Ignoring them, I stare at the element on the screen. It looks similar to mercury, except it is nearly invisible, and it moves chaotically, expanding and boiling like a sun.
We have been sitting on this the entire time, and we didn’t know it. This must be a source of power, of undeniable energy. If Earth got ahold of this, there’s no telling what we could do.
I take a deep breath and soak this in.
There isn’t a being in this universe that should have access to Resnyx.
My mind is made up. “I must stop this,” I say, voice quivering.
The aliens stop pounding on the door, but I can still hear their frenzied breathing and guttural clicking.
“Wait,” Lök says, panicked. “Stop!”
But I don’t do as I’m told. That’s not the kind of woman I am.
Instead of putting up with a lifetime of pain, I ruin their day. I pull the plug on the computerized system and watch as the hologram stops.
The extraction on Earth has ceased.
It’s time for me to call the shots.
Five
Rekker
I pace the control center room, arms wound behind my back. She has barricaded us out, and no matter how many keys I press, the door won’t open.
She hit the fail-switch button.
Our race is the most powerful in the universe, but she has beat us in less than a day. It is all too embarrassing.
We need the extraction to continue. If we don’t get this done in less than forty-eight hours, our entire operation will have failed.
Slain will destroy us.
Veins pulsing with adrenaline, I take Lök by the throat and squeeze. “What have you done?”
Lök kicks and forces his neck free. Stumbling against the door, he catches his breath and runs his hands above his clavicle. “I’ll have Slain kill you for that,” he says, charging me.
He tackles me against the holograph computer, denting its side. The corner sends a shooting pain through my kidneys.
I hammer my fist against his chin. “The next time we see Slain, will be the day of our funeral,” I shout.
Breathing, we circle around the room. “Don’t fuck with me, Rekker,” Lök says. “We will get her to comply.”
“She will do nothing of the sort,” I say.
He has doomed us.
Even Vraik is wary about the whole thing. “You picked the one female who could outsmart us and find a way out. We look weak, and if the Emperor sees our foolishness, we will lose everything we stood to gain.”
Both Vraik and I inch forward, arms flexing. “Lök, it’s time for you to listen to us.”
Lök uses his forearm to wipe the blood away from the side of his face. “I need some time alone,” he growls.
I clench my teeth, nostrils flaring. “Fine. Take your sweet damn time, but understand that she has the advantage now. Not us.”
Vraik and I walk outside the room, toward the outer window of the mothership. Outside, the female’s blue planet is motionless. But inside its rich atmosphere, human armies attempt to dismantle our driller. Who knows? They could succeed.