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He nodded to his front breast pocket.
I hesitated. He might try something.
“Look that way,” I said.
I shifted the pistol to my left hand and pressed the tip to his gut. I reached into his pocket with my right. I never took my eyes from his or the cruel smile on his face.
I withdrew the packet, lit the cigarette with a purple lighter, and handed it to him. I would flat out refuse if he wanted me to put it in his mouth for him—I’d seen the kind of teeth and claws these creatures could mimic. He didn’t ask and managed to put it in his mouth. He sucked on the little smoking stick and let out a slow, relaxed breath.
“So?” I said. “Why did you try to kill me?”
“Because…” the Changeling said, struggling to take another puff. “You should never trust a Changeling.”
He chuckled before his head drooped forward and the cigarette doused itself in his blood.
I leaned back and considered what he’d said.
Never trust a Changeling.
They never had the briefest intention of keeping their side of the bargain. Why would they? I was disposable. They would kill me or take me to a prison where I couldn’t escape.
Or worse.
I shivered. This whole time, I’d been working under the illusion these creatures might actually have a shred of decency.
I was wrong.
I climbed into the pilot seat and grimaced at the figure lying in the co-pilot chair.
“Computer,” I said, mimicking the Changelings’ earlier commands. “Take me to…”
Earth. It was home and none of these creatures would ever find me there. I could take this shuttlecraft back with me and learn to backward engineer it. I would become the world’s richest person overnight. I could have everything I ever wanted.
But it would be at the expense of knowing I gave up on my friends, the Titans, and most of all, Kal.
It was pretty clear now S’lec-Quos didn’t have my friends. They probably never did. It was just something to make me do what they wanted.
And that meant everything else they told me wasn’t worth believing either.
Never trust a Changeling.
They would feed Kal to the sand serpent, where he would be consumed in agonizing pain over the course of a thousand years.
And the Titans…
They would become nothing more than slaves. No new freedom, no sense of justice.
In aiding the Changelings, I was as guilty as they were for their crimes.
Worse, I had enabled them.
And did I really think I could sleep a wink at the thought of a proud species being turned into slaves?
The alternative was to head back, to race to Kal’s rescue, and put my life on the line. In all likelihood, I would probably fail.
Guaranteed untold riches and restless sleep on one hand, a tiny chance of success and happiness on the other.
“Computer, take us back to Innel,” I said.
