Chapter 8
Take the Rover
Nicole grabbed a tablet on her way out the door.
She paused, as she’d done for the past two days.
Ever since Krir had questioned her fucking “mating” habits.
Nothing—he worked silently on his daily reports.
She would have sworn he was about to kiss her the other night after their trip out to the desert, and she expected him to say something, do something.
Either he wasn’t interested or the dude was more oblivious than the nerds she’d dated in high school.
And those guys had been thicker than bomb shelter walls.
No, not a breeze. Something was wrong.
Her ears rang, and the hair on her body stood on end. Spinning, she scanned the horizon. Nothing. She looked up.
A bright object blazed across the sky, the metal reflecting the orangey light of the sun cresting the mountains. An aura of yellow surrounded it as it descended rapidly. Dread filled her gut, and she ran for the CHU.
Her sweaty palms slipped off the handle. She pounded on the door. An instant later, it jerked open.
“What is it?” Krir said, looking around.
It took him far less time to check above. His lithe muscles rippled as he snapped into action, grabbing her arm and pulling her inside in a firm but gentle motion. He slammed the door behind her, but not before she glimpsed a small, angular vessel drifting out of the sky a few miles away.
“They’re coming for me, aren’t they?”
Nicole slumped onto the bed. Despite Krir’s best efforts and the assurances of his government, her worst fear was coming to pass, and all she could do was…
nothing. She’d always prided herself on being a woman of action.
When there was danger, she ran toward it.
But the idea of losing her freedom again so soon had her spiraling into an abyss of hopelessness.
She had been foolish to believe she could escape the Giuk.
Krir kneeled in front of her and pressed a cold and hard object into her palm, closing his fingers around hers. He swallowed thickly.
“I believe so. I have failed you, and I am so sorry. We do not have long. They are landing next to your escape pod and may arrive soon. This is the only dwelling on the entire planet. Take the rover and go, as fast and as far as you can. There are emergency supplies in the toolbox on the back.”
Nicole recoiled, staring at the key in her hand. One last chance at freedom. But it was pointless. They’d come after her and probably punish Krir for helping her.
“No. You take the rover and go. I’ll say I found this shelter abandoned. They’ll have what they came for, and they’ll leave you alone.”
She tossed the key back to him. He snatched it out of the air with the reflexes of a striking snake.
She didn’t want to leave him, and she dreaded what would await after her escape.
Her treatment had been bad before, and the Giuk were unlikely to take kindly to escapees.
But if she could spare Krir the same fate, she’d gladly give herself up.
“I am not leaving you to the Giuk.” Krir scowled at her.
“And I’m not leaving you to bear the consequences of my actions. I know what the Giuk can do, and no one deserves that fate.”
Once more, a fierce emotion flared in those luminescent eyes. He cupped her cheeks.
“You are stubborn,” he said, but he was smiling. A real smile, the first since her knight in scaly armor had pulled her from the pod.
Guess I’m rubbing off on him.
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
He scrunched his nose. “There are fifty-two planets currently being researched by the Qilffir Geological Agency.”
“Not what I meant.” But it was her turn to grin.
“I know. I wanted to see you smile.”
Nicole’s heart melted a little. This was neither the time nor the place for banter. They had alien invaders to deal with. Aliens who were pissed off at her for running away and stealing the escape pod. Aliens who might not care whether Krir helped her or not.
“So, what do we do?” She stared at her finger twisting the hem of her tunic, unable to bear looking into his eyes any longer. Eyes she might not see again after the Giuk came.
“You do nothing. I have a plan.” He dropped his hands from her face and scurried away.
“If it involves me leaving—”
“It does not.” He opened the drawer with the basic tools and hoisted a pry bar, waving it around with a triumphant smirk.
“It involves you hiding and me lying convincingly. I’ll tell them you wandered off into the desert.
I will also activate the emergency beacon.
The Geological Agency should send a response team within two days. ”
“Oooh, smart. I knew I liked you for a reason.”
“You appreciate intelligence in your mates.”
A thrill ran over her skin. Maybe he was picking up what she’d been putting down. Maybe when this was all over, if they survived, she would kiss him. And maybe he’d kiss her back.
“The smarter the better, in my opinion. And glasses…icing on the cake.”
He paused his rummaging through the drawers, a hammer joining the pry bar. “I have no idea what cake or icing are, but I will remember to wear my glasses more often.”
She couldn’t look at him as she asked her next question, the one that had to be asked, even if she didn’t like the answer.
“And if the hiding and the lying don’t work?”
“One step at a time.”
“I don’t like it. Not when I could actually wander off into the desert so they’d leave you alone.”
He strode over and sat on the bed, placing the tools at the edge.
“Nicole, please let me help you.” He took her hands in his, absently rubbing his thumb over her fingers.
If she wasn’t so fucking scared, it would be sensual.
Under the circumstances, it was soothing.
“I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t try.
And if they do take you, I won’t want to live.
I’ll either come for you or die trying.”
“Why, Krir?”
“The Giuk and the Qilffir have occasionally tense but working diplomatic and trade relationships. My people have long valued science, technology, and the arts, with more and more unwilling to do the long-haul cargo and mining operations necessary for such a society to thrive. We contract the Giuk for many of these in exchange for some of our advanced tech. You are proof they have broken our agreement by using unpaid labor.”
“Slavery, you mean.”
“Yes. I am planning to take you to Qilffir so you may tell our legislature what the Giuk are doing. They won’t merely take my word for it.”
“So I’m your evidence. That’s why you’ve helped me?” Her heart fell. He’d told her so right after he rescued her, but she could’ve sworn his feelings had changed. She’d read him all wrong. He’d merely helped her when she needed help, and he’d been kind.
He dropped one of her hands and cupped her cheek again. “I helped you because you are a person, and you’ve become my friend. I live a solitary existence most of the time, and your friendship has been a gift I will treasure for the rest of my life. And…”
Nicole leaned back and searched his eyes for the spark that spoke so much without a single word leaving his mouth. It was the spark of love. Maybe the love of a friend, maybe something more. And the only way she’d ever find out was if they both survived the next few hours.
“And what?”
“And I want more, too.”
She hadn’t read him all wrong, after all. Butterflies exploded in her stomach, and her heart warmed. She squeezed his hand.
“Fine. But if it looks like they’re going to hurt you, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop that from happening. Whatever it takes.”
“You have a bargain, Nicole. Now, hide.”
Krir pried a panel from under the little bed.
It was the only place big enough for her to hide, at least in such a short time.
The other possible place for her to hide would be the shed where Krir parked the rover, but it was too hot outside once the sun rose.
Had to be close to Death Valley temps by midday.
She wouldn’t last long in the shed, and the Giuk could stay awhile, could camp out and wait to see if she’d “return.”
Nicole belly-crawled, tossing out a few things stored there.
She curled into the fetal position, and Krir replaced the panels.
She closed her eyes and tried not to think about where she was or who was after her.
The adrenaline was already flowing, and she practiced her calming breaths.
In through the nose, out through the mouth.
In, two, three, four, out five, six, seven, eight.
The crunch of heavy wheels over the desert vibrated through the walls, as her future, for better or worse, crept closer.