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I scooped her up in my arms and ran at the gaping hole in the roof.
Maddy tensed.
“Why don’t we take the stairs?” she screamed.
“Because I’ve seen what supposedly unconscious bodies can do,” I said. “It’s not pretty.”
I leaped through the hole and fell to the ground below. A fall like that might have broken my legs if I landed badly. But my system was pumped with two of the most powerful drugs in the known universe.
Pure adrenaline. But it was a poor substitute for its far more potent elder brother.
Love.
Anything was possible when I had her in my arms. I’d proven that much today already.
The sky’s fringes bloomed with early morning light when we reached the clearing where the shuttlecraft awaited us.
I was beginning to wonder if it would be there once our green arrows consumed the blinking orange on our monitors. I was relieved to find she was. Light blinked off the cockpit window and gleamed along both wingtips.
She was there and she was in great shape.
We stood on the peak of a bulging mound of earth that wrapped around the flat grassy plain. That was to conceal it from passers-by who might have spotted it by accident.
I cast an eye over the area. Wind whispered over grass damp with dew. The birds were silent, done with their hunting duties for the night.
I leaned forward and spoke in Maddy’s ear.
“We’re here,” I said.
She’d fallen asleep during the journey. I’d almost joined her. The problem with adrenaline hitting your system full pelt was you ended up having to pay for the boost later. A debt was owed and it never failed to take payment.
I’d never been so tired my entire life.
With the two of us sharing a single arjath, I couldn’t push him too hard. We traveled the majority of the distance at a fair pace, taking regular breaks for the creature to rest, eat, and recuperate. He was a good beast for helping us and I wouldn’t see him suffer for our sake.
I climbed off him and lifted Maddy free. I removed the harness from the arjath and gently smacked the creature on the ass.
“Get on, get out of here,” I said softly. “Go be free.”
The arjath cast a single look at us before taking off over the endless rolling hills. He didn’t need to be told twice. I hoped he would live a good, long life.
Maddy yawned with her whole face.
“We should get to the ship,” she said. “It might fade away like a mirage.”
I smiled and hugged her close. I kissed her on the forehead.
“We’re okay,” I said. “No one knows we’re here. We’ll be away before you know it.”
“Where will we go?” she asked. “Earth is too far to travel in such a small ship.”
“We could go to my home planet,” I said. “Then we can plan what we’ll do from there. You’ll love it there. It’s so beautiful. Especially early in the morning like this.”
I considered my next words very carefully.
“And when we get there… there’s something I need to tell you,” I said. “Something about me and the things I’ve done. I wasn’t sure before but now we’re about to leave, I know it’s the right thing to do.”
She tried to gauge my expression and figure out what I needed to say. But she could never guess. Not in a million years.
