Page 66 of Uncovered By the Alien Commander
Xandor shrugs, undeterred by the fact I’ve called his bluff. “You’ll just have to trust me,” he insists, his tone carrying a sincerity that suggests his words extend beyond mere target practice. I can sense him peering down at me, yet I still refuse to meet his gaze.
Trust. A word often used, never earned.
I release a long breath, becoming agitated. “Look, I do trust you, Xandor. At least to some degree, and I thank you for your help. You’ve really saved my ass, more than once.” I pause, turning to gaze into his gleaming golden eyes that shine like beautiful stars.Oh void!“Um... Yeah, so...” My treacherous words trail off.
Xandor stands with serious expectation etched on his face.I finally had him taking me seriously, and I dropped the hypospanner. Voiding brilliant.“Go on,” he prods. “finish your thoughts.”
I tear my gaze back to the chaotic moving targets, reflecting my muddled mind. “Like I was saying.”Before your face interrupted me!“I’m grateful, but don’t think you can continue to stalk me, like I belong to you, like some voiding slave!” I finish with more heat than I intended, my earlier confrontation with Kaanus still raw.
Xandor recoils beside me, and I still avoid his face. An uneasy pause stretches on, and I resist the urge to glance his reaction. “Even now you still doubt me?” he pauses again, taking a deep breath. “Do you feel like a slave in my presence?” he asks, his voice incredulous.
I’ve always been enslaved, so how would I know any different?
Yet I hold my tongue, this conversation already prying deeper than I’m comfortable with. It’s better to remain aloof and hidden, like I’ve always done. Hardening my resolve, I turn my attention to the moving targets as my focus enhances. Xandor and his questions fade into obscurity. I squeeze the trigger and my target clangs and folds over, bringing me a glimmer of joy.
Xandor sighs, breaking my concentration.Despite my terse replies and sullen attitude, he persists! Why won’t he just leave me alone already?
“Maybe this’ll help earn your trust?” he says, offering a strange black and red pistol that appears tiny in his huge hand.
I clutch the gun with cautious movements, turning it over and feeling its compact yet meager weight. Examining the handle, I fumble for a clip release, wondering what caliber of bullet it uses, but to my chagrin, it eludes me. “What type of gun is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before,” I ask, my tone eager.
“Few have lived to speak of it,” Xandor muses, as I feel his eyes studying me. “Fewer still that own one who aren’t cursed with comical smallness,” he adds with a chuckle.
“Comical smallness?” I repeat, peering down the sights and adjusting my aim, wondering what the void he’s talking about.
“It’s Nebian laser, technology,” Xandor clarifies, his tone solemn.
“Huh?” A lump forms in my throat, and I flinch from the pistol, almost dropping it as if it’s a deadly creature. “Nebian! Are you voiding crazy, Xandor?” I yell, incredulous. Glancing at him with disbelief, I notice his lip curled on one side, revealing a sharp, fanged smile. “Silly question,” I decide.
“Carrying this is a death sentence.” I shake my head, holding the weapon that now seems to weigh a ton in my hands. “I’ve heard stories about those who use stolen Nebian tech. It never ends well for them.” Turning the gun over, I groan, noticing the visage of some important Nebian stamped under the grip.
“That’s why you’re only going to use it sparingly,” Xandor suggests, shaking a dismissive hand. “And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you not to wave it around, especially when we’re on Nebia.”
I scoff at his words, “As if I would! The last thing I want is more trouble.”
Xandor scoffs, “Yet trouble clings to you as stubborn as a wild borack.”
Maybe I’m cursed?
“If trouble clings to me, it’s because of crazy crap like this!” I exclaim, brandishing the weapon at Xandor. “I should take this gun and throw it out the docking hatch, for both our sakes.”
Xandor shows little sign my words have affected him. “Oh, and you’re not even going to try it first?”
He’s the stubborn one!
I sigh, leveling the ominous pistol, balancing the unfamiliar weight in my hands, and tracing a target. I apply the tiniest pressure to the trigger, and a blinding red light streaks across the gallery, punching straight through the thick arcweave target and even penetrating some of the hull behind. “Voiding Mutalisk tits!” I shout, marveling at the lack of recoil as well.
Xandor laughs at my reaction, until his tone shifts and he leans in closer, his long green hair bushing the nape of my neck. “Would be a shame to waste such powerful tech,” he whispers next to my ear that tickles my senses, sending tingles down my spine. “With your aim and this weapon, think how deadly you’ll become... No one would dare attack you.” His alluring words and proximity muddle my mind, and my breath hitches. Xandor straightens with a sudden jolt. “And then maybe I wouldn’t have to rescue you so often!” he adds with a chuckle.
I stand motionless, staring at the weapon—its diminutive frame a stark contrast to its incredible power, to what it could offer me. Xandor's right; this gun could change everything. Yetunease gnaws at the back of my mind, and I notice Xandor smirking down at me, filling me with a sudden anger that burns white-hot. Without thinking, I aim the gun at him.
“I voiding know what you’re doing. You’re manipulating me!” I yell, staring up at the towering Klendathian rage twisting my face and words. “Instead of violence, you use false reassurances and play on my desires!”
“False?” Xandor raises a single eyebrow and shows not an inkling of fear, which further enrages me. “It’s called being chivalrous,” he answers with a level voice.
“No!” I retort, the gun trembling in my hands. I focus on Xandor’s chest, unable to meet his gaze. “You want to control me, just like the others!”
Xandor sighs, “It’s you that manipulates me,” he says, heat growing in his voice.