13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Faelin

I don’t waste time reasoning with the station guards. Even though she’s silent now, Nala’s screams still echo through me. That last scream is all I can think about.

They hurt her. They fucking hurt her and I’m ready to end them. Every single one of them deserves to die for daring to touch my Nala.

“Don’t kill them!” a familiar voice pierces through the fog surrounding my brain.

With a grunt, I reluctantly let go of the neck of the ugly Syndoran I’m holding and break his arms instead. In several places. Let’s see how he torments innocent females without working arms.

Pain jolts through me as one of the bastards yet to be immobilized touches a shock stick to my thigh. My leg gives out and I stumble onto my knees. The idiot male smirks thinking I’m defeated, but I swiftly erase his smug grin with my fist. He can get new teeth. Once his jaw is reset.

A dozen broken bones later, I scan the carnage, searching for more targets but thankfully finding none. There is one Lakhartan standing amidst the mess of beaten and broken bodies, but he’s no threat to me and something deep down tells me to leave him standing. Threats neutralized, I don’t waste time pondering about him or anyone else. All my thoughts are focused on Nala.

She’s trying to move but failing, her muscles twitching sporadically from the shocks she’s received. I step on the nearest guard in my rush to reach Nala. I almost slip and fall as the guard vomits on the floor by my feet like the fucking worm he is. I stomp on his shin in rebuke, smirking at the obvious sound of a bone snapping. He’s alive, which is more than he deserves. If I’d been carrying my hammer, I would have turned them all into mincemeat.

“Nala,” I whisper, pulling her into my arms.

“F-Faelin?” She seems to have trouble focusing her vision, but her hand caresses my cheek. “You came…?”

I roll my eyes. “Of course I came. I would have come earlier but someone stunned me,” I tease, carrying her away from the filthy mix of blood, piss, and vomit spreading across the floor under the now unconscious guards.

“But…I shot you… I…” She looks around, her eyes finally focusing. “Oh, fuck! I have to go!”

She shoves at me but I don’t let go. Not this time. “You can barely sit up, let alone walk, Nala. You’re not going anywhere. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.”

“No!” She struggles against me with all her might. “You don’t understand, Faelin. I have to find Drayth before he leaves the station! Please, I have to go.”

Just hearing the desperation in her voice, I can’t help, but nod. “Alright. Where is he?”

“Central dock, berth 18-B,” a voice says from behind us.

I spin abruptly, coming face to face with the Lakhartan. Now that the bloodlust has cleared from my mind, I recognize him. Pakri, the UGC officer. The one who admires me. Well, probably not anymore, with the slew of mangled bodies I just left behind. “Which way?” I ask.

He holds out a small card. “Use my hovercraft. It will auto pick the shortest route. Flip on the sirens and everyone should clear the way for you.”

I hesitate. “You shouldn’t be giving this to me.”

“I’ll say you stole it,” Pakri replies, grinning. “If you could knock me out without breaking anything, that would be great.”

“My stunner,” Nala says. She slips out of my arms like a newborn foal and takes a few wobbly steps, carefully stepping over the bodies. She picks up the tiny weapon, the one I recently had the “pleasure” of being introduced to much more intimately than I would have wished. “Here. It shouldn’t hurt.”

“Only your pride,” I grin, grabbing the card from Pakri’s hand. “Thanks, Pakri.”

Nala’s hands are shaking violently, so I pry the stunner from her grip and use it on Pakri. Before his body even hits the floor, I’m already scooping Nala up again and rushing around the corner to where several hovercrafts are parked.

One of the hovercrafts activates as I approach them and I place Nala in the back.

“Destination?” a mechanical voice asks.

Another AI. Great. “Central dock, berth 18-B,” I say, hoping it’s smart enough to understand me.

“Route plotted. Engage emergency protocol systems?”

“Yes!” I shout, my frustration boiling over as I reach for the hovercraft controls. It’s an older model, one I’m familiar with. Well, minus the blinking lights and the blaring sirens that start up as soon as we take off. They work, though. People leap out of our way and other vehicles and drones wait until we pass to continue their journey.

“Hurry, please,” Nala urges me from the back seat, clinging to the railing as I take a sharp turn.

“Don’t worry, my perfection,” I soothe. “We’ll get there in time. Will you tell me what exactly we are after? Is this just about getting revenge on Drayth? I’m in if that’s the case. I just want to know if there’s more to it.”

Nala is quiet. I know even without looking she’s gnawing on that lip of hers. Is this a human thing? “I shot you,” she repeats in disbelief.

“You can shoot me again once we’re out of danger, but please, talk to me.”

“I don’t get you. I really don’t. Are you crazy or a figment of my imagination? No real person would act like this.”

I huff out a laugh, yanking on the steering rod to avoid a bunch of drunken Karetelans. “If I hated everyone who shot me, I’d have no friends. It was just a stunner. Don’t worry about it, Nala.”

“Don’t worry about it. Huh.” There’s a hint of hysteria in her voice as she laughs. “Right. I stole from you, lied to you, and I shot you. But you still storm in to rescue me. You’re definitely not real. How do you not hate me?”

“I could never hate you, my perfection,” I tell her earnestly. “Now, will you stop stalling and tell me why you’re desperately trying to catch up to Drayth before he leaves? Does he have a hostage? Is it your lover?” Right before she shot me, she said I wasn’t the most important person in her life. “Is it one of Drayth’s people? You can tell me. I’ll still help you.” It’ll break my heart, but I will still do my best to make her happy.

Another long silence. Just when I think she won’t answer, she whispers a quiet word. “Ellen.”

It’s not a word I’m familiar with, but assume it’s a name. So she does have a lover. That’s what Drayth used to keep her in check. “Alright,” I rasp, my throat suddenly dry. “Is he a human too? Don’t worry, we’ll save him. I promise.”

“Him?” She sounds surprised. “No, Faelin. Ellen is not my lover. She’s…she’s my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” I stiffen, nearly running into a large cargo container as it rolls out of a side alley. “You have a child?”

“Yes. I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’m not the sexy single chick you were hoping for. I’m a mom. I have a daughter. She’s all I have in this life and now Drayth has her and he’s going to sell her to a pedophile and I can’t…I just can’t, Faelin. I’m sorry, I couldn’t trust you. I knew you liked me, but I knew you wouldn’t like me with a daughter and—”

I slam the brakes on the hovercraft just as another cargo container rolls past. Turning to Nala, I silence her blathering with a kiss. “You thought I wouldn’t like you if I knew you had a daughter? Nala, my perfection, don’t be ridiculous. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Y-you…you…can’t?” She stares back at me with her beautiful eyes bulging, then she switches back to panic mode. “Keep moving! If Drayth leaves, we—”

“We’re here,” I announce, jumping out of the hovercraft. “If we park any closer, we’ll alert them to our presence. Listen, Nala.” I take a deep breath, knowing she won’t like what I’m going to say. “Take this hovercraft to the shipyards. The Supernova is docked in berth 3. If I don’t make it off Drayth’s ship before it leaves, tell my crew to follow us. Is that clear?”

Seeing Nala is about to protest, I plant a kiss on her lips. “No, Nala. You can’t come with me. This is what I do. Literally. I’ve spent years training to handle situations exactly like this one. Trust me, please.” Before she can protest, I address the hovercraft’s AI. “Computer? New directions. Shipyard, berth 3.”

The route on the vehicle’s display changes. “Route calculated,” the AI announces.

Nala shakes her head frantically. “I-I can’t just let you go in there alone. Ellen is my daughter. I need to save her!”

“You will.” I take her tiny stunner and a bag with standard UGC equipment stored in the trunk of the hovercraft. “Look, the ship is about to take off.” In fact, I can see the mechanics have finished refueling. They’re about to release the docking clamps. Once that happens, I’ll lose my only way onto the ship. “I will find your daughter, but once I do, we’ll need a way off the ship. I need you to tell my crew what’s going on. Please, trust me,” I repeat, desperate. If she doesn’t trust me now, the opportunity to rescue her daughter will slip through our fingers.

“I…I do. I’ve never trusted anyone before, but I think I trust you. Please save her. Please. I’ll do anything. I’ll stay with you forever and grant your wildest wishes. Just please, save my daughter.”

I kiss Nala ferociously, moved by her admission. “I’m honored by your trust, my perfection. Tell me about your daughter. How old is she? Her name is Ellen, right?” I’m not sure how many children Drayth has on board and although I’ll do my best to save them all, I have to focus on Nala’s child.

“She-she’s four,” Nala stammers, wiping her tears away. “Almost four. Half Syndoran. She was wearing a pink dress and had a new doll with her. A gift from some asshole who was planning to buy her. Oh, please, Faelin. Please. You have to save her.”

“I will. I promise, Nala.” With those words, I steal one last kiss and rush toward Drayth’s vessel.

The ship is indeed readying to take off, which serves my advantage. The docking techs have all left and nobody’s noticed me approaching. Climbing up the docking clamp, I squeeze my body between the hydraulic joints. It’s a tight fit but I manage to crawl through just in time. The clamp disengages and the hatch slides shut behind me, enclosing me in complete darkness.

I push forward, ignoring the deafening roar of the engines, knowing I have to get to the maintenance pathways before we hit open space. Even if the air cycle vents did cover this section of the ship, which I’m pretty sure they don’t, being this far out from the ship’s core, the chill of outer space would kill anyone, even me. And I can’t risk becoming a frozen popsicle. I have a little girl to save.