Page 36 of Found By the Alien Warrior

SONYA

My fingers hovered over the panel. Which key went where? If this was what the menus were going to look like at the Wanderstar Fleet, then my chances of being a stellar hostess were screwed.

What was taking Raze so long? He could read this stuff. I thought of Aurik, my heart skipping as I knew he was in the most dangerous part of the ship with the holding pen. The quicker I found the way to get the ship’s locator signal online, the quicker help would arrive.

With the urgency of our situation bearing down on me, I began testing each key.

The door to the control room exploded inward, splinters and chunks of metal falling to the floor. Korga stormed inside. He glared at me with pure hate and fury.

Aurik charged in behind him, a look of pure will and determination on his face as he barricaded himself between Korga and me.

"Stay behind me." His voice was a low growl that arced through the tension-laden air. He didn’t need to tell me twice. He didn’t even need to tell me the first time.

The control room turned into a battleground, Aurik and Korga were locked in a deadly dance, their movements a blur of primal aggression and honed skill. I took shelter behind the panel.

Aurik's voice pierced my concentration, and time seemed to fracture at his warning. I swiveled just as Korga hurled himself towards me. His eyes were twin black holes.

Aurik was there, suddenly, impossibly fast, interposing his frame between Korga and me. His hand shot out in a strike, latching onto Korga’s thick wrist with an ironclad grip.

"Did you really think you could take me down?" Every muscle in his arms was taut as he wrestled with Korga’s brute force.

My eyes caught more movement at the doorway as the Reckoner stumbled in, his face etched with the sweat, his breathing uneven. "Raze, which key?” I held up the ring. “Which panel button?"

He locked his gaze at the panel, and the pandemonium seemed to mute at his focus. He scrambled to get closer in order to read the symbols. Pointing, he identified my target among the controls with a shout. "Fourth key. Blue, top right. "

My fingers hovered, then I began entering the code.

"Sonya, now.” Aurik grappled with Korga, buying me precious seconds.

"Done!" I shouted back, not daring to peel my gaze away from the panel as indicators sprang to life, signaling our signal rocketing through the cosmos.

An hour later, the once-chaotic control room had transformed into a hive of order and authority. Officials from neighboring planets swarmed the space, their uniforms crisp and their manner professional as they documented every inch of the battleground. Soon the big dogs of the Wanderstar Fleet arrived. Their voices were all steady drone, methodical and detached as they took Korga into custody. Vessa, Gornoc, and others were also in the process of being shipped off to trial.

I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with a cocktail of emotions swirling within me. Relief, yes—that was the prominent flavor—but also satisfaction. Satisfaction that the other threads of this Nexus Spiral crime network would start unraveling from here on out.

"Seems your control panel expertise saved us all," Aurik observed, coming to stand beside me, his gaze never leaving the officers who were escorting Korga away in shackles.

"More like my 'mash things until they work' approach," I corrected, allowing myself a small, triumphant smile. "But I'll take the compliment."

"Sonya," he said, turning to look at me. "We did it. We actually did it."

"Yeah," I breathed out, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. "We did."

AURIK

Sector 010, two months later

I stood on the balcony of a space hub hotel room that smelled faintly of ozone and recycled air. Spaceships docked and departed outside, always a relentless pulse of the galaxy. It was here, in this transient place, that I found myself thinking about a future both exciting and uncertain.

Sonya was sprawled across the bed, her shapely legs dangling off the side, eyes closed as she listened to the hum of the station. She had decided not to do a trial run of that hostess job with the Wanderstar Fleet after all. Said she needed a break and time to think after our whole ordeal.

The reward money for bringing Korga and company in made it where she wouldn’t have to think about a job for a long, long time.

"Thinking about going home?" she asked, noticing my pensive frown.

"Among other things," I replied, my voice heavy with the gravity of choices unmade.

"Home" was an abstract concept now, a planet light-years away, but Sonya had become my anchor in the cosmic drift. Our bond, forged under hard fire and shared victory, was a mystery. Binding yet freeing.

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