Page 28 of Chosen By the Dragon Alien
A figure emerged from the ship’s loading ramp—a tall, sinewy male with deep marks carved into his pale gray skin, each one glowing faintly with a soft blue light. His eyes glimmered like molten gold, assessing with cool precision as he scanned the busy dock before landing on Cyprian. A wide grin split his face, revealing rows of sharp, jagged teeth. He radiated the sort ofcasual confidence that made Fivra nervous and relieved at the same time.
“Cyprian,” the male drawled. His gravelly voice carried just enough charm to mask the hint of menace beneath. His accent was foreign, curling around the syllables like smoke. “Your message sounded so urgent, I had to come myself, old friend.” His gaze fell to Fivra and that gold gaze held hers with interest. “With a guest. This is the reason for the urgency, I presume.”
“You presume correctly. Kaelen, this is Fivra. Fivra, Kaelen.” Cyprian’s voice was steady, but his wings twitched. “Can we board?”
Kaelen’s golden eyes flicked once more to Fivra, studying her as though they could peel back the layers of her cloak with a glance. Fivra tightened her grip on Cyprian’s hand and resisted the urge to tug the hood farther over her head. She had a feeling this being missed nothing.
“Of course,” Kaelen murmured with a careless wave. He turned and started toward the transport’s loading ramp. “Come on, then. The less time we’re out in the open, the safer we’ll all be.”
Cyprian released her hand, only to place his on Fivra’s lower back. He urged her forward as they followed Kaelen into the ship. The temperature dropped noticeably as they ascended the ramp. The cool, much cleaner air inside the transport was a relief to Fivra’s senses. Even the faint, metallic tang of recycled oxygen was preferable. The doors hissed as they closed and pressurized the cabin.
The interior of the transport was open and sparse. Clearly, this was a ship used for moving goods. Every panel and seat was worn with the mark of heavy use. Tubes and exposed circuitry snaked along the walls and ceiling.
“Quickly now, put on gravity belts. They project a field around you and interface with the floor to simulate gravity whenwe’re in space. Also, use the safety straps in your seats. These trips can get bumpy.” Kaelen dropped into the pilot’s seat. His long fingers danced over the controls. Fivra moved toward the row of simple seats bolted to the wall and sat in the one closest to Cyprian. The belt sitting on the seat was thick and appeared to be made of woven metal. Her fingers were stiff. The gravity belt felt awkward in her hands as she fumbled to secure it around her waist.
“Let me,” Cyprian murmured and leaned over to secure the belt. “You’ll need this when we’re off the station.” Then he pulled the safety straps over her shoulders and clicked them in place so she was secured to the seat. His fingers brushed hers. A flicker of warmth traveled up her arm, a welcome contrast to the cold metal pressed against her. She hoped he didn’t regret taking her.
“Hold tight,” Kaelen called back to them. “This is going to get messy.”
“What do you mean bymessy?” Fivra’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“Station controller announced a full-scale lockdown,” Kaelen said, waving casually toward the flickering alerts glowing on the overhead display screens. “Axis scan teams looking for someone.” A sharp, knowing grin. “Someone important.”
“They’re shutting down the station?” Cyprian leaned forward, his jaw taut.
“Not yet,” Kaelen said lightly as he flipped a lever above his seat. The vibrations beneath them grew intense as the thrusters came to life. “We’ll be ahead of it. If you trust me.”
Fivra’s knuckles whitened as she gripped her armrests. “And if we don’t make it out?”
Kaelen’s gold eyes glinted as he glanced back at her, unbothered. “Oh, we’ll make it. I never miss a window.”
The screens flashed red. A low, droning alarm spread through the ship as Kaelen grinned and engaged the thrusters.The ship shot forward. The sudden force slammed Fivra back against her seat. A sick pressure dragged through her chest as the vessel surged toward the dock’s exit portal. Her eyes darted to the viewport at the front. Several hulking Axis ships hovered just beyond the station’s perimeter, their dark, angular silhouettes unmistakable. Their scans, represented as sweeping beams of pale blue light, fanned out in slow, deliberate arcs, seeking…her. The portal leading out of the station flickered with faint energy barriers as the lockdown crept closer. Fivra dragged in a breath and held it.
“They’re scanning everything,” she whispered, clutching at the armrests like lifelines.
“They won’t find you.” Kaelen’s tone was light. He didn’t look concerned. If anything, he seemed to be enjoying himself. “I have a scanning re-sequencer that will give them data showing this ship carrying a mixed cargo of little value and only one life form.”
“This re-sequencer,” Cyprian said. “It’s always effective?”
“So far. I’ve been dodging Axis scans since before your lady mate was born,” Kaelen replied as he toggled a few switches. “Trust me.”
Kaelen wrenched the controls abruptly to the right. The ship jerked with such force, Fivra was almost certain the straps holding her in place would snap. Her stomach rolled as they narrowly avoided a heavy cargo vessel veering toward its docking bay.
“They’re locking down sectors faster than I expected,” Kaelen murmured, almost to himself. His eyes flicked to another monitor, scanning the paths filtering through in garbled streams of data. “Hold tight. We’re cutting it close.”
“What does that mean?” Fivra squeaked as the viewport filled with the sight of a glowing energy barrier crawling its way down the last open docking bay corridors. For someone whohadverylittle experience off-planet, this was both terrifying and fascinating. At the moment, mostly terrifying.
“It means we’re threading the needle,” Kaelen said calmly. His hand slapped another lever. The hum of the thrusters escalated into a thunderous roar that made her teeth rattle.
The ship shot forward, weaving between sluggish, larger freighters to escape the impending lockdown. Fivra’s vision blurred at the speed, her breath coming shallow. The glowing energy barrier grew closer, so close she thought she could hear it.
“We’re not going to make it,” she whispered to Cyprian, her voice cracking.
Only the tightness of his jaw revealed nerves. “We will,” he said.
In a fluid motion, Kaelen adjusted the controls, and the ship tilted sharply downward as it hurtled toward the narrowing space at the bottom of the docking portal.
Fivra’s breath seized in her chest as the edge of the energy barrier sizzled just above them, close enough to singe the top panels of the ship’s patchwork hull. Sparks danced along the canopy, illuminating the inside of the cockpit in brief bursts of electric blue light.
