I needed Mary and couldn’t bring myself to see a future without her beside me. Each step we took down the narrow hall felt heavy, the immense weight of what we’d accomplished pressing me down like an increased gravitational pull.
If we didn’t get off the ship and stop our fleet from attacking, we would be inside the enemy while a battle raged on, and no one was going to win that altercation. But a part of me didn’t care anymore.
“Mary,” I said through almost closed lips.
“Dean, are you okay?” Leonard asked as we walked, speaking for the first time since he’d shot Blel.
“I’m fine.”
Tres turned to the right and touched a keypad; the door slid open, revealing five forms sitting or lying on the cold floor in the near dark.
I scanned and my eyes adjusted, picking out Magnus’ and Slate’s large forms, then Clare and Nick huddled together in the corner. Someone lay facing the wall, and I assumed it had to be Patty.
“Guys, it’s me.” I said the words and couldn’t hold back the floodgates. I wanted to run into the room, but I didn’t trust Tres not to pull a fast one and lock us away with them.
“Dean?” Slate asked, rushing over to me. He enveloped me in a big hug, his unshaven beard brushing against my forehead. He smelled like a man who’d been in a cell for months.
“We need to get out of here. Our fleet arrived, and only minutes after we struck a deal with the Bhlat. We need to stop them from attacking.” I said the words, and a flood of emotions hit me. Tears fell down my face, and I wiped them away as Magnus came up to me and clasped my arm in his meaty hand.
“Brother. You did it.” His eyes were wet too, and I smiled at the big man.
Clare and Nick were next, and they hugged me.
“We don’t have time for this,” I said, pulling the Relocator from the small pack strapped to my chest. “Let’s go, Patty.”
They all stood around the entrance of the room, blocking the inside.
Magnus spoke softly. “Dean, I’m so sorry. Patty didn’t make it.”
I reeled. “Then who…”
A more than familiar woman squeezed through the broad shoulders of Slate and Magnus and wrapped her arms around me, kissing me deeply like there wasn’t a care in the world. I felt Mary’s love and passion all intertwined as our lips met, and when we broke apart, I was crying and barked out a confused laugh.
“I thought you were dead,” I said so softly only she could hear me.
Her cool hand rested on my cheek. “Why did you think that?”
“Oh, Patty didn’t tell the Bhlat her real name. When we arrived, she called herself Mary Lafontaine, in hopes it would give them some respect for our group. It made things worse,” Clare said, clearly upset by Patrice Dalhousie being gone.
“I can’t believe it,” Leonard said, wide-eyed, probably conflicted between feeling terrible for killing someone and trying to record everything in his mind for his next comic issues.
Mary was alive, and I was so shocked I nearly forgot what we were doing.
“We have to go. Everyone touch my arm.” I held my arms out, the Relocator in my left hand. I nodded to Tres, who kept her distance, and she gave me a grave nod back. With the tap of a button, we all disappeared from the prison cell doorway.
“Anyone know how to fly this thing?” Magnus asked as we made our way from the back of the Bhlat drop ship to the cockpit. The craft was empty, so we didn’t have to fight our way out.
I grabbed the communicator from my pouch and tapped it. “I need to speak with the Empress.” A garbled voice said something unintelligible before the Empress’ weak voice carried over the device.
“Dean Parker, missed me already?” she asked.
“We’re in one of your drop ships. Have them open the bay doors. We’re going to head out.”
“Done. We will leave as promised. Good luck.” She said another phrase in her native language, and the communication ended.
“I think I can muster some semblance of understanding here,” Mary said, and I couldn’t help but smile as she sat there, looking confused at the alien controls.
Slate stood behind her suggesting things, and soon, with Clare chiming in, we had the engines running and Mary was ready to give it a go.
“Say a little prayer,” she said, and I instantly thought of the Theos. Were they still out there? Could they hear a prayer?
She gently lifted a lever, and we moved slightly.
“We don’t have all day,” Magnus said, clearly frustrated.
“Do you want to fly?” Mary asked, and jammed the lever back, lurching us toward the hangar ceiling. She pulled down just in time to narrowly avoid crashing. She cringed and smiled back at us before moving the ship toward the open bay doors. The opening was a couple hundred feet across; a dim green barrier glowed as we passed through it, and into space.
We were free of the Bhlat ship. My tight back loosened for a second before I spotted the gigantic fleet ships coming toward us.
“Damn if they don’t look impressive,” Magnus said proudly.
“When they blow us out of the sky, you won’t think so,” I said. “How do we contact them and tell them to stand down?”
Nick crowded in behind us, and I got a sense of how poorly they’d been treated. He’d lost a good fifteen pounds, and his eyes had a look I’d never seen in them before. “Is there any way to send a message?”
Clare moved into the seat beside the pilot’s chair and attempted to find a communication device. The viewscreen had radar on it: the green lights, which identified the Bhlat master ship and their other orbiting ships, were moving away from Earth. The red lights, showing our incoming fleet, started to move toward us.
“I can’t see how to do it.” Frustration and panic melded together in her voice.
“They’re coming for us. If we don’t tell them what transpired, they’ll chase the Bhlat and break our peace.” I had to think of something. “Magnus, you have the Kraski beams in those ships?” I fiddled with the chain and pendant still around my neck.
“Yeah, you can use the suit’s pins to get access if needed. That’s just an emergency EVA situation…” He stopped his thought, looking at me and grinning. “One more adventure for old times?”
I smiled back, hiding the stress I was feeling. “One more adventure. Did you leave the pack by the pyramid?”
He nodded.
“Mary, we’ll be right back. Magnus and I will get on board the lead warship and get them to stop.”
Our eyes met, and a flicker of hope and exhaustion transferred between us. I mouthed “I love you” to her, and she said it back.
“I’ll see if I can find anything useful in the back,” Slate said, moving out of the cramped cockpit.
“Ready?” I asked Magnus, and touched his arm, hitting the location for the pyramid on the Relocator.
TWENTY-NINE
The first thing we did, when we got the EVA suits Magnus and Mary had stashed near the pyramid, was try to communicate with the fleet in space approaching Earth.
“They’re too far for these suits’ comms to work,” Magnus said, slipping into his suit. Mine was made for Mary, and the fit was tight. They had a little give, so I was able to stand up in it, but not comfortably.
“How do I look?” I asked, serious behind the face shield.
“Like a man that would do what it takes.” I’d expected a joke in return.