Chapter 22

Never in her thirty-two years had she ever seen such a psychotic way off world, let alone a prison. Being pressed up against the mad man who ran the show, the man she'd feared, now the man she called hers—it was like she'd fallen into some whacked out alternate universe. But she was happy she did.

Draka had busted down the door leading inside, the same entrance she'd step away from and into the cold world of Arkona, where the ashora guards had walked out with her. Those same guards shot their guns at them, denting the sides of the mech, but it wasn't enough to stop Draka. He fired back in turn, forcing them down or to scatter. Inmates flooded inside. She saw others of the pack, including Freys and Kreed, both sporting guns of their own, clearly of Draka's making, and rushed inside to join the chaos.

The mech was too big to fit through the door. So, Draka made one instead. He crushed and broke his way to the bay where the ships were docked, about a half a dozen. Some of the prison workers were already trying to take off, but the prisoners who broke inside stopped them before they could.

"Energy is at ten percent," Draka said, tapping on the panel. "Looks like that's the last of the fuel backup. Too bad, would have liked to play with my toy a little longer."

"Too bad I got so distracted by you and your antics I didn't get a chance to make more," Ria teased.

Draka hummed. "It was worth it."

Carefully he brought the mech down till its head rested once more on the ground. As the top opened, he scooped her up and climbed out. Freys was there as he hopped down. His bad eye was swollen, and he had a wrap around one ear, what she gathered were wounds from the fight with Ikar.

"We're taking the big one, over there." Freys pointed to a ship across the way. "It should be enough to fit the pack. Kreed is already taking over."

"Good," Draka said as he carried her toward the ship, even though she didn't really need to be carried.

Freys glanced at Ria as he followed, and she smiled at him. "You look good, Freys," she said, half-jokingly. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I'm glad you survived," Freys confessed. "I was certain I was out once you got taken. If you were dead, Draka was going to fling me off the waterfall."

She shot her gaze up at Draka in bewildered disbelief. "Draka."

He cast a glance down at her, his mouth curling to one side. "It would have been too hard to lose you and my second in one day, but I was sorely tempted. Thankfully, he and Kreed convinced me to get the giant ready and go after you in hopes you might make it through the night."

"Good thing, huh?" Freys said.

Ria smirked at him. "Good thing."

As they came to the ship, they climbed aboard, and Draka began to yell orders to his pack as he moved within the passageways. "Where's Serbril?" he asked a silderhyde. The alien pointed down to a room at the end. Draka didn't put her down until he came to the room and slipped inside as the door opened.

Serbril was inside the small space, packing away the few things he could carry within a stack of bins, arguing with Timothy who was there helping him.

When Timothy looked around and saw her, he nearly dropped the jar of whatever medical supply he had in his hands, his face lighting up. "Ria, you're okay."

Draka moved to a seat by a window and set her down. "Serbril, Ria is injured. See to her," he said.

The snake-man hissed in irritation. "Of course she is."

Draka ignored him as he knelt down before her. "I need to go see to the ship. I'd have you by me but if you have internal injuries…"

She brushed her knuckles across his face. "Go. But come back as soon as you can. Promise?"

His gaze softened as he pressed her hand to his mouth. "Promise."

Serbril didn't hide his frustrations after Draka left. He could hardly look Ria in the eye as he went through his inventory. Only when Timothy convinced the nilgani to let him see to her did Serbril grow quiet, watching them both before returning to his packing. He allowed Timothy to use some of the tools set out for an emergency. Timothy took a seat next to her by the window.

"No internal bleeding," Timothy said as he scanned her. "Just a cracked rib. Some bad cuts and bruises, but you'll live." He set the scanner down and went to grab gauze from one of the bins. "You're kind of a badass."

Ria snorted. "I just really didn't want to die. You'd be amazed at the crazy things you can do when your life"s on the line. Trust me, I've learned more than I care to."

He smiled. "Yeah, right. I'm honestly just still in shock I got to this point unscathed. It doesn't feel real. And I have you partly to thank for it."

She watched him unravel some of the gauze. She reached out and gripped his hand, making him pause. "Just promise me something—that you won't get back into the same awful shit. Don't go back to the black trade. Will you do that?"

His gaze locked with hers, and he seemed stunned at first. But then he nodded. "I promise. I'm done with all that. I wish now I never had."

"Good. Because if I catch wind that you did, I will have Draka hunt you down, got it?"

He laughed nervously. "Yes, ma"am. You can be assured I won't."

She let go of his hand. He gave her the gauze to wrap around her lower ribs, looking away as she did. He then offered her some topical agent for the cuts on her hand and face and allowed her to bandage the rest. He then searched for a clean outfit and brought it to her when he found one. She changed in an empty storage space, shucking away the tattered, dirty clothes and Draka's old coat, hoping she'd never need to wear one like it after they left, that she'd never have to spend time on a cold planet like Arkona again.

When she came out of the storage space, she sat back down by the window, feeling the ship's engine vibrating at her feet, preparing to take off.

"Where will you go?" she asked him as she watched him set his tools away.

He glanced over at Serbril who was ignoring them or at least pretending to. "Serbril and I have talked. He's letting me come with him, he has friends in need of assistance in some lab. He told me it wasn't anything nefarious this time."

"Good. Glad to see you two getting along."

He glanced over at Serbril and smirked. "Me too."

She turned back to the window. While the ship quickly began to warm, the last bit of her energy finally dissolved. As she pressed her head to the glass, watching the prisoners take over the other ships, her eye-lids grew heavy and she felt that powerful pull to let go. Without a thought or care, she let herself fall asleep.

She woke to a warm hand brushing across her forehead. Her eyelids fluttered and she moaned, rubbing at her face. She sat up straight, realizing she'd been slumped over on the seat. No...rather on a large man's lap, one she recognized. She blinked a few times, turning her eyes upward to stare at Draka's face as it came into focus.

"Draka," she heard herself say.

His gaze was soft on her just like the last time she'd seen him, when he promised to return. He brushed away a lock of hair in her eyes. "As promised," he said.

She put her head against his chest, covering her mouth as she yawned. "How long did I sleep?"

"Long enough to miss saying goodbye to Arkona for good."

She turned to the window. And saw nothing but deep space. Arkona was gone.

And that was fine by her. There was nothing there she cared to say goodbye to only—

Her heart skipped. "Crik? Did you get him?"

"I'm afraid he couldn't come with us. Serbril mentioned he wouldn't do well in space or outside of the mountain. So I took him out of the room and found him a new place to call home, somewhere that suited him better. I said goodbye for you and he seemed happy to go exploring."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "Good."

"I didn't leave everything." He took her hand and rose. "Come follow."

Blinking away the sleep, she let him pull her up gently and lead her out to the passage. She could feel the hum of the ship as it raced on to whatever destination they had set.

Draka stopped at what appeared to be a locked door. He plugged in a code into a pad and the door slid open. The room was dark save for a dim green glow. Like Serbril's room it was mostly bare except for a few rows of crates stacked side by side.

Draka brought her over to one then carefully lifted the lid.

Within—below cold-filtered water—she saw them. The water stars.

As she stared down at the little tentacled plants, still awed by their glowing beauty, Draka came around behind her like he had the first time he'd shown them to her, only this time he wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting on her head. The way he held her made her feel that it was how he had wanted to that first time, even as Oza, when he still wanted to be close to her, still wanted to feel her against him.

She leaned into him, wishing she could be wrapped in his warmth forever.

"I know you said you worried if these got into the wrong hands what damage they could do," he said. "And you"re right. So I got to thinking, I won"t sell them. But I couldn't leave them, as useful as they are. We find another way, maybe we only let those in need use them . Or we use them to clear the poison out of the water left behind by our wars. Make something new from them. Whatever that way might be, we keep them safe. And we do it together, you and me. Because I can't think of anyone better to have at my side. What do you say?"

She stared down into the water. She could do this. Her fuel could still be made as they traveled, and she could do something right for once, something that really worked.

"Yes," she said after a while. She tilted her head up to him and smiled. "Together."