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I couldn’t shake him free. It was like he was shackled to my mind.
That look of his broke my heart and the tears rolled down my cheeks.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry.
I raised my chin and breathed deeply. I glanced ahead and noticed the Changeling pilots were busy surveying our location. It was a small mercy they hadn’t noticed me blubbing in the back. I wiped my eyes on a baggy sleeve.
Focus on the good, I told myself. Focus on the things I looked forward to.
I was excited about seeing my friends again. It wouldn’t be long before this whole thing was well and truly behind us. I thought about the story I would weave them. They would wake up from their pods, groggy with sleep the same way I had. I would pretend to wake from my pod too, I decided. It made explaining everything a lot easier.
How lucky they were, to wake up and feel like it had been nothing but a bad dream. I would have to live the rest of my life knowing there was more out there—a whole lot more—and not be able to share it with anyone.
Maybe I could tell Alice about it, under the guise it was a dream, so she might write about it. At least then it wouldn’t be forgotten.
The Changeling pilots made chittering noises to each other. It caught my attention because my translator strip should have made it audible to me. That meant it was either not working or…
The hairs stood up on the back of my neck.
They didn’t want me to hear what they were saying.
The pilot glanced back at me in the passenger seat. I’d taken the straps off the moment we escaped the atmosphere. It felt too confining. The look on the creature’s face was one I recognized. It looked like the sneer S’lec-Quos wore the day we agreed our deal.
And when the pilot brought his arm out, I acted instinctively and rushed forward. I seized the blaster pistol between us.
The jerk sent a red-hot bolt out the end that flew, as if in slow motion, into his co-pilot’s chest. He barely made a sound before his head dropped forward and he was gone.
The pilot peered at his dead friend. He drew his eyes to me. They blazed with liquid fury as he dropped the pistol and wrapped his hands around my neck.
“You bitch!” he wailed.
I fell back as he fell on top of me.
He pressed harder with all his strength—thankfully he didn’t match a Titan but he was more than strong enough to finish the job.
My next breath struggled to reach my lungs. I kicked against him, coughing and wheezing to get a little leverage.
He squeezed harder and applied more pressure.
I beat at his arms but they were rock solid. I scratched at his face with my nails.
It only made him angrier. He pressed harder.
Was this how I was going to go? Was this how I was going to die? On the floor of a shuttle heading home?
No.
I scrabbled around for the blaster pistol. It’d fallen this way. I was sure of it.
Black spots danced in my vision and I could barely remain conscious.
My hands tapped something hard. It moved beneath my fingertips.
I hoped it was what I thought it was.
I had no time to check.
