Page 77 of Alien Peacock

Maeve and Tara run towards the closest one, and I have no choice but to follow. Flying is out of the question with Cerak placed so awkwardly on my shoulder.

Buroteo’s forces are gaining on us. Their shots are becoming more accurate, but none of them hit us.

“I’m going to stop,” I tell Cerak. “Let the others get a chance to escape. It’s me he really wants dead.”

“Don’t!” he says with surprising force. “My self-repair process is underway. I’ve been shielding you all with a force field since we entered the hangar.”

Ahead, Maeve has reached the Bululg saucer that I hope is ours. It opens, and she and her sister dive in.

I speed up and throw myself to the floor inside the airlock. Cerak hits the opposite wall, making a dent in the metal. He rolls fast towards the control room. “I think I can do this faster than Maeve.”

I close both airlock hatches and take a moment to check myself. There are no new injuries, which is a little bit of a miracle.

Maeve comes running back from the control room. “Open the airlock!”

I stare at her. “We’re leaving!”

She hits the hatch release. “We know the ship works now! We can get away!”

“Umm…” I begin, having no idea what’s going on.

She throws something out and closes the airlock again, and the saucer shakes as it moves fast away from the berth.

Maeve comes straight into my arms and hugs me tight. “I’m so sorry, Arelion!”

I spot something, so I grab her arm and stare at her wrist. There’s a small cut with a drop of fresh blood around the edge. “Ah. Now I understand.”

“It’s war,” she says and looks up at me with big eyes. “Please don’t hate me!”

I pull her in and embrace her, hard. “My little warrior.”

She collapses in my arms, small body shaking. “Arelion…”

“It’s all right, my love,” I tell her calmly. “It’s all over.”

We stand there for a while as the saucer picks up speed.

“Let’s watch the fireworks,” I suggest and pick her up, carrying her across my chest.

In the control room, Cerak is still in his spiky shape, connected to the ship.

Tara also has a tiny cut on the outside of her wrist.

“Double fireworks,” I observe. “Should be a real spectacle.”

“I hope we can get far enough away,” Cerak says tightly. “Any moment now.”

We all look at the main screen, where Xap Station is slowly growing smaller.

Suddenly the station is replaced by a white star, so bright it’s beyond the capacity of my eyesight to handle.

“I hate antimatter explosions,” Cerak says. “But any explosion you survive is a good one.”

The star fades fast, leaving nothing in its place. Xap Station has vanished completely, without any clue that it once existed.

“I wonder if someone else could…” Cerak says, limply rolling away from the console. He’s plainly out of energy.

Maeve takes the controls.

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