“Talk, cunt.”
“Put down your weapons, and I’ll tell you everything,” I say.
When they follow, I cautiously stand and keep my hands visible. “The sentinels of your planet stole the alphas that claimed me,” I say. “It was an illegal seizure, and I believe they are bringing them to your leader, Slain.”
A few of the miners chuckle.
“He is not our leader,” the alien says. “Out here, we elect our own leaders.”
“But don’t you see? Slain will kill them,” I say.
“This sounds like your problem,” he says
Feeling trapped, I fall forward and grab the alien’s wrists. I squeeze and look into his eyes. “If you let Slain kill them, he wins. He’ll come here next with his warships. He will destroy you,” I say.
He pushes me off of him. “We will fight,” he says. “And we will win.”
“No,” I mutter. “You have no real weapons. You will gain nothing. At least, not without my help.”
The aliens whisper among themselves, but their leader can’t stop staring at me. “Speak,” he says.
“You can build a new world on that Ubara. You don’t have to be enslaved. You can be free.”
“There is no freedom,” he says. “It is every alien for himself.”
“There is freedom. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it. And if you help us save them, I will make sure you get a chance at experiencing it yourself.”
It takes a moment for him to think this over. He doesn’t even engage with the others. He simply looks off to the side and bites his lip, forehead creased with worry.
“How can I trust you?” he asks.
We can’t let this crumble to dust.
Before I can give him a definitive answer, a familiar sound comes from overhead. It’s the same sound I heard on the day of Earth’s invasion.
I glance at the door at the other end of the hallway. Without thinking, I push through the crowd. I run toward that door.
I expect the outside sun to pour in, but it is completely dark.
Above our heads floats a monolithic mothership, far superior to the one my alphas owned.
I turn back to the pack of slaves. “You’re going to have to trust me. You have no choice.”
Sixteen
Rekker
If I don’t find a med-bay, I’m going to die.
My skin sags. I’m covered in wrinkles. I’m still alive, but I’m not in any condition to fight. If Emma were around, she’d be mortified of my looks.
Sometimes, I can still feel her. I can hear her heart beating against my chest. But then I remember what happened.
The entire city lit up in flames. That was the moment we lost, but I can’t help but feel like it’s the time we also won.
I’m probably delusional. Probably some leftover PTSD after everything we’ve gone through. After all, I was just blasted with enough Resnyx to kill someone, and I lost the mate I love.
When you have nothing else to lose, you stop caring about the consequences. You just take down as many enemies as you can.