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15
RHIANNON
"Where are we going?" Nikathy asked, pressing me tightly against his chest.
"To the security control room." I liked the way his expression turned mystified while he waited for me to explain further. "Don't worry, Cosma showed me."
He balked. "She shouldn't have done that. I can't have her telling just anyone how to hack into our security system."
I raised an amused eyebrow at him and smirked. "Don't worry, I'm no hacker, and even if I was, I think I'd lose interest in your little security system. Trust me, that device I wrangled together on the front step is an improvement over what you had before. She didn't give up any big family secrets."
I could tell it still bothered him, but he didn't argue any further. I pointed down the hall, and he walked silently if briskly, until we came upon the painting with the fist-sized hole through it, and he rushed forward to see what the trouble was.
"Who would do such a thing?" he gasped. But as he drew closer, he noticed the keypad behind the painting and froze. "What is happening?" he asked, bewildered.
I reached an arm out, punching in the code that Cosma had shown me earlier and watched his eyes light up with surprise. As expected, the wall opened up and revealed the narrow passageway. Before I could say anything at all, Nikathy was shoving us into the tight space, his shoulders brushing the walls and my body crunched up as I tried not to let my protruding legs and head slow him down. After two attempts, he took a step down and looked down at me with an expression that said he knew he had to make an uncomfortable request.
“It’s fine. I’ll ride piggy-back. Just don’t let go of my legs. I can’t hold them up.”
He lowered me to the ground and then turned away from me, kneeling until I could drag myself up to hang over his shoulders. Then he used the wall to steady himself as he lifted us both off the floor and hooked his arms under my thighs.
Eventually, we made it to the main console. He was still rambling incoherently about not knowing the place even existed, and I thought he looked a little like a kid in a candy-shop. He was so worked up I considered telling him to go sit in a corner so I could work without distractions, but I actually kind of liked the excited energy he was bringing to the room right now. It was a pleasant break from the tension and fear that had been clouding my mind all day.
I was flipping switches on and waiting for the surrounding screens to light up a little at a time. As each one came to life, Nikathy cheered. But those cheers fell short when a horrific whirring noise filled the air, making it impossible to hear anything else, even deep within the recesses of the house. I froze, looking up at the ceiling and silently praying that whatever it was would pass us by. Only seconds later, the walls shook around us, and the sound of wood splintering made me inhale sharply and close my eyes. I thought the whole estate was going to crumble in on us, trapping us beneath its weight, but it was over in the blink of an eye, and everything was silent again.
Strangely, I found that Nikathy had shifted closer to me in that moment, our arms touching as he leaned into me. And as we both let our breaths out and tried to settle our nerves, I couldn't miss the tingling sensation that filled my entire body. Something about the danger and his closeness was getting to me. I shook it off and went back to the console.
"We have to get this going before they take us out," I said mildly, unable to muster the courage that I'd found so easily earlier.
Nikathy came up beside me, taking my hand in his. When I looked into his eyes, I could see that they were already haunted by what he imagined lay outside this room. I curled my fingers around his palm and used my other hand to continue flipping switches. We weren't going to get any answers until this was over. At my side, Nikathy began flipping switches as well, using his free hand to run across the board. I cautioned him not to move too fast. We didn't want to burn up our little rocket. He heeded my warning and slowed down, but I could still feel the frenzied energy pulsing through him.
Finally, the console powered up, and my little rocket hadn't yet destroyed itself, so I was feeling confident. But there was another explosion, and the sound of ships flying low overhead, and we both ducked for cover. When the ships passed, we both raised our heads and gave a nervous laugh, as if we had always known everything would be okay. But I had to find my target. With a little help from the security perimeter cameras, I tried to triangulate the distance to one of the enemy ships and follow its track. I didn't need to score a direct hit, but I needed to get close. Most of all, I needed to be sure that the ship I was aiming at was an enemy ship, and not one of our own, and it was very difficult to see on the fuzzy monitors.
"Damn it," I cursed under my breath as another ship sailed out of view.
"There!" Nikathy said, leaning forward to point to one of the ships in the distance. He was right. The thing was hideous in its Patrol regalia, and I felt foolish for not spotting it earlier. A few of our ships were already on its tail, but they were struggling to hold it off. This was my chance.
I flipped the last switch in the line and sent power out to my launchpad. There were several long seconds before I saw a tiny flash of the rocket's makeshift body spinning toward the sky, and then the screen lit up with a flash. It was impossible to tell if I'd scored a hit as we waited for the smoke to clear, but it didn't matter.
Nikathy spun me around to face him.
Before I knew what was happening, I felt his lips on mine. I melted into him. I kissed him back, throwing my arms around his neck and raising up in my chair to meet his hungry mouth. There was something in the way his tongue flicked lightly over mine, tasting me and teasing me. I sighed softly, dropping back into my seat as I broke off the kiss and stared up into his dark eyes. His face was solemn, and then he looked like he was about to apologize, but I raised a hand to his face and ran my finger along his perfect jaw line, inspecting him like I had just discovered him for the very first time.
Something prompted me to lean forward again, raising my face just enough to place a kiss on the soft skin of his neck, just beneath the cut of his jaw. I inhaled his scent, memorizing its many facets. His fingers combed through my hair, pulling it back over my shoulder and falling toward my butt. The space between us was like kindling waiting for a lightning strike, ready to burst into flames at any instant if we weren't very, very careful.
But somewhere beyond the walls of this room, things had quieted down, and I could hear Cosma out in the hall, calling for us. Flustered, I pulled back an inch, but I let my fingertips linger on his muscular forearm for one more instant, wishing he would pull me close again and wrap those arms around me. He averted his eyes, gazing at the floor just as Cosma's harried steps came pounding down the corridor and she burst into the room, giving us both a wild look.
"Oh! You're alive! I thought you were still out there," she cried, throwing herself into Nikathy's arms.
I was embarrassed, and I had to stifle the heat that rushed to my face, turning away to study the console judiciously.
"Yes, we're alive," Nikathy said quietly. "How bad is it out there?"
There was a long silence, and it did not surprise me to hear Cosma sniffle before she said, "It's awful, Nikathy. See it for yourself."
He looked at me, and I met his eyes, very careful not to look at Cosma. I might die of shame if she caught on to what we'd been doing.
"Go ahead," I said. "I'll be here working on something. I'm afraid that trick only worked once."
He coughed and said, "As long as you're sure you'll be okay..."
I waved him away, and Cosma started babbling about his duty to his people as she led him back out the door.
In the emptiness that they left behind, I allowed myself to revisit that kiss, reaching up to touch my lips lightly with my fingertips and imagining that he was still here. I blushed when I thought of what might have happened if there had been more time.
