The Last Atonian

Chapter 18:

Veerna, Don, and Yulia finally reached the security building of the planet. It was as empty as the rest of the planet, aside from the body of the security guard collapsed in his seat. Veerna hardly gave the corpse a second glance as she shoved him out of the way and started hacking into the massive computer that took up the entirety of the main room. "Well," she muttered. "Sabotage."

"Someone wanted this all to happen?" Yulia asked, looking terrified.

"And who killed him?" Don added, indicating the body Veerna had ruthlessly tossed aside.

Veerna shrugged. "Nothing did, from the looks of it," she said idly. "He hasn't got a mark on him."

Yulia squeaked. However, Don's attention was claimed by an explosion that rocked the booth—an explosion that brought a scowl to Veerna's face. "That wasn't from above us," she mumbled.

"Not from above us?" Don questioned. "Then, where did it come from?"

A second explosion blew up a flaming geyser through a hidden trap door close to Yulia. The Atonian shrieked in panic, scampering to put Veerna between her and the explosion. Veerna's eyebrows shot up. "There," she said, pointing helpfully.

Don sent her a glare, but even he wasn't expecting to see Flint crawl through the hole. Veerna's gun, which had appeared in her hand in a split second, lowered to the floor. "Flin?" she said with a frown. "What're you doing here? Where are the others?"

Flint smirked. "Veerna, are you really so blind?" he said, and swiftly drew both his guns, pointing them at Yulia and Don. Veerna's gun was raised as well, but she was hesitating, an unreadable expression on her face. "I've come to do some business, Veerna. And it concerns her." He motioned to Yulia with his gun.

"What does—ohhh." Veerna nodded slowly. Her gaze slid down to the corpse on the floor. "I think I get it."

"Get ... what?" Don questioned with a frown. "Veerna?"

"Everyone on this planet died from the same plague that destroyed her planet," Veerna said, indicating Yulia with a toss of her thumb. "Flinty here wants to make some cash off of it, don't you?"

Flint inclined his head towards her. "You always did have a good grasp of business," he complimented her.

"Enough with the false compliments, Flint," Veerna said, her voice steely again. "You're not taking this kid. Particularly not to sell her off to the highest bidder."

Flint raised his eyebrows. "You think you can stop me, Veerna? I'd hate to ruin our good relationship, my dear."

"Good relationship?" Veerna's eyebrows shot up. "I don't get a good relationship quality from you, chum. I get a 'keep her around until she's useful' quality from you."

Flint's nostrils flared. "I am fond of you, Veerna. And I thought that you returned those feelings. Will you really throw that all away for Federation flunkies and some indigo-haired coward?"

Veerna put her hand on her hip, the other still pointing the gun at Flint. "Let me ask you something. When have you ever tried to save me from Rulon? When have you gone back for me, when I'm everything that you hate and fight against? They despised me, yet they came back for me when Rulon was torturing me." She touched her throat, and Don saw the burned flesh of her brand there. "Seems like I know who my real friends are now, huh?"

Flint switched his target from Yulia to Veerna, apparently concerned by her statement. "You wouldn't dare attack me," he said flatly, but Don could detect nervousness in his voice. "You haven't got it in you."

"Haven't I?" Veerna questioned. "I protect those that are important to me. And right now, one of those things is Yulia. So, if you want to mess with her, you mess with me, Flint, and I don't think you want to do that, do you?"