Crystal

The star cat's fur is soft and warm. I know I should be plotting my escape, but sleep seems more important.

Perhaps the stuff Paj gave me was a sedative.

Perhaps I'm dying quicker than expected from the zigurex venom.

I don't want to die.

Underneath me, the star cat purrs, a deep rumbling which makes me think of Drelix, and I can't stop the tears from flowing.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end. I don't want to be bait for him. I don't want to be the reason he's captured and ends up like the Gryn. Noble warriors, scarred and forced to fight for the entertainment of a thousand species who will forget them the moment they step out of the dome.

I don't want him caught up in a mess I made.

But I do want him, and I wish to all the stars in all the galaxies I'd told him before…before I got bitten, abducted (again), and I die.

The thought of dying and leaving him alone in the universe sends a fresh flood of tears my way. It's all I can do and I hate myself for it. Tears seem so useless, the most useless thing I could be doing.

A rough tongue laps at my hands covering my face.

"I'm sorry," I sob out to the cat. "I'm making your nice fur all wet."

It huffs and continues to lick in a way which is somewhat uncomfortable. I guess it wants me to stop crying. I lift my head and the tongue goes away. Not all the way. What I get is the biggest blep I've probably ever seen. The star cat's eyes glitter at me.

"Thank you." I squish my hand into its deep fur, and with a lick, the tongue disappears.

My entire body feels like it's on fire. My arm burns at me mostly and when I inspect it, I see the long, dark gash, mottled around with blue and green.

I want to be sick. I'm no doctor, but it can't possibly be good.

The star cat eyes me.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" I say.

It doesn't respond because it's a cat. Instead the airlock spins, and with a whoosh of air, it opens. The star cat gets up, stretches, and humps its back like a camel before ambling over to the doorway. It releases a blood curdling growl the second Paj appears.

I feel like I should move because it seems the star cat got up and chose violence, but I've lost the feeling in my legs and even thinking about getting up has my vision on the edge of unconsciousness.

"Gakking thing," Paj spits at the cat. "Get back." He waves a pulsar pistol at it.

I find my hand moving down to my leg, hitching up the material slowly so I can get to the dagger.

He had better not hurt the star cat.

The cat hisses and fluffs up its fur. Sparks appear, flowing over the surface like electricity. I watch with absolute wonder as Paj fails to get back in time and it shocks him senseless before turning to look at me with baleful eyes.

"I want to come…I can't…" I chatter my teeth, desperate for my body to respond to my desire to get off this bloody ship.

It huffs and marches through the doorway, tail switching from side to side. Somewhere in the rest of the ship, I hear another cry of alarm and the sound of a pulsar firing.

What sort of idiot would fire a pulsar in a small ship like this? The chances of it hitting something important are huge. With an effort so big I see stars, I grope up the bulkhead to my feet and stumble across to Paj's prone body.

A massive furry head appears with a soft puurrt.

Underneath the star cat's paw is Lord Makkan. The cat claws at his body and he groans.

"Such a good puss-cat!" I exclaim and scritch between the cat's ears. It gives me a push which nearly knocks me off my feet.

With the star cat's help, we get both Habosu into the airlock and I close the door behind them.

"Good riddance," I mutter. "Time to get the hell off this ship."

Time to find Drelix, or the other Sarkarnii, or frankly anyone else but bloody Habosu and hide away from the galaxy.

I stagger through to the main cockpit. Not that any of this is going to help because I don't know how to fly a ship of this class. I can, however, hack any comms anywhere, provided I can remain upright and conscious.

Of course, if I had the drive I stole with me, hacking a Habosu ship would have been a piece of cake. But it's still stashed on Drelix's ship and there's no way of knowing if I'll ever see him again.

Not that the drive means anything anymore.

The thought settles in my stomach like ice. Can I risk getting him a message? Asking him to come find me? What if the Habosu have set more than just the trap of their ship and me as bait? What if he never finds out what happened and this ship becomes my floating tomb?

The effort I've put in to get this far overwhelms me. Even with the star cat purring up a storm, I don't think I can do much more than I already have.

"I'm sorry, Sir Purrs-a-lot, I don't think I'm going to make it," I choke out as the ability to stand deserts me, and I slump to the floor next to the comms console.

The star cat nudges at me, and I attempt to raise a hand to give it more scratches, but even that is impossible.

"I didn't think it would end like this, but I guess it has," I murmur into the cat's fragrant, soft fur.

I think I hear a growl as the universe goes dark.