Kate
Gorrard’s arm seems to explode before us. Blood splatters my face. There is a strange and surreal second where my brain struggles to process what just happened. We were sitting and talking only seconds ago… and now chaos. Everything was silent and then… the silences shatters violently.
Rennek’s chair shoots out from under him as he pushes forward onto all fours. He lets loose one of those deafening lion’s roars. His body is so massive, especially with his wings spread, he seems to cover both Gorrard and I completely, shielding us from danger.
I dive forward as Gorrard falls from his chair. He is nearly as massive as my man, so it’s a struggle to help him gently to the ground. I have to help him. I look at his arm. It’s hard to tell what’s going on there, it’s a mess and bleeding profusely. I need to make a tourniquet. I start ripping at my hem and I’m vaguely aware of the sounds of lasers whizzing past us. Rennek flips the metal table over to cover Gorrard and I before he bounds away. I hear screams in his wake.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay Gorrard,” I tell the Vendari man over and over. He growls viciously in response. I work madly to tie off his arm.
“Our people, long ago…” he breathes hard. “We were warriors. We fought with honor and only to protect the weak. It was our purpose. To serve, to watch, to protect.” He tells me as he watches me work. “Generations have passed since we were last able to follow those instincts. To live by the old ways is an honor. To die by them is a privilege.” I look up into his eyes now, confused by what he is saying.
“Take this,” he pulls the pendant from his neck. “It has the coordinates of Elysia and a chip with all my scanning data.”
“Gorrard, you’re going to be fine. We just need to get you to a hospital,” I tell him, but he forces the pendant into my hands.
“You will make a wonderful queen. It has been my honor,” he says, then he is up on his feet. He lets out a battle cry before he drops down onto three legs and leaps into the fray. Laser shots are still flying past me as I crouch behind the table. I cover my head and ears, but my eyes go to the other side of the room. The singer, the blue one with hair like medusa and a voice like water, lays sprawled across the small stage… a hole in her chest.
I fumble frantically for my charger. The table flies out from behind me and Rennek is there. He throws me onto his back, between his wings and I grip him around his neck. We are escaping.
The noise fades as we race through a kitchen in the back of the bar, but as soon as we exit the building we see the chaos from within has spilled out into the plaza. Rennek shoots two aliens as we speed past them, his tail whips and slices three more. He keeps running.
When we get far enough away, Rennek sets me down and we walk side by side, hurriedly through the crowd. He keeps his grip on me tight. We walk like this for a few paces before I venture to find my voice. “Where are we going?”
“The rendezvous point. We have been compromised, it is not safe to return to the inn,” he tells me and I think of Allison.
“Maybe it was just us? Bounty hunters happened to recognized you and thought to turn you in?”
“It was not,” he dismisses.
“How do you know?”
“The males I killed, the ones who fired on us. They were UPC.” His face is unreadable as he tells me this.
“How could you tell?” I ask. “I mean, I didn’t see much, but I didn’t see any uniforms.”
“Their weapons, their training. I know it well enough.”
“I don’t understand… did an off-duty officer recognize you or something?” I reason. “I thought they just wanted you for questioning.”
“There should be no UPC in dark space. They do not patrol here. There is some other reason those men were here Kate, a reason they attacked us. I do not understand yet, but it is not safe to go back to the inn.”
“But Da’vi and Allison?”
“We must trust them to take care of themselves,” he says pulling me along. He’s walking quickly, which means I’m running to keep up.
“Wait, Rennek. I need to catch my breath for a second,” I beg. I feel a little dumb, since he carried me ninety percent of the way. To be fair though, his legs cover a lot more ground than mine do. He stops patiently and places a big hand on the back of my neck. He kisses my forehead before resuming his watchful survey of the bustling crowds around us. I notice we are back in the section of the space station that has shops. We must be near the kabob place.
“That was scary,” I tell him. “Do you think Gorrard…” my voice catches. Rennek strokes my hair but doesn’t answer right away.
“He aided me in protecting you. He bought us time to escape. His sacrifice will not be forgotten. Come, Kate. We must keep moving.”
I swallow a sob at his response but the words steel my resolve and I press on.
“Look, is that the kabob place?” We see it just ahead of us. I scan the surrounding area. I hope to see our friends waiting for us, but I don’t see Allison or Da’vi. But… I do hear them.
Laser shots erupt ahead of us. The crowd parts and everyone begins to scatter, running to safety. Rennek crouches low and throws me onto his back again. I feel a little bit like a rag doll. I cling to his neck and peek over his shoulder. As the crowd parts, I see Da’vi and Allison running full speed towards us. Da’vi is firing in the direction they came from and I see at least half a dozen aliens in pursuit.
Rennek kicks over a nearby kiosk to block us and starts firing his own gun--providing cover to our fast approaching friends. Allison actually beats Da’vi to us. She slides to a stop and dives behind the kiosk with us.
“We’ve got good news and bad news,” she shouts. “The bad news is a little obvious--” she nods towards the fire fight.
“What’s the good news?” I shout. Just then Da’vi reaches us, but he isn’t alone. Rennek’s brother, Tennir, slides in beside us.
“To the hanger, now!” Tennir commands and we are up and running again before we even have a chance for introductions.
“Why does she get a ride?” Allison complains and before she can finish her sentence Da’vi throws her over his shoulder and continues to run--seemingly unburdened by his load. “Whoa! I was kidding!” She shouts, but he doesn’t put her down, and she doesn’t try to fight it either.
Tennir is leading the way now and most of the gunfire has died down, but there are still a few pursuing us. Every so often one of the guys pauses to shoot a couple rounds behind us. I’m recognizing where we are now. I can see where the pods are just up ahead. Red lights flash along the walls and a siren blares. The previously crowded area of the station now looks like a ghost town. Everyone has taken cover to avoid our little party.
Just before we round the final corner leading to our escape a new batch of pursuers cut us off. We screech to a halt--literally, because Rennek’s claws drag big gauges into the metal floors. Before our guys can do anything to defend us another bunch bursts through a doorway. We’re finished. There are too many of them, I think immediately. But then a miracle happens. The guys who burst through the door don’t turn their guns on us. They spread out between us and our hunters and start laying down cover. Rennek and the guys don’t even question it. They just run. I look back to try to make sense of what’s happening. Then I recognize two of the men protecting us. They are the guys from Gorrard’s bar. My heart had been ready to give up, I thought we were dead. I struggle to breath without sobbing my relief. We aren’t dead yet. We might still make it.
I see the pod. The rest is a blur. Everyone scrambles aboard. The men are shouting. We are buckled in. Then, the speed we hit makes my stomach try to cuddle with my spine. The men worry we’ll be followed, but the seconds tick by and nothing happens. Gorrard’s friends saved us. We hustle to the ship and Rennek is shouting orders to everyone. Dax jumps on navigation and we rocket the hell out of Dodge.