Tiger was trying to imagine all Dee would have to do to get back out of the compound. It seemed like so much trouble when all he had to do was … but then again, it wasn’t his choice to make. He took a deep breath and, squaring his shoulders, he accepted his old friend’s decision.
“No way we’re square!” He extended his hand. “There’s no way I can ever square this up with you. I’ll always owe you for this.”
Dee took his hand, gripping it tightly. “Just get the hell off this rock … and take care of my girl!”
“So, you’re really gonna turn me over to this fucka?” Shaniqua chimed back in.
“I am!” Dee turned to the ship. “This man and I go way back. We spaced together. You know what that means?”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re like brothers … blah blah blah …”
“That’s right! We’re like brothers!” Dee’s voice grew stern, less patient. He sounded like a father talking to his teenager. “And you can either fly your ass outta here with my brother at your controls, or you can sit down here and rust ‘til the river falls in on you … don’t really matter to me. I’m goin’ home!”
“Aw, c’mon now! Ain’t no need to be like that!” Shaniqua’s tone suddenly changed. “I was just fuckin’ wit ya! Hell, he’s actually kinda cute … if you like old, middle-aged white guys.”
“I guess I’m s’posed to take that as a compliment,” Tiger shrugged to Ruff.
“All right! We’re wasting time!” Dee clapped his hands rapidly, indicating it was time to hasten things up. “Time for y’all to go! Tiger! Load it up!”
“All right!” Tiger turned to Ruff. “Get your ass on board and get strapped in. Ruff didn’t need to be told twice. He’d been ready to go for a while now. Tiger turned back to Dee. “So just how’re we gettin’ outta here?”
“Don’t worry! Once I clear the hangar, gimme sixty seconds, and then Shaniqua will know what to do. Just let her have her head.”
“Fair enough!” Tiger nodded. He dropped his Authority-issue pulse rifle onto the concrete at his feet. Reaching into the kitbag at his hip, he pulled out his old Spacer’s coat. As he slipped it over his shoulders, he felt that familiar excitement wash over him. He was about to climb behind the controls of a rocket and blast off. It never got old to him. Each time still felt like that first time when he’d been just a twenty-year-old Trainee. A spacer couldn’t ask for much more than that. He thanked Johnny Cash and the Gods of Dixie.
Tiger walked up the gangplank and disappeared inside the black ship. As the hatch closed behind him, Dee could hear Shaniqua: “I don’t care nothin’ ‘bout no pets! If we’re going to have animals aboard, I insist you cover the upholstery. Don’t you shed one hair on my seats, you mangy mongrel.”
As Dee turned and walked away, he found himself thinking that making his way back up and out of the compound seemed a helluva lot more preferable than what Tiger was going to be dealing with.
***
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Something in the cold, dead tone of Stella’s voice stabbed into Matt’s heart like an ice pick. She stood in front of him, watching him, eyes as lifeless as her words. Only yesterday, those beautiful, twin jewels had sparkled with life. Now, they were just the dull orbs of a walking zombie. They looked at him but weren’t really looking at him. They weren’t focused. Instead, they stared off toward some unseen horizon.
“Stella …” Matt started to speak, but his voice cracked, and he was overcome with emotion. He thought he’d been prepared for this, but he wasn’t. Nothing could’ve prepared him for this. There was nothing of the woman he loved in the woman who stood before him. He felt his heart begin to break apart into tiny pieces.
“You shouldn’t have come,” she said flatly, then a touch of emotion seemed to edge into her voice, “but I knew you would.”
“W-w-why are you doing this?” He was finally able to get it out, having to using his hands to help express himself, struggling with emotions he’d always been able to control, to keep repressed. “Talk to me, Stella. What happened?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” Again, that robotic, flat monotone. “And it doesn’t matter now.”
“Is it something I did?” Matt stepped forward. Stella immediately tensed, and the gun at her side twitched.
“Don’t!” she warned.
“Stella, please!” Matt pleaded, his eyes wet now, tears blurring his vision. “If I caused this, I’m sorry! Just lemme make it right! Lemme help you, please!”
“That’s the problem with you, isn’t it?” A dull smile crossed her face. “Your arrogance. You think you can control everything. Me. Us. And now, I’m beyond your control. You can’t fix me. That must be tearing your guts out.”
“Stella … listen … whatever I did, I’ll make right.” Matt extended his arms to her. He just wanted to hold her. He just wanted her back. He’d forgotten all about what she’d done … the cops she’d shot. He forgot all about the SWAT team guns trained on her now, ready to take her out at the slightest indication of a threat. None of that mattered. All that mattered was holding her once again. If he could just hold her, tell her how he really felt … all the rest would take care of itself. He knew it would.
He just knew.
She shook her head sadly. “No, Special Inspector … this thing you can’t make right.”
“We … we can make it right!” he implored. “You and me. Stella, I love you. I’m sorry I never said it before.”
His words seemed to hurt her physically. She appeared to recoil visibly. “Stop!” she cried out. “Shut up!”
“Listen, whatever happens
