Page 46 of The Stolen Tribute
I leaned down and kissed her lips gently.
She pushed back with intense ferocity, still high on adrenaline. “I couldn’t imagine losing you,” She said as she pulled away for a breath.
I squeezed her tightly, needing to feel her body against mine for another few moments before finally releasing her. “You’re incredible,” I said.
Kylie wiped away her tears with one hand.
Dal groaned.
We both jumped back, Kylie aiming the blaster with lightning speed.
“I thought he was dead,” She whispered.
“Just unconscious,” I said.
A strange feeling washed over me. Dal was barely awake and bleeding from his head and face. His body twitched where it lay on the metal floor. Somehow, this wasn’t the glorious final battle I’d imagined.
I clenched my fists at my sides. For so long, I’d wanted to kill Dal, and now that I had the chance to do it, killing him didn’t seem right.
Kylie glanced at me. She offered me the laser blaster with a hesitant look.
I took it from her. The small, lightweight weapon felt heavy in my hand.
The human could sense my hesitation. “Hey, whatever you decide, I’m not going to judge you,” She said softly.
I raised the laser gun to Dal’s head and took aim. My hand tightened on the weapon, but I could not fire. Why couldn’t I kill him? He’d let our friends die, he’d destroyed my career, he’d stolen Kylie and tried to kill me! And yet, I couldn’t pull the trigger.
I sighed and let my hand fall to my side. “I can’t,” I said. “I won’t.”
Kylie put a hand on my arm, touching gently. “It’s ok,” She said. “You’re a better person than he’ll ever be.”
I smiled softly at her. “You think so?”
“I know it,” She said with a tiny nod.
The silence settled around us for a moment. The only sound was that of the power core pulsing and charging in preparation for the next burst of hyperdrive.
“We should go,” I said. “That power core isn’t exactly in the best shape. He’s been pushing his ship too hard.” I gestured upwards as the lights flickered. “He never did take maintenance seriously,” I added with a laugh.
Kylie entwined her fingers with mine. “Ok,” She said and then jerked up. “Wait, how did you get on here anyway?”
“My crew’s ship has a tiny pod we can use for maintenance,” I explained. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of an expert at getting into places I shouldn’t.”
Kylie giggled.
“Come on, let’s go,” I said, with one last look at Dal’s unconscious body.
Kylie and I went down to the lowest deck of the ship to the maintenance hangar. It was a small airlocked room that was used to transfer supplies in and out, as well as an exit for escape pods and other tiny shuttles.
The silver escape pod that Kylie used was there amongst the other supplies. The entire door was ripped off, so it was no use to us.
“Looks like we have to take the pod back to my ship,” I said.
The pod was tiny, built for one Zexian at a time, but I was sure we could make it work.
Kylie looked down at the egg-shaped vehicle. “Are you serious?”
“It’s going to be cozy,” I winked at her.
