue mission, she realized Crex’s eyes were glued on her chest.
Looking down, she realized why.
The temperature drop after the shower had made her nipples hard, and, well, with her having tightened the shirt around her, they were making their presence known.
Turning red, she hurriedly turned away and headed to the table with the other women, greeting Song and Evren as she sat.
“You have no idea how happy I am to have you all here, safe and sound,” Athena said as she sat.
The others nodded.
“What happened after they took me away?”
“Piper was taken next,” Diana spoke up. “Then me.” She turned to Evren and Song for them to continue.
“I was next,” Evren said, running her hands through her platinum blonde hair.
“Then me,” Song gulped.
“Were you all put into cells with these guys?” Athena motioned to the men having their discussion behind them and Piper noticed immediately that something had the men all tense.
Whatever they were talking about, it wasn’t good news.
Surely they should be celebrating right now. Drinking booze or whatever aliens did to have a good time.
“I was in with Crex,” she said, as she pulled her attention away from the men.
“And I was with Kyris,” Song added.
“I was in a cell all alone for the entire time. I have a bad feeling the Tasqal that bought me was saving me for something horrible,” Evren muttered.
“Hmm,” Diana rubbed her head. “It almost seems like a dream,” she muttered. “I was in a cell alone too.”
Piper frowned as she looked at the woman. “No, you weren’t.”
Diana seemed mildly confused. “I was. Like Evren, I was alone the entire time.”
Piper’s frown deepened. She was positive Yce had said he was in a cell with Diana.
Turning her attention back to the men, she focused on Yce.
Had he been lying?
They were all sitting there, looking official as they spoke around a round table. Members of the Restitution…it seemed surreal to think that Crex was a member of a rebel group fighting against the crimes of the Tasqals.
It had been pure luck they had infiltrated the ship she’d been on. She shuddered to think what her fate would have been otherwise.
But they looked tense. All of them, discussing something in hushed tones.
Cocking her ear, she made out a little of the conversation.
“Something strange happened on the ship after you killed Ulruq,” Yce was saying.
Ulruq. That was the Tasqal who had bought Athena. The one that Xul had killed.
“And after Crex went berserk…” He gave Crex a side-eye when he said that. “Things went completely silent,” Yce finished.
Crex didn’t reply or respond.
“What do you mean?” Xul asked.
“I couldn’t sense them anymore. The Tasqals. The Isclits.”
Nobody spoke for a minute, then Xul asked, “Could they have blocked your brain waves somehow?”
Yce shook his head. “I doubt it. I was still sensing the Hedgeruds.”
Hedgeruds. That must be the gator-guards. As far as she knew, apart from the Isclits and the Tasqals, they were the only other species on the ship in the business of enslaving the others.
Xul seemed uneasy about this.
“Do you think they caught wind of the plan and escaped before we attacked the ship?” The other man, the extremely handsome one, finally spoke up.
Xul slammed his fist into the table, causing the other women to realize something wasn’t right.
Just then, a robotic female voice sounded throughout the ship as if coming from an intercom.
“Unidentified ships approaching,” it said.
Time suddenly stood still.
Shit.
“Elysium,” Kyro stood immediately, referring to the ship by name, “per
form a scan of the approaching vessels.”
Nobody dared breathe in the silence it took before the Elysium responded.
“They are Tasqal bomber ships carrying Hedgerud fighters.”
“Motherfuckers,” Diana breathed, a snarl forming on her face immediately.
Kyro began moving toward what she assumed was the cockpit without missing a beat.
Just then, the ship lurched and an alarm began blaring, bathing the entire ship in red light.
It felt surreal, as if watching a sci-fi movie, but the shudder of the vessel told her it was real.
It was real and it was happening to her.
The Tasqals were coming back for them.
Chapter Seventeen
“Man the guns,” Xul ordered the other men as he headed off behind Kyro.
Athena flashed the women a silent wide-eyed look before rushing after Xul while the other four women stood frozen.
Crex brushed past Piper, heading to the left of the ship. Without second-guessing, she followed behind him.
The corridor led into a circular inlet with a wide glass that looked out into space.
There were two seats with joysticks and Piper realized they were for manning the turrets.
Crex hopped into one of the seats, his gaze focused outside the ship as a black vessel flew right by them.
Shit.
This was happening.
They were being attacked.
The Tasqals weren’t giving up so easily.
Crex began firing at the ship immediately, the gun shooting long purple lasers through space, but the black vessel was too fast, doing a nosedive underneath the Elysium.
She needed to do something. She couldn’t just stand there and watch them all die.
Hopping into the free seat, she grabbed the joystick and calmed her breathing.
“This is just like playing Space Invaders, Piper,” she spoke to herself.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Crex glanced at her for a second but at least he was letting her join in on this fight.
“You underestimate me,” Piper replied. “I had the high score for Space Invaders three years in a row at the arcade in town.”
Crex raised an eyebrow.
“I’m a legend.” Piper cracked her knuckles.
She could do this.
Another black vessel shot past, but Crex was quicker this time. Purple lasers blasted forth, hitting the black ship in the wing.
“They’re too fast,” he said. “These are new ships. Different from their usual.”
As the wounded ship came into view again, Piper gripped the joystick and squeezed the button, aiming in the direction of the second wing.
As the purple shots burst forth, they missed the ship.
“Fuck!” She cursed. The aim was a little different from what she’d expected, but she would get the piece of shit next time.
Sure enough, another opportunity came in the next second as the ship swerved into view again.
Aiming, Piper squeezed the trigger on the joystick and hit the ship squarely on the good wing. As expected, the attacking ship began spiraling through space.
“Gotcha punk!” She screamed, glancing at Crex.
He was looking at her with eyes slightly widened, obviously impressed by her ability to handle the gun. But there was no time for praise, as two more black fighter jets were heading towards them.
This time, the jets were firing back and the little control station shook as a few of the bullets hit the ship.
The bullets were hitting directly against the glass, the only thing protecting them from the vacuum of space.
“They were scouting the ship for weaknesses,” Crex mused, aiming his turret at another ship that was flying directly at them.
That one he hit square on and its gator-guard pilot veered up, flying over their heads.
“What about this glass? Will it hold?”
Crex nodded. The only way for them to get through that is to disable our shields.
Three more fighter jets were heading toward them at the same time.
“They’re too fast,” Crex said, his voice unwavering. “Focus on the middle one.”
Nodding, Piper did as he said, pressing the trigger hard as she aimed for the middle.
Purple lasers shot through the vacuum as Crex aimed for the middle ship as well.
The onslaught hit the fighter jet square on and it lost momentum and burst into flames.
“Whoo!” Piper pumped her fist. It felt good to be in the fight.
But the other two jets hadn’t been firing to break the glass. Instead, they both veered to the sides, firing directly at the turrets and rendering the guns unworkable as their bullets connected.
“Drak,” Crex breathed under his breath.
Another massive explosion hit the ship from somewhere above, and a few seconds later, the Elysium’s voice sounded over the intercom.
“Shields down.”
Fuck. Me.
Another fighter jet was heading toward them, not firing, just coming in fast.
Eyes widening, she was vaguely aware of being lifted from the chair as Crex dashed from the room.
He moved fast, much faster than she could ever move, and it was only his speed that saved them.
In the time it took her mind to process what was happening, Crex dived out of the turret control room with her on top of him. Pressing the airlock, he sealed the room behind him.
A massive explosion shook the turret control room as Piper raised her wide eyes to him.
The gator-guard had crashed directly into the control room.
They’d be dead if Crex hadn’t been able to move so fast.
She was against Crex’s chest when Xul loomed over them.
“Turrets 1 and 2 are down,” Crex said, standing as he raised her up.
“So is 3 and 4,” Yce said as he entered the room.
“All the turrets are down,” Kyro said, as he floated in hastily.
Looking at Xul, he had the same look on his face that he’d had when she’d seen him that first time, fighting the gator-guards back on the Isclit ship.
As a matter of fact, everyone was in the room now and all the men had the same look on their faces.
They were ready to fight.
“Kyro,” Xul turned to the tall alien, “Can we go to light speed and lose them?”
Kyro blinked once. “We only have enough fuel to go to light speed once, and that was to take us to the meeting point of the Restitution.”
“We can’t do that. We can’t lead them to the others,” Crex spoke up.
“And if we use that fuel now to go somewhere else, we will be left to drift wherever we end up,” Yce added.
Xul nodded. They were right.
Another explosion hit the ship and the vessel shuddered. The Elysium wasn’t going to withstand much more.
They needed to do something.
“Damage impact critical at seventy-five percent,” the Elysium said amidst the blaring alarms.
“Great,” Diana kicked a chair and sent it flying.
“What do we do?” Athena came up to Xul, her eyes searching his.
“Only one option,” Xul said, locking eyes with Kyro. “Elysium,” he spoke to the ship, “head to Muk.”
“Rerouting to Planet Muk. ETA two minutes,” the Elysium said.
Pulling Athena toward him, Xul turned to the group as another explosion rocked the ship.
“We need to split up to have a fighting chance. Head to the escape pods.”
Split up?
But they just managed to get back together.
They’d been safe.
The men nodded immediately.
“Each brother, take a human. Protect her,” Xul said, no longer looking at the others. His gaze was only on Athena.
“Damage impact eighty percent,” the Elysium said.
This wasn’t happening.
When would they get a break?
“Let’s go.” Piper was brou
ght from her thoughts as Crex grasped her by the arm tightly.
Nodding, she glanced back as the others began moving.
Everyone except Yce and Diana.
“Aren’t you going to an escape pod?” She heard Diana ask.
“I can’t abandon the Elysium,” he said simply, turning back toward the cockpit. “Kyro mans her, but she is my ship.”
As Crex lifted her off her feet so they could go faster, Piper watched in horror as Diana turned to watch them go before heading to the cockpit as well.
Just what was that mad red-head doing?!
Piper wanted to scream at her to escape but they turned a corner and Crex was pushing her into a large orb thing before closing the door behind him.
His eyes locked with hers through the glass as he pressed his hand against it.
Placing her own palm against the spot from the other side, she didn’t like the fact that this felt like goodbye.
And she couldn’t help the terrified stare she gave him as he got into the pod beside hers.
Outside, the corridor was still bathed in red as the ship shuddered again.
The Elysium’s voice cut into the escape pod.
“Exit in five. Four. Three…”
No, wait! She wasn’t ready.
Seatbelts emerged from the seat, strapping her in automatically just before the ship said “one” and she was ejected into space.
What she saw next was surreal.
Chapter Eighteen
The Elysium looked nothing like it did when she had seen it first. Instead of a sleek white ship, it looked wrecked to the point of being scrap metal.
Swarming black Tasqal jets were everywhere and, as her escape pod shot through space, she could see others ejecting from the ship as well.
The escape pod that had been beside hers shot off the Elysium a second after hers did and though she couldn’t see him inside from her position, she knew Crex was in it.
But what worried her wasn’t the speed at which she was being sent away from the ship, it was the fact that, just a few seconds after her being ejected, a final massive explosion hit the Elysium and it suddenly tilted and began falling through space.
Diana was on that ship.
Diana hadn’t left.
Piper squeezed her eyes shut for a second, praying the woman had hopped into an escape pod at the last moment.
