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“Astra, I’m here. Please, tell me what’s wrong,” I beg, tears welling in my eyes.
“Need…air. No air…here.”
D’Aakh curses loudly. “Is she in the lower back section of the ship? Near the cargo holds?”
“Yes, in the holding cells with the other captives,” I respond, grabbing his arm. “What is it? What’s going on?”
D’Aakh yanks his arm out of my grip and returns to his datapad, tapping at it frantically. “Life support for that entire section has been turned off. And before you ask, no, I can’t do anything about it from here. It’s a master command coming from the bridge. It would take me an hour to override.”
Astra doesn’t have an hour. I want to sprint back to her, then I realize I’ve sealed off that part of the ship to protect her. Realization hits me like Faelin’s hammer. I trapped Astra there and now she’s going to die. Panic grips me so tightly I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I can’t do anything.
“Options, D’Aakh?” Zarkan asks, calm as always. “Can we blast through the doors to get air from this section of the ship to theirs? Can we go there in the Dart?”
Two long feelers on the top of D’Aakh’s head sway from side to side as he thinks of ways to rescue my mate. “Both would take too long. I’m no medical expert, but if the creatures inside the cells are already feeling the effects, that means the CO2 scrubbers haven’t been operational for a while and the levels are getting dangerous.”
She’s going to die. And I’m standing here like a fucking stone pillar, not doing anything to help her. I stomp down the panic and try to focus. I’ve been through that section of the ship after I escaped. I feel like there was something useful back there, but my panicking mind refuses to reveal what it was.
“Can you pull up the schematics of that part of the ship?” I ask, vaguely aware that my cheeks are wet. I haven’t cried in forever. I think the last time was when Mzr died. We all cried back then.
All three of us lean over the datapad to look at the ship schematics. “There are airlocks,” Zarkan notes, “but it would take too long for the captives to suit up. Not to mention that most of them wouldn’t fit into Genixarian-sized suits. They’re probably too primitive to understand the concept, anyway.”
A growl rumbles through me. “My mate is not primitive,” I snarl, unable to control myself. “Here!” I exclaim before the others can react to my no doubt surprising statement. “This should work, right?” I ask as I tap on one section of the schematic.
D’Aakh’s feelers twitch, then he nods. “Yes. But they need to hurry before the CO2 levels get toxic. If they lose consciousness, they’ll die.”
I shudder at the harsh words. A firm hand grips my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Tell them to move, Tareq,” Zarkan says, encouraging me. “Talk to your mate. Save her.”
Chapter 21
Astra
My head is pounding and I feel all kinds of dizzy but I’m trying to stay awake. Nikolai said I need to stay awake and it kind of makes sense. Like when people who have banged their heads shouldn’t sleep. Bang, bang. Something is banging inside my head. Does that count?
Ugh. It’s nearly impossible to focus, but I have to. I don’t want to die. I just met Tareq and I want to have sex with him. He promised to lick my pussy, and we didn’t even get to it! I refuse to die without having my alien boyfriend lick my pussy.
As if he knows I’m thinking about him, Tareq’s voice sounds from the communicator again. From the walkie-talkie. I’m giggling again. Stupid CO2 poisoning.
“Astra? Are you still there? Please, talk to me, my Myále.”
My poor tiger sounds desperate, so I do my best to reply. “Mhm.” Alright, that wasn’t great. “I’m here,” I say, trying again.
“Good, that’s good. Listen, you have to stay awake.”
“D’uh.” I giggle. It’s not funny, but I can’t help myself. “I’m awake.”
“Okay. You need to leave the cellblock. Get a keycard from one of the dead guards and—”
“Did,” I interrupt him. “Nikolai went. No air in the hallway either.” He said the air out there was a little better than here, but that’s probably just because we haven’t used it all up yet. He kept the door open so that hopefully, we’d last longer.
Tareq sighs. “I know, I know. Listen carefully, Astra. You need to get to the orange door. It’s only two corridors away from the cellblock. Please, do that for me.”
“Orange door. Huh.” I fight to haul myself up to my feet. Searching for mysterious orange door surely beats sitting around waiting for death. “EVERYONE!” I yell, feeling like my head is about to explode. “Get up! We’re searching for an orange door!”
They all look at me with tired eyes. The ones that are conscious, anyway. They don’t understand me. I need to pull myself together.
“Everyone to the orange door?” I ask Tareq, hoping he’s not just trying to save me. I don’t want to die, but I’d feel terrible about leaving the others behind.
“Yes, there’s enough space for everyone, but you have to hurry, Astra. The CO2 levels are getting dangerously high.”
