Hold her after the trauma. Keep her safe.
“Are you well,” he asked as he stroked the side of her face.
She smiled. “This is not the first time I was held hostage.”
“It is a common occurrence?”
“Not anymore,” she said.
He glanced at the man on the ground, even now, anger ran through him. Anger that this Terran dared hurt her.
“Is he one of those that makes your under armor necessary?”
Veta nodded.
“Then, I do not mind his death.”
He leaned down and kissed her.
Let the sensation take over him for a moment, holding her tight to him. The feel of her on his body sent wave after wave of emotion through him. Strong emotions. Real emotions.
And that’s what they were. Real emotions.
Not diluted sensations. Not controlled by his internal systems, they were real. Genuine. Full, intense, empowering emotions that ran through him. Some was the adrenalin of the moment, he knew that.
But it was more.
So much more.
He imagined that Veta did as well. Yet it did not stop her from wrapping her arms around him.
He broke away just long enough to scoop up their supplies.
“We need to continue to execute.”
“Yes. We need to find the others.”
“Agreed.”
The ships were nearby, and when Wrathin reached the field, he saw there was a serviceable transport on the pad, and they made their way toward it.
Pressing his palm print on the exterior panel, the ship’s rear hatch groaned as it opened.
Veta ran her hand over the external metal panels as she climbed the ramp. Her fingers traced the lines of the overlapping plating.
“Do you like the ship?” Wrathin asked.
“The way the metal is layered together is unique. It makes me think of animal scales.”
“The pattern is the most efficient design to disperse power and attacks.”
She smiled, a sort of soft smile. He wondered if she was more affected by what had happened than she wanted to admit.
She followed him inside, her hand grazing things as she slowly took in the ship’s layout. He walked straight past the rows of seating on the walls, not wanting to think about all his fellow Rhimodians who should have been on this shuttle, going home to Sol-3, and waiting out the eclipse.
It angered him.
Frustrated him.
