Page 21 of The Stolen Tribute
NINE
JAXIR
The Earthling’s big round eyes made it hard to speak. The dark blue-grey color reminded me of the sky right before sunrise.
I looked at her over my shoulder. She didn’t need to worry about my little starfighter. We’d been through so much together. I knew this ship almost as well as I knew myself. A bit more time to charge, and we should be able to get a distress signal out. My crew was waiting for me somewhere.
I tapped the screen, and the map flickered. Using the positioning of satellites and nearby ships, it was able to give me a general idea of where we were. Thankfully, still in the Milky Way. I didn’t expect we’d be able to hyperjump too far in this old thing.
Kylie, the human, was watching me. She hadn’t taken her eyes off me since she sat down.
The pressure was on. It wasn’t just my life anymore. I had to consider her, too. Good thing I had no doubts that my crew would find us easily, as soon as we could get a damn message out.
The control panel flickered again. I hit the distress button, shouting out in every language I knew. Then, we waited.
Suddenly, the starfighter began to rumble. It was a small tremble at first, but soon the entire ship began to shake.
“What’s going on?” Kylie screamed.
I flipped up the charging panels so we could get a better look.
A bright green light filled the cockpit. The sound of warping metal screeched in my ears, and I knew instantly.
“A scrap trawler,” I gasped.
“A what?” Kylie shouted over the noise.
A giant starship eclipsed us, casting an almost-pitch-black shadow over the tiny starfighter. The green lights passed over us as a magnet took hold of the metal pieces within my ship. The trawler was a ship larger than most, with a giant gaping mouth that sucked in space debris from around planets and to clear flight paths.
Tiny metal flecks and rusted rocks bounced off my starship. We were being pulled in and had no way to get out of the magnetic grip.
“Oh fuck,” Kylie gasped.
I slammed the communication button, crying out in an SOS, hoping that whoever was piloting the trawler could hear us.
There was no response.
“What do we do?” Kylie shrieked as the metal around us began to dent under the sheer pressure.
One crack and we’d be dead.
The giant open mouth loomed in front of us, giving a perfect view of the pit of tangled metal and debris that was waiting for us to join it. Scraps of old satellites stuck out like jagged teeth.
I had to be fast. We’d have one shot or we’d be dead.
I grabbed Kylie by her shoulders. “Listen to me very carefully if you want to live,” I said.
Kylie nodded, her face white.
“This ship has two suits for spacewalks. We need to put them on and tether ourselves together. Then, we open the airlock,” I said.
“But,” Kylie whimpered.
“No buts,” I said. “We’re going to launch ourselves into the trawler. All of those ships have safety hatches. We have to find it and board the damn thing.” It sounded easy when I heard it with my own ears. I just had to believe it was possible.
I released her and opened the cabinet under her seat. I threw the smallest suit towards her and then grabbed the other for myself. They were big and bulky, with built-in air systems and lights.
The sound of metal rattling was enough to make my stomach turn. We didn’t have much time.
