by A. G. Wilde
“Bullshit,” Xul said, and Athena raised an eyebrow. “To the first part. I do not want you fighting by my side. I don’t want to see you fighting for your life. Not again. Not so soon.”
She could feel the meaning behind his words and understood him completely.
That fight they’d had where the Isclit and the gator guards had come searching for them, it was still burned into her mind too.
Death had been so close and she’d brushed hands with it.
It hadn’t been a good feeling and it was one she didn’t want to experience again any time soon.
But that didn’t stop the fact that she needed to go onboard to help the only link she had back to Earth.
Those women, Diana, Piper, Evren, and Song...they were literally the only humans she would ever see again in her lifetime.
If she could have done something to help them escape and she didn’t, she would never forgive herself.
Xul seemed to read her thoughts as he studied her and he was already shaking his head as he looked at her.
“I don’t like it,” he said.
“Well, it isn’t what you like. It’s what I need to do.”
Xul’s mouth set into a hard line and his eyes flared. But she didn’t care if he was going to get into a hissy fit about it.
Her mind was already made up.
“I have to do this. They are the only humans I have.”
Turning back to the plans on the table, Xul seemed to contemplate things for a second while Kyro silently studied them both.
Without a word, Xul pulled her onto his lap and pressed his face into her hair.
“I just discovered you,” he said. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Again, it seemed as if Kyro was raising his nonexistent eyebrows.
She guessed it was strange to see or hear Xul say such things.
Kyro cocked his head to the side and studied her.
“Your species bewitches,” he whispered.
Athena gave him a look and Xul chuckled.
“Yes,” he said. “She’s cast some sort of spell over me.” Leaning back in the chair, Xul regarded her with narrowed eyes.
“Fine. You come with me. But you listen to everything I say.” He paused. “Even if it means leaving me behind.”
From the look in his eyes, she knew he was thinking about the last time she was supposed to leave him behind.
Athena shook her head immediately.
“Only if you promise you’ll do the same for me.”
25
Athena spun in the reinforced skin-tight outfit Xul had given her to put on.
The thing covered her like a cat-woman suit but it was deceivingly comfortable.
“It is resistant to most pierce attacks, poison, and acid,” he said, his gaze roving over her form appreciatively.
As they walked into the weapons closet, Xul grabbed another version of his spear. This one had a bigger blade than the last and was covered in strange inscriptions.
As Athena looked around, her eyes fell on what looked like a gun the size of a small hairdryer.
It had round red bumps all along the top and Athena reached for it tentatively.
“That’s the sidr,” Xul said, walking over to her. “It homes in on your target. Attached to their body, then detonates like a grenade.”
Athena raised her eyebrows. She hated guns, mostly because she had terrible aim, but this sounded like the right weapon for her.
“You just try to aim in the direction of your target. It will home in on the nearest enemy. Their genetic codes of the Tasqals and their men have already been coded into the weapon,” Xul continued.
Ooh, even better.
Grabbing the gun, she slipped it in the waistband of the suit and reached for a curved dagger.
“That dagger is incredibly sharp and incredibly dangerous,” Xul warned.
“Just the way it’s supposed to be,” Athena smiled, sheathing the dagger and placing it on the other side of her waist.
Kyro shuffled into the room then, his gaze on her before he turned to Xul.
“We are in view of the Isclit ship, commander,” he said.
Athena glanced at Xul.
Commander.
She liked the sound of that.
“Is the ship ready?”
“It is.”
“The bombs?”
Kyro nodded. “Already loaded in the ship.”
“And the distorters?”
Kyro outstretched his hand with what looked like two watches on them.
Xul took them both and slipped one over his wrist before passing the other to her.
“What are these?”
Xul smiled. “I’ll show you.”
Pressing the button on the side of the watch, his entire body morphed into that of a gator-guard almost immediately.
Athena jumped back. “What the fuck?!”
“It is still me.” Xul’s voice sounded weird coming from the mouth of the thing. “It is old technology but it will work for what we need it to do.”
Athena's eyes widened as he pressed the button on his watch and returned to his usual form.
Old technology?
Even the biggest technology firms on Earth weren’t even close to creating something like that.
Securing the watch over her wrist, Athena pressed the button.
In the next second, her body was morphed into that of an Isclit.
“Fuck me...” she murmured.
Xul cleared his throat. “Oh, I want to...but not in that form.”
Trying not to smile Athena narrowed her eyes at him and was glad the Isclit’s eyes communicated that emotion quite perfectly.
“Our weapons and everything we carry are hidden while we are using the distorters,” Xul said. “That means, if we need to use our weapons, we cannot be distorted.”
Athena nodded, pressing the button again to return to her usual form.
“It is time.” Kyro’s voice reached their ears and Xul locked eyes with her once more before he nodded and began leading the way down a small corridor.
As they exited into a larger room, Athena saw a ship that was identical to the one they’d crashed onto Muk in.
Her heart hammered in her chest at the memory and she glanced at Xul.
“The other one was rigged,” he said. “We were supposed to crash.” Then a thoughtful look crossed over his face. “I wouldn’t dare put your life in danger like that again.”
Athena nodded.
It didn’t matter anyway. Even if he didn’t want to think about it, he didn’t have a choice.
She was going with him even if it meant crash-landing on some other planet again.
This was a war she had to fight. A war she hadn’t asked to be a part of but one in which she played a vital role, nonetheless.
The other women were counting on her.
She wouldn’t let them down.
As the butterfly doors of the small ship opened, Athena climbed into the passenger seat and buckled herself in, glancing back at Kyro as Xul entered the pilot’s seat.
“He isn’t coming?”
“No, he has to guard the Elysium till we return. The only way he will come is if something goes wrong.”
Athena turned to face forward and exhaled a deep breath.
“Well then,” she breathed. “Let’s hope that nothing goes wrong.”
As the ship’s engine began to hum and the vessel rose into the air, Kyro went back into the ship and sealed the door shut.
Next, the larger doors in front of them were opening and the little ship shot forward.
Xul placed a hand over hers, as he studied her face.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” He asked.
“Positive.”
* * *
She’d forgotten how big the Isclit ship was.
Seeing it again was a bit jarring.
Glancing at Xul, she noticed his face was set into a hard expression. She’d seen that look before when t
hey’d been trekking through the desert on Muk.
Funny, that felt like so long ago now.
“You still haven’t told me exactly what I’m supposed to do once we get on that ship...”
Xul glanced at her for a second before averting his gaze.
“You will stay by my side until we can free your friends.”
“That’s all? You mentioned bombs.”
“I have to set the charges. They’ll detonate once we have everyone off the ship.”
Athena nodded. It seemed simple enough.
Looking back out in front of them, she realized they were now quite close to the Isclit ship.
“We have to distort ourselves now,” Xul said, glancing at her.
Athena nodded again and took a deep breath, pressing the button on her watch.
It was almost as if she could feel her body shrink as she settled into the form of an Isclit.
When she looked beside her again, Xul was gazing back at her in the body of a gator-guard.
“That’s so creepy...”
Xul seemed to smile then his face got serious.
They were right next to the ship now and a sound came over the intercom.
“Ship 5869. State your business.” It sounded like a gator-guard.
“Returning from a meeting with the High Tasqal Mercurion,” Xul stated.
For a few seconds, there was no reply and Athena found she was holding her breath.
“Cleared. Enter at Gate 12V4.”
Xul switched off the intercom and glanced at her as the large doors of the ship opened in front of them.
“Good job, Yce,” he murmured.
Ah, so it appeared Yce was working behind the scenes so this all went smoothly.
The fact that this was a serious operation was not lost on her.
As they entered the ship, Athena took a deep breath.
It looked just like the cargo bay she’d seen when she’d left the ship the last time. Only now, there were no aliens waiting to be transported and there was no hustle and bustle.
Apart from the few gator-guards guarding the area, there was not much happening.
Maybe that was for the best.
As Xul docked the spacecraft, he glanced at her.
“Here, use this,” he said, handing her a glowing light-blue ring as his now yellow eyes regarded her.
Oh, yes.
She’d completely forgotten that the Isclits only seemed to travel around on these things.
“It will move in any direction you put your weight. The speed depends on how hard you press down.”
Simple enough.
As the doors of the ship opened, Athena placed the ring underneath her feet and stood shakily.
As her weight settled on the thing, it began to hover lightly above the ground.
She was bending down over the other side of the ship, trying to get her bearings, when she heard a gator-guard approach them.
“Soldier, you are stationed on this ship?” The gator guard asked as he approached. He was addressing Xul. Apparently, he hadn’t seen her on the other side of the ship.
Xul didn’t answer and Athena’s heart suddenly began to race.
If he spoke, there was a good chance that they would be found out.
He didn’t sound anything like a gator-guard. They all sounded the same, as if they were cloned.
“You dare not answer your commander?” She could hear the gator-guard’s rising anger.
She needed to do something.
Now.
Hovering around the side of the ship, she narrowed her eyes, hoping the Isclit’s eyes were doing the same thing effectively.
She could see Xul’s eyes widen slightly when he saw her and she could see mild surprise in the real gator-guard’s features.
“The guard’s. Station. Is none. Of your. Business,” Athena said, trying as best as she could to keep her voice monotone. “Get back. To your. Position.”
The gator-guard seemed to pause for a second before he mumbled an apology and walked away.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Xul seemed to smile.
“Quick thinking, little human.”
Athena narrowed her eyes some more and smiled.
Xul frowned. “Don’t do that.”
A glance at her reflection and Athena almost cringed. Isclit faces weren’t meant for smiling.
The line that was her mouth looked all squiggly as if it was having a hard time forcing itself upward. It was probably why none of them ever smiled.
“Let’s go,” Xul said, glancing behind them as they walked through a door.
“Wait,” Athena whispered, as they entered a corridor. “Shouldn’t I be in front of you? I never see the Isclit’s walking behind the guards.”
Xul paused and glanced back at her. “But you don’t know where to go.”
“You will just have to direct me then.” Athena hovered in front of him and even with the face of the gator-guard, she could see he was somewhat amused.
As they walked down the corridor, she heard Xul murmur “left” behind her.
Taking the next left, they came upon another corridor.
“Fifth door down,” Xul whispered and Athena paused walking as she glanced back at him.
“Doors? There are no doors.”
Xul’s eyes narrowed. “Right. The ship is programmed to acknowledge only certain lifeforms. To you, there are no doors or other exits. For me, they are visible.”
It was all clear.
That was why she hadn’t been able to figure out how they were opening the doors before.
“Maybe you should walk beside me then.”
Xul narrowed his eyes as they began walking again, moving to her side.
“Here,” he breathed, pausing before the wall.
Shortly after, a door appeared and they stepped into a dark room.
There were pipes networking along the walls for as far as she could see.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Xul pressed the button on his watch and returned to his usual form.
“There are no cameras here. We are safe.”
Taking his lead, Athena did the same and stepped off the light-blue ring. She’d just have to carry it in her hand for now.
The room was dark, with little white lights dotting the floor.
“What is this place?” She asked as they began moving.
“It’s the belly of the ship. This leads down to the engine.”
As he spoke, he was placing some little disks along the wall after every few steps.
“The bombs.” He answered her unasked question.
Athena nodded, glancing behind her.
It was dark.
So dark.
Apart from the lights on the ground, she couldn’t see anything. She was just about to turn around when she was sure she saw something move in the darkness behind them.
Pausing for a few seconds, she strained her eyes to see but there was nothing there. All that was behind them was darkness.
Inching forward, she followed the glowing lights that dotted the path ahead.
Every few seconds, she could hear Xul attach another bomb to the wall. Going by how far they’d walked, he’d attached at least ten of the things so far. She wondered if it would be enough to take down the massive ship.
She was just about to ask him about it when she bumped into his chest.
“Xu—”
His finger covered her lips and silenced her.
With a sniff, he smelled the air and Athena stiffened.
He’d sensed something. Even through the darkness, she could see enough to know that his eyes were narrowed.
Pulling her into him, he peered into the darkness.
Maybe she had seen something move in the darkness behind them.
Pressing her against the wall, Xul whispered to her that she shouldn’t move.
Athena nodded, their gazes locking before Xul eased off her and headed back the way they came.
She was waiti
ng for what felt like the longest minute before she heard something hit against the pipes.
A roar echoed within the space that made her heart rate accelerate. It didn’t sound like Xul.
It was something else.
A gator-guard.
That meant they definitely weren’t alone.
As Athena craned her ears, the undeniable sound of something big and heavy rushing her way caught her ears.
Eyes wide, Athena grabbed the gun at her waist and aimed.
26
Xul appeared before her suddenly and Athena released a breath.
“We were followed by that guard from the dock,” he said, breathless. “We have to hurry. I have no idea if he set off an alarm.”
He was already leading the way, adding bombs as they ran along the length of the space till they reached the end and another door suddenly appeared in the wall.
“Distorter,” Xul breathed, as he stepped out of the space.
Pressing the button on her watch, Athena stepped on the light-blue hover ring she’d been carrying and hovered out of the darkness.
This section looked familiar and she could feel the excitement building in her chest as her pulse drummed in her ears. They were on the floor where the cells were located.
But there was another noise as well—heavy footsteps running down the corridor toward them.
Turning in the other direction, Xul set off on a run and Athena hovered behind him.
When he reached one of the cells, he glanced inside then moved to another.
He did this for a few more, all the while the sound of footsteps behind them approaching fast.
When he finally stopped in front of one of the cells, he distorted to his usual form and slashed the cell with his spear.
The bars crumpled as if the blade was made of acid.
“Crex,” Xul said, his eyes widening as an alien appeared from the cell.
The two nodded to each other and Athena remembered the name immediately.
This was the member of his team who had bonded.
As she reached the cell and the two turned to face her, Crex snarled as he crouched to attack.
Xul placed a hand on the alien’s shoulder. “No brother. She is with us.”
“She?” Athena heard Crex ask as he narrowed his eyes at her.
Just then, a set of gator-guards, maybe seven or so of them, turned the corner, weapons poised.
