Page 20 of Saving the Space Pirate

Chapter Six

Killian

I’d been worried I’d feel wildly jealous seeing Ruby with Zak. But it had actually been a bigger turn-on than ever. I knew she was mine. This didn’t take away from what we had together. Only added to it.

I’d wanted to stay and make love to her, but we had to go. There would be time later. All the time in the world. We’d have the long trip back to Earth before we had to make any important decisions about what to do next. Serious grown-up-stuff decisions.

First, we had to find Rekowski. Hopefully he’d be somewhere close by.

I crossed the room and opened the door, peered down the corridor, but there was nothing moving and everything appeared quiet.

“Come on, let’s go.”

I led the way, Ruby came next and Zak brought up the rear. He looked a mess, but the wounds were superficial, and he’d heal quickly enough.

Zak had his own decisions to make.

Would he come back, fight for the position he was born to? I hoped so. That way, there might be a chance for everyone on the planet, and for the slaves in the asteroid mines.

I peered through the grill into the next cell, but it was empty. So was the next. Where the hell was that bastard Rekowski? This was taking too long. The more time we took, the more likely the dead guard would be noticed. Or that something else would trip them up. I wanted to suggest we leave the bastard and get the hell out of there, but I knew Ruby would argue. I’d give it five more minutes. We must have nearly looked in all the cells anyway. Maybe they’d already executed him, or he’d died under interrogation.

We turned a corner and I looked into the next cell. And there he was. Slumped on the floor, his eyes closed. He appeared unconscious. I bent down to slide open the lower bolt as a laser blast whistled over the top of my head. I leaped to the side and out of the way then instinctively turned to check on Ruby. She was pressed back against the wall, Zak covering her with his big body.

More laser shots. We had to get out of there.

They were up ahead of us, a whole load of them from the quick glimpse I got. We had no choice but to go back the way we’d come. Crouching low, I gestured to Zak and Ruby. “Go back.” I mouthed the words, and they both nodded and then we were off. I had a fleeting thought of regret for Rekowski, but there was no way we could help him now. I seriously doubted we could help ourselves.

Shots whizzed past us. Zak was keeping himself between Ruby and the soldiers. Sharp pain sliced through my shoulder as I was hit. I ignored it. Sparks flew as a laser blast hit the metal of my cybernetic arm. We turned the corner and earned a few moments of safety.

We ran.

The shots found us once again as we reached the staircase. Up the stairs. We were nearly at the doorway. Maybe we could lock it from the other side, which might give us enough time to get out of the palace. Presuming there weren’t a whole load more soldiers waiting for us at the top.

We were almost there, when a shot took me in the leg. It buckled under me. Something thumped me in the back as I crashed to the floor, slamming my head into the stone stairway, and everything went black.

My last thought was of Ruby.

Keep going, Ruby

…

Ruby

I was breathing hard, my legs like lead, but we were almost at the door. A crash sounded just behind me, and I whirled around, slamming into Zak.

“Keep going,” he yelled.

But Killian was on the floor, and he wasn’t moving.

A silent scream rose up inside me.

Noooo!

Fear like I’d never felt before swamped me, threatened to lock me in place. Zak shoved me from behind, and I fell through the doorway at the top of the stairs, onto my knees. I scrambled up, turned around, needing to go back. But Zak stumbled through the doorway dragging Killian behind him. He slammed the door. But there was no lock. Nothing to stop them.

I couldn’t think about it. Couldn’t think about anything but getting to Killian. I dropped back to my knees and rested my shaking hand against his chest, holding my breath as I searched for his heartbeat.

I almost collapsed as I felt the slow steady thud beneath my palm. “He’s alive.”

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