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Nighteko snapped off a thigh and handed it to me.
Don’t think about what it looks like, I told myself. Just eat it. It’s just a big chicken drumstick, that’s all.
Once I was done, I wiped the grease from my lips. “What do we do now?”
“We’re going to get my ship back,” Nighteko said. “Then I can take you home. That was our deal.”
I looked at him incredulously. “How are we going to get your ship back? They’re out there somewhere in the galaxy and we’re down here eating lemur meat.”
He cocked his head to the side. Lemur? “I’m close to earning the money I need to stop smuggling. Then I can quit. Plus, my crew shouldn’t get away with what they did to me. They didn’t beat me. That’s the code. One of them has to beat me. I’m still officially the ship’s captain and nothing they do or say can change that. It’s mine.”
“Even if you get your ship back, they’ll Challenge you again.”
“By then, I’ll be at full strength. Then I can beat them all.”
“You can do that?”
He nodded. “I can.”
I felt certain a male of his size and strength could do pretty much anything he wanted. Only an idiot would want to stand in his way.
“We’re heading through the jungle,” he said, “to Klaxxon. When we get there, I’ll hitch a ride on a ship working as a crew member, until I get to Rogiz 4.”
“Rogiz 4?” I said. “What’s that?”
“That’s where they’ll head after they get back control of the ship and deal with the Changelings.”
I noticed a conspicuous hole in his plan. It was me-shaped. “What about me? I don’t know how to work on a ship. I can barely cook.”
He placed his giant hams on my shoulders. “You won’t be coming with me. It’s better if I go alone. Then I don’t have to worry about keeping you safe. And I would worry. A lot.”
Alarm bells rang in my head. “You’re leaving me here? What if you don’t come back?”
He looked me in the eye sternly. “You must trust me. I will come back for you. Then I’ll take you home. That was our deal.”
I didn’t like the idea of being left on an alien planet. Anything could happen to me. Or to him. Maybe he wouldn’t find his crew for years. Or he would, but then fail to defeat them. Then he’d be left for dead on a distant planet. And I would be left here waiting for him.
I shook my head. “I can’t do that.”
“You have to. We’ll find you a job in the city where you can work and save up. Eventually, you’ll earn enough for a ticket back to Earth. But that won’t happen. It’s only a backup plan.”
People needed backup plans because there was always a chance the main plan would fail.
“I’m not waiting here,” I said, knowing I likely had little other option.
“We’ll talk more about it later,” he said and lowered his lips to kiss me.
I turned away.
He sighed, not angry, but unsure what to do. “Come. We must pass through the jungle before nightfall. It’s not a safe place to be in the dark.”
Well, there’s a surprise.
I considered my options. I had precious few to choose from. I had to get him to change his mind, to make him see we worked best when we stuck together.
I stepped into the jungle and followed his broad back.
When sunlight failed to permeate the thick overhead canopy, it was like a solar eclipse. Strange creatures hooted, howled, and screeched. Eyes glowed. Some yellow, some green, some red, others flashed every color of the rainbow.
