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"All I have are dried rations aboard my craft," Qhix interjects while pulling free another component from inside a wall panel. "The replicator aboard my ship failed long ago, and you must feed your female something other than your cock, Navik."
My entire body flushes with heat, my face erupting in flames.
Navik's cold gaze sparks with a mischievous glint. "I'll make sure you're well fed, starfire," he murmurs before returning to stripping the ship of its components.
I tear my eyes away from Navik's retreating form. The heat that blooms over my flesh has nothing to do with embarrassment. I squirm in my seat and try to focus on the screen before me.
* * *
It feelsas though I’ve sat here for hours, staring down at the empty screen. My neck is sore from looking down, and my back aches from sitting in the same position. I look around while rubbing the soreness from my neck. The bridge has been reduced to a husk, the salvaged parts taken to Qhix's hauler, when the blip of an approaching craft gains my attention. "Navik! Something's coming."
Both Navik and Qhix rush over to look at the blip blinking on my screen.
"It's the bliking Yulineon," Navik curses.
My heart skips a beat. This was the moment I've been waiting for. If the Yulineon arrests Navik, then the patroller will take me home. I won't have to wait and wonder if I can trust the word of a space pirate. But my loose plan hadn't included Qhix.
It would be two against one. Would the Yulineon be able to take on two Kauls if I make a run for the door? If the Yulineon loses the fight, what will become of me? Navik will be pissed and may decide our bargain be null and void if I try to run.
Plus, the windshield is dark so I can't see outside. Navik had called it a view screen, and with so many pillaged components, it probably no longer works. I know nothing about Yeet. Once I get out of the ship, I have no shoes, and I'll be running blind on an unknown planet.
"He's landing directly in front of us," Navik hisses. "He knows we're here."
My body hums with energy, ready to bolt. I picture the route to the exit, and how to work the controls to drop the ramp. I watched Navik's beast extend the ramp when he carried me aboard and we left Onis. I think I can repeat what he did.
Concern for my space pirate and his sivot makes me hesitate. Would Navik face a harsher punishment if the Yulineon thinks Navik abducted me from Earth?
I won't let that happen. Navik may be guilty of many things, but abduction isn't one of them. I'll have to make sure the Yulineon understands that. Had I not run into Navik on the way to the exit on Onis, I wouldn't be on this ship with him. I involved him in my escape. I can’t let him take the blame for something he didn’t do.
Before I can make my move, a deafening roar sounds out behind me, shaking the hull of the spacecraft. I cover my ears against the audible assault but I don't need to turn around to know Navik has morphed into his sivot.
Qhix stumbles backward, toppling over the console where I’m seated. He rolls once and springs to his feet, his expression a mix of shock and surprise.
"Stay here with Cora, Qhix!" the sivot's deep baritone rumbles through the bridge. “I’ll take care of the Yulineon.”
I leave my seat and whirl around in time to see Navik's beast exiting the bridge and into the narrow corridor. Qhix leaps over the console and our eyes lock. My heart lurches in my chest. I don't like the fear I see reflected there.
"Where is he going?" I ask.
"To the cargo hold," Qhix says, grabbing my hand. "Maybe you can talk some sense into his sivot before he leaves the ship."
I don't have time to make sense out of Qhix's words as he drags me from the bridge and down the narrow corridor. When we reach the end, we find a hatch in the floor that’s been thrown open. Qhix uses the rails on either side of the ladder to slide down and into the belly of the spacecraft.
Once Qhix's feet touch the floor, he reaches up for me to follow. "Hurry! We can't let him go out there unprotected."
I use the rungs to climb down as fast as I can. The blast that hits us shakes me lose and I fall, but luckily Qhix is there with lightning reflexes to grab hold of me before I hit the floor. He sets me on my feet and we race toward a wall of glass.
Qhix frantically taps on a control panel and curses, "Bliking sivot has locked me out."
On the other side of the glass wall, the alien version of a U-Haul is parked inside a cavernous space. The sivot stands before a large rectangular door in the wall that can only be the ramp.
"Navik, you'll die if you go out there!" Qhix bangs his fists against the glass wall, the clear barrier between us and Navik's beast.
"She is mine to protect, Qhix," the sivot turns and shouts back before slamming a meaty fist on a large, red button adjacent to the ramp. "You know what the Yulineon will do to her if he finds her."
Flashing red light fills the space. A warning blares sounds out and the ramp begins a slow, horizontal descent.
My stomach drops, not understanding what is happening. "Why will he die, Qhix?"
