Page 34 of Alien Peacock
Cerak turns a robotic eye towards me. “That had occurred to us. You’re the only thing of much value on this ship. It makes our course of action quite easy.”
Arelion fights with the controls until there’s a loud bang and most of the lights on the dashboard go dark. There’s a metallicshriek from somewhere behind us, and the noise from the engines is suddenly gone.
Arelion slaps the dashboard. “Void!That was that. Sub-quantum resonance collapse. The engines will need hours to build up a new resonance and restart.”
“We’re adrift in space,” Cerak confirms. “And that Bululg ship is maneuvering to dock with us. That makes things much easier. Perhaps we should tie her up, to make the handover go smoothly? The boarding party might even help with the engines if they see us cooperating. Or they might pay a decent price for her.”
I grab the buckle for the seatbelt, struggling to get free. “Nobody’s tying anyone up!”
Arelion gets up and gives me a mischievous little smile. “Not yet, perhaps. But it’s on my list.” He strides out of the cockpit.
I manage to get free. Extending my fighting stick to its full length, I point it at the trash can robot. “If you’re a Bululg ally, you can just tell me now!”
“Oh, I’m not,” Cerak says. “But most robots are pragmatists. I was simply pointing out to Arelion that he doesn’t have much of a choice. I’m sure I would sympathize with you if I had such a thing as emotions. As things are, I can only say ‘goodbye’.”
I turn to Bari, but she’s not in the cockpit anymore. So I run after Arelion, determined to not be taken alive. Touching a finger to my right wrist, I remind myself that I still have a way out.
Arelion is standing by the hatch, fiddling with the control panel. “It would be useful to close it firmly. But I suspect they wouldsimply burn through it, and then it would be impossible to fix. The air would certainly escape, and everyone would die.”
I take a deep breath. Arelion is an innocent bystander, and I have already given him a lot of trouble. “Cerak is right. It makes no sense for you to resist the Bululg. I’ll go with them.”
He tilts his head. “You said the Bululg own your planet. They will consider you to be their property. They are here to catch you, imprison you, and probably sell you at the first opportunity.”
“That’s right. But I have no intention of letting things get that far.”
His yellow gaze sweeps past my wrist. “I see.”
“It happens,” I tell him, my voice flat. “I did what I could.”
“What’s your mission, exactly?”
Well, I guess there’s no need to keep it a secret. “My twin sister was abducted by the Bululg about a year ago. She was abducted on purpose, as an agent of the Resistance. She was going to hit the Bululg operation hard with a certain… well, it doesn’t matter. But she never did. Something went wrong, and we don’t know what. I was sent to find her and help her, if she’s still alive.”
He frowns. “They sent a little female to get another little female that had already failed? Anidenticalone? It sounds like an operation destined to fail.”
“We’re not identical,” I tell him. “We’re fraternal twins. Tara got all the good genes. She’s beautiful, elegant, smart, and full of energy. She’s everything I’m not. If you’d met her, you’d know why they picked her. And I couldn’t stand the thought of her being—” To my annoyance, my voice nearly cracks.
“Go on,” Arelion calmly rumbles. “There’s time.”
Damn it. It’s alittlelate to realize I like him more than I ever thought I would.
I calm myself. “I pestered the leaders of the Resistance until they agreed. Only an Earth girl could carry out this particular mission, and they want to find out what happened to Tara. Now they won’t, but after I fail to check in they’ll send a better agent. One that will actually be able to find their contact on Pranst Station before they get themselves into really bad trouble.”
The ship shudders, forcing me to steady myself on the wall. Something outside just hit it.
Arelion doesn’t budge. “You were supposed to meet someone there?”
“A Resistance agent, a contact to help me find transportation and… well, it doesn’t matter now. I never found them.” I look at the hatch and shift the stick in my hand. “That’s where they’ll come in? You better get into the cockpit. I’ll try to take out some of them.”
He flicks an invisible speck of dust off his shoulder. “I think I’ll stay. I am the captain of the ship.”
There are more bangs and scrapes along the hull. I hear the outer hatch of the airlock open.
I squeeze the stick in a sweaty hand. “This is not your fight, Arelion. Thank you for everything. I enjoyed my time with you.”
There are dull thumps of someone moving in the airlock.
Arelion gently grabs me around the waist, lifts me, and throws me into the hallway to the cabins. The door hisses shut, then gives off a forbidding beep.