“They have yet to revolt,” Rekker says, eyeing Lök.
Lök comes to his side. “Last night, I didn’t give you a fair shot,” he says. “But I want to be straightforward. If this works, Slain will be destroyed forever. We will be the new rulers.”
“And if you lose?” Akron asks.
Lök shifts his jaw. “If we lose...”
The question seems to catch him off guard. Between the three of us, we’ve never lost a fight or invasion in our lives. The stakes are high, but losing never seemed in the realm of possibility.
Lök cracks his neck. “If we lose, we will all die. But you can take a transport to another planet quicker than the Empire’s warships will arrive. Lay low for a years, find work, and then retire with all the gold you need.”
Akron smiles. The idea is tempting. Even I’m envisioning a life retired on some beach on a distant planet, just hiding away. It seems perfect.
“I don’t know,” Akron says. “It seems too good to be true.”
Rekker nods. “Then take the Resnyx. If that’s what you want, take it for yourself. See what happens. My guess is it won’t end well for you.”
Rekker is right. He has run out of options. Ferän is the only way out for him.
It takes a little prodding, but he gets the picture. This is his last day on our home planet.
“I will always hate you for this,” he says.
I stand and offer him my hand. “No, you won’t. Someday, we’ll come out on the other side of this. It’ll be a new dawn, and all your feelings will have changed.”
Finally, Emma wakes. After yawning quite loudly, she darts up, glancing at the prints covering her body.
She covers her tits.
“Oh, fuck,” she groans.
I chuckle. “Sleep well?”
She blushes. “I’d rather not talk about it in the presence of Akron.”
Lök stands and jerks Akron to his feet. “Well, good thing he was just leaving.”
Emma’s eyes narrow, but her perfect smile widens. “He’s going to do it?”
Akron starts walking toward the other room. “If it means saving my old friends...”
His voice trails away. The thing about Akron is he’s the kind of guy who wants to lay low forever. He never thou
ght he’d go against the Empire like this.
We forced him into hiding, but I do believe it’ll work out better this way. We just need some more time.
The three of us say goodbye.
“Be careful,” Lök warns. “Sun is setting, but they’ve got watchers in the air. I’ve laid out a path out of the atmosphere via system command. Cloaking options will be displayed on the screen. Follow it correctly, and you should be okay.”
Akron nods, eyes pointed toward the cosmos above.
The stars twinkle. Which one is Emma’s home planet?
Akron heads toward the open exit. “I almost said thanks,” he says. “But I guess I’ll save that for when it’s all said and done.”
“Good bye, old friend,” I mutter.