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32
NIKATHY
"What the hell was that?" I screamed into my radio, already out of breath from the exertion of dodging so many fighters.
Some new ship had joined the fight, and it appeared to be the source of the explosion. I wanted to call and give them my thanks, but no matter how many times I hailed them, nobody answered.
Then I saw the cannon, mounted awkwardly beneath the little ship, offset by another weapon that looked equally out of place on its wing. This was Rhiannon's doing, but that didn't answer the question of who was flying the thing. Perhaps she had found someone to help her down on the ground. Or maybe she had stopped a ship that was refueling at the port and offered to gear them up for the fight. Anything was possible.
Strangely, when the large ship lost power and went quiet, the Patrol fighters seemed to lose interest. Immediately, they pulled back, circling their injured ship protectively. For the first time in several very long minutes, I was able to relax enough to take a deep breath. Tension knotted my shoulders.
As I puzzled over whether or not I should follow the fighters back and try picking one or two of them off, a voice came through my headset.
"Sorry it took me so long to get here," Rhiannon's voice came out sheepishly.
"Rhiannon? How did you-" My heart leapt up into my throat. She was here. She hadn't given up on me, even if I probably deserved it. She had kept her head down and done her job, just like she had ever since I'd met her.
"Let's see. Some jerk left me sitting on top of a mountain, but I thought to myself,to hell with that, I want in on the fighting.So I stole, err... borrowed this ship, and did a little engineering of my own to make it work. What do you think?"
She had dropped the sweet facade and now she was just being sarcastic. But I didn't care, because she had come for me.
"Well," she added. "Aren't you going to thank me?"
By now, she had pulled her ship up alongside mine, grinning at me through the glass with a wild-eyed triumph that I had never before seen on her face. She was so startlingly beautiful I let my jaw hang open and forgot that we were speaking through radios altogether.
"Th-thank you, Rhiannon. I owe you a great debt, for saving me and my city."
"You're welcome. Now let's get back down there so we can clean up this mess. You should see how much junk they dropped down there."
I was still so in awe of her ingenuity and quick thinking, I could do little more than follow her lead. Somewhere up above, I could hear the rapid staccato of Herod and Adreax driving off the Patrol's last few fighters with their guns. When they were done, I was sure they would board the larger ship and take care of any stragglers. After all, that was all they'd been doing for the last year or so.
I brought my ship down to the ground, stopping on the tarmac, and as soon as I was clear of the runway, I jumped out of my ship. Rhiannon had a harder time bringing her ship down, but after a few bumps, she managed to bring it to a halt as well. I ran to her, hoisting the door open before she had even shut the engine off, holding out my hand to her to help her down from the cockpit.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, I wrapped her in my arms, stroking her head and planting a kiss on top of her head. Her hands snaked around my back, holding me close, and I could feel her quaking with relief as she leaned into me.
"You're okay," she muttered over and over, pressing her face into my chest.
"Of course I'm okay," I answered. I placed two fingers under her chin and lifted her face so I could stare into her worried eyes, and then I placed my lips on hers and kissed her more deeply than I ever had before.
We stood locked in that embrace for several long minutes, and when I finally broke the kiss to take a breath, I did the only thing I knew to do. I bent, slipped one arm under her, and scooped her up so that I was cradling her whole body against my chest, just like the very first time I'd met her. She looked up at me in surprise, but a smile landed on her lips, and I would never let her go again. I would sweep her off her feet every day if I could.
"I'd like you to come back to my estate," I said, a little too stiffly as my heart raced.
"I think I'd like that," she remarked casually, but she laced her hands behind my neck and leaned up to press her soft lips into the flesh along my collar bone, leaving behind traces of emotion every time she pulled away. I could feel the intensity of her devotion emanating from her, and I wanted nothing more than to return it to her, forever.
