Chapter Sixteen

GABRIELLA

"Morning. Can I come in?"

The cot squeaked as I rolled to my side. A hulking shadow hovered outside the tent opening. I sat up on the bed and smoothed my hair, which was still messy from sleep.

"Go ahead."

Dallas leaned down and slipped in through the tent flaps. He was the only one of Laz's crew that wasn't Maztek. His shoulders were as broad as the hood of a car, and he overshadowed the rest of the soldiers. His injured wing was out of the cast and in its last stages of healing, but he still couldn't fold it to his back.

"How did you sleep last night?" He had the voice of a gentle giant – a deep baritone, but subtly inflected with a hint of calmness.

"It wasn't the cold, hard ground, so I guess I can't complain."

His stark white eyes glowed as he grinned. "I assure you, the sleeping arrangements back home are much better than here." He dug inside his big uniform, which was tailored to his body size. Taking out a sealed brown package, he handed it to me. "The General wanted to make sure you had some breakfast. It's not a big meal, but it should tide you over for now."

"Thank you so much." I ripped open the packet and bit into the flaky yellow pastry. My tongue was pleasantly surprised at the gooey pink filling that tasted like vanilla and caramel custard. "Where is Laz – I mean, the General, anyway?"

"He's outside, planning our entry with the rest of the team. We think we've figured out a different way to enter and will proceed as soon as reinforcements arrive. It shouldn't be long now."

"Thanks for the information." I finished up the rest of my pastry and licked the crumbs off my fingers. "I couldn't get anything out of Laz."

They say females have a knack for giving the cold shoulder, but I've learned that males are equally proficient. Laz wasn't exactly ignoring me, but he had gone back to his simple, one-word replies. I knew he didn't want me to be on Xylox still, but I felt like I didn't have a choice.

I wouldn't have been able to live myself if I abandoned Cheyenne. Even if I couldn't be part of the rescue operation, I felt better knowing I was on the planet for her. I wondered if I would die here in a useless sacrifice. It would be an ironic death. Dad didn't have to die, but he was too noble to protect himself. If the extraction failed, I might suffer a similar fate.

Dallas broke the silence and nodded his head. "Give the General some time. He'll come around sooner or later. If it counts for anything, I understand why you decided to stay here. He does too. It may not have been a wise decision, but it was honorable."

"I don't even know her that well. We met on the flight over here."

"Many honorable actions are founded on stupidity."

"Thanks, I think."

Before Dallas could reply, a Maztek I hadn't seen before appeared by the tent entrance. The bright-faced and clean-shaven stranger wore combat gear, but unlike what I had seen before, gold and silver trimmings embellished his. The weapons in his belt were gilded and seemed more elaborate than the others I had seen, but they looked well-used.

Dallas pounded his fist against his chest and stomped his feet before saluting the stranger.

"King Jacquim."

I had just woken up. I wanted to look my best for royalty, but I knew my hair was a mess, and my face was probably puffy. Panicking, I jumped off the bed and dropped to my knees, sprawling over in a deep bow.

"You must be Gabriella. You don't have to do that. Please, stand up."

I stumbled as the king held out his arm and helped me to my feet. As King Jacquim chuckled, his perfect white-blond waves bounced around his strong, dimpled chin. I chewed on my lip and started rambling.

"Sorry, I've never actually met royalty before, Your Highness. Do I even call you 'Your Highness'? Or would you prefer 'Your Excellency'?"

"That's all nonsense," said the King, flicking his wrist. The King's amber eyes shone as he flashed me perfect rows of pearly white teeth. "You do not come from Maztek, so there should be no reason for you to refer to me as anything but Jacquim. If you must, King is more than adequate."

"As you wish, Your – uh – King Jacquim."

The king stepped aside from the opening as Laz popped into the tent as well. It was starting to get crowded in here. Laz's eyes widened briefly at the unexpected sight of the king, but he quickly regained himself and greeted him.

"King Jacquim. I wasn't aware you were joining us on this mission. Is it wise to risk the King's life in this manner?"

"I would not miss it for the world. We're not going to give in on any of Synic's demands while I'm still alive. This war has gone on for too long. With your help, it may end today."

"For now, there's food and drink waiting for you all in Delta-4B. We could all use the nourishment."

"Dallas, take Gabriella with you," said Laz, retreating out of the tent. "Excuse me. I have other business to attend to."

No one would ever accuse the Maztek military of being undisciplined. At 8:30 p.m. on the dot, the crew set out. Maztek soldiers filed into five separate military shuttles. Once they bolted the doors, the state-of-the-art spacecraft silently launched from the ground and zipped off into the night. Laz and I were left behind to follow suit in the two-seater Xylo shuttle his men had salvaged.

I slung my satchel over my shoulder and approached Laz from behind. The hatch on the side of the shuttle was open. He squatted next to the doorway, flipping switches and opening control boxes to make sure everything was working.

"Laz."

He glanced over his shoulder at me before returning to his last minute tasks.

"You ready?"

"I think so." I pulled my satchel in front of me and drew out a container filled with military rations I had packed for him. "You never showed up to the party. It's going to be a big night. Accomplishing anything on an empty stomach is hard. I know, I've been there."

"You didn't have to do that." Laz turned back to face me. He raised one eyebrow as he accepted the container. "But thank you. I'll eat this later."

"It's not a problem. I'm your wife now." I said lightly. "You've been watching out for me for so long that I better start doing the same for you. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think so. I'm just wrapping up here." Laz reached for something on the wall and hopped out of the shuttle, holding a weapon. He tossed it to me.

"This is for you."

I yelped and dove for the gun. The brassy rose-gold pistol was heavier than I expected.

"Don't worry. The safety is engaged. You're going to have to wait in one of the shuttles until we return, so I'm giving you a lightweight pistol for protection. It's not the most powerful weapon we have in stock, but it should be enough to protect you without my worrying that you'll accidentally kill yourself. I'm going to leave it with you in case anything happens. Have you ever fired a gun?"

I shook my head, feeling a chill of intimidation.

"I went to a shooting range once after one of my fights with Jake to blow off some steam, but I was horrible at it. I'm not great at the aiming thing. I wouldn't trust me with a water gun."

Laz cracked his first smile of the day. "Fortunately for you, there's a stabilizing feature built into this model. Come with me."

Laz walked behind the shuttle and set up five empty cans. He stood a good distance way from the targets and motioned me to come closer. I walked up to him, pointing the gun at the ground, holding it with both hands. My rattling heart pounded harder against my chest when Laz positioned himself behind me. Did he have to stand this close to me? I could feel the bristles of his beard lightly tickling the nape of my neck.

"Relax. I'll walk you through it."

"I'm as relaxed as I can get with this death machine."

"Don't be dramatic. Raise your weapon with one hand and keep it steady with the other."

I did as he told me but my arms were starting to hurt from the weight of the pistol.

"I'm going to need to place my hands on yours to show you what to do. Is that okay?"

I nodded, swallowing to soothe my dry throat. My hands disappeared from view as Laz wrapped his rough, strong fingers over mine. I liked the way his palms felt against my flesh. It was a testament to all the manual labor he had performed over the years.

"Turn off the safety feature on the right side of the weapon, and loosely put one of your fingers on the trigger."

My palms were getting sweatier by the second. It was a miracle the pistol hadn't flown out of my fingers. Laz raised my stretched arms to eye-level and aligned the can to the gun sight. I squeezed one eye shut and peered through the sight posts. With his finger guiding mine, he gently pulled back the trigger.

A bolt of blue laser fire blasted out the mouth of the pistol, knocking down the can in the middle.

"Go ahead. Give it a try yourself." He removed his hands, leaving me alone.

I started shaking, but I felt the pistol stabilizing itself in my grip. I pulled back on the trigger five times in succession. Blue bolts flew out the weapon, striking two of the four remaining cans. Satisfied, I turned the safety on again and whirled around giddily to face Laz.

"I suppose that will have to do." He jerked his head towards the shuttle. "We should go. The crew is waiting for us."

I leaned my elbows against the armrests of the shuttle seat and nestled my head in my hands. To make up for the time lost at the impromptu shooting practice, Laz had flown the shuttle over to Synic's base faster than I had ever gone before. I unfastened my seatbelt and clamped a hand over my mouth.

"Did we have to go so fast?"

"If you need to throw up, there's an empty bucket somewhere in the back," said Laz without looking up at me. He was busy performing a double-check of the equipment in his satchel and on his person.

"I think I'll be fine, as long as I never fly again."

"We're leaving now. Keep the door locked. If all goes well, we'll be back in less than an hour."

"I will," I promised. I wasn't sure what to do. Should I kiss him goodbye? Hug him? Fuck him because he might die? I wet my lips as I reached over, deciding to touch him tentatively on the shoulder. "Laz? Be careful."

Laz stared at my hand. He blinked at me and nodded, ducking out the shuttle door. I secured all the locks and dimmed the lights. Peering out the window of the shuttle, I watched the Maztek lower themselves down the edge of the cliff. The plan was to take Synic by surprise from above. One by one, the men faded into the darkness of the abyss.

I trotted to the pilot seat and sat in front of the dark cockpit controls. I started to entertain myself with the irresistibly bright buttons and limited shuttle features. Unsurprisingly, pretending to be a deep-space explorer lost its luster in minutes. However, in the midst of my bored random poking, I discovered a small game hidden in the cockpit screen.

The 8-bit graphic adventure was mindless but entertaining. It was probably installed to provide Xylo pilots with something to do while they waited for their away teams to return. Now it was doing the same thing for me.

I don't know how long I had been playing the game before I heard the voices. I sat up immediately and peered out the tinted windows. Two Xylo soldiers were poking around the Maztek shuttles. My breath caught in my throat. As they approached the first ship, they started firing at the doors. Steel bullets rang loudly in the quiet of the night, ricocheting off the thick metal.

The soldiers cried out and grumbled, but as soon as they spotted my Xylo shuttle, they stopped talking and moved toward it.

"Shit."

I grabbed the pistol from the seat next to me and slid down to the ground, squeezing myself into a space under the cockpit controls. I heard their footsteps growing louder as they approached the shuttle doors. They didn't need to fire bullets at this ship; they knew how to enter a spacecraft of their design. I hear a loud beep as the locks disengaged. The doors whirred open.

My eyes grew wide at the two pairs of boots leaving clouds of black dust as they paced around the cockpit. Would they see me? They looked around the ship but thankfully avoided my hiding spot.

The soldiers angrily muttered in defeat as they turned away to leave the shuttle. That was when I felt it - a fluttery tickle rising in my nostrils that I couldn't ignore.

When the loud sneeze came out of my mouth, they both looked at me, raising their weapons.