Janae rolled away and looked up.
The clatter of metal against metal ran out.
Her breath came back to her, and she took in what she saw.
Khalzin had defeated his attacker and had thrown his weapon at the Kantenan who had Janae.
Stron had shot his blaster at the male.
And Adryel had thrown a rock at the attacker, hitting him in the head.
Janae shook her head and started to stand.
Khalzin was there, and he helped her up.
Stron walked over to Adryel, and she rushed into his arms. He embraced her and stroked her hair, whispering something to her, but Janae couldn’t hear it.
She was too busy thanking the stars for Khalzin. She hugged him tight, and he winced.
"Are you okay?" she asked, and when she pulled her hand back, it was wet. "Oh stars, you're wounded!"
He shook his head. "It's just a scratch. I'll be-- I'll be fine," he said.
And promptly went limp in Janae's arms.
"Khalzin! Khalzin!" She held him the best she could for a few moments and started to go down.
"Friend," Stron said as he grabbed Khalzin. He looked at her over his shoulder. "We need to get out of here."
Janae nodded. "Let's get him back in the vessel, and we'll get him to safety."
She prayed that they weren't too late and that he would quickly be healed.
* * *
Janae saton the edge of the bed, where Khalzin had been situated.
He was resting for the time being. They made it back to the apartment, and Stron had a medic assess and get him treated. It wasn't a horrible wound. It would just require some time to heal and limit his mobility for a short time.
They had spoken to her like she was important in his life, and she felt strange about it. She didn't know that she was important, but his people regarded her as Khalzin's advocate. It was surreal knowing she had to make decisions for him now if something happened to him.
She was responsible. All of this was her fault, in essence.
She was there, and now his people were trying to kill each other. Not exactly a promising future for this venture. She thought about Adryel, who had left with Stron. The other females who had arrived--were they well? Had any of them been hurt?
No reports had come in, at least none that he'd shared with her, that any of the other females had been hurt thus far. Besides the initial explosions, of course. They were kept securely in the Galactic Alliance's embassy headquarters. Whoever oversaw the embassy, Janae didn't know what they were doing, if anything, for this situation.
And she also wondered about Graecey and if she or any of the others had survived the fall. It was strange that the Kantenans were not attempting to go down and look for them. What that other male, Fiviel, not that important to their people? Not like Khalzin was?
Or was it that rough on the planet floor?
There was so much she didn't understand. She should know better, and she should have paid better attention. Maybe she wouldn't feel so lost right now.
"I don't know," Janae whispered. "All this is so much. I don't know if I'm ready. I only had to worry about myself and surviving every day for so long. This is so much bigger, and I don't know if I can do it."
She stroked Khalzin's hand, and his fingers wrapped around hers briefly. "You'll have to teach me when you wake. How to do this. I don't know what to do. It's been so long since I've had to--"
The door opened behind her.
