Page 22 of My Alien Bughead (Supernova Casanovas #4)
Chapter 22
Lucía
The explosion sounds like a deafening roar in my ears, bringing with it a wave of hot air and flames, consuming all of the available oxygen everywhere it goes. My lungs protest loudly as I breathe in large amounts of smoke, soot and dust. My lungs can shut the fuck up for all I care. We’re alive and that’s all that matters.
Since the plume of dust makes it nearly impossible to see, I slowly rise up and feel my way along the tunnel wall until I come across some obvious cracks in the wall’s structure. Large, wide cracks followed by a hole. Its edges are sharp and jagged, but it’s wide. Wide enough for me to crawl into.
Chirps greet me, and even though I know it’s the Serramorphs, the sounds of skittering from the darkness in front of me has me shuddering involuntarily. Then, familiar shapes emerge from the dust cloud. “Chewie! Tink! Oh, thank god. You’re okay. And you’re through, so that means the shaft is wide enough now?”
Tink lets out a sound I assume is a yes, and tugs on my hand. “No, wait,” I stop her from pulling me any further. “We need to get D’Aakh. He’s unconscious. We’ll have to carry him out somehow.”
The Serramorphs don’t hesitate. They pour into the tunnel and, after a minute of shuffling, return carrying a prostrate D’Aakh on their backs, like ants carrying a dead worm back to their home. Great, now I’m going to be haunted by that imagery.
Shaking off the inappropriate thoughts, I focus on the present. “Is there a way out?”
Tink chirps yes, tugging on my hand again. This time, I do follow. The males drag D’Aakh through the newly widened shaft. He’ll no doubt have a ton of cuts and bruises from the jagged rocks, but hopefully, he’ll be alive to complain about it.
Once we’re in the other tunnel, Tink takes off. I follow, not questioning her choice of direction.
It feels like we’re running forever. The tunnel forks several times, but Tink never hesitates, leading us on an upward slope back to the station. With only my flashlight to illuminate the way, I stumble and fall several times, scraping my hands and knees each time. Every time it happens, I spring right back to my feet and continue. On and on. My breathing comes in wheezing gasps and my thighs are burning. By the time we finally reach the station’s corridors, black spots are dancing in front of my eyes.
Once we’re under functioning lights again, I check on D’Aakh, my breath catching in my throat. He looks like he’s gone already, only the softest glow of his antennae letting me know that it’s hopefully not all lost yet.
Taking the lead, I rush through the station toward the residential area. D’Aakh needs a doctor. Now. But there’s no one around.
The marketplace is uncharacteristically quiet; the corridors surrounding it abandoned.
“Shit! Where the fuck is everyone?!”
Tink squeaks as she indicates the hallway leading to the docks.
“Oh, fuck. Please don’t tell me there’s a fight going on.”
I hurry after Tink as fast as my aching legs can carry me, grateful I don’t have to drag D’Aakh along. I might be strong, but I’d have struggled even getting him through the blown-up air shaft, let alone up through all of the subsequent tunnels. I make a mental note to buy the Serramorphs a drink. If they even drink.
There’s shouting accompanied by angry roars of agreement from the opening ahead that makes me pick up the pace. A crowd of station employees and their family members surround the entrance to the Supernova and Dios mío , they’re holding weapons. Not actual weapons, but power tools and plasma cutters and other tools that can do a lot of damage when wielded by desperate people.
An engine roars to the side of me and my eyes nearly pop out of my head as I take in the massive ore harvester primed and ready to tear into the ship’s hull. How the fuck did they even get that up here?!
Shaking my head, I realize none of this matters. All that matters now is getting help for D’Aakh. When he’s safe, I can deal with these idiotic hotheads.
“Get out of my way!” I scream but the crowd ignores me. I shove at people. “Where’s Xr?!”
“Look, it’sLucía!” someone exclaims, and then a cacophony of voices surrounds me.
“And she has taken out one of those bastards. Yeah!”
“No, he still seems alive.”
“Let’s finish him!”
“What the fuck are those bugs?!”
A shrill, blood-curdling shriek has everyone covering their ears and wincing in pain. The quiet that follows is deafening. People stare at each other before quickly parting to make way for Tink and the other Serramorphs. Glaring around at the miners, Tink shrieks again, albeit not as loudly this time. People retreat even further, cowering in fear of the Serramorphs as we pass by on our way to the Supernova’s entrance.
I desperately scan the faces around me, not finding the one I need. “Where’s Xr?!” I ask again.
It’s a scowling Arnik who responds. “He isn’t here. He…disagreed with this.”
Great. So fucking great. Of course the gentle, caring Xy doctor didn’t want to be a part of this crazed crowd that might as well be carrying torches and pitchforks. “Well, where is he?! D’Aakh needs help!”
Zarkan’s hulking figure emerges from behind Arnik. “Take him to the ship’s infirmary,” he orders, his voice icy cold. He’s angrier than I’ve ever seen him, and it’s scary. “Thank you for bringing him here, Lucía.” He nods in my direction before focusing his death glare on Arnik. “If he dies, you’ll pay for this.”
“You’ve already killed at least one of my people!” Arnik shouts back, straining not to cower under Zarkan’s glare. “It would be only fair.”
“We did no such thing!” Zarkan’s voice booms. “It’s ridiculous of you to even suggest it. But you’ll get your wish. Now that we have the last member of our crew on board, we’ll leave this place at once.”
Someone aims an actual fucking rifle at Zarkan. “No, you won’t. Not until you’ve paid for the damage you caused and the lives you’ve taken!”
Zarkan growls, and it’s clear the wannabe hero is seconds away from a painful death. Before a fight can ensue, I jump in front of the barrel of the gun, rolling my eyes as I take in the idiot holding it. “Toli! Put that thing down before you hurt yourself.”
“Oh, so you’re on their side now, Lucía?” Toli sneers at me, not lowering the gun an inch.
“There are no sides! These people didn’t do anything. It was the spy that arrived on the cargo hauler a few days back.” Of course, I’m only guessing the spy arrived on that ship, but now is not the time to show doubt. “If you want to do something useful, go and find that person. But stop threatening the only people who can help us defend this station when the real enemies arrive!”
That has everyone pausing, a wave of concerned murmuring flowing through the crowd. Arnik frowns at Zarkan, then at me. “What do you mean? There’s no spy. They were the ones who sabotaged the station.”
I rub my forehead forcefully, smearing dust and grime over my face. “D’Aakh was with me on the train when it exploded. Why the fuck would he blow himself up? Think about it, Arnik. The sole purpose of the saboteur was to send the Supernova packing. So that when the invading corporation arrives to take over the station, we wouldn’t have a massive fucking cruiser and a squad of former Voidstalkers to defend this place.”
“Voidstalkers?” That gets through even Toli’s thick head. He finally lowers the rifle and steps back. “You didn’t say they were Voidstalkers!”
“Yeah, well, maybe you should talk to people before you threaten to kill them!” I snap at him, then turn to Zarkan. “I know you have every reason to hate us, Captain, but please, consider staying? D’Aakh believed the attack was imminent and we really have no way to defend ourselves.” I’m not above begging if it saves our hides.
Zarkan’s expression doesn’t change. I shudder as he glowers at me. “Perhaps your people should have asked for help then, instead of assaulting my crew members when they were innocently shopping.”
“We thought you were the enemy,” Toli stammers, diligently avoiding Zarkan’s look.
“So you assaulted a child?!” Zarkan booms, his claws glinting as he grabs Toli’s throat. Toli is so frightened he doesn’t even raise the rifle to defend himself. “I’ve spent my life protecting and helping people,” Zarkan continues, snarling into Toli’s face, “and I did it with pride. I have never hesitated to risk my life to save others. But I won’t put my crew in danger for someone like you.”
Flexing his fingers, Zarkan clearly contemplates ripping Toli’s throat out, but then releases him. Gasping for air, Toli crumbles to the floor. “We wouldn’t have hurt the child,” he rasps. “We just wanted to…scare you off.”
“Consider your mission accomplished,” Zarkan says. “We’re leaving. Try to stop us and see what happens.”
Zarkan turns to leave, clearly not worried about someone shooting him in the back. I’m not surprised. Toli and his gang might be stupid, but they’re not stupid enough to attack a former Voidstalker, especially one as formidable as Zarkan.
As he crosses the bridge connecting the docks to the Supernova’s airlock, I realize I never told anyone what’s wrong with D’Aakh. If they think he’s been injured in the train explosion and waste time searching for injuries, he might not make it.
“Captain!” I call out. When Zarkan turns to glower at me, I throw D’Aakh’s damaged inhaler in his direction. “This is D’Aakh’s,” I say, hoping he’ll understand. “Please, save him.”
As Zarkan looks down at the inhaler, he growls, his grip tightening until the case cracks further. He nods curtly before resuming walking, muttering expletives under his breath. The ship’s door slides shut as soon as he’s through and seconds later, the roughly patched engines rumble to life.
“You better open the door for them,” I tell Arnik grimly. “Unless you want them to blast their way out.”
As Arnik rushes off to start the docking gate opening sequence, I glare at Toli and his gaggle of idiots. “I hope you’re happy. You just sentenced everyone on this station to death.”