Page 32 of The Stolen Tribute
“Space trawler, huh? Mujugs?” The voice asked with a laugh.
“Mujugs,” I confirmed.
“Ok, hear you loud and clear. Keep your SOS on, and we’ll be there to get you in no time.”
Transmission ended …the computer said.
I kept the screens up, the radar circling around and watching for any approaching ships. Right now, it looked like we were in the middle of dead space. There was nothing around us but darkness and space trash.
For the first time in hours, I was finally able to relax. I let out a long breath, feeling the tension ease in my shoulders.
“Your crew, huh?” Kylie asked.
“Yeah, there’s only a few of us, but we make it work.”
“Do they know you were off trying to kill Dal?” She asked.
“Yeah. Which I haven’t given up on by the way,” I added pointedly.
Kylie smiled and shook her head. “Listen, it’s not like I knew the guy long enough to care about him. If you guys have some feud going, then that’s fine by me. I’d just like to know the story behind it. It sounds juicy.”
“Juicy?” I asked.
“Like … exciting,” She amended.
“Ah,” I shrugged. I was no good with human slang, aside from what I learned in English classes, which I knew was outdated. “Well, I mean, I suppose I could tell you.”
Kylie’s eyes lit up.
I plopped down in one of the rotating chairs beside her. The control bridge seemed so big and empty now. It was built for a large crew, now it was silent, without a captain or AI to guide it. It looked almost fake, like a prop from one of the Earthlings’ television shows.
“Ok, well, Dal and I were friends a long time ago,” I said. “We met in the military training academy, and we were both top of our classes.” I gazed off at one of the screens, watching the space trash swirling by. The memories were still raw, though they’d happened years ago.
“We both wanted to be fighter pilots. Constantly competing to be better than each other. I’d always assumed it was a friendly rivalry. It might have started out that way, but things changed as the years went on. We were best friends until Dal showed his true colors,” I said.
“What happened?” Kylie whispered when I paused.
I blinked, remembering what happened the night that I realized how corrupt he was. The scars on my body were faded and tattooed over, but whenever I thought about it, it was like the pain came back fresh.
“One night, we were partying after class. I’m sure human adolescents do the same sort of thing,” I added with a bitter chuckle. “And Dal thought it would be funny for us to steal a starfighter and do some races. It was a few other friends and us. We went into the hangar, and I used my tech skills to override the security. We stole two starfighters, and everything was fine for the first little while.”
I sighed. “That’s when we started to get reckless. I was in a ship with Dal, and I remember telling him that enough was enough, we needed to go back, but he wouldn’t listen.” I clenched my fists. “He ended up crashing into our classmates’ ship. We survived, but they didn’t.”
Kylie stifled a gasp.
“We both should have been kicked out of military school that day. We should have been charged as criminals, but I guess fate had other plans. Dal came from an influential family and got the charges dropped. Somehow all the blame fell on me. I was stripped of my honors and removed from military training. I had no other choice but to go on the run to avoid being charged for murder. I’ve lost years of my life to him for the decisions he made. Dal has no honor. No moral compass,” I said.
It felt good to get it out to someone who was willing to listen. My chest felt a little bit lighter once my story was done.
“So, you want to kill him for putting the blame on you?” Kylie asked.
“I won’t rest until I have my revenge,” I said. My knuckles popped when I clenched my fists. “He stole my future away from me. If he hadn’t been such a coward, maybe we could have been given a fair trial. Maybe things would have been different. But, no. He only saved his own skin.”
“I understand,” Kylie said. She tipped her head and laughed. “I mean, not really, but I get it.”
“You don’t hate me now?” I asked.
Kylie shook her head. “No. I mean, how can I hate you for things you’ve done in the past. What matters now is who you are at this moment. I get wanting revenge, it’s a natural feeling.”
“Maybe for humans. A Zexian would never forgive me,” I said. “We’re supposed to have control over our emotions.”
“Emotions are part of life,” Kylie said. She reached out and touched my hand.
A spark passed between us, bringing me even closer to the conclusion that I was avoiding. This human and I were meant to be together. Everything that happened was all for a reason. I was supposed to fail my assassination attempt. I was supposed to be trapped in here with her. After all, if she could see past my anger and obsession with revenge, maybe I wasn’t lost after all.
