“You are to comply with intergalactic law,” one says.
Vraik lunges and takes hold of one of the sentinel’s necks. I have to turn away, but I hear the sharp crack of bone and cartilage breaking in half. The thug falls to the floor, dead.
“Fuck your law,” Vraik grunts. “This is our home.”
Rekker whips out his gun and fires. Three fall dead, but so many start coming down the stairs, it seems impossible to stop.
Lök fights, but I think he sees the inevitable coming his way. This is coming to an end. The flowers, the necklaces, and all of the sentimentality a cape can hold cannot withstand the brutal force of their government.
The revolution will not be televised. It will be used to mine rogue planets for precious minerals.
Lök grabs my arm and pulls me away. I try shouting, but he grips his hand around my mouth hard.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “There is nothing we can do.”
“Please don’t leave me,” I cry, but my voice is too muffled to hear.
Rekker’s armor is sliced off by one of the sentinel’s lasers.
Lök pushes me near the statue. He kicks his heel against the golden pedestal, and a small space opens.
There’s another chamber, much smaller.
“Run,” he hisses.
“But—”
Lök cuts me off, frantically turning to see the alphas get beaten down with electro-prods and metal
bats. “Shut down the Resnyx extraction. Take our ship and get back home. Make sure your planet never has to face the Empire.”
“I can’t. I won’t leave you,” I cry.
I just got to know them. I got to feel their hearts, only for one moment.
“You have no choice,” he says.
Before I can react, he kicks my ankles from underneath me. I fall back and stumble over the edge, tumbling down, down, down into absolute darkness.
My ass hits the tough concrete, but all around me are bones.
Oh, God. I’m in a mausoleum. Get me the hell out of here…
Above, I watch a sentinel swing his electro-prod, whipping the metal butt against Lök’s jaw. Blood sprays the golden statue as he falls to the floor, eyes gazing at mine with the utmost emotional pain.
“I love you,” he mouths.
The sentinels scan his neck, registering his data. I want to scream, but I know it’s not the time. I can’t do anything except watch in absolute shock.
Tears fill my eyes. My sinuses swell and sting. My stomach starts to contract as I weep against my palm.
“Lök,” I whisper, eyes widening when the truth really starts to sink in.
Lök kicks the pedestal, and the hidden door closes, trapping me inside.
The tumultuous fight ends. They won. They actually fucking won.
I’ll kill them all.