Page 23 of The Stolen Tribute
TEN
KYLIE
I could barely see through the fog created by my own breath. The suit was making me feel incredibly claustrophobic, and I had no idea how it was supposed to protect me from whatever the hell was outside of the crumbling starship.
“Ready?” Jaxir asked.
Was he joking? Did I look ready?
“Not really,” I managed to say, sounding even more terrified than I thought I might.
The crunching metal sounds washed out most of what Jaxir said next. “I got you.” He grabbed my hand and opened the airlock.
I screamed as we were torn from the airlock and into the mouth of the scrap trawler.
It was like skydiving, butsideways?
Thank goodness I was tethered to Jaxir. We locked hands as we flew backward out of the starship and into the mess of metal.
Jaxir knew what he was looking for. He spun, flying more than falling, holding me close to him as we were buffeted to the back of the holding container.
We narrowly missed the jagged metal beneath us, being blown back further with the rest of the seemingly insignificant space dust that was collected near the back.
The tether stretched as we nearly lost our grip. The whooshing sound washed out anything he said. The green lights blinded me. I was entirely dependent on the feeling of his body against mine.
Finally, we came to a stop. Jaxir hit a metal wall, hard, softening the blow for me.
All I could hear was my own panting. The suit’s mask was so caked in space dirt that I could barely see the Zexian who’d just saved my life. Of course, it was his fault that it was in jeopardy to begin with, but that wasn’t the point right now.
We weren’t safe yet.
The force of the trawler ship cruising through space was tossing metal and dust everywhere, and I couldn’t see or hear anything.
Jaxir tugged on the tether and held my hand.
I followed him blindly with my free hand on the back wall of the container. I staggered through the rubble, my every breath coming out in a ragged pant. My mouth was dry, and my lungs were burning. This suit was keeping me safe so far, but how much oxygen was left?
Jaxir grabbed my helmet and wiped away the dust so I could see. He pointed up.
There was a rusted ladder leading up into the darkness. Around me, there was nothing but twisted metal, shards of glass, and piles of space dust. Our only option was up.
I nodded.
Jaxir helped me up first.
The tether kept us together as we climbed.
It was hard to feel where to step and grab thanks to the bulky suit. I moved slower than I would have liked, my entire body aching under the weight of the spacesuit in the combination of the intense pressure inside the trawler container.
Suddenly, a rung let go.
I screamed, scrambling to get a good grip and failing. I fell until the tether stopped me, nearly dragging Jaxir back down with me. Thankfully, the webbing that tied us together held, and Jaxir grabbed my hand.
The alien hauled me back up and pointed again, this time with more force.
If I could hear what he was saying, I’d imagine he was telling me to hurry the fuck up. So, that’s just what I did.
The ladder itself must have been three stories high. I wasn’t sure because I didn’t look down after falling. I just kept moving until I reached a hatch.
