by A. G. Wilde
“Don’t worry. It’s him.”
Him.
She had no idea who “him” was but if he was helping other humans somewhere in this nothingness, she guessed he was a good person.
The other ship moved around theirs to position itself at the back and soon, the AI spoke. “Vessel docking. Airlock integrated.”
“He’s boarding,” Ka’Cit said and moved forward.
In the next few moments, Nia held her breath and reached for her blaster.
Ka’Cit glanced at her, his gaze moving to the gun in her hands. “Won’t do much damage against him with that.”
Huh?
She’d seen it burn a hole through metal and burn a living being to a crisp.
“He won’t hurt you either…I don’t think.”
Nia’s eyes widened and she gripped the gun tighter. Just what the hell did that mean?
“Not that I’d let him.” Those last words came under his breath as if he was talking to himself but now there was tension in her veins as she gripped the blaster.
In the next few seconds, the red light above the door changed to green and the doors opened to a…
Nia blinked, surprise catching her off guard.
A robot?
“V’Alen.” Ka’Cit took a step forward.
The robot blinked and he ignored Ka’Cit for his gaze found her immediately.
Nia didn’t know what to do. She could only stare.
She’d seen a lot of shit since leaving Earth, she’d even seen robots at the Exchange. Shit, even Riv had robots on his farm tending the hay fields, but none of the robots she’d seen looked like this one.
His body was completely metal, except for his face, which looked…human.
It was…unnerving and interesting at the same time.
“You never said you were taking care of a human.”
Ka’Cit sighed. “I’m hardly taking care of her. I try, but she’s more bad at ass than I am.”
Nia frowned at his back before his meaning caught up to her and she stifled a chuckle.
“Badass, Ka’Cit. Badass.”
He chuckled too then shrugged. “Close enough.”
Ka’Cit stretched out the device he’d taken from the enemy ship toward the robot and the robot took a step forward.
She didn’t know why she expected his steps to be heavy, like iRobot or something, but they weren’t.
His steps were even more silent than Ka’Cit’s.
V’Alen took the thing in hand.
“This will work,” he said. “This will get them out.”
Nia took a step forward then. “You mean the other humans?”
The robot’s gaze met hers once more and she could swear his pupil moved in his eye like a camera lens.
“Affirmative,” he said.
“How…” She was almost too afraid to ask. For one whole year, she’d thought she was alone. Then she’d met Lauren and then Cleo. Now she was being told there were others. “How many other humans are there?”
The robot’s face was impassive as he spoke. “Over two stleks. My scans cannot penetrate the hold completely.”
Nia frowned, confused, and glanced up at Ka’Cit.
“More than twenty-four,” he said.
Nia’s heart thumped in her chest and she had to grab on to Ka’Cit to keep steady.
“And,” she pointed at the device the robot was now holding, “this will help? This will help them?”
V’Alen’s head moved almost imperceptibly. “It will save their lives.”
She didn’t know why but tears filled her eyes at that thought.
The danger they’d put themselves in had been more than worth it. If they were able to help even one other human, it would have been worth it.
“You are…overwhelmed.” It was the robot’s voice and she looked up to see both males staring down at her. “My presence unnerves you. I will go now.”
He turned to leave and Nia reached out to him, the tips of her fingers brushing against his metallic body. “Wait!”
He paused and his gaze fell to her fingertips.
She pulled them away when she realized what she’d done but pushed forward with her question.
“Will they be all right…after you get them out of this…hold?”
The robot studied her for a bit then something almost like a smile made his lips twitch a little, she wasn’t sure.
“They will be. They are with us. We will keep them safe. Just as he,” his gaze moved to Ka’Cit, “will keep you safe.”
Nia nodded.
She could feel Ka’Cit’s presence beside her as she watched the robot go.
His hand came up and a finger brushed against her cheek, wiping away a tear she didn’t know had fallen.
“You are leaking.”
Nia choked on a sob and a laugh as the same time. “I guess I am. You don’t ‘leak?’”
“No.” He paused. “Does it help? When you leak. Does it make you feel better?”
“Sometimes.” She forced a smile.
“Nee-ya?” When she looked up, the concern was clear in his eyes. “I do not understand. We did the job. We were successful. You were successful. They will be saved because of you. But you are leaking because of it.”
Nia smiled a little and rested her head against his chest.
A hand came up and cradled her head, so she stayed there for a bit.
She couldn’t explain to him how she felt and he seemed content to just let her stay there.
As the other ship disengaged and disappeared once more into the void, Ka’Cit released a sigh.
“I should…take you home.”
The way he said it, the utter sadness in his voice, made her glance up at him.
She couldn’t see his face, but his eyes looked pained.
Nia smiled. “I know, it’s been kind of fun, hasn’t it?”
Ka’Cit pulled his gaze from hers to look through the view screen.
“I guess I can’t keep you. That would be against your will and wrong. You can’t just keep things you want for yourself, just because you want them.” It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than making a joke.
Nia looked away.
Was it wrong that she wanted him to “keep” her?
Whatever had happened between them had changed her life forever.
She didn’t know what was normal after this.
35
The trip back to the surface of Hudo III was mostly filled with silence.
It seemed they were both in their heads and Nia didn’t notice most of the journey till they landed back at the Exchange.
When her feet finally hit ground again, it felt as if ages had passed since she’d last been on the planet.
It was as if she’d spent a whole lifetime in the cosmos and she glanced at Ka’Cit as he came up beside her.
He adjusted the hood of her cloak over her head.
“We should go. They’ll come and check this ship soon. We don’t exactly have authorization to land here.”
Nia nodded as he glanced around and they headed in a direction she did not know.
He walked with surety in where he was headed and soon the busy main street of the Exchange came into view.
Walking with him was nothing like walking with Riv and Lauren.
Instead of beings constantly bumping into her as she walked, the way was being cleared before them.
People were automatically walking out of their way. It was hard to believe she was walking in a crowded thoroughfare.
Nia glanced up at Ka’Cit but his eyes were straight forward.
If he did realize the effect he was having on the beings around them, he gave no indication that he did. Or…maybe he didn’t care.
Ka’Cit wove his way through the crowd, his hand a constant presence at her back, and she took some comfort in that.
Her fake tattoo was gone. She still had the bracelet though but, it hadn’t really helped her much last time.
They
were soon passing that stall she’d seen with Lauren, the one with the strange floating holographic creatures.
It caught her eye again as they passed and she let out a sound of surprise.
There was one with a tilgran that looked just like Morpheus.
“Morpheus!” She grinned at the image.
“Who?”
Nia shook her head. “Just…reminds me of one of the tilgrans at the Sanctuary.”
She sobered.
Thought of the Sanctuary didn’t bring the feelings it should.
There was no warm fuzziness.
No anticipation to return.
Just…sadness.
As if she was losing something, though, she couldn’t tell what that thing was.
“You named the animals at the Sanctuary?” There was some humor in his voice.
“What?” Nia openly smiled. “You don’t name yours?”
“The animals I deal with don’t deserve to be named.”
Ah.
True.
He wasn’t a farmer, was he.
They were out of the Exchange in the next few minutes and Ka’Cit led them to the hover car bays.
Nia glanced around as they walked. She hadn’t even thought about how they were going to make it back to the Sanctuary.
Her whole focus had been making it back to Earth…or rather, Hudo III.
“You left your car here all that time? Weren’t you scared of someone…I don’t know…stealing it or something?”
Ka’Cit scoffed a little. “Would be funny if they tried.”
He headed toward a specific hover car, one that stood out from the others.
It was made of dark metal that was so matte, it reflected no sheen.
It wasn’t shaped like the other hover cars either. This one had what looked like mini rocket engines at its sides.
Of course this one had to be his. Who else?
Ka’Cit activated something in his pocket and the top of the car slid open. Before she could protest, she was being lifted inside and the lid was closing again.
“Wait…what are you doing?”
His green gaze found hers and she couldn’t read the look in his eyes.
He’d been that way from the time they’d been heading back and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“I forgot something,” he jerked his head back at the exchange, “in there.”
Nia glanced around them.
There were aliens hopping in and out of hover cars as the vehicles arrived and left.
Judging from her past experiences and the fact she was vulnerable without the proper identification, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to wait out there alone.
She couldn’t afford for another accident to happen.
Ka’Cit must have seen the worry in her gaze because he pressed something else and the hover car began to hum.
“You’ll be safe. If anybody comes near you, they die.”
Nia’s eyes widened. “Wha—”
“Okay, maybe not die. But it will hurt like phek.”
As if as demonstration, a huge bug that was about the size of a cockroach flew and landed on the windscreen of the vehicle.
In less than a second, it was burnt to a crisp.
“What the—”
“Energy wave,” he said. “High energy wave. Overloads neurons—”
Nia’s hand flew off the door, her eyes wide.
“You’re safe inside of it. Just don’t get out of it and try to go back in.”
With wide eyes she nodded.
“I’ll be back. I left that…thing.”
He hurried off back toward the exchange and Nia watched him go.
Again, the feeling that this was all coming to an end too soon crossed her mind and she immediately pushed it away.
Ka’Cit gripped the holo-creature and headed back toward the hover car bays.
There was something heavy in his soul, holding him down.
One part of him wanted to rush back to Nee-ya and another part made him wanted to stay as long as he could away from his vehicle.
If he didn’t return quickly, he could delay the inevitable.
The longer he stayed away, the longer she stayed with him.
But he knew what he had to do.
He’d seen the look in her eyes.
Those brown pools of hers were expressive and they’d reflected exactly what he was feeling inside.
She was like a magnet to him.
He didn’t want to pull away, but he had to.
There was no other choice.
As they’d descended from the void, heading back toward the surface, he’d thought about it, and he’d thought about it hard.
He had to say goodbye.
He was right.
He couldn’t keep her. He couldn’t force her to stay with him.
He’d convinced himself that they could remain as friends, but the closer it got to dropping her off at the Sanctuary, the harder that decision was.
He knew now.
He could admit it to himself.
He didn’t want to be just friends…not after what they’d been through…not after what they’d shared—not after what she’d made him feel.
And it was clear she wanted more.
That was the part that killed him the most.
If he was any other male…a proper male, maybe he could consider it.
Phek.
As he reached the hover car bay, he was hardly aware of the other beings entering and exiting the cars around him. His sole focus was on the human in his vehicle.
As if sensing his presence, she turned and he saw the moment she realized what he was bringing back.
The holographic tilgran bobbed in the air above him and he knew he was getting some looks from the other shoppers.
The Bone Crusher, walking through the Exchange with a chid’s toy…
His reputation was probably being questioned—but the pure glee on Nee-ya’s face…Phek. It was worth it.
As he approached the hover car, though, his steps faltered a little and his life organ thudded in his chest. For the millionth time since they’d given V’Alen the package and headed back to the surface, he asked himself one question.
Could he really do what he was about to do?
The words of his momor came back to him.
In those last moments, before she’d smuggled him onto the ship, she’d said a few words that had stuck with him ever since.
“I’m letting you go because it is best for you.”
“But…Momor. I don’t want to go.”
“Sometimes, my dear Ka’Cit, you have to let go of the ones you love because it is better for them.”
And it was better for Nee-ya if he let her go.
Regardless if he loved her or not.
His heart shattered at the thought and he stopped walking.
He hadn’t known her for long but in the time he’d spent in her presence, he’d felt…happy.
Like…true happiness. Not the fleeting kind.
She matched his energy, she didn’t judge him, she was fierce and beautiful and AWESOME.
He could be himself around her.
His life-organ swelled and thumped as his body, unaware it seemed of the turmoil in his mind, got overly excited at the prospects—at the chance.
She was everything he wanted in a female.
Only, he wasn’t anything she deserved in a male.
A female like Nee-ya deserved a male that was as perfect as she was. And he was…broken.
Broken in many ways but this was one way he could not fix.
Forcing himself forward, he continued walking.
He almost couldn’t breathe by the time he reached the hover vehicle, choking on his emotions.
Wordlessly, he deactivated the energy protection and hopped into the vehicle.
Nee-ya’s eyes were still alight with excitement, her gaze on the holo-creature, completely unaware of the dark shadow over his thought
s.
“I saw you look at it when we passed. Thought…”
She was against him so fast, her arms around his neck and her body pressing against his.
He would never get used to this—this human tradition of body pressing.
And somewhere in the back of his mind the thought that he would never get the chance to do so flashed like a beacon.
In a few hours, he would have to say goodbye.
“You’re so sweet!”
He wasn’t sweet. His skin was quite bland-tasting.
“Thank you so much!”
She pressed her body against his tighter and he placed an arm around her, not having the will to push her away. And…not wanting to.
This entire time with her, he’d been thinking that she was going to break him apart from the inside out. And still, he couldn’t find the will to save either of them from it.
He hadn’t wanted to resist her.
He couldn’t have.
‘Did I choose the right one?” Ka’Cit dipped his head into her hair and inhaled deeply, wishing he wasn’t wearing his mask.
He wanted to experience every last second with her.
He wanted to absorb everything.
She eased back to look him in the eyes and Ka’Cit gulped as he watched her.
Beautiful.
She was perfect.
How the phek was he going to walk away?
Up to this point in his life, this was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, and he’d regularly put himself into some shitty situations.
“Yes.” She smiled and his gaze fell to the movement of her lips. He wanted to do that mouth tasting one last time, but…his mask.
Phek.
“It’s perfect.”
You’re perfect.
Nee-ya settled back on her side of the seat and Ka’Cit took a moment to watch as she interacted with the holo-creature, waving her hand through it and marveling at how the animal reacted as if it was being brushed.
There was a sound in the heavens that made her look up and her eyes grew wide.
“Is that…is that thunder?”
Ka’Cit lifted his gaze and spotted the dark cloud overhead.
“There will be life fluid soon. Falling.”
“Rain?” She sounded amazed. “Wow, I don’t think it’s rained since I’ve been on the Sanctuary.”
She was probably right.
