"Ben?" I paused to shoot out another knee and ducked back behind my cover. "What the hell did you say about the ship earlier?"
Ben sounded out of breath as he responded. "Impenetrable hull. Kinetic Energy. Most advanced steering and operating systems."
"Okay, but how and why with the steering and operating systems?" I asked.
"Graham, do you remember anything from the report?" Ben asked.
"Uhhhh, something about the ship having really sensitive controls and some AI program built in for intuitive handling based on the pilots," Graham said. I glanced up to see him pull a loop maneuver in the sky
"Intuitive AI program like how?" I asked. "Like Pacific Rim, like Power Rangers, like Voltron?"
"None of us know your Earth pop-culture references!" Ben's voice was loud over the coms. I personally, didn't feel that there was a need for shouting currently.
"As far as I know, no Collective ships require their pilots to be drift compatible," Kuzzon huffed. Despite the battle, despite all my injuries, despite the impending capture or death, my face broke out in a gleeful smile.
"Guinevere, focus," Ben commanded.
I focused on shooting out a few more soldiers. The focus was brief. My brain tossed and turned.
If the ship's systems were so sensitive and advanced that we couldn't destroy the ship, maybe the ship could be destroyed by a little human error or er alien error. I pulled an exploding disk from my arm band, but didn't throw it. I held it up to the light and watched the disk catch the sun. I looked back at the ship.
I looked at the bodies strewn about bloody in the sand. I looked at Ben still tussling with Collective soldiers. I looked at Graham flying through the beams of blaster rounds coming off of the Collective vessel.
I looked at Kuzzon, who was panting heavily, taking cover behind a rock a couple yards away. I jolted over to him.
"Can one of your crew get back to your runner?" I asked. Kuzzon's eyebrows furrowed but he nodded.
"So, here's my plan, cause a pilot distraction, maybe throw the ship off course, and aid the ship's bad course by plowing into them with the runners," I summed up.
"Jein, get to the runner," Kuzzon commanded.
"Yes, Prince," Jein responded.
"I don't think there's any reason to risk both of the runners," Kuzzon said. "Jein can eject himself and your runner can still be active."
I glanced around the boulder and shot out another soldier before responding simply, "Okay."
Kuzzon and I took a few rounds of fire from behind the boulder. We returned a couple shots before Jein relayed his new position in the sky.
"Two pilots, right?" I asked. Kuzzon's eyebrows went in, but he nodded.
"Here," I said and handed him a disk. "Let's see if we can't throw the pilots off course with a simple reflection of light."
"Well," he sighed. "Jein, you ready for the count?"
We changed position so we were facing the rock and the ship. I held my disk up and angled the reflection. I set my tech eye to zoom so I could see the pilot's face.
"Same time, me starboard, you port," I suggested.
"On one," he said.
"Three," I counted. "Two, one." I flicked my wrist. The pilot flinched as the light bore directly into his eyes. The wheel jerked and the vessel turned slightly. Jein's runner hit the side and exploded. The ship turned fully on it's side. The hover pulses stopped with no ground to bounce off of and the ship collapsed down.
With the ship topsy turvy and on the ground. The shields went down to allow people to leave via the escape ports.
"Graham, destroy the ship, don't aim for the soldiers though, Kuzzon wants his people to live," I said.
"Jein, report." Kuzzon said.
"Shoot deployed, correctly. Headed towards the ground," Jein answered.
Soldiers ran from the ship in all directions. Every blast of energy from Graham, made a smoldering hole in the Collective's vessel. Pieces started on fire and broke away from the ship.
Graham made another sweep of blasts and flew over towards us. I watched as he landed safely and smiled.
"You have been a pain," a voice hissed. Kuzzon jolted and turned away from the wreckage. I turned away from Graham.
Commander Zymerian stood tall, proud, ugly, and unfortunately, only moderately injured. He raised his gun and locked onto Kuzzon confidently, both hands clutching at his weapon. And well, he wanted me alive.
I stepped in front of Kuzzon.
"You'll have to kill me, if you want to kill the Prince," I said to Zymerian. Yeah, this was going to work. Or at least stall.
"Excuse me?" Zymerian responded. All four eyes were squinting at me. His arms fell to his sides.
"Fuck, Gwen, no," Graham shouted. And yeah, that was a fair response. He jogged over to our standoff, shaking.
"Uh, what they said," Ben agreed, as he joined the show. There was a mild look of disappointment on his face. But there was absolutely zero surprise, just exasperation. Which, again, was fair.
I bumped the thigh holster back into Kuzzon's leg. Desperately hoping that he would pick up on the brainwaves, and the motion. Here's hoping we were drift compatible.
"I mean, the Prince and I really bonded while he held me captive, and he's had the opportunity to kill me several times over and hasn't. He seems like a good dude, who deserves to live." I held my hands up in the air and leaned my hip back into Kuzzon once more. Just to really hint at the 'hey here's a gun' I was trying to imply.
"Very well then," Zymerian replied. He held his right arm out and I had a brief moment to think, 'that's not how you shoot a gun' before-
There was an arm around my waist.
There was a bang in my left ear.
There was a jesusfuckingchrist burn in my left shoulder.
Kuzzon and I fell to the ground. I bounced off his chest and rolled to the side. I sat up. Kuzzon pulled the bullet out of his peck. My shoulder had slowed the bullet immensely.
I met Kuzzon's eyes as he clutched the bullet between two fingers, damp with both our blood.
"Thank you," he said.
"Yeah, you're welcome," I responded. I looked back and Zymerian was dead. Kuzzon had shot him in the forehead. The bullet wound was the same color as his four, still open eyes.
Fuuuuuuuuck. I had come a little close to actually dying there. I started to search the vest for med supplies, opening every pocket. I pulled out a square gauze pack, unwrapped it, and pressed the sterile cloth against Kuzzon's chest. I pulled tape out of another pocket and ripped it with my teeth to press the gauze down. I repeated the process to tape the other side of the gauze and Kuzzon stopped my shaking hands. Shit, when did my hands start shaking? Kuzzon pulled the supplies from me and dressed my shoulder.
With our wounds covered, I made eye contact with Kuzzon again and nodded and smiled. Graham finished up his call to headquarters and the RAFO. I popped up off the ground and shook everything away. It was time to make a joke and move on. Close the death? Psht. Can't thank, can't dwell on that.
"What a fun day," I said with a huge smile on my face. I could feel my cheeks being pushed up as I looked up at Graham.
Graham...Graham was frowning and looking away.
"Yo, Graham, you alright?" I watched as Graham clenched and unclenched his hands before making eye contact with me. Behind Graham, the wreckage of the new Collective vessel was still smoldering, crashed into the dirt of this abandoned planet.
Ben and Kuzzon were standing a couple of feet away, watching the ship burn. They had stepped away when I started talking to Graham. Both were still sneaking looks back and not being subtle about it.
Graham still hadn't said anything. I was starting to get a little anxious.
"Graham, I uh," I didn't know what to say next.
"What, Gwen? What could you possibly say right now that would make me feel better about our relationship?" Graham asked slowly. And, what?
"I didn't realize we were having a conversation about our relationship," I responded, a little confused. "Did I do something wrong?" Like almost dying a few times over?
"Fuck, Gwen, do ever stop to think about me, or anyone else, Ben, your crew, before you do stupid, self-sacrificing, dangerous bullshit?" Graham's hands clenched again. His face tightened.
"Graham, I'm okay, everyone is okay," I said softly.
"Yeah, and as your handler, I can admit that you always make the right move. You're unbelievably competent. You have this crazy, almost psychic intuition thing going for you. But do you realize as your boyfriend, I just had to watch you get shot?" I couldn't deny that he had a point.
"I'm sorry," I said. And I meant it.
"Are you? Because you started this conversation with me with a cute little smile and a casual 'What a fun day.'" Graham's fingers went up to add angry air-quotes around "What a fun day."
"Yeah, I am sorry," I said. "I'm sorry that you had to see it but those are the circumstances of our lives. We're at war." My eye was starting to water. My voice was doing things I didn't want.
"Gwen," Graham exhaled. And oh, that was a bad exhalation. Countless other exhales flashed through my brain. A content cuddly exhale, with eskimo kiss in bed. An exasperated exhale and an eye roll after I made a bad joke. A quick intake and slow outtake as I looked up at him and sank down to my knees. A drawn-out sigh with fluttering blonde lashes. A sigh with two fingers pinching a nose. The long exhale of this conversation.
"I don't think that I can do this," Graham sighed.
"You just told me you loved me a few cycles ago," I choked out.
"Can you say it back?" Graham questioned immediately. His arms came up and crossed over his chest. Fuck.
"Graham, I," I bit down on my bottom lip hard. It hurt. Suddenly everything hurt. The day wasn't fun. The bullet wound fucking ached and I was miserable. I blinked and took a breath. I couldn't say it back. Fuck, I couldn't say it back. I want to say something. Anything. I wanted to tell him how much our time together meant to me. I wasn't in a place to tell him that I loved him.
"I know, I know that it wasn't a fair request. I know that you don't tell people you love them with words. You do it with actions, and I've seen it with every small gift or note you leave me, but Gwen, I can't keep watching you get hurt."
This was my life. I was being broken up with. I was being broken up with on the edge of a battlefield, in front of my boss, and a one night stand who had just kidnapped me. Oh, and I was a lightyears away from my parents and my family and it all came crashing down on me. I started to sob and just held my breath to make it go away.
I wanted to go shopping with my sister and complain about being dumped. I wanted to sit at the bar of parent's brewpub and listen to my Dad's life advice as he poured me a beer. I wiped the babbling brook off of my right cheek. I took a deep breath and held it until my chest and my chin stopped shaking.
"If that's what you think is best," I said and I walked away. And it hurt. I wanted to go back immediately. I had too much pride for that.
I walked over to Ben's side. The side Kuzzon wasn't on. Ben's hand came up like he was going to...
"Don't," I said. "Let's not talk or anything for a bit."
"Yeah, Kuzzon, I think we can drop you and your crew at your Mom's," Ben said and yeah, that felt okay. I couldn't go back to Earth. But, I had Ben.
The RAFO broke through the atmosphere about five minutes later.
Boo skipped off the ship and wrapped her arms around me. "I can't believe we missed everything!" she trilled and guided me onto the ship and into medical. Boo continued to update me with everything that happened while I was kidnapped, and Mako cut in with an anecdote occasionally, but was mostly focused on keeping the regen hovered over the bullet wound...and the blaster wound.
So, I couldn't go back to Earth, but I had Ben, and Boo, and Mako. I didn't have Graham. But, as Grey slapped me on the back as I entered the mess for dinner, and Poku and Danyl greeted me enthusiastically, I knew I had friends. I had a spaceship. I had a home.
Ben and I exited the RAFO with Kuzzon on Xerian, in his Mom's backyard. Ben, Nartayah, Heatheroon, Jein, and Fuhnereen immediately went over to talk to her. Kuzzon took a step away.
"Kuzzon," I said softly. He turned back towards me. I tapped on my comlet and held the halo up with my com frequency. "Don't be a stranger."
Kuzzon tapped his com with mine, exchanging contact information. "Same to you," he said with a smile, before turning and heading off towards his mom and his crew.
Ben came back over with a huge smile.
"Disciela invited all of us in for a meal," he announced.
"I'll go get the crew," I said and smiled back.
The End