“Let’s lose the bags, guys. We can tell the alie— those guys — to pick them up with the rest.”
Kora arched one eyebrow. “You think?”
Nayli flashed her palms helplessly. “Well, we can’t cope with the carry-ons, never mind take the heavy cases over this.” She flapped a hand over the grassland.
They stumbled onward without their bags, pushing through the waist-high grass for an hour, or it felt like it.
When they approached the spacecraft, they could see it clearly and they stopped and stared. A concave saucer on three short legs, it was huge, smooth and sleek in dark satin metal, built for speed and traversing vast distances of space.
As they stared, a hatch opened with a sigh, barely a whisper, dropping and forming a ramp by which they could board.
A soft light glowed in an empty chamber with a door in the far wall, not bright, but as golden as the sunset outside. It felt inviting, beckoning them inside. The ship seemed to issue a dare.Go on, start over.The warm, steady, almost welcoming light seemed to compel her. Frozen, Aelanna gawked at theship, and she got a grip on her emotions before they ran away with her.
Kora crept closer until their arms touched. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “In a terrifying, kinda in a please-don’t-abduct-us way.”
Nayli shivered on Aelanna’s other side, eyes darting everywhere. “Why is it so quiet? Why does this moment feel now-or-never? Why am I here?”
Good question. That last one.Aelanna knew her experience with Brad had left her bruised and determined not to be vulnerable again, but she felt the universe was literally opening a door for her. She’d be a fool not to walk through it.
Arms straight, fingers splayed, she reached back without looking and found both of their hands. They gripped her instantly — Kora warm and trembling, Nayli cold and steady.
“Because we’re doing this together,” Aelanna said. Her voice came out steadier than she felt. “And because running would be worse.”
Nayli muttered, “Debatable,” but she squeezed Aelanna’s hand tighter.
Aelanna couldn’t stop staring at the open ramp. She inhaled, felt both girls tighten their grip on her hands, and stepped forward.
Whatever this is, it’s ours now. This was their adventure. She would show Brad Silverman. Let him top ‘went into space'.
“Ready?” She looked at each girl in turn, giving them an encouraging smile. “Let’s do it.”
“Let’s do it,” echoed Kora.
“Here goes nothing,” Nayli chirped.
Gripping their hands, she stepped onto the ramp and into the ship. She didn’t have to drag them; they came willingly.
Take that, Brad Jerk Silverman.
Aelanna felt a new life opening up. New possibilities. She was stepping into a future; one she had designed for herself. But she knew she couldn’t do this alone. It had been Kora’sidea: Kora had signed up first. She knew Nayli was running from something bad to take this leap into the unknown, but her friend wasn’t ready to share it.
It was only her two friends that gave Aelanna the courage to do it. They meant everything to her, on planet Earth and on the journey into space.
Once they were in the chamber, the ramp behind them closed with a soft hiss. Aelanna gasped, then Nayli. Kora’s mouth dropped open.
They had boarded the ship. Again, Dapkey’s words echoed in her head.
No going back.
Chapter 8
Planet Earth
Darren was on the bridge at the command console when the ship was approaching Earth and for the landing. Pilot Joel invited him and he appreciated the gesture.
“As crew and bodyguards serving the humans, I’d like us to experience the planet that they come from through our eyes. It will help us to know them better,” he explained.
Darren stood watching the panoramic screen of their approach with the navigator, Warrior Ymbert, and First Officer Christoff, also the co-pilot, which meant he could fly the ship if Joel wasn’t available for any reason.
