CJ raced toward the stealth ship, arriving just as Krystal’s booted feet hit the ground. She threw her arms around the small woman who had become one of her closest friends. Krystal smiled and hugged her back.
“Is it over?” CJ asked, pulling back to look over the shorter woman. Krystal looked a little worse for wear, soot darkening her cheeks and staining her purple flight suit. She had unzipped the front of it to reveal her tank top underneath, which was soaked with sweat.
“Yes, it’s over.” Krystal rubbed a hand over her face, her exhaustion apparent. She turned as T’arq climbed down from the cockpit and landed lightly on the ground behind her. He slid his arm over her shoulders, pulling her back against him.
“It’s good to see you’re OK, CJ,” he said, a small smile lifting one side of his mouth.
“Likewise,” she said, punching him lightly on the arm. “Not that there was any doubt the fleet’s cockiest flyboy would come out shining.”
He laughed. “Not with such precious cargo.”
CJ’s chest clenched, and she swallowed, all humor lost. “Where’s Domik?”
T’arq turned and pointed across the expanse of bare ground toward a gun position, his smile fading as he surveyed the scene before him. CJ gasped and fell to her knees, blood pounding in her ears as she took in the destruction.
She had seen the concrete bunkers on their way in, standing solid against the barren desert. It had seemed like nothing could crumble them.
But now?
No. No, it can’t be. He can’t be buried under all that.
She gasped, her blood rushing in her ears, blocking the words that T’arq said. She pushed Krystal’s concerned hands away and staggered to her feet, rushing across the field toward the pile of rubble that had once been the gun bunker.
One side of the circular structure remained; the rest was blown to pieces. The gun’s turret stuck directly up toward the sky, but was twisted at an odd angle. The body of a Xakul ship was embedded on one side of the bunker, a wing dangling over the ground like a bizarre parody of a beach umbrella.
How anyone could have survived that she could not imagine. But she had to see for herself. She wouldn’t rest until she had seen Domik. She had to know.
CJ ran as fast as she could, feet pounding against the hard dirt, her breath coming in pants. Sweat poured down her face, running into her eyes. She rubbed at her forehead, wiping away the sweat, some making it into her eyes to make them sting.
And still she ran.
She wasn’t that far away when T’arq’s shouts finally broke through her panic.
“CJ! Stop!”
She turned her head to glance briefly back at him, lips pressed into a determined line. She turned her head back just in time to see a dark figure loom in front of her before she ran smack into a solid wall of muscle.
She went down in a tangle of limbs, letting loose a shriek of fright.
Strong arms picked her up, cradling her against a muscled chest. CJ wiped the dust from her face and looked up into familiar black eyes.
“Domik?” she gasped, a smile splitting her face. She grasped his face in her hands, pressing kisses over every bit of him she could reach. “I thought you were dead,” she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as she finally pulled back from her assault.
“It takes a little more than that to kill me.” He smiled, both dimples appearing in his cheeks, and CJ’s heart thundered in her chest.
“Is it really over?” she asked.
“For now,” he said, smoothing a hand over her hair and pulling her against his chest. “I’m glad you are unhurt.”
CJ laughed, happier than she had been for a long time.
“All right, you two,” T’arq panted as he arrived. “That’s enough standing around.”
Domik kept hold of CJ as he turned and started towards the center of the base.
“Hey! I can walk, you know,” she protested, pushing against his chest halfheartedly. Domik lifted an eyebrow, and she sighed. “All right, you can carry me. As long as you’re not hurt.”
He grunted, shifting her in his arms before striding toward the tents.
