He jolts back from me and shoves me so hard I almost fall over. His collar lights up and he spins to face Mira, who's somehow standing right behind me without me noticing.
"Llywelyn, you two looked so cute! You should have kissed her!" She says, clapping her hands together.
He stares at her, his expression a mix of horror, anger, and disbelief. "What. The. S'nilia! Are you doing here?!" He shouts.
"Aw, but you looked so pretty together. Why didn't you kiss?" She asks, tilting her head.
"Mira, I am going to-" He starts, and then stops, and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Nishi'an. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was looking for Sarah!" She says, and then looks at me. "I was worried when I didn't see you in the hotel. I'm glad I found you."
I blink at her, and then look at Llywelyn.
He's looking back at me, and his expression is unreadable.
I don't... know what to say. I don't know what to do.
How do we...?
Mira won't understand. She thinks enslavement is wonderful. I can't expect her to conspire with us. And if she finds out what we're doing, she might...
She might tell Xilukulkas.
I don't think she'd do it on purpose. But she might do it accidentally.
We need to get rid of her.
But how?
"I... yeah. I'm glad you found me too, Mira." I say, trying to sound as normal as possible. "But Llywelyn and I are... busy."
"Doing what?" She asks, and her eyes light up. "Are you on a date?! Oh, how exciting! Can I come with? I've never been on a date!"
"No!" Llywelyn snaps. "You can't! It's a... private thing! You're not invited! Go away!"
Mira pouts, and crosses her arms. "That's not fair. I want to come!"
"You can't!" He growls, and then looks at me. "Tell her she can't."
"Uh." I say, and then glance at Mira. "Mira, it's... it's not a date. It's just... something private. You can't come."
She looks at me, and her eyes are wide and sad. "But why? I'm your friend. I want to be with you."
I swallow and force myself to smile. "Well. We can be together later, okay?"
It...
Hurts.
Strange. It really hurts lying to her and saying that, but I can't think of anything else to say to get her to leave so I can escape.
"Oh." She purses her lips and looks disappointed, but... it seems she believes us.
I swallow and turn away from her.
"I'll see you. At the hotel, okay?" I say, looking over my shoulder one last time to her.
Then I start out of the alleyway with Llywelyn.
"But how will you do that if you're leaving?!"
My blood runs cold.
We both stop in our tracks and turn back to look at her.
She's still pouting but she tilts her head at us. "I'm not stupid, you know. If you leave, you can't come back to the hotel."
I open my mouth to respond, but Llywelyn cuts me off.
"Sarah's not leaving, you ritzah!" He snaps. "She's just trying to get away from you!"
"Liar." She points at him. "You're both leaving. I heard it earlier." She crosses her arms. "And I'm coming with you."
"Listen here you little ritzah-"
She stomps her foot. "I'm gonna go with you cuz you're my friends! And if not I'm gonna tell!"
I feel dizzy. This is absurd. This can't be happening. She can't... she can't come with us.
But she will tell Xilukulkas if we don't let her.
"D-do you understand?" I ask finally, taking another step toward her. "I'm going to Earth. It's not like this place, or Xilukulkas' moon. It's just humans there. We're pretty primitive there, too. No other Kolumer, no star nebulas, no... no anything you're used to. And you'll stand out. Everyone will stare at you. You'll..."
Well, it's true for Llywelyn too. I glance over at him, but his expression is impassive and disinterested. He's not looking at either of us.
"I'll be with my two best friends." She says, smiling. "What else do I need?"
I can't believe this.
But I...
If I try to fight her on it, she'll just tell Xilukulkas, and then he'll come and stop me. Or worse.
I look at Llywelyn again, and he meets my eyes. He lifts his shoulder, just slightly.
It's enough to say 'do whatever you want to'.
I draw a breath.
It's insane. But...
I nod finally. "Come on. We've got a lot to do."
She squeals and rushes up to me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "I knew you'd say yes! Let's go!"
I smile weakly and hug her back, but my eyes don't leave Llywelyn's.
We've made a huge mistake. I can feel it. But it's too late now.
We've got to get going. Before Xilukulkas realizes we're gone.
"Let's go."
Llywelyn leads us to some kind of... industrial area. It's a series of large warehouses, with a few ships parked outside. There aren't many people here, and the ones that are look like workers. They're not paying much attention to us, and I'm glad.
It makes it easier for us to slip in between the buildings.
"They bring ships here to be repaired or upgraded." He explains as we walk. "Just as long as you know enough to tell when they're actually functional..."
I squint up at him.
He doesn't say it, this time, but the implication is there in the unsaid. 'Which you don't'.
"Yeah, yeah..." I grumble. "So... we're going to steal one?"
"Technically, I'm stealing one. You're just the passenger." He says, and then points to a large building. "Subsapients are incapable of committing crimes. Less than people."
"I'll show them a crime..." I mutter, and he chuckles.
"Well, it'd be bad if it were just you walking here, anyway." He murmurs as he starts toward the building he indicated. "Or even you and Mira. Subsapients aren't supposed to be wandering alone. Don't give me that look, Sarah, it's the legal term." He glances over his shoulder at me, and I huff and look away.
Yeah, but he doesn't have to keep using the word. He could avoid it if he wanted.
"But you're a sentient!" Mira chirps. "So you can just pretend to be Master! Just say you're taking us on a trip! Then they'll think we're not escaping!"
He pauses. "Huh. That's a good idea, actually."
"See? I am smart!" She beams.
He snorts. "She says, shouting about escaping." He clicks his tongue. "But it should work. At least long enough to get us out of trouble." He hesitates a moment, "but let's not test that."
He looks around and then takes us into the building. It's dimly lit and filled with tools and parts. There are ships everywhere, in various states of disrepair. Some look brand new, others look like they've been here for decades.
I guess this is a good place to look for a ship.
"Okay." He says, and turns to us. "What we need is something small, fast, and long-range. Something that can get us to Earth without any trouble," he glances over his shoulder at me, "also something that can transmute food of some sort, since you didn't pack..."
I sigh. I knew he'd bring that up.
In my defense, I didn't expect to find a ship today.
"Alright." He nods, and then starts walking around. "Let's see what we've got..."
We wander through the rows of ships, and I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. There are so many, and they all look the same to me. I don't know how Llywelyn can tell them apart. Maybe it's because he's familiar with them. Or maybe he's just better at this than me.
Probably both.
We eventually stop in front of a ship that's... smaller than the others. It's shaped like a teardrop, with a long tail and two wings. It looks sleek, and fast.
"What about this one?" I ask, pointing at it.
"Hm." He tilts his head, and then walks around it. He stops at the back, and looks at something I can't see. "This could work. It's a... personal ship. Belongs to a small time trader, probably. Should have life support systems like food transmutation, but it's old enough that there shouldn't be remote access." He nods to himself. "Let me see if I can get in."
He goes to the hatch, and starts inputting...
I don't know. Codes. Numbers. Something. Whatever he's doing, it works, and the hatch opens with a hiss.
I squint at him. "How did you-"
"Utility code. Sometimes works if the owner didn't think to disable it." He says, and steps inside. "Come on, let's see what we've got."
I follow him in, and Mira skips along behind me.
The inside is... cramped, to say the least. There's a small cockpit, and a tiny living area. There's a bed, a table, and some storage compartments. That's it. It's barely big enough for the three of us.
Honestly, it's not big enough for the three of us. Not meaningfully.
But we can at least physically fit inside.
So I guess that counts.
"It's so small!" Mira says, looking around. "It's cute!"
"Yeah, cute." Llywelyn snorts, and goes to the cockpit. He sits down in the pilot's seat, and starts pressing buttons.
I walk over to him, and watch. I have no idea what he's doing. It's all a blur of lights and screens.
"Do you know how to fly this?" I ask, curious.
He glances at me, and smirks. "Of course I do. I'm not you."
I roll my eyes. "Yes, yes. Big smart sentient fish." I say, and lean on the back of the seat.
He ignores me, and keeps working. I watch, trying to make sense of it, but it's no use.
He knows what he's doing, though, and that's what matters.
After a few minutes, he leans back, and nods. "Looks like there's enough fuel. It's in here for some cosmetic upgrades, so it should function fine." He looks at me. "Now, I'm going to program in the autopilot for Earth."
"You know the coordinates?"
"Vaguely." He shifts in his seat. "You really should know this yourself."
"Well I don't."
His expression is. Very unimpressed. "Fine. It'll take some time for the system to find it, but once it narrows it down, it'll work."
"Some time?"
He wiggles his hand. "Ten minutes or so." He says, and then starts typing on the console. "It's not like we're in a rush."
I'm...
I guess I'm not. Not anymore. Not in a 'ten minutes' sense.
I glance over my shoulder. Mira has already shut the door, which gives me a weird sense of security. She's now going around poking everything she can find which... does the exact opposite. But I'm not going to stop her.
I feel...
Giddy, i think.
Scared.
Terrified, because I've been in this position before. I've come so close before and here I am again standing on the precipice, scared something will grab me and drag me back. I won't give up this time. I won't be stopped. But I can't help but-
I hug myself, looking away from the cockpit. Llywelyn is just looking at the screens, working. I feel like I'm going to be sick with anxiety and excitement and fear all at once.
How long has it been? How much longer has he been working?
What is Mira doing?
What will I do when I get home?
What will I say?
Who will I go to?
Mom.
I have to see my mom again. Even if no one else will speak to me. Even if no one else cares that I'm back. Even if I don't know anything about how the world changed. Even if everyone thinks I'm crazy.
I just need to see my mom.
I need to hug her, and tell her I'm home.
I need to see Dad, too. And my grandparents.
And-
I need to sit in my yard and lay in my bed. I need to see the stars from my planet. My sky. My moon.
I need to breathe fresh, real air.
I want to hear birds singing, and crickets chirping.
I-
My breath hitches.
Alistair.
I'm going to see Alistair again and...
I swallow.
That's. Fine. Because Llywelyn and I aren't anything. And he never even said he liked me.
So I'm not. I'm not. Doing anything wrong.
I'm not-
I hear a beep, and look up.
Llywelyn grimaces. "We're still about five minutes out, don't give me that look." He sighs and leans back in his seat. He looks... nervous. His collar is glowing a faint blue, and his fingers tap on the armrest.
I can't blame him. I'm nervous too.
I take a deep breath, and reach out to touch his arm. He looks at me, and his eyes are a soft gold.
"You sure you want to go... to Earth?"
"Sounds wretched. But I can't trust you not to blow yourself up halfway there." He says, and his lips quirk up into a small smile.
"Fuck off." I huff, and then lean against his shoulder. "It's not my fault I didn't get to study alien spaceships."
"Sure. Blame your planet."
"I will."
He turns his gaze up toward me. "I-"
The sound of heavy footsteps outside interrupts him, and we both turn our heads toward the front of the ship.
The hatch is still shut, but through the window I can see several men in what must be guard uniforms. They're looking around the warehouse, and they're coming this way.