“How long do we have?” she questioned, following him out of their cave, looking back one last time. They were leaving for the Golden City that morning. Most of the supplies—clothing and food for the journey mostly—had already been loaded onto the hovercraft the night before.
“I will do one last patrol and try to keep the other shield links supported,” he said, his eyes going to the sky. He’d told her that was how he kept the base hidden from above. Shield links acted like mirrors. But even now, as she followed his gaze, she saw one section of them flickering. “I will be back within the hour, tev?”
She nodded. “I’ll fill up our water and make sure we didn’t miss anything.”
There was a lingering question between them, one they hadn’t voiced. She wondered if they’d ever be coming back here.
He nodded once, sweeping his eyes around the base. She bit her lip, still a little hesitant about going to the Golden City, especially given that they didn’t have much of a plan. She didn’t understand the sudden urgency in returning either, but Jaxor had said it was necessary. It was crazy to think that just last week, she would’ve given anything to return to the Golden City. Now, she was dragging her feet because it posed a risk to Jaxor.
“We will leave as soon as I return,” he said, brushing her cheek with his fingers, and then he was turning for the pulley that would take him down to the bottom level.
Erin watched him descend and then she took a deep breath, looking around at the quiet space. She listened to the silence when she couldn’t hear the chains from the pulley turning anymore. She felt a small gust of chilly wind on her face. It was lonely here, but it hadn’t felt lonely with Jaxor.
She only ached when she thought about her affectionate and grumpy male living here all by himself for so many years.
He doesn’t have to be alone anymore. And neither do you, that voice whispered in her mind.
She took in another breath and made herself useful. She checked the crops for the fifth time, wondering if there would be rain and thinking it was more than likely. She refilled their water skins, packing extras for the journey. They’d already packed dried meat and an armful of obiraxi.
Erin checked the cave one last time, more out of boredom and nerves than actual necessity. She knew there was nothing that remained there that they needed to bring. She was folding up the furs in neat squares when she heard a sound in the base.
Thinking Jaxor had returned, she stepped out of the cave, calling out, “Are you back alre—”
But her breath hitched and the words fell away.
There was a male, one she didn’t recognize, in the base. In their base. He didn’t look like a Luxirian from the Golden City and when his eyes cut to her, fear jolted in her belly.
And she knew this was one of the Mevirax. Curling blue ink ran up his arms, similar to Jaxor’s own faded markings, ones she’d never asked him about because he seemed ashamed of them.
Her swallow was loud. Movement from the corner of her eye made her look up and she saw a hovercraft, another one, parked precariously on the cliff of the crater. Another male was standing next to it, looking down into the base. And all at once, Erin knew that the shield links had failed. She knew that they’d just happened to spot the base from above as they were flying over.
“What is it that you want?” she called out, trying to keep her voice level and even. As if it was a perfectly normal occurrence for strange males to be in the base.
The one on top of the crater called down to the male closest to her. It was Luxirian and yet it was not. A strange dialect.
“We are here for what Jaxor promised to us,” the male in the base said. He had blue eyes and long hair, his English heavily accented.
“And what is that? Perhaps I can find it for you,” she said, hoping that was all they wanted. Maybe they would take it and leave.
The male was approaching the steps leading up to the cave. Erin took a step back, her hands curling around the handle of the door. If he tried to harm her, she could lock herself in. Except there was nothing in there