Dark Planet Falling

by Anna Carven

  When she opened her eyes again, Sera wondered if she was dreaming. To their left was a sleek black cruiser, matching their speed. It was a small, fast craft, and it was obviously Kordolian, judging by its shape and the black metal of its hull.

  Has the help finally arrived?

  Xal was still latched onto the outside of her pod.

  “Xal?” She didn’t know if he could hear her.

  There was no response.

  “Xal!” Sera shouted. Still nothing. She banged her fist against the window of the escape pod, trying futilely to attract the attention of the cruiser, although she knew there was no way they could hear her.

  It started to drift closer to them, maintaining its speed.

  A long, flexible metal arm with a claw-like thing on one end began to extend from the cruiser.

  It tried to grab onto them, but it wasn’t long enough to reach them.

  The cruiser maneuvered closer to them, the arm-thing wobbling about as it tried to latch onto her pod. It narrowly avoided Xal’s motionless form and Sera drew in a sharp breath.

  She sure as hell hoped these were the good guys, and she hoped beyond all hope that Xal was alive.

  He’d said something about slowing down his heartbeat; using a technique of some kind. Perhaps he was in a trance-like state?

  Please make it be that.

  The alternative was too painful to think about.

  Sera braced herself as the cruiser tried again, then again, to latch on. It wobbled and straightened and went for another attempt. To her intense relief, there was a metallic thud, and then they were moving, as the metal arm brought them towards the cruiser.

  A hatch opened up on the side, and the arm drew them into an airlock.

  As the hatch closed and the airlock depressurized, the cruiser’s gravity kicked in, and the pod landed on the floor with a crash. It knocked Sera around, and she reflexively brought her arms above her head as she bumped into the padded surface of the pod.

  Xal’s metallic hands were still embedded in the surface of the pod, but he wasn’t moving. Sera tried to push open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

  She searched for a control panel, but she couldn’t make anything out in the darkness.

  “Hey!” she screamed. “Is anybody there!”

  The other side of the airlock slid open, revealing Tarak and the female medic she’d seen on Silence. Sera almost sobbed in relief. She gestured towards Xal frantically. “Get him out of there first!”

  Tarak wasted no time, pulling the exo-armor off the pod. He lay Xal’s lifeless form gently on the floor and ripped his helmet off with his bare hands.

  The medic opened the pod and Sera stumbled out, rushing over to Xal.

  His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving. Sera put a hand to his cheek. It was as cold as ice. His severed horns had bled, leaving trails of dried, black blood down both temples and cheeks. His appearance was surreal and terrifying. She didn’t know whether he was dead or alive.

  “Xal,” she whispered, as the medic gently pulled her away.

  Tarak pressed something and the rest of the exo-suit opened, revealing Xal’s motionless body. Tarak placed a finger at his neck, checking for a pulse. The medic did the same, and they shared a knowing glance.

  “He said something about a technique to try and slow down his heart,” Sera said, her voice wavering. “He was running out of oxygen.”

  “Hm.” Infuriatingly stoic as per usual, Tarak raised an eyebrow.

  Sera was on the verge of flipping out. How could these two be so calm?

  “Aren’t you guys going to do something?” Sera’s brain couldn’t process the possibility that there was nothing more that could be done. She couldn’t accept it. She reached up and felt wetness on her cheeks.

  “He’s not dead,” Tarak said, and as Sera looked up she found stillness in his deep, red eyes. He wasn’t worried at all. Slowly, the storm inside her mind and heart began to calm.

  “What?”

  “This is anava, a technique he learnt from the Aikun tribe.” Tarak took her hand and placed it on Xal’s chest, over his heart. “See.”

  Sera slipped her fingers under Xal’s thin shirt, pressing against his bare skin, which was freezing. At first, she felt nothing. She looked up in alarm. Tarak and the medic gestured for her to remain still.

  Then, she felt it.

  Thud.

  A single heartbeat, then nothing.

  She waited. The silence stretched between them, impossibly long.

  Thud.

  There it was again. A heartbeat. They were so far apart; almost a minute or longer. His heart was beating extremely slowly.

  “He’s alive?” she whispered, hope soaring into her chest.

  “Indeed.”

  Intense relief flooded through Sera. “And what the hell is this anava thing? How do we wake him up?”

  “He’s put himself into a deep trance.” The medic regarded her with deep orange eyes that reminded her of a winter sunset on Nova Terra. “The Lost Tribes use anava to spend long periods of time underwater when they go hunting for sea creatures. That’s what Xal’s done, except he’s gone way too deep this time.”

  “So how do we bring him out of this anava?”

  “Heat.” The medic shrugged. “I would put him in a hot room for several phases to replenish the energy that he’s expelled. Bit by bit, his heart rate will increase, his vitals will come back to normal, and when they reach a certain threshold, he’ll wake up.”

  “So he basically needs to get warm.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Can you do that onboard this craft?”

  “We don’t have the facilities. This is just a stealth cruiser. We need to get him back to Silence.”

  Tarak frowned. “Silence is engaged in pursuit. It will be nearly impossible to catch them now.”

  A look of mild panic crossed the medic’s face. “We can’t delay. There is a small, but very real risk that his heart might stop altogether. The sooner we bring him out of it, the better.”

  Sera was on the verge of exploding. There was no way she was going to sit back and watch while Xal sank further into this eerie, trance-like state. “Where are we right now, General?” Worry and urgency bled into her voice. She put a hand on Xal’s forehead, hoping vainly that some of her warmth would seep into him.

  “You had drifted far. We are at an approximate midpoint between Silence and Earth.”

  “There has to be something Human floating around here; something that would have decent facilities on board. Can you do a scan, General? We’ll take anything; a mining station, cargo freighter, whatever. Put out a distress call.”

  “Hm.” He got up and disappeared without another word.

  The medic raised her eyebrows in concern. “Humans may be threatened by the sight of a Kordolian craft. Can you reassure them, Sera?”

  “Oh, don’t you worry about that,” Sera growled, casting a protective glance over Xal. “I promise you, they will accommodate us if I have anything to do with it.”

  She touched the bare skin of his chest with her other hand. He was like an iceberg. It shook her to the core, but she buried her distress and fear deep inside. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart. “I know you guys like the cold and all, but don’t you have a thermo-wrap or some kind of blanket?”

  The medic pushed the long tail of her lilac hair behind one shoulder and stood. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said softly, before giving Sera a long, appraising look.

  She left Sera in the airlock with Xal, who barely breathed, and Sera wished she could wake her sleeping Prince with a kiss. He was so damn cold, and his features were glacial, as if they’d been carved from marble. How could life exist in this frozen body?

  She’d just have to give him the only warmth she could find right now.

  Hers.

  ~~~

  Underneath the blanket, Sera was naked, and so was Xal. She held onto him with growing desperation, pressing her body against
his, hoping her heat would radiate into him and bring up his core temperature. She’d insisted on doing this, and to her surprise, neither of the Kordolians had thought twice about the naked Human curled around their Prince.

  The medic, Zyara, had hooked him up to a transfusion of some kind of warmed fluid after they’d moved him to a small dock at the far end of the cruiser.

  Still, he remained the same way, his heart beating at an impossibly slow pace, his body cold and still.

  Sera pressed her ear to his chest, just to hear the reassuring thud of his heart. Zyara had attached him to a monitor, but Sera didn’t understand the blips and data that flooded the holoscreen. It was all written in Kordolian, and their alphabet was like nothing she’d ever seen before.

  So she relied on the rhythm of Xal’s body to tell her that he was still alive.

  She wanted nothing more than to feel his warm hands on her skin; to hear his soft, low voice whispering in her ear. She yearned for his touch, and until she heard his voice again, she wasn’t letting him go.

  Sera closed her eyes for a moment, trying to stem her tears. When she opened them again, Tarak was looming over her.

  “There is a Human facility nearby,” he said. “They are naturally reluctant to deal with Kordolians. I will give them one last chance to try and understand that if they do not co-operate, I will board them and start killing them one-by-one until they change their minds.” He thrust a small communication device in front of her. “Talk to them. They may understand it better if they speak to one of their own kind.”

  “Oh, give that here,” Sera snapped, yanking her arm out from under the blanket. “Hello?” She spoke into the smooth black device. The line crackled with patchy interference.

  “I repeat, we will not allow non-Humans to board our facility without official authorization. I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to wait, or find another station that will accept your request.” The voice that came across was definitely male, Human and bored-sounding.

  “Excuse me,” Sera snapped, “I understand you are refusing boarding rights because of security concerns, but we need urgent medical attention. I have an unwell crew member on board.”

  “Sorry ma’am, but I can’t-“

  Sera switched to English. “State your rank and the name of your facility, officer.”

  “Uh-” The officer paused, clearly surprised. “You’re Human?”

  “I am indeed Human, so will you please identify yourself?”

  “Uh, you’re speaking to Communications Officer Erikson, of the MS Elvis. May I request your name and credentials, ma’am, and may I ask, with all due respect, what the hell you’re doing onboard a Kordolian stealth cruiser?”

  Sera took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to center herself. This asshole was wasting time with stupid questions. “Officer Erikson, this is Sera Aquinas. I believe the corporation that owns your mining station is called GalaxyMetal. Am I correct?”

  “Uh, yes, ma’am.” Now he sounded bemused.

  “And are you aware who the majority shareholders in GalaxyMetal are, Officer?”

  “Last I heard, a big chunk had been acquired by the Aquinas family.” Another pause. “Oh.”

  “Now I am requesting nicely that you allow our little cruiser to dock without any resistance, or you will be hearing from my lawyers. If you have any doubts, run a voiceprint ID on me. What happens in space gets dealt with on Earth, Officer, so if my father hears you denied me access in a time of need, you will be out of a job at the very least. Do you understand me, Erikson?”

  For a moment, the line went completely silent, and Sera wondered if blind adherence to rules would prevail over common sense. She hated using her family’s name to get her way, but this time, it couldn’t be helped.

  For the sake of the Humans onboard that mining station, she hoped they would do the right thing. She did not like the look on the General’s face right now. His expression was really fucking scary.

  The comm device crackled to life again. “Uh, my apologies for the delay, Miss Aquinas. We’re opening Docking Bay One on portside, so you are cleared to proceed.”

  Sera handed the comm back to Tarak, who shrugged. “The Humans can consider themselves fortunate.”

  Under the blankets, Sera wrapped her body around Xal’s, running her hands up and down his cold skin. She was freezing too, but she didn’t care. She just wanted her Xal back.

  And if any Human on the MS Elvis tried to get in the way, Jupiter help them, because between her and Tarak, she didn’t know who would be more brutal.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Sera jumped out of her tiny bunk as a jarring chime went off, yanking her from sleep. She ran a hand through her tousled hair, momentarily disoriented.

  Then, it hit her.

  They were on the MS Elvis, where they had stuck Xal in a tiny room with the heat cranked up to maximum, waiting for him to thaw out. After finding out exactly whose daughter Sera was, the Station Boss had been very accommodating, even though her guests were Kordolians. Zyara had been pretty confident that he would be fine, despite the extreme heat, and Sera had no choice but to trust the medic. At first, Sera had clung to Xal stubbornly, refusing to leave him until it had gotten so warm in there that she was at risk of getting heat stroke.

  Exhausted, she’d reluctantly disentangled herself from Xal, with Zyara reassuring her that she would monitor him. So Sera had taken the time to have a very brief cold shower, jump into some standard-issue worker’s scrubs and catch some shut-eye in a cramped capsule bed.

  “What is it?” She hit the panel beside the door and it slid open, revealing a very stressed-out looking pair of peacekeepers.

  “I’m sorry to bother you Miss Aquinas, but your, uh, guest is awake.”

  “He is?” Sera almost punched the air in sheer joy. “How is he?”

  “It’s probably better for you to see for yourself.” The peacekeepers were holding their bolt-rifles defensively and they still wore their combat helmets. They shared a meaningful glance.

  Sera stiffened. “Is there a problem, officers?”

  Please don’t let there be a problem.

  “The Kordolian is-”

  “He’s violent. Uncontrollable. Inhumanly fucking strong, excuse my language, ma’am. If he doesn’t calm down we’re going to have to escalate our use of force.”

  “You will do no such thing!” Sera slid her feet into a pair of slippers and pushed past the peacekeepers, breaking into a run despite their startled shouts. She sprinted down the corridor, with the peacekeepers struggling to catch up with her. She ran until she reached the small room where they had placed Xal.

  Tarak had appeared at the other end of the corridor, with Zyara by his side. He strode towards them, glaring at the peacekeepers with the promise of death in his eyes. With his black, fitted exo-armor and grim expression, he was intimidating as hell.

  “If you Humans have done anything to harm him-”

  “He’s already put three of us in the medical bay with broken bones!” One of the peacekeepers raised his bolt-cannon defensively. “All we’ve tried to do is restrain him!”

  In the midst of a brewing storm, Sera held up her hand. “General Tarak,” she said, trying to sound respectful, because he was the most dangerous of them all. “Please, just hang on for a moment.”

  She turned to the peacekeepers. “Lower your guns.” At first they hesitated. Sera glared at them and slowly, they complied.

  Tarak inclined his head and for a split-second, Sera thought she saw a flicker of amusement cross his features. She shook her head. Whatever. Kordolians were strange.

  “Zyara,” she said slowly. “What is going on with our Prince?”

  “He’s very much awake,” the medic replied, her voice impossibly calm, in the circumstances. “But he’s just come out of an impossibly deep trance-like state. He’s walked the void, seen the face of death and returned. I’m guessing he’s massively disinhibited right now.”

  “So what
happens now? Is there some sort of medication you can give him for that?”

  Zyara shook her head. “I’m afraid we’re in uncharted territory here, Sera. I’ve never treated anyone with this condition before. I’ve only read about it in medical journals.”

  “I am the only one who can restrain him.” Tarak moved forward, but Sera stepped in his path.

  “Move, female,” he ordered, looming over her. “You will not be able to handle him when he’s like this.”

  Sera shook her head, refusing to budge. She’d had a glimpse of what went on inside Xal’s head back on Ristval V. If he was in a state where all his barriers were down, the last thing he needed was a fight.

  It was instinct, more than anything else, that told her Xal needed her right now.

  It just felt like the right thing to do.

  “I’ve got this one, General,” she said, meeting his crimson glare. “Please let me do this my way.”

  “In this state, he will hurt you.”

  Sera held up a hand. “The one thing I know for sure is that Xal would never hurt me.” She turned and approached the door. “So I’m going to go in now, and none of you guys are going to interrupt us. That includes you.” She shot the peacekeepers a harsh glare. They stared at her as if she was batshit crazy.

  “Miss Aquinas, the Kordolian is dangerous. If anything happens to you, your father will-”

  “So don’t let him hear about it,” she growled. “And turn down the heating in there. I might be a while, and I don’t want to swelter to death.”

  Everyone was staring at her as if she’d grown a second head. Except for Tarak, who somehow managed to look resigned. “Are you sure about this, female?”

  “Do I look unsure?”

  He shrugged. “If you get into trouble, just scream.”

  “There will be no screaming, General,” she said silkily, as the door slid open. “Trust me. We will be fine.”

  ~~~

  He became aware of the sound of his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. It was unbearably warm in the room, and his horns hurt like hell. They’d been cut off.

  Why?

  He was dimly aware of having wandered out into the brightly lit corridor, where he’d encountered the Humans. They’d tried to restrain him. He’d fought until the Kordolian medic had come and led him back to his room.