by Dave Austin
I don't know for how long her bed wobbled up and slammed against the wall. We fucked, we fucked a lot. Her body writhed in various ways, the moans flooded the room and probably even the halls. All of it. There was everything. At her request, I finished inside. She came a second time as soon as she felt my liquid in her. She still scratched my chest as her eyes rolled over and her pussy clenched my dick, and she, too, was wheezing and sore.
We both lay on her bed, one next to the other, gazing at the white ceiling. We didn't get up right away. A few minutes of silence passed before Amelia spoke again.
"I better get back to the control room. Matilda may be looking for me, and I want to see if Emma hasn't done anything stupid already."
"I'm going with you," I told her, "it's not like there's much to do here but this."
"Don't go yet. Wait about five minutes, it's better." She said and stood up, my liquid flowing down her soft skin.
"Are you going like that?" I asked her while she was raising one foot to get into her panties.
"Yeah, I like the feeling," she answered me and dressed them, "Don't make me regret this." She said it and moved on to the door.
She was already about to leave when the ship was rammed, and she was thrown against the wall. I got up, still naked, and I helped her up. She told me her arm was asleep after hitting her elbow against the wall.
"What just happened?" I asked her. That couldn't be normal, "Did we hit a meteorite? Asteroid? Something else?"
"I don't know. I'm going to the control room. You get dressed and meet me there. Quickly."
Chapter VIII
She disappeared down the hall and I went back to bed. I only had a few seconds to pull myself together. I stretched out and got dressed, before heading to the room where Amelia was waiting for me.
Matilda and Emma were already there too, although in opposite corners. Amelia was seated on one of the chairs and had a steering wheel in front of her, which from what I could tell was stored inside the table itself and she had removed it.
"What's going on?" I asked them, still a few feet from the room.
"It's Draken. It’s his ship. Damn it. He’s right behind us." Amelia said, dodging the blue light beams that were scraping the thin wings of our ship, "He has already hit us several times. We need to land and the only planet here is that one, Kryptus."
"Isn't that the planet where the princess is?" I asked her, only then remembering that Emma had no idea who we were going to save.
"Princess?" Emma asked, looking at Amelia.
"Shit. Doesn't matter. Yeah, let's save the princess. If we get out of here alive." She replied, and then looked at us, "Hold on tight. Tell Jessy to get over here, quick."
Matilda called her on the intercom, and we waited until she arrived. Jessy had her hair wet, her transparent white sweater glued to her body, and some dark blue shorts that emphasized her silhouette very well.
"I was halfway through my bath. I almost hit my head against the wall. Matilda, don't tell me you performed stunts with the ship again. I thought you'd already gotten past that stage," as soon as Jessy had just spoken a blue beam tore through one of the thin wings of the ship and lit up Space in front of us before it faded away.
"It's Draken." Amelia said, "Everybody sit down and fasten your seat belts. I wasn't planning on taking the ship to the planet, but we have no choice. He won't follow us there."
"Wouldn't we still have to take the ship there?" I asked as we sat down. Even Emma did it.
"Not really. I planned to leave Matilda and Jessy up here while we went down there. A ship like this will only attract unwanted attention." Amelia said, pulling the wheel down, "This is it. Hold tight."
The entire ship reclined before it plummeted, like a high-speed missile towards its target. Beams of lights were still flaring around the ship. Apparently, there were great advantages in having a ship with that structure and all black on top of that. She blended in with space's vastness and with Amelia's experience we were doing well. We were moving closer to the planet. My heart was pounding loudly. Matilda, who was sitting next to me, grabbed my hand and squeezed it until I felt my bones about to pop.
Fine flares arose on the other side of the glass, the atmosphere blazing as we entered the planet, the ship wobbling, about to crash, and then a missile hit us. One of the five corners of the hexagon was shattered, and Amelia lost control of the ship.
"Shit. HOLD. We're going down!" She screamed.
The ship spun around itself, making its way through the amber atmosphere until we landed in the middle of a desert, bouncing off on the sand until we crashed into a boulder that was bigger than the ship. Some of the pebbles came loose and tumbled down on us. My head was burning with fever and all the objects had lost their firmness and had been seized by dozens of curved lines. I could hear someone's voice from afar, but I couldn't understand what was being said. Blood was running down my forehead. When I touched it, it was still moist. I removed the belt and got up. Matilda was passed out next to me and Jessy was in a chair a few meters away from me, scrubbing her eyes, but there was no sign of Emma or Amelia.
"Are you all right?" Jessy asked, "What a horrible burnt smell."
"Matilda's not well, I think." I answered her, getting up and walking around the room without straying away from the wall, "We've been hit, right? Where are Amelia and Emma?"
"Outside, I think. I heard them say something about it. I don't know. I haven't regained all my senses yet. At least Draken didn't follow us here," she said.
She was right. As Amelia had said, Draken had not followed us. And if even he didn't risk going over there, that couldn't mean anything good. What awaited us there was worse than anything we'd ever been through before.
The window glass was cracked. Minor fires were imploding all over the ship and there was smoke coming out of the controls.
Jessy had two fingers on Matilda's wrist, "She's fine. We have nothing to worry about," she said and patted her face twice, "Matilda. Matilda. Wake up,"
"I think I'll go outside. See if they're really there. Will you stay here?" I said to her.
"I don't know if it's the best choice. We don't know if they're out there or if something's waiting for us,"
"Sooner or later we'll have to get out of here, won't we? Is there a gun somewhere?"
"Take this," she told me and pulled a pistol out of a holster she had hidden under the thick dark blue sweater.
"Why do you have a gun in there?"
"After the invasion, I thought I'd better take precautions. There are seven bullets in the magazine. Don't waste them all," she told me. Matilda was gradually waking up, her eyes still half-closed...
I picked up the gun and ventured into the halls. Some of the blue lines that once traversed the entire ship were now off-line. Smoke was coming from the room area and the strange quasi-portal that led to the infirmary was now just a blue and white door. Half the systems were offline and there was nothing we could do about it. From everyone's reaction when they heard the planet's name, I knew that wasting time was not an option.
The gate was open. The flat-black stairwell led me to an endless desert. Unlike the one that surrounded the entire space airport where we had been, this one did not have a living-soul present. The bushes were colorless, there were animal bones, bigger than anything I had ever seen before, scattered on the ground and even the rocks were grey. The planet seemed to be the destiny that people took when they decided they wanted to die. The sun shone up there, numbing the whole landscape and beating on our heads, also gluing our clothes to our sweaty bodies. Amelia and Emma were on the left side of the ship; both had a gun in their hands and the captain was writing in a notebook.
"What are you doing?" I asked them.
"You shouldn't be here, Kane," Amelia told me, "I'm pointing out what needs fixing. Then Matilda will take care of it. Until then, we can't leave this place."
"We're going to get attacked, aren't we?"
"Probably," she said to me, "
I talked to her. You and she will look for the princess while me, Matilda, and Jessy stay here and take care of this," Amelia said, looking at Emma, who until then hadn't said a word.
"We're going to have a lot of fun out there, don't you think?" She asked me, "I'm allowed to kill anyone, right?"
"I don't think stopping you from doing it would do anything," Amelia replied, "There are more ways to do things, you know? But I don't think you have a choice here. As long as you get the princess back, I don't care how you do it."
"Excellent. We better get going now,"
"Already?" I asked her, "Can I at least take a quick shower?"
"Hurry up. We don't know how time works here. It might be an hour before the sun goes down or 20 hours. And I don't want to be in the middle of this desert when the night comes." Emma said, "Let's go to the mountains. It's the best place to survive. The princess must be there," she said and pointed to the mountain chain on the west, miles away from us.
"I won't be long, don't worry," I said and turned around, ready to run into the ship, but Amelia called me.
"Before you go, how are they?"
"Matilda fainted but I think she's awake by now. Jessy was out of energy but no big deal. You have to talk to them. You can't defend them from everything,"
"I know, but I should. I told you. I promised them. I promised Matilda's father I'd make sure nothing happened to her."
"You guys are so boring, you know?" Emma said, "For an ex-killer, you're very sensitive,"
"Don't try me or we'll have trouble," Amelia replied, and her fingers closed tightly around the gun.
Emma laughed, "Come on, come on, don't get mad. Kane... weird, this is the first time I've said your name. I'm waiting for you here. Don't take too long. If I'm going to risk my life, it's going to be on my terms."
Chapter IX
I nodded and ran into the ship, heading towards the bathroom. Finally, I could take a deep breath and rest for a brief moment. But, my luck didn't last long. The hot water didn't work. I ended up having to bathe in cold water. A mixture of sweat and blood flowed down my body and down the drain going who knows where. The droplets slammed into my body and I almost squirmed as I tried to withstand the ice that the water was in. As soon as I left, I wrapped myself in a towel and sat on one of the benches in the bathroom. Even the heater didn't work. The truth was, I wanted to stay there, on the ship, and let someone else take over. But, as my father always told me, the danger of not coming home is also an adventure. If I wanted to visit as many planets as possible, I couldn't choose which ones I wanted or avoid getting to know one because it could harm me. Damn it. I had to be brave. I had to prove to everyone who didn't believe in me that I was there, that I was going to survive, no matter where I was or who I was with. I was more than just a miner's boy.
I went to my room. I got dressed fast and went back to the control room. Matilda was already up. She was walking around from table to table, trying to figure out how bad things were from the havoc and ways to solve them. Jessy wasn't there anymore.
"Are you better?" I asked her.
"Yeah, don't worry. Just a slight headache. Jessy went to get some aspirin," Matilda replied, "I wasn't expecting this. It'll take me at least a day to figure it out,"
"Has Amelia told you the plan yet?" I asked them, seeing that Jessy was already at the entrance.
"What plan? The comms are all down," Matilda answered me.
"Emma and I will go find the princess while you take care of everything here and she'll protect you."
"That's not a plan, it's a suicide mission, Kane," Jessy told me, "I won't insist but are you sure you want to go?"
"We have no choice. Don't worry. Don't worry. If I've survived this far, I'll survive whatever comes my way. Besides, I got Emma on my side. This is like her natural habitat."
"As you saw, even Draken didn't want to step foot in here. It's worse than any of us are used to. Be... Be careful, okay?" Jessy said, her eyes fixed on me.
"I still can't believe you guys are putting the mission in the hands of a killer who tried to kill the captain."
"and that saved our lives," I answered her and walked up to her, "I know you're just worried about all of us, but it's going to be okay," I said to her and kissed her on the cheek.
She pretended to be upset but before I left she still hugged me and wished me good luck.
Emma was waiting for me. She already had two backpacks by her feet and was drinking water, letting a few drops slip down on her skin and cooling her up.
"Finally, boy. Let's get going. You take both backpacks and I'll protect you."
"That doesn't seem very fair to me," I answered her.
"Well, between carrying two suitcases and dying, which do you prefer?"
"Damn it, okay," I told her and put the two backpacks on my back, one on each shoulder, "Amelia, are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry about me. But... be careful." She said and glanced at Emma.
Just because she was giving her a chance didn't mean she already trusted her. But deep down, I think Amelia saw herself in her. Or that she saw in her a younger sister in Emma. Something like that.
Emma and I embarked on our adventure. Hours went by and we were still crossing the desert. The sun was rising, our shoes were burying themselves in the scalding sand and the mountains appeared to be nowhere near. I couldn't even fully open my eyes with so much sweat that was running down my face. My skin and my clothes had become one. The fresh water bottles were almost over, and they tasted like piss.
"I'm beginning to regret coming," Emma said, "We've been in this for hours and it looks like we're nowhere near that."
"Emma, I was thinking... If it comes to that, you're not thinking of killing me to survive a few more days, are you?"
"Well, I hadn't thought of that before... but," she said and looked at me from the top to bottom, "I'm kidding. It's okay. We'll get somewhere. This planet can't just be desert, I think."
"I've had more doubts about that," I replied, "maybe we shouldn't talk too much right now. We don't have much water and my throat is dry again."
"You're right. Well, let's see if we can find a place where we can spend the night. I don't think we can solve this in half a day."
We kept walking. There was nothing there. Just sand and more sand. The rocks had been left behind, the sun dazzled us with gray beams on our faces, and the bottom of our throats was shut. We were almost dehydrated. My vision became hazy and everything around me began to come together, as if I was high and nothing made much sense. A few more hours went by. Nothing new happened. It was all the same. An eternal boring repetition.
"Look, is it just me, or are the mountains right there?" Emma said, after a few hours, the light's fading.
"It does look that way. You think it's a mirage?" I asked her.
"Well, we don't know if we don't risk it, do we?" She answered me, her hand trembling on the trigger, her eyes red and swollen...
The sand stopped and gave way to a black dirt field that flanked the light brown mountains all over the place. Several breaches allowed access to tunnels inside the mountains. Howls and laughter flowed across them. I could barely stand, or keep my eyes open, or even open my mouth. I was devastated, and my knees were shaking. Emma was in the same condition. We'd been walking for hours and we only had a few more drops of water left.
"It's a good place to rest tonight."
"One of us should stay awake, right?"
"Well, good luck with that. I need to sleep," she said, entering one of the tunnels, with the gun at chest level.
"What if someone shows up? What the hell am I supposed to do?" I asked her. Damn it. What had I gotten myself into?
"You scream. You fire your gun. Protect yourself."
"Isn't that supposed to be your job?" I asked her, carrying our backpacks with my hands. My shoulders already had the straplines embedded in the skin.
"Yes, but not while I'm asleep," she said.
It pisse
d me off how reckless she was, even when facing death. Which was strange to someone who had previously shown fear of that planet. It was like now that it wasn't a surprise, it didn't scare her anymore. Or maybe she was scared to death but was great at hiding it, which wouldn't surprise me at all.
In the end, we decided to stay in a wide area that connected several tunnels. It wasn't exactly the safest place, but it was the only place where there was space for both.
Emma was already asleep when I started listening to some noises. First, just a few whistles that I assumed were wild animals and then several people's steps approaching. I tried to wake her up, but nothing worked. Not shaking her, not slapping her in the face, nothing. She was an extremely heavy sleeper. I had to solve that problem on my own. I covered her with one of the blankets we had in our backpacks and blanketed her whole body, even half her face. Then I hid behind a boulder beside a corner and waited for whoever they were to come closer.
The best thing would be if they didn't see her and kept walking but with the luck, I had had up until then I didn't think that would happen. I had already killed three people and now there I was, with my hand on the trigger once again, moments away from firing again. I didn't feel good about it, but I had to do it. It wasn't like I had a choice, like they were just going to let me go. Three men popped up at the entrance to one of the tunnels. They all had a brown cloak, probably animal skin, a pair of knickers made of the same material, and nothing else. Despite the cold weather at night, they were half-naked. All of them had several scars and cuts on the chest and legs and a gun attached to their panties. Each one of them had a knife in their hand, sharp enough to slit someone's neck in one attempt. They laughed wildly, spitting on the floor, saliva dripping down their stiff beards, yellow eyes popping out in the dark night.
They were just about to leave when one of them stopped and looked at the blue mantle that covered Emma.
"Look, look! Is that what it looks like? A girl? Here and alone, sleeping?"
"Yes, it does, it does. We're going to have a lot of fun." Another replied, walking towards her. The man's back was misshapen, and he humped, walking almost with his hands touching the ground like a monkey.
