Page 19 of There’s an Elf in My Cockpit

Chapter 14

Vi

The crater was lit up with several portable lamps set up around the crashed shuttle we had arrived in. There were three figures crawling all over the exterior of the damaged vessel, each a different alien species, and two of them came to greet Oliver and me. I didn’t recognize the species of the male with the shimmering silver and bronze skin. He was packed up tightly in warm clothing, but I could see the pointed ears similar to my own. Definitely not Elrohirian though.

The other was a Pretorian, red-skinned, with four arms, and thick curly black hair. His mood freckles were glowing yellow as he slapped Oliver on the shoulder and did a manly shake where they clasped each other’s wrists. “Olly,” the Pretorian boomed, “You got yourself a mate! I am so happy for you!”

My skin flushed at the pronouncement but I didn’t deny it when it was my turn to shake one of his many hands. Of course, this exuberant male didn’t do anything halfway, and he laughed as he yanked me into an embrace. Then he laughed even harder when Oliver made a noise of protest behind my back.

“I’m Jakar, and that is Eoin,” the Pretorian said when he put me back on my feet and pointed with one hand at the alien male of an unknown species. Then Jakar put two fingers in his mouth and made a loud whistling noise, which caused the third and final male to jerk his head up from where he was balanced on top of the crashed shuttle. It nearlycaused him to tumble right off and into the snowdrifts accumulated around the little ship.

I could now see that this one was a Kertinal with a big pair of spiraling horns and a wild mane of purple and black hair tied back with a bandanna. His tail with a sharp knife at the tip flicked wildly behind his back like he was an agitated Riho, offering Jakar some very choice words. I reached out and put my hands over Belal’s ears, and the young Hoxiam laughed, the sound a little tentative but there.

Feeling safe, truly safe, for the first time in months, I wandered away from Oliver’s side as he discussed the shuttle repairs with his friends. I took a look inside the crashed shuttle, the hatch was open and all the teens were outside, kitted out in warm clothing. They must have gotten cabin fever by now from being cooped up in there for days, it was no wonder they were preferring the subzero temps outside. Though they were starting to plummet even more now that night had fallen.

Belal never left my side, following me like a little shadow and I felt extremely touched that I’d made such a good impression on the kid. Oliver had told me a little about the pasts of the teens. About how they’d been raised in captivity, trained from a young age to become gladiators in the arena. They’d been rescued before they’d ever made it onto the sands, all of them except for Darth.

The Hoxiam was the youngest rescue at only thirteen, but because of what he was, even as a child, he was not welcome anywhere. Most sanctuaries wouldn’t take him, he wasn’t allowed to settle on any of the planets that banned slavery, including my own. My heart went out to him, and I was extremely relieved that I’d gotten over my hesitation in a hurry when I realized he was hurt. Nobody deserved to be treated like that, especially when Belal and most of his species didn’t actually do the horrendous things they were accused of.

Everyone was so serious and so focused on the shuttle that I found this little hint of naughtiness despite being pretty much exhausted. Dipping down I gathered a bit of powdery snow between my gloved hands and shaped it into a ball with a practiced move. Belal watched curiously, his maw opening to ask me something and I quickly silenced him by raising a finger to my lips.

Winding up with my arm, I pinpointed Oliver’s form and threw the snowball. It hit him square in the side of his head, exploding all over his face and beard. In the stunned silence, I couldn’t help but giggle over his shocked expression. My laughter was quickly followed by the uproarious amusement of some of his gladiator friends, in particular the loudly present Pretorian male.

Oliver wiped the snow from his face, shook his head, and then smacked a fist into his open palm and faced me with a wicked grin. “Oh, I’m going to get you for that, little elf!” I squeaked with excitement and a hint of fear, but I didn’t run, just ducked and grabbed myself another round of ammunition. I managed to hit him in the chest one more time as he charged at me, and then I knew I had to bolt.

As Oliver chased me around the crashed shuttle, Belal got into the spirit of things and started pelting my male with snowballs of his own, and he was quickly joined by some of the other teens who were simply unable to resist the fun. Perfect, exactly what I hoped for. We could all use a little moment to decompress, and if there was one thing I was good at it was fun.

The expression on my new blue friend was priceless when I turned on him and hit him on the shoulder with a snowball. A hint of surprise and betrayal and then he broke out in laughter and took up the invitation to chase me. Soon it was a fight between Oliver, me, and the teens but the Sune male in his hybrid-form couldn’t resist chasing his own mate around either. I could hear her peals of laughter ring out over everything when he caught her.

The chaos turned from fun and light to dark in an instant when the sharp whine of a laser pistol cut through the sound of laughter. I was thrown into the snow, Oliver’s big body on top of mine, and my face full of snow. I couldn’t see what had happened but I knew who it was without a shadow of a doubt.

“Oliver? Are you hurt, did it hit you?” I demanded, squirming around beneath him so I could at least get a look. His body shifted into more of a crouch, one of his hands at the back of my neck to force me to stay low.

“I’m alright, it was aimed at Da’vi but he got out of the way. Get Belal,” Oliver said. With a little push, I was sent stumbling in the direction of a streak of blue to my right. I ran in a low crouch as soon as Oliver’s hand released me, my eyes searching for the source of that shot. Falling to my knees at Belal’s side, I discovered that another of the teens, the one called Wreck, was on his other side, shaking with fear.

“I got you,” I murmured, even though I had no clue if this was true. Belal was still small, but Wreck was already bigger than me, and still, I did my best to hover protectively over both of them while I searched for the enemy. Darth wasn’t far from me either, his back pressed to the side of the shuttle and one wing protectively pressing a very disgruntled-looking teen into the ship. It was the scarred kid whose name I still didn’t know and I felt bad for not having asked Oliver. Where the last one, Lirr, had gotten off to, I had no clue.

Then a humming noise announced the arrival of a ship, Elpherian’s pride and joy. I recognized that vessel in an instant, the sleek predatory shape one that was engraved on my brain. Red streaked the belly in undulating waves, but the rest of it was silver, giving it a threatening, sinister appearance. The pilot was performing a tight bit of maneuvering to lower it into the crater, angling the vessel in such a way that its laser canons were pointed right at us when it landed.

Theice creaked and groaned, the sound deep, causing a burst of panic and fear as I flashed back to when Oliver disappeared down that ice crevice, dragging me after him. I had visions of the ice cracking open beneath us all and swallowing us whole.

“Surrender! Give up Vixen and I just might let you live,” Elpherian announced, his voice amplified by speakers on the ship. My eyes found Oliver, who was a little in front of the kids and me, his laser pistol in his hand, steadily aimed at the hatch of the enemy ship. He wasn’t going to give me up without a fight, and I loved that I knew that without a shred of doubt. I also hated how much he was willing to put himself at risk for me; I couldn’t let that happen.

“You are surrounded, there’s no way out,” Elpherian added, a gleeful note to his polished voice. He was just respectable enough in most circles that my father had briefly been very pleased when I’d come home with him. That had turned sour soon when it was obvious that my ex couldn’t manage a veneer of respect and politeness for long.

I started to rise to my feet and was stopped by hands on my wrists from either side. Belal and Wreck clinging to me, their strength far greater than my own, especially combined. “No, we do not give you up!” Belal growled, and for the first time, he sounded anything but meek and gentle. A frisson of instinctive fear shot up my spine in response. Suddenly, I was very aware that I was in the presence of a highly specialized predator, one who was extremely at home in this kind of environment.

Oliver rose to his feet, making himself one big target, and I wanted to shout at him to get back down. “Who the fuck are you talking about?” he demanded, “You just started shooting us out of the sky for no good reason! I don’t know any Vixen.” Oh no, I admired his bravery but I was certain that my ex was going to punish Oliver for that kind of defiance.

The hatch on the side of the ship started to open, gracefully spiraling apart like an iris, a ramp rolling out of the ship in a graceful and completely silent arch. The booted feet that thudded down it were anything but quiet, at least two dozen men, fanning out around the side of the ship with laser rifles raised to their shoulders, the barrels pointed at all my new friends.

More figures were appearing from around the edges of the crater, rappelling down, or just showing their presence by the glint of the light coming from their weapons. We were outnumbered at least four times over and outgunned even more. There was no way to win this fight, even if Oliver and his friends were highly trained warriors. I had to give myself up so I could save them.

I started to rise again and Wreck and Belal both kept hold of me, it’s when I realized that neither was scared. I had mistaken their trembling for fear but they were excited, they were battle-ready. It just made me even more determined to give myself up to Elpherian so I could prevent a fight. No kid, no teenager should be in a position to do that, even if they seemed disturbingly eager for it.