Page 50 of My Alien Bughead
“What’s wrong?” Lucía asks nervously. “Is he in danger? He should have stayed in the infirmary, shouldn’t he?”
“Yes.” Nikolai scowls at me. “But apparently, not even tying him to the bed works.”
“I feel better,” I protest. “Really. I’m not great, but I’m not terrible anymore. I’m not even in pain anymore, except—”
“Except for your chest,” Nikolai interrupts. “Yeah, that would be your heart. The same heart that stopped several times a day ago! You only survived acute withdrawal because you were in really good health before you started taking the stimulants. But your body is weakened and your heart is working overtime. You need to rest.”
“I will. After the battle—”
Nikolai shakes his head. “No. Now. You’re not going anywhere near the battle. Your heart can’t take any more physical strain. If you fight, you’ll collapse again. And this time, I might not be able to bring you back.”
I huff out a snort. “Fine.” When Nikolai looks at me in surprise, I throw my hands up. “What? I’m not an idiot. I know I’m not at my best and I’d only be a hindrance during the battle if I collapse. But I’m not leaving Lucía and I’m keeping my rifle.” There’s absolutely no way I’m handing it over. I have faith that my squad can repel the attackers, but even so. Anything can happen during a battle. I’m not going to sit here unarmed.
“I’m going to be down in the tunnels with the non-combatants,” Lucía says. “D’Aakh can join us there.”
“Okay,” Nikolai agrees. “No running, no fighting.” He pauses, looking at Lucía and me again, then adds, “No sex.”
Rolling my eyes, I answer, “Yes, Mother.” Do they really need to treat me like I’m an incompetent child? “Tell Omni to pick up the grenades from the workshop. But be careful with them. The effective range will be much greater now. Don’t let him blow a fucking hole in the exterior walls.”
“I’ll tell him. I bet he’ll be ecstatic,” Nikolai replies as he packs up his scanner. “I should go. The QuantumTech mercenaries should drop out of hyperspace in around twenty minutes. Get to safety before that and D’Aakh? Remember, no physical exertion of any kind. You’re an idiot but the crew would be sad to lose you.”
I doubt that very much, but I don’t want to argue. “Yeah, yeah, sure. I’ll just sit back, relax and kick my feet up while you do the grunt work. Now, shoo. Go do your job. And Nikolai?” I add when he’s almost through the door. “Don’t die, okay?” My voice cracks a little at those words but I hope he’ll chalk it up to my condition. I’m not the best at expressing my emotions.
“Right back at you.”
Once he’s gone, Lucía and I slowly head down into the abandoned mining tunnels beneath the station. We join a small crowd of locals already hiding there. There’s a mix of males and females of all species, and a few younglings.
The adults look worried, their expressions and postures tense but the younglings squeal in delight at the sight of Lucía and lunge themselves at her. Laughing, she cuddles and exchanges a few words with each youngling before they rush away to play some game in the tunnel opening further down.
As much as I hate how weak it makes me look, I have to sit down. The ten-minute walk down here drained what little strength I had, and the sharp chest pain I feel whenever my heart rate increases reminds me of Nikolai’s warning. I loathe beingthis weak but I guess it’s a fitting punishment for believing I’m invincible. I did this to myself.
Lucía moves between the people, offering smiles and words of comfort. I can’t help but admire her. Her strength is incredible but it’s her people skills I’m a little jealous of. I’ve never been good with people, not even before Mzr, and then… Well… Let’s just put my recent behavior down as the clusterfuck to end all clusterfucks.
I watch as my littlezeevatalks to a Kahszi female bundled up in several layers of thermal blankets. She’s curled around a portable heater, but still trembles from the cold tunnel air. A small, triangular head peeks out from beneath the blankets. The female’s youngling looks around curiously, their forked tongue testing the air before they crawl back into their warm nest.
I want to rage over all of these people being sentenced to die just so that a wealthy corporation can get richer. I want to be shocked that someone would be so heartless to issue such an order. I want to believe it haunts their conscience to be so callous.
I’m not shockedorsurprised. I’ve seen this all before. This, and much worse. There’s so little justice in the universe it amazes me how people can still believe in omnipotent, merciful deities. Nothing in life is merciful.
Lyri’s voice coming from inside my comm interrupts my morbid thoughts. “Enemy sighted. Three ships exiting hyperspace.”
Since her broken arm has barely had enough time to heal, Lyriana was chosen to remain on the ship, along with the human females, little Ellen, and Z’Ree. The humans laughed about “girl power” and got excited when Zarkan told them they’ll be piloting the ship in the event of battle and controlling the weapons. Most of it is automated, but despite her supreme processing power, Cai can’t handle everything at once. Maneuvering through anasteroid belt is a tricky business even without an enemy set on destroying you.
“Copy that,” Zarkan replies.
“They’ve deployed landing pods,” Lyriana says after a tense pause. “Attempting to shoot them down before they reach you but some might still get through.”
Nodding to myself, I see their plan. The mercenaries are sticking to the simplest strategy. They won’t try to dock their large, vulnerable ships, preferring to deploy their landing pods instead. The heavily armored shuttles serve one purpose only—to get soldiers from the ship to wherever they need to be, preferably while staying intact. They have no weapons and are difficult to maneuver. The ship basically launches them in the general direction of the target and everyone hopes for the best. It’s a rough ride, to say the least.
“Three pods down. One…no, two are through. Can’t fire at them without risking the station’s integrity. Engaging with the main ships now. You’ve got hostiles incoming, Nova 1.”
“Copy that. We’re ready for them.”
I bet they are. I can picture the fight without even being there.
The pods will land and up to a dozen mercenaries will pour out of each one. My squad will open fire alongside the locals, mowing the enemies down before they can muster up any kind of defenses.
The next wave will know what to expect and therefore, be more prepared. They’ll take cover, attack back. That’s when Faelin will drop his gun and charge into the fray with his hammer like the fucking madman he is. Omni will be perched up somewhere near the ceiling with his sniper rifle and our upgraded grenades.
