Chapter 19
Nix was dreaming. She’d laid down on the ground when she began having difficulty breathing due to all the dirt from where the roof had caved in on her, and now it was pressing against her front. Had the debris shifted? It felt like all the oxygen was slowly being pressed out of her. She wanted to try to pull herself out, but she felt really weak, and she knew she could save more oxygen by lying still. Then she had fallen asleep, or at least she thought she had. Sounds were coming to her from so far away, but she thought she could hear Corey’s voice amongst them. That was her dream, to be with him again. The weight pressing on her lifted and she felt like she was floating.
“Nix? Baby, can you hear me?”
That voice was so wonderful. She could listen to him for the rest of her life and be happy. “I love you, Corey.”
“Babe? Are you okay? Can you hear me?” Dream Corey asked her again, lifting her up into his arms. This was heaven, having him hold her. She didn’t want him to let her go—ever. If only this wasn’t a dream. He couldn’t be there...could he?
“Corey?” she asked with a dry throat. Her head felt heavy and she could barely lift it.
“Yeah, it’s me. Are you hurt?”
“I feel weird, like I can’t breath.”
“I need a mediko over here!”
There was some shuffling around and then someone was placing something over her mouth. Oxygen filled her lungs and she coughed as she took in painful, heaving breaths. Her head slowly began to clear, and she finally realized this wasn’t a dream. She pulled the oxygen mask away from her mouth.
“Corey?”
“Yes, honey, it’s me. We found you, thank God. Are you injured anywhere?”
She tried to shake her head, but the motion made her dizzy. “Other than feeling a little woozy, I’m fine,” she managed to say before passed out. The next thing she knew, she woke up in a shuttle.
“Where am I?”
“We’re on a shuttle heading for the command ship,” Corey told her.
As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that she was laying on a medical cart. Corey was sitting in one of the seats in the back row of the shuttle, concern all over his face.
“What happened?”
He stood up and came over to her cot to take her hand. “You were taken by the resistance to their aboveground base. There was an explosion…”
Memories flooded her and she sat upright. “The leader, Frazier, was in the building. Did any of the humans make it out?”
Corey shook his head. “We didn’t find anyone alive. Unless there was another escape route besides the tunnel we found you in, there’s no way he could have made it out otherwise. Lay back down, honey, you’ve suffered quite a bit.” He gently pushed at her shoulders, easing her back down.
“Is it over then? If the resistance leader is dead, then won’t the entire resistance movement die down?”
“We won’t know that for sure. This Frazier guy had followers who believed in his crazy cause. His death could deter others from rising up and causing trouble between the humans and Drastans, or this could give them an excuse to attack with more vehemence.”
“Well, damn. I might have made things worse.”
“So you were the one responsible for the explosions?”
“Yes, I saw that they had an armory of both human and Drastan weapons. I knew I couldn’t leave them with all those weapons; it would have meant too many deaths on both sides.”
“How did you know about the tunnel under the building?”
“I heard them discussing needing another digger to continue building their tunnels. It was just luck that I spotted the trapdoor down to the tunnel on the floor. I had already set the detonators,” she told him. A strange expression came over his face at that and he stepped back slowly. “Corey? What’s wrong?”
Another voice caught her attention. “I’m glad to see you alive, Lieutenant.”
She turned to see Liam walking up to the bed. “Liam, what are you doing here?”
“Quinn and I came to make sure you were found. You’re family, we could do no less.”
“He’s always got to be in charge of everything, so of course he would demand to come down to Earth to boss everyone around,” Quinn said, coming in behind Liam.
She smiled at the two males who have been like brothers to her. “I feel a bit foolish to have been taken that way.”
“You couldn’t have predicted what would happen. You were very brave to have set those detonators,” Liam told her. “However, Father is going to be furious that you risked your life like that. We would have eventually found a way to breach the door or offer a trade.”
“I was watching you on the monitors with them in their security office. They were going to kill all of you. I couldn’t let that happen, and I certainly couldn’t let them escape with those weapons.”
“It was very brave, but I don’t want you to do anything like that ever again,” Liam told her.
She half laughed, half coughed. “I definitely don’t plan on blowing myself up again any time soon.” She looked for Corey, but he had retreated to his seat and was staring intently at the floor. What was going on with him? It hurt to see him turn away.
“Well, lay back and rest. We’ll be landing on the command ship soon, and then you’ll have to answer to my father,” Liam told her.
She groaned. “Great. I’m not sleepy anymore, though.” But even as she said that, she yawned and her eyes drifted closed. Maybe she would rest just a little bit. Her last fuzzy thoughts were of Corey and why he had moved away from her. Was it over for them now that their mission was complete? She hadn’t had a chance to tell him...tell him...she loved him. Too late.