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MALIK
It was a stupid mistake.All of it. Bringing Cosma to the Vaclanheim. Fucking her. Taking her along on my mission. I should’ve known it was going to get messy. Torgus had warned me, after all. And wasn’t that the problem? Torgus had warned me, which meant that some insufferable part of me wanted to prove him wrong. Just once I wanted to show him I had it under control. I didn’t need him saving me anymore. Now I had to go back with my tail between my legs, and avoid him at all costs.
I brought my ship back into the docking bay and threw the top hatch open wide, but I didn’t move to exit. After a moment, Cosma seemed to realize that she was free to go, and I heard her unclasp her harness and climb past me with little more than a frustrated sigh. Her boots clomped onto the metal catwalk and faded into the distance while I still sat, twisting my hands against the control yoke until my fingers turned a pale orange from the stress.
When I could no longer hear her in the bay, I unleashed a furious snarl, equal parts anger at myself and at her. How dare she say those things to me? After I had saved her, brought her here, and taken care of her. Of course I didn’t blame her for that security beacon. Maybe I should have said that. No, it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t be spoken to like that in my own ship. They would not disrespect me, her or Torgus. Not anymore.
Snapping my headset free of my hair, I tossed it aside and climbed out of the cockpit. My mind was spinning out in a thousand different directions, seeking answers to problems I could not solve. I needed to find Mia, and I would not rest until I had her back. No more distractions. No more wasting time.
I made it to my room without passing another soul, and I slammed my door closed behind me, locking it firmly against intruders. I knew that when Cosma made it back to the infirmary, Torgus would be here to remind me I had screwed up, yet again. All I’d had to do was take her back, and I hadn’t even managed that.
Growling again, I threw myself down at the narrow workstation in the corner of my cabin and powered on my computer. I had research to do. The Sovann’ash had gotten closer, and clearly they were deploying more surveillance beacons to protect their ever-growing territory. I needed to know where they were and what they had planned.
Logging in, I pulled up the latest reports of Sovann’ash activity, scanning them quickly and making note of the locations mentioned. I still had my head down, scouring the reports, when I heard the heavy thud of Torgus’s fist on my door, knocking politely at first and then insistently.
“I know you’re in there, Malik.”
“Go away.”
“Quit being a fool and come out here. Tell me what you mean to do with the girl. You can’t just leave her here. She’s not a prisoner, and she’s not wounded, so there is no reason for her to be here at all. You’ve already broken every law of the Brotherhood by bringing her here, and as far as I can tell, you don’t have a plan. If you don’t pull your head out of your ass soon, you’re going to be thrown out and even I won’t be able to save you.”
“I don’t need your saving,” I gritted, rage building ever more volatile as I clenched my fists on the edge of the desk.
I didn’t need his saving then. I didn’t need it now. It was only his own ego that made him believe I needed him at all. As for the Brotherhood, they would either stand behind me or they wouldn’t. I was far past caring at this point. They couldn’t be compelled to help me find Mia, one of our own, and they had become complacent in allowing the Sovann’ash to close in on us. I meant to put a stop to it.
I heard a grunt of disgust and Torgus slammed a fist against my door angrily, but then he was moving away and I was left in peace.
Good.
Returning my attention to the reports, I started taking notes. I wanted to know every location where the Sovann’ash had been spotted. Every place where they’d been engaged. From there, I could roughly estimate the placement of their new beacons and plan how to avoid them. Or destroy them.
Slowly, a plan was forming in my head. If I couldn’t have Mia back, I could punish the Sovann’ash for taking her. I could spend every waking moment making their lives harder. No, I could never defeat them entirely on my own, but I could ensure that they knew better than to fuck with me and mine ever again.
The rest of the day passed in a blur, fueled entirely by my own insatiable desire to make somebody pay for my pain. There were no more knocks at my door, and when I finally tore myself away from the glow of my screen, my eyes were burning from being awake too long. Checking the time, it was the middle of the night.
I threw myself down on my bed, closing my eyes, only to see maps of the star system imprinted on the back of my eyelids. As tired as I was, I could not force myself to sleep. Not now. Not when I was finally ready to make a difference.
Eventually, sleep overtook me, and I woke early the next morning. My head was fuzzy from the night before, and I fought to remember all that I had planned in the last moments of wakefulness. There was so much to do, and if I meant to do it, I needed to do it now.
Rummaging under my bunk, I pulled out a bag, cramming my clothes into it by the fistful. I grabbed a few other personal items from the lavatory and a couple of books on the Sovann’ash for reference. Then, I stalked down to my ship and fired it up. I was pulling out of the docking bay moments later, my headset sitting on the control panel so I wouldn’t have to hear the voices of anyone who might question my intentions.
It was strange out here, flying alone with everything I owned and no one to talk to. Before, I’d always had someone behind me, and failing that, I could talk to Mia. I knew she could hear me still wherever she was. But this felt different. For all the thoughts stirring restlessly in my mind, I had to focus on the task ahead.
As I headed into the great darkness on a mission I’d assigned myself, I tried to settle my nerves. This mission gave me purpose, but it required leaving Cosma and the Vaclanheim far behind. I was going back the same way we’d gone the day before, seeking the beacon that had set off my ship’s alarms. I had an approximate idea of where it was, and an idea of how I was going to destroy it once it was in my sights. Then, I intended to wait for the drone that would almost certainly be dispatched. It was a dangerous game, but I was beyond caring. Whether I took out one or a hundred of them, it would be enough to know that I went out fighting. But I did not plan to die. Not today, at least.
Today, all I had to do was make the first kill. It would be the start of a new life for me, a mission I assigned myself that gave me purpose. That was what Torgus was always saying I needed, right? I needed a purpose. Something bigger than finding Mia. Well, now he could be happy. And maybe Cosma will come to understand, too. I may never be a good enough man to have a woman like her, but maybe she will appreciate that I am doing my part to stop our common enemy. That has to be worth something.
I shove those thoughts away. I need to focus. That beacon is out there somewhere, waiting for me. I need to be on alert.
There’s a squealing sound, and I eyed my headset. I knew I should put it on. It was dangerous to be out here without contact, but I reached up and flicked off my radio and the headset fell silent. Whatever they wanted, I could not afford the distraction now.
15
COSMA
“What doyou mean he’s not answering? Try again. He has to be out there somewhere. Maybe he just didn’t hear you the first time!”
I knew I was wrong. Malik snuck out before anyone else was awake, leaving me behind without a word. He was angry with me, and I supposed that was fair. But that did nothing to ease the tension that was building inside me. Wherever he was going, I needed to know that he was safe, if only because he was my only hope of getting out of this place.
