He moved forward to the second section of the small vessel and Nia followed him inside.
There were two seats across from each other and a huge view screen in front.
She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she bent so she could see outside the shuttle.
“Come on.” Ka’Cit’s voice caught her ear. “I’ll strap you in.”
With his help, she was secured into one of the seats.
He slipped into the next one, secured himself, and began punching the buttons on the control panel.
Oh God. She was going to go into space again.
She was in space.
The ship powered up almost immediately and Ka’Cit glanced her way.
Green eyes twinkled.
“Here comes the fun part.”
Wha—
Did he just say fun?
She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant by “fun” when the ship suddenly jerked forward before it rose in the air and turned in a wide arc.
Ka’Cit punched a few more buttons.
“Destination: Hudo III. Estimated time of arrival: Two clicks,” the ship said.
In front of them, the ramp was already partially open, but the gap didn’t seem big enough for them to fit through.
Nia gripped the control panel just as the shuttle shot forward.
They barely fit through the narrow gap.
“Let’s get you out of here, ta’ii.”
20
It was only when they were zooming away that Nia’s shoulders finally sagged.
There were no explosions behind them.
No one was giving chase.
Was it really over?
She glanced at Ka’Cit.
If it wasn’t for him, would she have made it this far?
He’d appeared at the right time, helped her through a difficult situation, and his presence had kept her calm.
She was staring his way, wondering how she was going to thank him, when he glanced at her.
What now?
“I…uh…” she began. But he couldn’t understand her. He probably never would be able to.
Still, she should thank him anyway.
It was the least she could do.
“Thank you, Ka’Cit.” His hand was resting on the controls and she leaned forward and placed hers over his. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
He seemed to freeze underneath her touch.
“I…I don’t know how to let you know that I’m grateful. I’m indebted to you. For all you did. You risked your life to come after me. You kept me warm when I was cold. Shielded me when people were trying to kill me.” She almost began tearing up and her throat went dry.
The situation had been more strenuous than she’d realized.
Releasing his hand, she leaned back in her seat, staring at the nothingness before them.
Space was really a dark void.
It looked like there was nothing out there.
No worlds teeming with life. No people. No Earth.
“Sorry.” She wiped her eyes. “What a time to get emotional, huh.”
A few moments of silence passed between them and she could feel him watching her.
“I guess, it’s nice to know people have your back out here, you know. I don’t have any family apart from Riv, Lauren, Sohut, and Cleo…no other friends…” She glanced his way. “But I’d like to think I can add you to that list too. A friend, you know.”
He blinked at her and she wished he wasn’t wearing his mask so she could see his face.
Finally, she released a sigh and shrugged.
“You can’t understand me, but maybe that’s for the best. I’m only ranting.”
Ka’Cit stared at her some more before something changed in his gaze.
Without a word, he reached into his pocket and took out the small square device she’d seen him with while in the ship’s underbelly.
He fidgeted with it for a little bit and she couldn’t figure out what he was doing.
“What is that?”
But he only glanced her way at the sound of her voice and continued fidgeting with the device.
For a few moments, she just watched him, trying to figure out what he was doing before he lifted his head and pierced her with his gaze.
Something in his eyes told her he was…smiling? But she couldn’t figure out why.
“Umm…” She gave him a nervous smile. “What’s happening?”
“It worked,” he said before reaching forward and pressing a few buttons on the ship’s control panel.
“Destination input,” the ship’s AI said. “Coordinates: AX#-4--5II3. Estimated time of arrival: Twenty sleks.”
“Huh? Wh—I thought we were heading home.”
He blinked at her but said nothing.
The hairs at the back of her neck rose. “Ka’Cit, what’s going on? Why aren’t you talking?”
But he didn’t respond.
Instead his shoulders set and he rose from his seat.
Whatever he was about to do, just from the way he walked toward the set of interior doors, she knew his mind was made up. When he reached them, he turned to look at her.
“You stay here. You’ll be safe.”
Wh—?!?! Safe from what?
He was leaving her?
“Ka’Cit!” She fumbled with the seat restraints to release herself but the doors were already closing.
As she looked over her shoulder, his gaze met hers just before the doors shut and a red light lit up overhead.
Just what the hell was going on?
He was gone.
Where?
She had no idea.
He was still in the ship, of course, but no matter how many times she pressed the button to open the interior doors, the red light remained lit and the doors remained locked.
She was pacing for maybe ten or fifteen minutes, completely losing her mind, when structures began appearing in front of them as the ship slowed down on its own.
Huge metal structures that looked like pins and needles stuck together materialized, it seemed, out of thin air.
“What the…” Nia froze, her eyes widening as more of the structures came into view.
The structures were gigantic, dwarfing the shuttle in their magnificence.
She didn’t know what to think but her feet pulled her toward the view screen.
There were lights blinking on some of the structures and some of the others looked like space debris.
Why did the ship stop here?
Drawing closer, she pressed her palms against the view screen as she looked out.
Far, far below, was a planet.
A round planet with vast orange landmasses.
She knew what she was looking at without anyone having to tell her.
It was Hudo III.
Home.
So he hadn’t
