He pressed harder with all his strength—thankfully he didn’t match a Titan but he was more than strong enough to finish the job.
My next breath struggled to reach my lungs. I kicked against him, coughing and wheezing to get a little leverage.
He squeezed harder and applied more pressure.
I beat at his arms but they were rock solid. I scratched at his face with my nails.
It only made him angrier. He pressed harder.
Was this how I was going to go? Was this how I was going to die? On the floor of a shuttle heading home?
No.
I scrabbled around for the blaster pistol. It’d fallen this way. I was sure of it.
Black spots danced in my vision and I could barely remain conscious.
My hands tapped something hard. It moved beneath my fingertips.
I hoped it was what I thought it was.
I had no time to check.
I raised it and aimed it at the vague brown square of blurriness before me.
I pulled the trigger.
The Changeling fell off me, blasted back as if he’d been struck by a bolt of lightning.
He slammed into the wall and slid down it, slumping with his chin on his chest.
I kicked away from him to the opposite wall and massaged my throat. I struggled to suck enough oxygen through it.
I raised my arm, aiming that blaster firmly at the enemy.
If he moved a single muscle, I’d trim his head off.
I focused on breathing through my nose. That was better. My heart thumped at a million miles an hour.
Once I’d regained myself a little, I got to my feet.
“You… You asshole!” I screamed.
I drew my foot back and kicked him in the ribs—right where the singe mark on his uniform was.
He squealed in pain. A Changeling was not a beautiful creature. It was even less beautiful when it screamed.
I was surprised he was still alive. His arms flailed pathetically.
“Still alive, huh?” I said.
I flopped into an empty chair, the pistol trained on the Changeling. Green blood pooled around him.
“Now,” I said, “how about you tell me what’s going on here? Why did you try to kill me?”
My voice was raspy and worn as it sawed in and out of my throat.
The creature shook his head and looked away. He tried to move but couldn’t.
“You don’t have to die,” I said. “We have good hospitals and doctors on my planet.”
“I’ll… never… live that… long,” the Changeling said.
“Then we can head to another planet,” I said.
Lethargic, the creature shook his head.
“I won’t last that long either,” he said.
I reached for the First Aid Kit and slid it along the floor to him. He slapped his foot on it but it was no use. He didn’t have the dexterity to open it.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said.
“So why were you trying to kill me?” I said, the blaster pistol still aimed at his head.
The Changeling angled his whole body up so he could peer at me.
“Give me… a cigarette,” he said. “And I’ll… I’ll tell you everything you… want to know.”
These things smoked? Surely technology would have beaten that nasty habit out of them by now?
“Where are they?” I said.
He nodded to his front breast pocket.
I hesitated. He might try something.
“Look that way,” I said.
I shifted the pistol to my left hand and pressed the tip to his gut. I reached into his pocket with my right. I never took my eyes from his or the cruel smile on his face.
I withdrew the packet, lit the cigarette with a purple lighter, and handed it to him. I would flat out refuse if he wanted me to put it in his mouth for him—I’d see the kind of teeth and claws these creatures could mimic. He didn’t ask and managed to put it in his mouth. He sucked on the little smoking stick and let out a slow, relaxed breath.
“So?” I said. “Why did you try to kill me?”
“Because…” the Changeling said, struggling to take another puff. “You should never trust a Changeling.”
He chuckled before his head drooped forward and the cigarette doused itself in his blood.
I leaned back and considered what he’d said.
Never trust a Changeling.
They never had the briefest intention of keeping their side of the bargain. Why would they? I was disposable. They would kill me or take me to a prison where I couldn’t escape.
Or worse.
I shivered. This whole time, I’d been working under the illusion these creatures might actually have a shred of decency.
I was wrong.
I climbed into the pilot seat and grimaced at the figure lying in the co-pilot chair.
“Computer,” I said, mimicking the Changelings’ earlier commands. “Take me to…”
Earth. It was home and none of these creatures would ever find me there. I could take this shuttlecraft back with me and learn to backward engineer it. I would become the world’s richest person overnight. I could have everything I ever wanted.
But it would be at the expense of knowing I gave up on my friends, the Titans, and most of all, Kal.
It was pretty clear now S’lec-Quos didn’t have my friends. They probably never did. It was just something to make me do what they wanted.
And that meant everything else they told me wasn’t worth believing either.
Never trust a Changeling.
They would feed Kal to the sand serpent, where he would be consumed in agonizing pain over the course of a thousand years.
And the Titans…
They would become nothing more than slaves. No new freedom, no sense of justice.
In aiding the Changelings, I was as guilty as they were for their crimes.
Worse, I had enabled them.
And did I really think I could sleep a wink at the thought of a proud species being turned into slaves?
The alternative was to head back, to race to Kal’s rescue, and put my life on the line. In all likelihood, I would probably fail.
Guaranteed untold riches and restless sleep on one hand, a tiny chance of success and happiness on the other.
“Computer, take us back to Innel,” I said.
What could I say? I loved my sleep.
I never
