AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The pull at her body intensified, sending her spinning around herself. Down became up and up became down, getting her completely disoriented. Breathing became a struggle almost at the same time, and the freezing cold made her teeth chatter uncontrollably.
I’m sorry, Cubbie… We’re not making it out of here, after all… At least you’re unconscious and won’t feel it happen… Dargus… would he make it? Please, God, Three, whichever higher power is listening, save him!
Her lungs seized but whether from lack of air or the coldness of space, Emilia couldn’t tell. She would die before she reached the pile of bodies over the widening hole, she realized as her vision began failing.
It’s so cold… Air… Need ai–
Warmth touched her lips, then sweet, sweet oxygen filled her mouth.
Her lungs opened, expanding with the air that kept coming. She took more of it greedily, regaining sensation in her body in the process.
There were strong arms wrapped around her waist. A body was pressed against her, keeping some of the cold at bay, Cubbie curled in between them. Soft, warm lips were pressed against hers, blowing air in her mouth.
Her vision cleared.
Two ocher eyes filled with love and concern stared back at her.
Dar!... No, no, no, what is he doing back here, is he suicidal? He’ll die along with me and Cubbie!
Emilia would have screamed in despair, if she didn’t have to preserve the air Dar had gifted her with. She had no idea how he had oxygen left for both of them, but she wouldn’t waste it. What was done was done.
We’ll die together, just like it was meant to be.
Except they were slowly floating towards theDickion, and not backwards to the hole to Spacedeathville. And when Dar turned them around in the air, Emilia saw why.
Bargus was right under them, claws digging in the dirt and pulling both himself and them along. Dar’s tail was tucked in his brother’s belt, leaving Dar, Cubbie and her attached to Bargus like a balloon on a string. It would have been funny, were it not for the dire situation they were in.
They were more than halfway to the ship when the pull of space intensified, along with the cold. She didn’t have to look back to know the frogs in guard uniforms were being sucked directly into space now. Like in that freakish scene at the end of the fourthAliensmovie.
Will the lack of oxygen kill us first, or the freezing temperature?
Emilia wanted to kiss Dar one last time, but his face was twisted in agony – the tug at his tail must be excruciating.
Bargus’ left hand lost its grip on the ground.
Emilia buried her face in Dar’s chest, unwilling to watch the end coming. She clung tight to him and Cubbie and–
They flew through the air at an impossible speed. The hole would swallow them any second–
Her body was jolted to a stop so abruptly that she bit her tongue. Then they began moving… forward?
What the hell is going on?
She tentatively opened her eyes, afraid what new horror awaited them now.
First she saw the triumphant glow in Dar’s eyes. His cheeks were puffed in an effort to preserve his last air, but there was no mistaking the happiness in his gaze.
Then she looked beyond him to discover they were flying towards the ship now, Bargus included.
They were encased in a transparent blue bubble. Attached to a line of blue light extending all the way to theDickion’s hatch. A hatch that was open and had T’kala standing there, a large device in her hands.
A tractor beam? We’re saved!
Emilia looked down at Dar again… and found his eyes closing, his arms slipping away from her body.
Oh, no, you don’t.
Emilia wrapped her legs around his waist to keep him with her and used her free hand to bring his face to hers. She had almost no oxygen left, but it would have to do.
