Planet Athion: The Complete Series by Angel Lawson
41
Mercy
There arecameras on the console of the flight deck—cameras that gave us a good view of every angle outside the ship. Cassidy and I are quiet as we watch the screens. Amias paying the attendant. Damon getting a drink. The people coming and going.
“So what’s Damon’s deal anyway?” I ask.
Cassidy laughs. “That’s an impossible question to answer.”
I don’t doubt that. “Have you met any other Custo before?"
“Just the few at the transition facility—but none personally.” She eyes me. “You sure have them watching your back, though.”
My cheeks burn. “They’re very protective.”
“I noticed. Damon doesn’t talk about that part of his life or anything in his past very much. It’s very hush-hush. I know to keep me and Amias safe—the less we know, the better—but when the call came in to help you there was no hesitation.”
“He doesn’t seem too happy about helping me.”
Cassidy stretches her legs. “To be fair, he’s not happy about much. The circumstances that led him here are just as challenging as the rest of ours. No one becomes a pioneer to this universe without some baggage.”
On the screen, the men talk and drink. Even from a distance the scowl on Damon’s face is noticeable. “Don’t let that fool you though,” she says suddenly. “He cares. He just doesn’t know how to show it.”
Three figures enter the bottom of the screen, one a woman. Immediately I notice how she’s carrying herself. Squat and low. I lean forward.
“What?” Cassidy asks.
“That woman—she’s pregnant.”
She squints at the screen. “How can you tell?”
“It’s my job.” Her hand is supporting her lower back. The two men--Trads, it looks like--shuffle her into the building. “Shit—her water broke.” I point to the fluid trailing behind her.
I stand and head down the steps.
“Mercy!” Cassidy calls after me. We’re supposed to stay on the flight deck. I hear her footsteps on the stairs. “What are you doing?”
“We need to help her. I need to help her.”
“Oh no. This isn’t a good idea. No one can know we’re on this ship. If the Master finds out, we’re screwed.”
The security system buzzes and the doors unlatch, opening and closing quickly. Both men appear at the top of the deck. Damon looks at us both. “Why aren’t you on deck?”
“Mercy—”
“I saw that woman. We need to help her.”
He shakes his head. “Nope. Not possible.”
Amias stands silently by his side.
“It’s my job—my duty to help pregnant woman. I signed an oath when I agreed to come here.”
“Did you sign an oath to get kidnapped? To put the rest of us in danger?” Damon shouts, throwing his hands in the air. “You’re un-fucking-believable.”
“You can’t stop me,” I say pushing past him. I have no idea how to make the door open but that doesn’t stop me from trying. Damon, on the other hand, does—yanking me back.
“Like hell I can't, Mercy.” His face is close to mine. “This is not happening.”
“Let her go.”
I look over in surprise. Amias is the one that spoke up.
“Amias, we went over this outside,” Damon says.
“You want to help her?” I ask the Trad, surprised.
He gives Cassidy a guilty glance. “I think we should. She’s in pain and those men, they don’t have good intentions.”
“How do you know?”
“I could smell it on them.” His eyes shift back to Damon. “This is what we do, Damon. We take risks. We help people in need.”
The hulking human runs his hands through his hair. “This is bullshit. We’re screwed if you open that door.”
“Then leave me,” I say. “I can take care of myself.”
“Jesus Christ,” Damon mumbles, but in a quick move he’s past me, opening the bay doors. “Go. Do it. Whatever. If this is how it all ends, then fine. It’s on you two,” he points to me and Amias, “not me.”
“Damon,” I say.
“What?”
“Helping women like this is my mission.”
He pins me with a hard, unreadable glare. “Well, you’re my mission and the guys will skin me alive if something happens to you.”
I swallow at the impact of that statement. “Then make sure it doesn’t.”
He blinks, then walks away, and I step toward the ramp. He’s right. This is one of the more reckless things that I’ve done in my life, but if the last week has taught me anything, it's that I have to do what I can to bring light into this world, because we can’t let the bastards win.