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“He was doing his duty!” Conii argued back, throwing a huge volume into the flames. She looked around, out of paper. We were out of time.
“Amber!” I shouted, needing her attention in the nick of time. “Time to tap out!” Realization hit her face like a ton of bricks. I saw her tap her finger onto her hip three lines, three dashes. Three more and finally someone would know where we were.
“It’s vibrating,” she said, shocked. “I think they understood.”
I grabbed her hand and used it to punch out the code for fire and where to find us. We didn't have long, and while Conii stood there laughing and crying her way to an early death, I knew that I could finally kill her. I could because help was on the way. There was no stopping justice from meeting its end.
Conii looked down at her blaze, her eyes filled with tears as she stood there holding the hose. Any closer and life as we knew it would cease to be.
“Don’t come any closer!” she yelled. “I’ll do it! I will. I have nothing more to lose.”
The words became true when the emergency valves popped from the ceiling and drenched us in fire retardant foam.
“Sorry, Conii,” I said, smiling and raising my blaster toward her face. “You’re right. You have nothing more.” I fired the shot, the only shot, and her body crumpled straight down, collapsing like a log laden with ash.
Amber looked shocked as she put her hands out to receive the cool foam. The fire smoked but was a threat no more.
Just like Conii.
It was finally over.
But now that Amber was free, would she really stay with me?
AMBER
“I got her,” Ryrik said without hesitation.
With the threat of Conii finally over, Ryrik’s attention and energy shifted completely. His once strong, intimidating, and violent form was gone. I saw nothing but a gentle, kind, and caring Vinduthi as he crouched down to Isa and me.
“Amber?” Isa asked. She looked at me wide-eyed.
“It’s okay,” I responded. “You can trust him.”
Isa relented and let Ryrik pick her up. My friend had been through so much and looked so weak, I expected her to pass out right in his arms. But she stayed conscious, her eyes fixed on me.
“Let’s get her back to the apartment,” Ryrik said as he carried my friend out of Conii’s compound.
It struck me that Ryrik referred to it as ‘the apartment.’ Not ‘my apartment.’ A smile creeped onto my face as I imagined him one day calling it ‘our apartment.’
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Now, there’s nowhere safer for her on the whole space station.”
The rest of the Vinduthi stayed behind at Conii’s compound to wrap up whatever business there was left. Presumably, they’d have some explaining to do to the Ardrik Federation, but considering Conii had tried to burn down Thodos III and kill everyone, I assumed they wouldn’t have too much trouble making their case as to the necessity of their actions.
Meanwhile, I walked alongside Ryrik as he took my friend to safety. The danger for all of us was finally over.
As the three of us returned to the Black Star Casino, I couldn’t help but look out at Thodos III. The space station seemed to have a new pleasant glow to it. Before, it was just a new cage for me, but for the first time, it almost seemed like a home.
Once we returned to the apartment, Ryrik wordlessly carried Isa to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and quickly headed to the door.
“I’ll be right back,” he whispered to me. “Take care of your friend.”
“Wait, where are you going?”
But Ryrik didn’t turn around as he left. So I instead returned my attention to Isa. She looked up at me with a happy grin, one I hadn’t seen from her in a long time.
“So,” she said weakly. “Who is the Vinduthi?”
