Alien Skin Market by Lizzy Bequin

CHAPTER 34: TRISTN

“She’s gone!” Vaul’s voice called down the central corridor of The Longshot. The big Raksha had gone to M’reen’s room to check on her, but Tristn already knew she wouldn’t be there.

“I can’t believe it,” Jrayk roared. “The little wench is trying to escape!”

“No,” Tristn said.

As soon as he found out the escape pop had been activated, he knew what had happened. He didn’t know how it had happened, couldn’t even begin to fathom how it was possible, but he knew exactly who was responsible, knew it with an intuition as sharp and clear as a shard of glass.

“It’s Daggoth,” he said.

Vaul had just returned to the cockpit and dropped into his copilot’s seat. Now he and Jrayk both turned to Tristn with shock in their orange eyes.

“What?” they both said in unison.

“It’s Daggoth,” Tristn repeated, his guts chilling at the sound of his own words “Daggoth has her.”

“What the void are you talking about?” Jrayk shouted. “You mean the Daggoth? Daggoth the Cruel? The Scourge of Jrukharr?”

Tristn nodded grimly.

Jrayk glanced at Vaul. “I think the good doctor has lost his mind.”

“No, listen,” Tristn blurted. “I saw him, back on Gilaamar Secundus. He tried to buy M’reen, but I outbid him. I don’t know how, but somehow he managed to get aboard this ship, and now he’s got M’reen.”

Tristn shook his head and turned back to the controls.

“You’re crazy, doc. That’s impossible.”

Tristn wished Jrayk was right. But he knew beyond all doubt that Daggoth was involved, and the thought of that cold-blooded mercenary alone with M’reen made him sick.

He shifted his eyes to Vaul. The big Raksha was wearing a stricken look on his bearded face, and his ears were lowered.

“I think the doctor is right, boss,” he said. “When I checked just now, Maureen’s harness was torn.” He raised his hand, claws out. “It had been ripped by Raksha claws.”

“Damn!” Jrayk bellowed.

Tristn sensed the agony his companions were experiencing—the same agony that gnawed at his own guts. In the short time they had known her, all three of them had become bonded to the human, and now the thought of her in danger was nearly unbearable.

Tristn was overcome with guilt. This was all his fault. He should have been more cautious, should have checked every inch of the ship before and after their stop at Betnt Koarth. If he had only been more vigilant, all of this could have been avoided.

But the situation called action, not guilt. There would be time enough for guilt later, once they had gotten M’reen back.

“Captain, turn around. We’ve got to see where that escape pod lands.”

“Already on it,”

The Longshotbanked steeply as Jrayk brought it around, and after a moment Tristn could actually see the falling escape pod from the corner of the view port, a tiny speck in the distance.

“There she is!”

“I see her,” Jrayk said through gritted teeth. “I see—”

His words were cut off by a deafening crackle of electricity. Writhing arcs of lightning swarmed over the interior of the cabin, branching like glowing vines over the walls and control boards. Tristn’s hair lifted with static.

Then, just as quickly as it started, the electric storm was over.

“What was that?” he exhaled.

Jrayk cursed in the pilot’s seat. His hands joggled the controls, but the ship didn’t respond. All the lights on the control boards had gone out. Tristn noticed he could no longer feel the pulse of the engines vibrating through the floor of the ship, and his stomach dropped.

“It was some kind of EMP attack,” Jrayk shouted. “All the electronics are wiped out.”

“What does that mean?” Tristn asked.

“It means we’re going to crash, doc. Now sit your ass in the passenger seat, strap yourself in, and say a prayer to the Goddess. You ‘d better make it a good one too, because we’re all about to meet her.”

Tristn stumbled into his seat and buckled himself in.

It was a pointless act, of course. Jrayk was right. They were all going to die. The ship was plummeting toward the ground at an alarming rate, completely out of control. Tristn noticed with detachment that when he looked through the view port, he could already count the leaves on the trees rushing up toward them.

Tristn was surprised to find he did not fear death. But he regretted that he would not be able to save M’reen. She was the only thing that mattered anymore.

He did as Jrayk had suggested and spent the last moments before impact praying to the Goddess, but the prayer was not for himself.