by Luna Hunter
Those damn humans are opening the cargo bay doors, to extinguish the fire that threatens to destroy the entire station. I don’t have time to go back for any of my men – I barely close the hatch in time before the entire freighter is sucked out into space.
In a frenzy, I manage to detach the escape shuttle from the ship, and moments later, we’re aimlessly drifting towards Earth. Everything is eerily quiet as we float through space, the human planet’s gravitational pull slowly getting a hold on us.
I sit down and rest my head in my hands.
Damn it.
I should have trusted my gut. I knew something was wrong. I failed as a general.
After scanning deep space for months, we finally picked up a trace of Senator Gorgi – and it came from the human sector, no less. Once I came here, the shapely female tells me that the cure that General Vinz has generously provided them has gone missing, and no one seems to care.
It all doesn’t add up. I should have been on my guard.
Instead, I let the human’s alluring smile distract me. Her scent proved surprisingly captivating, and I could tell from her dilated pupils she felt the same way. Her straightforward and direct style of communication appeals to me. The memory of how she put that human commander, Tobias, in his place might make me grin – if I hadn’t just lost my damn crew to a cowardly, despicable attack.
I run my hand across Kaitlyn’s face, brushing a strand of hair away. She’s running a fever; the shock of the blast overwhelmed her. In a few hours she’ll be back on her feet. I hope. I’m about to crash land on an alien planet, and she’s the closest thing to an ally that I’ve got.
Kaitlyn.
I say her name to myself softly. It has a pleasing melody to it.
Absentmindedly I pick out shards of metal from my obsidian armor. It absorbed most of the blast, and left me unharmed. Slowly but surely, the escape pod starts picking up speed as we’re pulled into Earth’s atmosphere.
I strap Kaitlyn into her seat and make sure she’s secured tightly. This could be a rough landing.
“Wake up.”
I gently shake her shoulders, my thumb brushing her cheek. I’m relieved when she opens her eyes.
“Wh-where am I?”
I glance around for any familiar landmarks, but this land is strange to me. We crash-landed in the middle of a deserted wasteland, with nothing but sand and stone as far as the eyes can see. A mountain looms in the distance. We should head there for shelter.
“I have no idea,” I admit. All the equipment in the shuttle has been smashed by our crash landing.
I help her sit upright and hand her a bit of water. She swallows it slowly, a few drops spilling down her chin.
“Careful, this is all we got. The shuttle had very few supplies.”
“What happened?” she asks, looking up at me. Despite the heat she shivers, and I wrap a blanket around her shoulders.
“There was an attack on the Vonnegut,” I say, my lips pulled into a thin line. “A bomb, most likely. I barely managed to escape with you. We crashed on Earth somewhere.”
“You saved me?” she asks.
I nod, avoiding her eyes. “I couldn’t save the rest.”
She reaches out for me, her hand brushing my cheek. Her touch is soft and comforting. Still, I grab her wrist and push it away.
“You need to rest,” I grumble. “I’ll survey our surroundings, try to gather some intel.”
I stride away before she has a chance to react. She makes me feel vulnerable, and that is not something I’m accustomed to. I’m a Zoran General – I’m always in command. Always.
The loss of my team weighs heavily on my mind as I wander the scorching hot wasteland. I check for animal prints or vegetation, but I don’t find signs of any. This is a desert, where no life can sustain itself.
If we don’t find help soon, we could very well starve.
I haven’t had the heart to tell Kaitlyn my wrist-com was damaged in the blast, leaving me with no way to communicate with my war-vessel, Ravenous, that’s orbiting Earth high above. The shuttle’s com-panel is smashed, and I don’t believe the distress call is emitting properly.
I have no doubt my crew is on high alert, and they’re scouring the planet for me, but we’re just one tiny shuttle among countless bits of debris that exploded from the space station.
And even if they locate us, I have to assume the humans will let them land. The attack could have very well been an orchestrated by the human Federation itself. Perhaps the Ravenous was attacked as well. That would have been foolish, but right now, I know nothing.
That’s too many variables to account for.
I have to prepare for the worst.
By my estimations the mountains are a day’s walk away. We should take shelter in a cave, and hopefully find some water and flora or fauna inside we could survive on. I follow my own tracks back to the crashed pod, and for a moment I let my mind wander.
This reminds me of my training, back when I first joined the Zoran military. While on transport from Exon Prime to Minkel V, where our training was set to begin, our transport seemingly malfunctioned, and our squadron crashed in the jungle on an unknown planet. Most of the men sat around and waited for rescue, believing help to be on the way. Meanwhile I set up a perimeter, scouted out the location, dug a well and set traps to capture the wildlife.
Help did arrive after seven days, and the military brass revealed that the whole thing was a set-up from the get-go. There was no malfunction. This was a scheme to test our mettle. They wanted to see how self-reliant we were, and how we’d act under duress.
I passed with flying colors and immediately received my first promotion – the first of many.
I have fond memories of that time. I made some lifelong friends during training, like Vinz and Drax, who are both generals now, like me.
Unfortunately there will be no military camaraderie this time. No lush jungle to survive on. No roasting meat around a fire while us rookie soldiers swap tall tales.
This is a wasteland.
The alluring smell of roasted pork reaches my nostrils long before I reach the crashed shuttle, and it makes my stomach grumble. I find Kaitlyn crouched around a small fire. She smiles up at me as she prods the fire.
“Hey,” she greets me. “If it isn’t my hero and savior.”
“What are you doing?!” I roar as I stare at the copious amounts of meat she’s cooking.
“Making dinner, what does it look like?” she says. “I had a few food packets in my bag.”
“We have to ration those,” I say. “We’re stranded here! No food, no water.”
To my dismay, Kaitlyn just shrugs her shoulders. “They’ll come.”
“How do you know that for sure? You don’t have any com device, mine is busted, the shuttle might have failed. We have to prepare!”
Kaitlyn nonchalantly taps the CN-badge on her chest. “This little baby is always emitting a signal. The station knows right where we are, and they’ll come for us in no time. Meanwhile, we might as well eat. Here,” she says as she hands me a plate of tender meat.
Grumbling, I sit down beside her, in the shadow cast by the shuttle. I thought her badge was just an ID. I had no idea it doubled as an emitter. In my ignorance I thought her helpless, but as I eat the wonderful meal she prepared, I have to admit she’s more resourceful than I credited her for.
The meat is delicious, and for a moment I relax my tense shoulders.
“How is it?” Kaitlyn asks.
“Fantastic,” I answer. “You’re a great cook.”
“I do my best,” she says with a shy smile. She plays with her hair, wrapping her finger around a strand. “I’m glad you like it. I have no idea what Zorans eat.”
“Nothing as good as this,” I answer, and she laughs.
We exchange some pleasant banter, and for a short while our situation doesn’t feel so dire. However, I know it won’t last. Any second now the humans will show up, and we’ll get to the bottom of thi
s. I stare off into the distant horizon, my hand resting on the palm of my blade.
“What’s wrong?” Kaitlyn asks.
“Nothing,” I say. “I’m just prepared.”
“For what?”
“For another attack.”
“Who would attack us?”
“You tell me,” I say, my eyes locking with Kaitlyn’s. “You’re the earthling. Why would anyone want the shipment halted? Who would gain from that? Furthermore, can we trust Central News, or the Federation for that matter?”
Kaitlyn runs a hand through her hair, and her cheeks bulge as she blows out a big gulp of air.
“Honestly, I have no idea who did it,” she says. “Sorry. While I admit CN or the Federation doesn’t have everyone’s best interest in mind, I don’t think they’re behind any of this. This is just plain evil.”
I don’t want to confront Kaitlyn with the very real possibility that her own government is corrupt. Having just gone through that exact upheaval, personally starting the Zoran rebellion by running my own sword through Emperor Qleiord, I know how hard it can be to realize that the people you fought for were in fact your worst enemies. If the Federation is truly to blame, she’ll have to make peace with it on her own terms.
“Do you think this has anything to do with your runaway Senator?”
“Seems like it,” I answer. “It’s all a bit too convenient to be pure chance.”
I run my fingers along the sharp edge of my broadsword, Suncleaver. The blade is inscribed with various runes and symbols, depicting my clan’s history.
“I’ll find whoever did this and bring them to justice,” I say. “You can count on that.”
The night’s sky grows dark as the sun sets, and the temperature drops rapidly. I command Kaitlyn to sleep inside the shuttle while I stand guard. She objects, but I insist. Despite the day’s events she falls asleep quickly, and her rhythmic breathing calms my nerves.
My eyes scour the dark horizon, but I see no sign of movement. The night is quiet and still.
I find myself watching Kaitlyn sleep from time to time. Her lips curl upward at the corners as she’s lost in her dreams, and the innocent sight reminds me that there’s still good in this world.
Once again, Kaitlyn’s beauty mesmerizes me, and I don’t realize danger is upon us until we’re surrounded.
3
Kaitlyn
“Drop the weapon!”
The loud, angry shouts rouse me from my sleep. The fog in my mind lifts quickly as I figure out where I am. It all comes back to me in a flash. Explosion. Life saved by alien general. Crash-landing. And now I can add armed stand-off to that list. What a day.
“I’m not going to repeat myself! Drop the weapon!”
There’s human voices outside. Panicked, trembling, voices.
I peek outside the shuttle to see General Tyr with his sword drawn, surrounded by half a dozen humans, dressed all in black, with their guns pointed straight at him.
The soldiers are not wearing any identifiable badges or stripes, which strikes me as odd. I’ve never seen an outfit like this before.
“You are under arrest for the unprovoked attack on the Vonnegut and the kidnapping of Kaitlyn Hunt,” one of the soldiers bellows. “Lay down your weapon and you will not be harmed.”
“Are you mad?” Tyr growls. “I saved her life. And it’s my men who were attacked.”
He wields the sword menacingly, waving it around. The men seem hesitant, and for good reason. The Zorans are feared throughout the galaxy for their battle prowess, and as a general, Tyr is among the most dangerous men in the galaxy. I wonder if their bullets can even penetrate his armor.
“There she is!” one of the soldiers shouts, and he points his weapon directly at me. A moment later he pulls the trigger, and I feel the bullet grazing my cheek. I throw myself back into the shuttle, my hands flying up to my face.
The bullet missed me by a fraction of an inch.
A moment ago they said they were rescuing me – why on Earth did that soldier fire on me?
Outside it’s pandemonium. I hear Tyr roar, the stomach-churning rat-tat-tat of guns firing, and piercing, bloodcurdling screams.
Then, everything is suddenly silent.
My heart is pounding in my throat and all the color has drained from my face. My chest heaves with every breath, and my clothes stick to my skin. My knuckles are white from being clenched so tightly.
I’m afraid to go outside, but I have to see if Tyr is alright.
I pull myself up, fear gripping my heart tightly, but I force myself forward, one step at a time. Right as I’m about to cross the threshold of the door, Tyr stumbles into the shuttle.
He’s absolutely covered in blood. Bullet-holes riddle his armor, and he limps towards me, a concerned look in those smoldering, irresistible eyes of his.
“Are you alright?” he asks, his voice throaty and low. “Are you hit?”
I can’t believe he’s worried about me, considering the state he’s in.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” I say, wrapping my arm around his shoulder as I help carry him inside. “Are you?”
“Yes,” he groans, but I don’t believe a word of it. He sits down, and I rummage through the shuttle, desperately searching for a med-kit.
“Down there,” he points.
I open a hatch and find a small kit. With my hands still trembling I take out a cloth and wipe the blood off of Tyr’s face. He tries to push me away, but I shush him.
“Let me help you,” I say. “You’re wounded.”
“I’m not,” he growls.
Are all Zorans this stubborn?
“Let me clean these wounds for you. I insist. It’s the least I can do after you saved my life – for the second time.”
“…fine,” Tyr says. He relaxes his shoulders as he gives in to my demand. I remove his armor, revealing his broad, muscled chest. Intricate tattoos cover his arms. My heart flutters once more – but this time not in fear. He sits in silence, his eyes closed as I wash the blood from his bronzed body.
I’m surprised – and relieved – to find he’s almost unharmed. There’s one bullet lodged into his shoulder, but his armor stopped all other shots. That means that all that blood must belong to…
“They can’t harm you,” he says, as if he can read my mind. “Not anymore. Not while I’m around. Not ever.”
His autumn-colored eyes flicker compassionately, and I believe him. Despite the attack, despite the danger we’re in, I believe him. I can see he’ll do anything to save me.
I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this, but I’m glad to have him by my side.
“Do you have any idea why those men were after you?”
I shake my head as I run the cloth across his neck, the tips of my fingers grazing his smooth skin. “Not a clue.”
“Do you have any enemies?”
I can’t help but snort. “I’m not important enough to have enemies.”
“It seems you are.”
I pause for a second. “Do you… think the attack on the Vonnegut was meant… for me?” It’s hard to even say that out loud. The thought that all those men died for me makes me sick.
“No,” Tyr says resolutely. He grabs the side of my waist, his eyes burning into mine. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault, Kaitlyn. We’ll find those responsible, and we’ll bring them to justice.”
I nod. Hearing him say my name reassures me somehow. “I have to remove the bullets.”
“Later,” Tyr growls. “We don’t have time. There might be more coming.”
“But—”
“Later,” he cuts me off. He rips the Central News badge from my chest and crushes it in the palm of his hand. After that he straps his armor back on, stands up, and extends his hand towards me.
“At least let me give you a painkiller,” I try.
Tyr shakes his head. “No. The pain will keep me sharp.”
He takes my hand and pulls me to my feet, stopping me right
before we leave the shuttle.
“You might want to look away,” he warns.
“I’m a reporter,” I answer. “I’m used to bodies.”
“Your choice.”
We step outside, and unfortunately I’m not as prepared as I thought I was. The sight makes my stomach churn, and I cover my mouth with my hand. Tyr guides me through, pulling me towards their hover-bikes.
“Oh no,” I say, freezing dead in my tracks. “I’m not getting on one of those deathtraps.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Tyr answers. He gets on, and though I loathe those flying motorcycles, I have to admit he looks good; thickly muscled legs straddling the mechanical beast, his strong hands gripping the handles. The bike was not made for a user well over 7 feet tall, but far from looking comical, he looks… hot.
“Hop on.”
I wait for a second, crossing my arms over my chest. When I started out at Central News I interned at the traffic department, and I’ve reported on more hover-bike crashes than I care to remember. I know exactly how dangerous those things are.
But waiting here for another squad of goons doesn’t sound very appealing either.
Begrudgingly I hop on, wrapping my arms tightly around Tyr’s chest.
“You better know how to fly this thing,” I warn him.
“I have no idea,” he says, and a second later he kick starts the engine. The mechanical beast hovers in the air, the roar of the engine drowning out my curses.
The bike zips forward with an incredible burst of speed. I hold onto Tyr as hard as I can, swearing like a sailor as we glide over the desert landscape going nearly a hundred miles an hour.
“I’m a fast learner,” Tyr yells over the booming sound. He’s enjoying this wild ride.
I gaze up at the night’s sky to take my mind off the rock formations we’re whizzing past at dazzling speeds. I see the full moon, and the shape of the Vonnegut as it passes. It looks so peaceful and serene, as always, as if today never happened.
As I let the stars sink in, I start to notice familiar patterns. Constellations that I haven’t thought about since my childhood appear bright as ever on the night’s sky.
