Page 34 of Dark Space
‘Stayback,’ I snarled, and fired a shot into the floor.
The entire hangar went still; Tirians weren’t stupid.
‘Willow!’ the female cried.
When the doctor replied, I realised that was his name. ‘Tell Maeve she’s the one we’ll always wait for. Tell her I’m sorry,’ he said desperately.
‘I’m sorry, too,’ I said, and let my fist fall on his temple.
He slumped; Alcide was already climbing inside the small craft. I shoved the doctor in with him, letting Alcide work out how two large males would fit in a space barely designed for one, then slid into the pilot’s chair.
The first shot rang out as the Pod roof was hissing closed. I ignored it, initiating the launch sequence, and then the craft’sshields. There were a few more shots before the Tirians in the hangar realised it was useless, and by that time, we were already in the air.
‘All good, Prince?’ I called back to Alcide.
‘Mmph,’ he answered. ‘Dread gods, what are Tiriansmadeof? He’s heavier than you are, Cal.’
‘Just make sure he doesn’t wake up.’
‘I don’t think there’s any danger of that,’ Alcide said wryly. ‘You hit him pretty hard.’ There was a short silence. ‘Stars, Cal. His blood isgreen.’
‘Wait, I made himbleed?’ I worried. I flew the Pod on a different path back to our orb ship, dodging asteroids in the outer layer of a thick belt.
‘It’s all right, I think. I’m fairly sure that I can see his skin healing.’
‘You canseeit healing?’ I shook my head. ‘Gross.’
‘I wish Anna healed this quickly,’ Alcide said, so quietly I wasn’t sure whether he meant for me to hear.
I didn’t answer.
In the event of an emergency, the quarters that Alcide occupied aboard the orb would detach from the main ship, forming a second craft. It was the sole purpose I was necessary, and the reason I was able to stay so close to him. While I technically also had a position as one of the co-pilots of the orb proper, the Pilot Prime, Glest, hated me, and used an ancient mechanic called Bowen as his second, instead. I piloted the orb only when I couldn’t possibly avoid it – or Glest – any longer, and spent the rest of my time subtly adjusting our course on Alcide’s orders. Glest was too arrogant to double-check his work, which made everything appallingly easy.
Alcide’s quarters had their own small dock, so he could entertain dignitaries without them having to move through the rest of the orb. Though Alcide had never used it in that way, itsuited our purposes; it was clear when I landed the Tirian craft that no one had even noticed their crown Prince had been gone.
It worked to our advantage, but the disregard some of the crew had for their Prince infuriated me. The King’s obvious dismissal of his son meant that some of the older Roth felt they could do the same.
When the old King fell, I’d make it my mission to show them just how wrong they’d been to ignore Alcide.
We got the doctor out of the Pod with some difficulty, accidentally banging his shoulder – and his head, reopening the wound – along the way. Drops of thick green blood fell on Alcide’s bedroom floor as we passed through, but the Prince didn’t seem to notice, too focused on getting the Tirian to Anna.
She was still lying in the cell’s cot. Vesper stood upright, his chained leg angled back, as if he were straining to get as close to Anna as he possibly could.
‘What took you so long?’ he demanded, as the cell’s glass door slid open. ‘She’s worse.’
I lay the doctor gently down on the cold floor. ‘We did the best we could manage, starling. One Tirian doctor, slightly unconscious.’
‘Turn it back on,’ Vesper said.
‘He’s organic,’ Alcide said, exasperated. ‘He doesn’t have an on-off switch.’
‘Well, how do you make him wake up?’
I strode to the cell’s small bathing section and took up one of the cloths we’d left for Anna to use for washing, then soaked it in the bowl of water. Coming back out to the cell, I laid it on the Tirian’s forehead.
He stirred.
‘We should go,’ Alcide murmured. ‘We should let him work in peace. We’ll only distract him.’
