Bane

Elena is asleep when I slip out of the room to get an update on our progress to the planet Nimbus. She’s really tired lately; she’s pregnant and then on top of that, all of this stress has taken a lot out of her. I don’t know if I’ll get over the guilt I feel from handing her over to Phantom, but I plan on spending the rest of our lives trying. At least now we can both be here to see what the future holds. Prior to all of this, our situation was bleak.

“Oh, hey. Were you able to smooth things over?” Vruzzy asks when I sit in the seat next to him.

“I hope so. Time will tell.” It’s just Vruzzy and another one of his mates on the bridge right now. The rest are most likely resting up for when they’re needed for the next part of our journey. “Everything’s quiet?” I ask.

“So far. Give it a few more hours and I’d say we’re in the clear.” He reaches over and presses a few buttons on the panel in front of him. Blue light illuminates in front of us, followed a moment later by a very life-like map. “This is where we are right now,” he says pointing, “and this is where we need to go. It would be faster if we could utilize hyperspace, but that uses too much fuel. Something we weren’t able to accommodate with the late plans.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem as long as we’re not being followed. How long until we reach Nimbus?”

“Another few days.”

“That’s not so bad.” He reaches out and presses another button. The screen in front of us immediately vanishes, leaving us with nothing more than the lights on the panels and the view of space around us. “You think you’ll stay for a while?” I ask him.

He looks over at me with a look that could possibly be described as amusement. “Yeah, why not? I can do what I do from pretty much anywhere. At least in this galaxy, the systems we use are all interchangeable.”

I nod at him and smile.

“And what about you?” he continues. “Do you plan on working as a bounty hunter again?”

“I don’t see how. It’s not like I would ever work for Phantom again.”

“Well, you could do some work on your own. You don’t need to answer to anyone like him.”

“Honestly, I want to stay as far away from that life as possible. This is my chance to start over, with Elena and the baby. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”

Vruzzy’s quiet. After a while he says, “Eventually, Phantom is going to come looking for you. With everything you know, hell, everything that Elena knows, he’s going to have to find a way to keep all of the secrets from spilling out.”

“I know.” I exhale loudly. I’ve been tossing a few ideas around in my head from the very beginning. I always knew we’d end up back here. “He always takes care of loose ends.”

“That he does,” Vruzzy says. We sit there again enjoying the quiet of the night and the emptiness of space. I couldn’t be more surprised when I hear Elena’s voice from behind us.

“So, he’ll come looking for us? Ambassador Chualhi?”

We both turn around, surprised.

“Elena,” I say, standing up and going to her. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was,” she says, putting her hand over mine when I grasp her shoulders. “I woke up after a dream and couldn’t remember where I was for a moment. I needed to see you to make sure you were still here.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, leaning in and pressing my forehead to hers. I rub her cheek with my hand, never getting used to the incredibly soft, velvet feel of her skin. “Let me take you back to bed.”

I take her arm and start to lead her out when she stops. “Thanks Vruzzy,” she says. “Thanks for helping Bane get me out of there.”

“You’re welcome,” he says. “And to be fair…I’d say it was more like Bane was helping me. But, it’s fine, it doesn’t really matter.” He waves his hand, dismissing himself or his comments…who knows.

“Vruzzy,” I say, impatiently. But I’m surprised when Elena laughs.

“Well, however it went down, I’m grateful to you both.” She’s still smiling when I lead her back down the hallway to our little room. For a moment I think she’s forgotten about our talk of Phantom, when she brings it up again.

“So how long do we have until Chualhi comes looking for us?”

“I don’t know,” I tell her, directing her back into the bed. “And you don’t have anything to worry about. We’re going to Nimbus because it will be much harder for anyone to track us there.”

“But someday when we least expect it, he could show up? We’ll have to live our lives always looking behind us?”

“No, of course not.”

“Maybe it would have been best to leave me there. Now we’ll always wonder if the governments of Kosmora or Earth are looking for us. For research purposes or to make sure we’ll always stay quiet about what we know.”

“Don’t say that.” I lean down in front of her while she sits on the bed, looking right into her eyes. “I have a plan. Vruzzy, regardless of what he says, is going to help us blow the top off of all of this.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, looking at me skeptically.

“Vruzzy can manipulate any computer system or network in the galaxy. Once we reach Nimbus, he will upload your story along with all of the files we stole from the research facility and send it off to all of the right people on Earth and on Kosmora. The public will know exactly what’s going on and we won’t have to worry about hiding to keep our secrets because they’ll be well known by then.”

“Oh my God, Vruzzy can get the story to Earth? I didn’t think that was possible unless we were closer. Otherwise I could have done it from Kosmora.”

“Well, Nimbus is closer to Earth. A different direction, but in the end, closer. He said he can do it and I believe him. He’s the smartest guy I know. Don’t tell him I said that, of course.”

Elena smiles, looking relieved for the first time since we took her out of the facility. “That’s wonderful news.”

“Of course, if you want to go back to Earth, we can take you. I just can’t go with you.”

She’s quiet, looking me over with a strange look on her face. “I would never just leave you. I can’t,” she says. Her words make me feel hopeful inside for the first time in a long time. She puts her hands on my chest, just over my heart.

“I don’t know how it happened, but you have my heart. And not just because your child grows inside of me. There’s something between us, something that just feels right. Do you feel it too?” The hopeful look in her eyes is almost my undoing.

“Of course I feel it too.” I lean in and kiss her. And this time the kiss is more of a promise of what’s to come instead of a symbol of a good-bye. “Whatever happens, I want you, and this baby.” I place my hand gently on her stomach and look into her eyes. We’re fleeing to another planet and yet, this could be one of the happiest moments of my life.

“Thank God,” she says. She smiles with relief and wraps her arms around my neck. “So we travel to Nimbus, Vruzzy sends my story and our files back to Earth and Kosmora, we expose this entire conspiracy and then settle in and get ready for this baby.”

“That makes it all sound very easy, but that’s the plan.” I run my hand over her hair, calming her and reassuring her that everything is going to work out. When we’re close like this and alone it only takes moments for my desire for her to take over. I lean in and kiss her again, this time lying her back on the bed. “I know a way to help you relax so you can sleep.” I spread her legs and settle myself between them, pressing my hard cock against her warm, inviting pussy.

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” she says, slowly pulling my shirt over my head. I reciprocate the gesture, pulling her plain white gown over her head and pushing it out of our way. I rub her pussy on the outside of her panties, savoring the warmth. Further down, her panties are wet through.

“I love how wet you are for me.” I rub her there while she works to remove my pants. I slip my hand under the light fabric, spreading her wet lips with my fingers to get at her hot core. I’m getting so close to taking her again when we’re interrupted by the comms system.

“Bane,” Vruzzy’s voice says through the speaker. “We’ve got company.”