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“Don’t expect me to cover for you.” His friend leaves us alone with nothing more than a snort of exasperation and swish of his scaly tail.
Aarth is practically salivating. I put down my drink.
“Look at that, little toy,” he says, showing me his sharp yellow teeth with a lecherous grin. “It’s just you and I . . .”
This is my best chance, I decide. I won’t be left alone here, and more will come back to eat meals throughout the day. I don’t waste any more time thinking over the options.
He’s leaning my way to either grope or kiss me. I put on a flirtatious smile and slip my hand inside the front of my flight suit. He’s hissing with interest, expecting me to show him what I have to offer under my clothes.
And I do.
I pull out the pirate’s gun and stun the lizard with a shot to the belly.
“Wha—” He slumps, surprise written in his reptilian eyes.
I tap the spine of the gun lovingly before stowing it back into my harness. I drag my victim to the laundry chute, heft him over my back, and drop his body down and away.
I rush toward to the emergency hatch and its green sign, knowing there’s no guarantee of how much time I’ll have to launch this ship. I lift the door and hop down into the dark cavity, latching the door shut behind me. Lights within the wall panels create an orange glow. The air inside is stuffy from being sealed tight for so long. The emergency pod entrance might be a small shaft, but the circular room below is large enough to accommodate between five and ten escapees.
It’s equipped with an AI that starts addressing me in Alliance-Common about safety protocols.
“Shhh,” I whisper, worried that others will hear the computer system. “Lower volume?”
“Volume lowered.” It recognizes my language and switches to English to suit my needs. “Desire for stealth detected. Is this an incognito launch? If so, please confirm.”
“Yes! Incognito,” I say. “Please quickly launch this pod without being detected.”
“A launch can be performed without flagging the bridge within the next eighty taps,” the computer informs me. I don’t know what taps are, but I hope it’s closer to seconds than minutes.
“Yes. Go. Confirm.”
“Additional confirmations are not required. Commencing launch.”
I climb up to the door hatch to watch for any pirates. The last thing I need is for one of the crew to sneak up on me in the middle of an escape. I hear nothing at first, all the while hoping that the “taps” are passing quickly.
“Forty taps until launch,” the computer updates me, just as I hear the door to the common area swipe open.
“Aarth!” A voice calls. “You in here? There’s a fight brewing, and I guarantee it’ll be a good one.”
“He’s not here,” another says. “He probably ran off with the Kar’Kali’s female.”
“He’s crazy. I wouldn’t touch her. I tried to tell that bastard she might be diseased, but he wouldn’t listen. If that’s true though, Varger will be disappointed.”
“Grab a drink for me too,” one of the voices says.
“Varger will fight the Kar’Kali regardless. But once he’s done that and looking for the female for his revenge . . . I just don’t know if he’ll kill her or keep her.”
“Either way, Aarth will have a problem if he’s got her now. . .”
The door swipes shut again.
My heart is in the pit of my stomach. That guy I stabbed must be after Niko. He wants his revenge on me and he’s looking to start a fight right now. Right now, when I’ve left Niko tied up in his room with no gun and an unlocked door.
That’s no way to die. And Niko doesn’t deserve to die, even if he’s a good for nothing pirate that presumes to be my magical alien boyfriend for some reason.
Oh, and I already stabbed him a couple of times. Fighting with blood loss after you’ve been stunned unconscious for the better part of a day probably won’t help.
“Ten taps until launch. Please strap in to one of the designated benches—”
