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“They’re hailing you. I’ve told them you’re on your way. Should we open fire? Flee?”
“No,” I say. “Let’s talk.”
Fight or flight is not serving me anymore. I need a deeper understanding of my conundrum.
“Shah! Most Wanted! We demand the return of the drone!”
I am surprised by the request, mostly because it feels to me as though Dreamy has always been by my side and has always been mine. I’d almost forgotten she ever qualified as the property of anybody else.
“Surrender her within the next ten minutes, or your ship will be vaporized!”
Malik holds down the mute button on his console and looks at me with an arched brow. “I’d rather not be vaporized,” he says.
“I’ll go.”
I don’t hear her at first. Her voice is soft and serene, while my thoughts are anything but. I am considering whether we can target some of the known weaknesses of Colony ships before we are blown out of space. I don’t think so. Running is also not a good option. They will be prepared to give chase.
“I’ll go,” Dreamy says it again, louder this time.
“Don’t be silly,” I reply.
But it’s not silly. It is inevitable.
There is a gun to the head of every man and woman on this vessel. I would die for Dreamy, but I cannot ask everybody else to do the same. We have been tracked somehow. My ship should be absolutely untraceable, and yet, here we are, face to face with gigatons of destructive power being deployed to retrieve one single drone. It makes no sense, at least, not to me.
“Shah,” she says, putting her hand on my shoulder. “It’s time for me to go. I don’t want anybody else getting hurt because I’m here, and we all know that’s what will happen. Malik was right. I’ve been bad luck since I came aboard. Maybe your luck will change if I go.”
“No! I won’t allow it!”
“Shah…” It’s Malik speaking this time. He’s looking at me with a grave expression. When I look at him, I see the losses he sustained, and I know that he is silently telling me it might be time for me to make a sacrifice too.
“Seven minutes, hostile vessel!”
Dreamy reaches over and hits the com button. “I’m coming,” she says. “Hold your fire.”
Look at her, so brave and so composed, damn near giving orders with that cute little ‘hold your fire’. My heart breaks at the idea of handing her over, but how can I ask everybody else to sustain losses if I will not also make sacrifices?
“Thank you,” Malik says. “Everybody on this ship is grateful.”
I am too busy gritting my teeth to say anything. I knew this loss was coming, and yet now it is here, I feel entirely unprepared. Things are playing out as the Seer foretold. But she told me not to let Dreamy go. So what am I doing?
“Shah,” Dreamy says. “Let me do this. Let me do one useful thing for the crew. Please. They won’t hurt me. I’m still useful.”
This is not a sacrifice I am ready to make. I am not ready to lose the love of my life. But the choices presented to us, and the weaknesses in my systems have made it impossible to do anything right now besides lose.
“I’ll take her across to the vessel. If they show any signs of aggression toward you at all, powering weapons, adjusting sights, hell, if they just feel wrong, I want you to run. Don’t worry about us, Malik. The crew has to come first.”
* * *
We take a shuttle, Dreamy and I. One last voyage into the depths of space. I hold her hand and she holds mine and we say very little. I think we both feel the hand of cold destiny upon us. I am struggling to come up with something to do to change this outcome, but I cannot. Not now.
“Dreamy… please don’t do this. We can find another way.” I am begging. This is not like me. I am strong. I am self-contained. I do not find myself on the verge of breaking down.
“There’s no other way,” she says calmly. “It’s going to be alright. We’re outplayed for now, but we’ve found each other before, and I know I will find you again. It’s our fate to be together, Shah. Now, or in a lifetime, we’re never going to truly be apart.”
I want to say something, but my throat is tight, and I am on the verge of sobbing as I have not done since I was very young. I pick her up and I hold her tight, and I whisper into her ear how very much I love her, how brave she is, how I will come for her, find her, free her. I make promise after promise, vow after vow, but they all feel hollow, because nothing changes the fact that I am turning her over to my lifelong enemies.
* * *
