Chapter 16
I pumped my arms and pushed myself forward through the fray as fast as I could toward the bazooka-wielding bandit. Vehicles burned on either side of me, and other bandits clattered into me as they ran for cover. Francine still had the ship focused on a couple of the bandits that were running away from the battle, so the AI hadn’t noticed the rocket that was about to be fired in the ship’s direction.
I ran as fast as I could through the maze of bodies and flames, but I knew I wasn’t going to get there in time. I pulled out my gun as I ran, aimed, and fired at the guy behind the enormous weapon. The Electro-Launch bullet soared through the air and hit him on the side of his head. He fell backward, and the deadly weapon flew out of his hands and rolled away. For a moment, he was disorientated, and then he stiffened, his eyes bulged, and he collapsed onto the ground in a cloud of gray dust, just like I had seen the others I had shot so many times before.
However, there was another guy behind him who had been cowering behind one of the trucks until now. He crawled out from where he had been hiding and scrambled around in the dirt for the weapon, which was just beyond his grasp. He whimpered as he searched for it through the dust and mist that covered the warzone, which gave me the chance to get a good shot.
I switched the dial on my gun to the laser mode, aimed at the bazooka, and fired a shot. The beam of light shot out from the end of my gun and pierced through the distance between me and the bazooka, until I saw it make an impact. There was a moment while the laser bored through the metal casing of the weapon, but it only took a second before the entire thing ignited and exploded in a ball of fire.
Pieces of the bazooka were thrown up into the air and catapulted to the other side of the battlefield. They rained down from the sky, and the bandits and I dove for cover. The bandit who had been on the ground near the weapon when I had blown it up was dead, and all I could see of him from where I was taking cover behind the truck was one of his blackened, charred hands that was frozen in time, reaching for the weapon that wasn’t there anymore.
“Thank you, Will,” Francine said, and I looked up to see the ship turning its attention back to the main battlefield. “It appears you have saved the ship.”
“Yeah, well, I think you’ve saved me enough times already, it was only fair,” I replied. “Call it even?”
“Not a chance,” the AI chuckled.
The ship began to fire off more lasers at the remaining bandits. There weren’t many places for them to take cover, since most of the trucks had been destroyed, so most of them had concealed themselves behind some of the larger rocks that littered the ground. If I had to estimate how many were left, I would have guessed about five at the most as I counted the bodies on the field.
Suddenly, out of my peripheral vision, I saw something barreling toward me at an alarming pace. I spun around at the last minute to see a person coming, and I raised my gun and had it ready to fire just as the figure arrived behind the truck next to me and flattened themselves against the framework.
“Jesus, Rayne, don’t do that,” I sighed when I realized it was her. “I could’ve shot you.”
“You could’ve tried,” she replied with a smirk.
“I told you to stay at the edge,” I said.
“And I don’t take orders,” she replied. “Besides, you’re doing a horrible job of this without me.”
“Right,” I chuckled as I looked around at all of the bandits that Francine and I had taken care of. “By my estimate, there are five left--”
Two laser beams erupted from the laser cannons on the bottom of the ship and destroyed something that was behind a large rock off to the left of us.
“Four,” Francine said.
“Four left,” I said.
“Well, challenge accepted,” Rayne said with an eager look in her eye, and before I could stop her, she got back to her feet and darted off into the mayhem.
“She’s awesome,” I muttered to myself before I took off in the other direction.
I crept past the site of the bazooka explosion, ignored the burnt meat smell of the chargrilled bandit that wafted up from the ground and threatened to penetrate my nose, and made my way further into the chaos that was what was left of the bandits’ fleet.
Francine had stopped shooting for the time being, which made the area eerily quiet after the sounds of warfare that had filled the air just moments before. Fire crackled from several trucks, and red-hot embers floated in the air. The trucks creaked, the wind made a rustling sound as it dragged grit and dust across the rocky ground, and I could hear the ship’s thrusters overhead as it hovered over the land, but I couldn’t hear anyone else moving.
I crept through the maze of trucks, rocks, and bodies as I searched for any survivors. I checked behind each large rock I passed, but the four men remained hidden.
At least, until I reached one of the trucks that was still intact.
I walked alongside the truck and checked inside the front cabin as well as the open-topped back end of it as well. It was empty, but there was a rock just beside the truck that would have protected anyone behind it, so I started to walk toward the giant stone.
But my foot seemed to catch on something, and I suddenly toppled forward. I landed on my chest, and before I could roll over, something pulled on my legs, and I found myself being dragged back toward the truck.
My hands scrabbled in the dirt as I tried to find something to hold onto, but the field was barren. I still had my gun in one hand, but I found myself underneath the truck before I had the chance to roll onto my back and shoot whatever was pulling me.
I lashed out with both of my legs and kicked until I managed to shake the person off me. I felt the pressure around my ankles subside as the person let go of my ankles, and I flipped over, only to find one of the bandits crawling on top of me with a sharp knife in one of his hands. He looked wild-eyed and ready to kill me as though there wasn’t an ounce of humanity left inside him.
It was cramped under the truck, but he still raised his hand as high above his head as he could and brought the knife down to my chest.
There was a thud as the blade hit my suit, but that was about it. He looked down at my suit in disbelief, and then up at my face.
“Good try,” I said.
“But…” he stuttered. “You--”
I sighed, raised my gun, and shot him. The laser went right through him, and I rolled out of the way as his body fell down beside me. He lay still, and I carefully closed his eyes before I rolled out from under the truck. I brushed myself off and made a mental note to check under the next truck that I came across. One down, three to go, I thought to myself, unless Rayne had already taken more of them out, which was very likely.
The ship suddenly fired off a few more lasers just to my right. Rocks and dust exploded into the air as the weapons found their mark, and I heard a cry of pain that ended abruptly after another laser came down from the heavens.
“Two left,” I said to myself.
That was when I heard a grunt that had clearly come from Rayne off to my left. I took off running toward the sound, and as I rounded one of the burning trucks, I found myself as the lone witness to a two versus one fist fight between Rayne and the final two remaining bandits. There was a bandit roughly double Rayne’s size and the one-eyed leader of the bandits, who was a cockroach that had managed to survive this long by probably offering up his own crew in order to create a diversion so he could get away. Only now, he was stuck in hand-to-hand combat and was completely exposed to the ship.
“I would shoot, but I do not have a clear shot at the bandits,” Francine said. “There is too much of a risk of hitting Rayne.”
“You were right not to shoot,” I told the AI.
Rayne had some impressive moves, that was for sure, though I only watched her for a couple of seconds before I joined the fight. She had a rough fighting style, and yet, she was very agile as she danced around the two men. At one point, she even got them to punch each other, which left me chuckling. She was holding her own just fine against them, but I could see she was tiring.
So, I leapt into the fight and inserted myself between her and the bandit leader. I wanted nothing more than to be the one to take down the cruel leader of the bandits and to wipe the smug smile off his face in the process.
“Nice of you to join us,” Rayne said.
“I thought you wanted the most kills,” I replied.
“Whatever,” she chuckled as she dodged underneath one of the punches that the large guy threw her way.
I turned to the leader, who wiped some blood away from his nose. He still had that dumb, yellow-toothed smile on his face, though.
“Earth guy,” he said. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Nothing about this is gonna be pleasant for you,” I said.
“Are you goin’ to fight me like a man, or are you goin’ to hide behind your silly gun?” he asked.
I knew what he was doing. He thought if I was disarmed that he might stand a chance against me. A part of me just wanted to shoot him in the head and be done with it, but then I remembered how he had encouraged his men to beat the young man in Rayne’s village senseless, how he had ordered his men to loot the place, and how he had threatened the women of the village, including Rayne. Who knew how many towns and villages he had robbed and terrorized or how many innocent lives he had taken. He was a disgusting piece of work, and he deserved a taste of his own medicine.
So, I threw my gun down on the ground and raised my fists. He laughed gleefully and raised his own.
Naturally, he charged in and threw the first punch. I ducked underneath it, jabbed him in the stomach, and retreated, ready for the next attack. I bumped into Rayne as I stepped back from the bandit, and we turned to one another for a moment, nodded, and then threw ourselves back into our fights. From what I could hear, the guy Rayne was up against was taking an absolute beating from her, which provided me with the inspiration to do the same to the leader.
The leader wasn’t a novice when it came to a fight, but neither was I. Plus, thanks to the suit and the nanobots, I knew that the poor sucker didn’t stand a chance.
He threw some punches at my face, which I easily sidestepped. Then, I drove my knee into his stomach, which knocked the wind out of him, and punched him in the side of the face. A moment later, he crumpled to the ground and was out cold.
“Hey!” a gruff voice shouted behind me.
I turned around to see the giant holding Rayne in a tight headlock.
“Let her go,” I said.
The bandit smirked, and then I saw his eyes flick to something behind me.
“Will, look out!” Rayne shouted.
I turned just as the bandit leader picked up a gun from the ground. He had bleary eyes, and his arms and head wobbled around precariously. He was about to pass out any second, so I knew that the bullet could end up anywhere. I stepped in front of Rayne to protect her from the shot and raised my arms up to my head.
Then the bandit leader raised the gun and fired.
The bullet hit one of my forearms and then ricocheted away into the distance
While the other bandit was distracted by the spectacle, Rayne stomped on his foot. He yelped in pain and let her go long enough for her to round on him. She hit him in the face with all her might, and if he had been a cartoon character, then small birds would have been tweeting and flying in circles around his meaty head. He stumbled toward me as his eyes rolled back in his head, and I gave him two more hard punches, one on the side of his head and one uppercut, which sent him flying backward a few feet. The brute came to a stop and lay sprawled on the ground. He wasn’t breathing.
Rayne coughed to clear her windpipe, and I looked over to see if she was alright. She gave me another thumbs up and smiled. She was fine.
I turned back to the bandit leader, who looked just as stunned as his fellow bandit had, and who had been frozen in shock up until that moment. I put the headpiece over my head, and while I did so, the bandit leader looked down at the gun for a second in surprise. He couldn’t believe he had just shot me with a bullet but hadn’t killed me, and now he was at a total loss as to what he should do next.
Then, he saw me coming toward him. He raised the gun and fired off shot after shot, but I just walked toward him calmly. Bullets hit my body all over the place, and while it hurt, I knew that what was about to happen was going to be worth it.
He’d fired about six shots by the time I reached him, but he had already realized that his fate was sealed before I reached him.
He looked through my visor into my eyes as the truth set in, and then he raised the gun at my head one last time. I brought my fist up as he did and hit him as hard as I could in the jaw. His head spun around so far from the force of my punch that I heard a snap from his neck, and then he fell down on the ground at my feet.
Every time I had taken a life, I felt a weight get added onto my shoulders. But that weight was eased when I reminded myself why I had done it. These people would have continued to terrorize the inhabitants of Wildern until someone else killed them. And while I knew that there were probably other bandits like them on the planet, I was just glad that I had gotten rid of one group of them, and I knew that I had probably saved countless lives that would have otherwise been taken in the process.
I turned back to look for Rayne and then hurried over to her. She sat on the ground cross-legged and massaged her red throat.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I sat down beside her, retracted my headpiece, and examined her neck.
“I’m fine,” she croaked.
“Yeah, you sound like it,” I chuckled. “Is there anything I can do?”
“One of those coffee things would help,” she said with a mischievous grin.
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” I replied as I got to my feet and offered her my hand.
She took it, and I helped her to her feet. Francine brought the ship down just a short distance from the battle scene, and I led the way into the cockpit and through to the living compartment, where I fired up the coffee maker.
Rayne followed me inside and laid down on the bed with a tired sigh, while Bob plugged himself into a charging port. She closed her eyes while the coffee maker worked its magic, and a moment later, I heard a slight snore.
I left her to rest and walked into the cockpit so that she could have some peace and quiet. I yawned as I sank into my pilot’s chair, and I realized it had been quite a while since I had enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
“Good work, Francine,” I said mid-yawn.
“Thank you,” the AI replied with a similar tone to what I had just used.
“Did you just yawn?” I asked. “Can AIs yawn?”
“No, but I read that yawns are supposed to be infectious, so I simulated one to try to make you more comfortable,” it said.
“I mean, it was hilarious, so thank you for that,” I chuckled. “But you really don’t have to do that again.”
“Good,” Francine replied.
Bob puttered over to me from wherever he had been charging, and I patted him on the back fondly. He gave me a couple of happy chirps and then plopped onto the floor next to me.
A couple of minutes later, the coffee was ready, so I made my way back into the living compartment and found Rayne still lying in the bed. The aroma must have woken her, because her eyes were open now, and she looked eagerly at the coffee maker. I smiled and put a mug underneath it, and the wonderful drink poured into the cup like some beautiful, brown waterfall.
Once the cup was full, I handed it to Rayne, who took it eagerly. She inhaled deeply and then took a small sip. She savored the flavor for a moment, and then gulped down the rest of the mug while it was still piping hot.
I refilled her cup, poured myself a cup, and we both let out a collective, exhausted, satisfied sigh.
“I could get used to this,” she said.
We looked at one another for a moment as the statement hung in the air, and then we both pretended she hadn’t said it.
“Feeling better?” I asked.
“Yeah, a lot better,” she replied.
“I definitely beat you with how many I took out,” I said.
“I was against someone double my size,” she argued. “I’d say I won. Although, that thing you did where the bullet bounced off your suit was awesome, by the way.”
“Thanks,” I chuckled.
“Actually, I believe I had the highest kill rate,” Francine said.
“What’s your robot saying?” Rayne asked when she saw me chuckle at seemingly nothing.
“She says she wins,” I replied.
“She sure does,” Rayne said, and then she took another swig of her drink.
“By the way, Francine isn’t technically a robot, she’s an AI,” I said. “She thought you should know.”
“Oh, sorry, Francine,” Rayne replied.
“It is fine,” Francine said.
“Francine says it’s cool,” I said.
“Good,” Rayne chuckled. “Because you two are kind of a package deal.”
“I guess we are,” I replied as I met her beautiful green eyes again.
“I have noticed an increase in your heart rate--” Francine began.
“Shut up,” I chuckled.
“What?” Rayne asked.
“Oh, not you…” I said.
“I’m gonna have to get used to that,” Rayne said, and then she caught herself. “Well, until you, you know, leave.”
“Right…” I replied, and then I cleared my throat. “Well, we should get back to the village.”
“Yes, yes, we should,” Rayne said. “We should take the trucks that are still working back, too. The villagers could really use them.”
“Good idea,” I said. “Francine, if you don’t mind, could you fly the ship back to the village, and we’ll follow in the trucks?”
“Of course, Will,” the AI replied.
“Thanks,” I said, and then I turned to Rayne. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” she replied, and then she gulped down the last of her coffee.
We exited the ship and made our way over to the two trucks that were still intact. The keys were still in the ignition, and one of them was still running, so we both clambered into the driver’s seats, revved the trucks up, and set off back toward the village. It was easy enough to operate since it worked much the same as a manual truck back home did, and soon, I was flying across the dusty wasteland with Rayne right beside me in the truck that had the water containers on the back of it.
We raced one another as we pelted across the land, and about forty minutes later, we pulled up outside the village. Francine brought the ship down beside the village, just outside of the fence, while Rayne and I drove through the gate.
The villagers were mostly still in the square, and they were frightened when they first saw the trucks. But Rayne leaned out of the driver’s side window and waved to the crowd, and a cheer went up around the square.
Rayne and I clambered out of the trucks and were immediately wrapped up in group hugs. The villagers were like a tide, and Rayne and I were pulled along as people embraced us and then passed us on to the next person. I looked over at Rayne, who smiled while she chatted with some of the other members of her village. Everyone looked so relieved that we were here and that the bandits were gone, and despite the mess that the criminals had left behind, all of the villagers had smiles on their faces and welcomed me with open arms.
“Thank you,” one old woman said as she held my hand tightly. “You saved us. And you saved my grandson from those monsters.”
“Is he the one they hurt?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said with a nod.
“How’s he doing?” I asked.
“He’s alive, for now,” she sighed, and her eyes welled up. “But I don’t know if he’ll make it. We don’t have bandages or anything to give him for the pain.”
She turned back to one of the wooden shacks just off the village square, and as I listened closely, I heard a cry of pain come from one of the windows.
“Hold that thought,” I said.
I pushed through the crowd and ran back out of the small village. I hurried to my ship, climbed into the cockpit, and made my way into the living compartment, where I kept a lot of my medical supplies. I took out one of the boxes and made my way back into the village. A couple of the villagers had started climbing up the fence to look at my ship, and I waved at them as I walked past. They gawked at me and my ship, and I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be long before I got a request from one of them for a tour.
I made my way back to the elderly woman, who gave the box in my hands a puzzled look. Rayne managed to work her way over as well, and I could tell that she had guessed what I was up to.
“Where is he?” I asked.
The lady led the way to her house and welcomed us inside. We stepped into a dim entryway, and then followed her slowly down a hallway as she hobbled toward a room at the back of the house.
The room was dark, but I could see the boy lying on one of the single beds in the room. He groaned and winced constantly as he clutched his stomach, which I could see was badly bruised and swollen. His brow was sweaty, and his face was badly cut up as well. There was a bowl of warm water beside him with a bloody rag in it that I assumed had been used to clean the blood off his face.
His grandfather was sitting beside him with his head in his hands, and he looked up when we both walked in. For a moment, he wasn’t sure who I was, but then his eyes widened, and he stood up to greet me.
“You’re the man who saved our village,” he said.
“Well, I wasn’t alone,” I said as I smiled at Rayne. “How’s your grandson?”
“Not good,” the boy said through gritted teeth.
“He’s in and out of consciousness,” the old man said. “It’s the pain. And we’re worried the wounds might get infected. That’s how we lost his parents.”
A couple of tears fell from the old man’s melancholy eyes, and he wiped them away with a shaking hand. I had a feeling that was a common story on Wildern, and I shook my head at the waste.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said. “But you won’t have to experience another one.”
I handed the man the box and then peeled off the lid. Inside was an abundance of bandages, antiseptic fluid, and other medication that could counteract some of the pain he was feeling. There were also some antibiotics, should the wound get infected. I explained what everything was to the old couple, and they just stared in surprise at the supplies I had just handed to them.
“Thank you so much,” the elderly lady said, and she gave me a warm hug. “I don’t know how we got so lucky.”
“I just hope your grandson gets better,” I said. “We’ll let you guys have some peace and quiet.”
Rayne and I left the house and made our way back out into the road. I turned to Rayne once we were outside, and she smiled up at me.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re just…” she said.
“What?” I asked.
She looked at me for a moment and a lot of meaning was shared in that glance, but then she gave me a friendly punch on the arm.
“Weirdly nice,” she said with a smirk.
“Wow,” I said. “Thank you for such a massive compliment, Rayne.”
“Enjoy it,” she replied. “It won’t happen again.”
“Right,” I chuckled.
We spent the rest of the evening in the village. Rayne introduced me to practically everyone who lived there, and they all seemed very happy to meet me. They decided to roast some kind of animal to celebrate the fact the bandits were gone, so while some of them set up the firepit, the rest of us cleaned up the village square and all of the houses that had been ransacked. Rayne and I had brought back some of the stolen goods that the bandits had taken as well as the water containers, so we unloaded them from the trucks and gave them back to the villagers.
That evening, the sky darkened, and the usually yellow hue was replaced by a greenish-brown color. The light from the fire illuminated the village square, and the smell of the roasting animal, which smelled like steak, filled my nose and made me salivate slightly. I had eaten a lot of sandwiches over the last couple of days, so a properly cooked, hot meal sounded incredible.
I soon discovered that it also tasted incredible as well.
We sat around the fire, and I spoke to some of the villagers about where I had come from. They had all heard stories about the other worlds around them, but none of them had ever been off Wildern. They leaned in to hear my stories, which I told in great detail. I described the Aghoa Intergalactic Space Station, told them stories about the pirates, and even shared some anecdotes about Earth, too. While I spoke to them, I caught Rayne’s eye every so often from across the square. There was this strong feeling between us that I wasn’t sure I had ever felt with someone before, but I didn’t know if she felt the same way or not.
Soon, night fell, and the villagers began to head back to their homes. The fire was put out, but there wasn’t much to clean up, since every morsel of the animal had been eaten.
In the end, only Rayne and I remained out in the square. We sat side by side on one of the benches, and let our shoulders lean into each other.
“Thank you,” she said randomly.
“What for?” I asked.
“For saving my village,” she replied. “You didn’t have to stay and do this for us. It’s none of your business, really. But you did. You saved all of them. So, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. “Although, I think they have you to thank for that as well.”
“Maybe,” she chuckled humbly, and then she looked up at the sky. “So, you’re going back up there soon.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“In fact, the twelve hours that the ship needed to recharge the folding engine are up, Will,” Francine said. “We can go now.”
A feeling of reluctance crept into my body at the thought of leaving Rayne behind.
“Rayne?” I said.
“Yeah?” she replied.
“Do you like it here?” I asked.
“Do you mean in the village or on Wildern?” she asked.
“Both,” I said.
“Well, they’re nice people here,” she said. “And Wildern’s the only home I’ve ever known.”
“But… do you like it here?” I asked.
She considered my question deeply for a moment.
“No,” she said finally. “I wish I could be anywhere else.”
There was a silence between us for a moment, and then she stood up. I looked up at her standing over me, and her bright eyes seemed to light up the darkness around her.
“Well, I should get some sleep,” she said. “That coffee only kept me going for a little while.”
“I should, too,” I replied.
“You’re not leaving now?” she asked.
“I’ll leave in the morning,” I replied. “There’s some stuff I have to do first, and I could do with some sleep as well.”
“Great!” she said with a huge smile, but then she dialed it down and tried to play it off casually. “This is all very good… So, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Yep,” I replied. “Night.”
“Good night,” she said, and then she hurried away to one of the houses.
I trudged back through the village to my spaceship. I ran a hand through my hair as I considered the feelings I had toward Rayne, and I couldn’t help but feel like they were reciprocated.
“So, we are leaving in the morning,” Francine said.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m exhausted, and I need to put the uranium into the ship anyway and--”
“You are stalling so you do not have to say goodbye to Rayne yet,” the AI interjected.
“I am not stalling,” I huffed.
“Yes, you are,” it said.
“Am not,” I argued.
“Are, too,” it said.
“Am not!” I protested.
“Are, too,” it said.
“Fine, I am, so what?” I grumbled.
“So, you are attracted to her,” the AI said.
“Obviously,” I replied. “I have eyes, after all.”
“And you do not want to leave her here,” Francine said.
“I mean, it’s her choice at the end of the day,” I sighed. “But if it was up to me, I’d love it if she came with me.”
“I thought so,” the AI said, and it said no more for the entire night.
I slept like a log that night. I realized that I had been awake for far too many hours than was healthy, aside from the three hours I had slept before we had arrived on Wildern, and I was burnt out. I didn’t dream, and for that I was grateful. If I had dreamed that night, I knew they would have been filled with horrifying mutant creatures, bandits, and pirates, so the brief respite from any of those was an extremely welcome break.
When I woke up, I saw in the mirror that I had creases on my face from my pillow, and for a moment, I was reminded just how old I really was. I sighed and turned to the coffee maker, and then I washed in the makeshift shower that I had built into the living area. It came out of one of the larger cupboards, and I was able to pack it back in, to save space. It felt good to wash all of the dirt off me, and I was actually pretty surprised at how grimy I had been up until that point.
Once I was washed and dried, I packed the shower away and got dressed in my suit. I put a T-shirt and trousers on over it, and then pulled my trucker’s hat on my head. Once I was ready, I helped Bob out of the ship, and together, we began to put the uranium into the ship’s engines.
Francine talked me through how to do it, and Bob made himself useful by retrieving the tools I needed from the storage compartment. It was tricky work, but eventually I managed to get the uranium pellets in safely and without causing a radioactive leak, so I was pretty proud of myself for that.
Once that was done, Bob and I made our way back into the village.
When I got there, I saw Rayne almost immediately. She was talking to one of the other villagers in the town, but when she turned and saw me, her face lit up, and so did mine.
“Morning,” she chirped. “I thought you were gonna sleep in all day.”
“I’m not much of a morning person, apparently,” I said. “Did you sleep alright?”
“Not bad,” she replied. “Although, one of the bandits broke my bed, so I had to put the mattress on the floor.”
“Oh,” I chuckled.
“Yeah,” she laughed.
“That’s not ideal,” I said.
“Nope,” she giggled.
“Listen…” I said. “I’m probably going to head off. I don’t wanna make a big deal about it with the village, but I wanted to say goodbye to you.”
“Oh,” she said, and I could see that she looked a little saddened at the fact I was leaving. “You’re leaving already?”
“Well, the ship’s ready to go,” I said as I began to walk toward the exit.
“But don’t you want some breakfast first?” she asked as she walked beside me.
“I’ll eat on the way,” I replied.
We walked all the way to my ship, but then I turned to her and took in her face for one last time.
“Goodbye, then, Will Ryder,” she said.
“Bye, Rayne Trader,” I replied.
I ran my hand along her smooth cheek for a moment, but then I bit the bullet, helped Bob into the ship, and climbed into the cockpit after him.
I busied myself with the control panel, and Rayne stayed near the ship to watch me take off.
“Will, what are you doing?” Francine asked.
“What does it look like?” I grunted. “I’m leaving.”
“Will, as focused as I am on the mission, I am also not blind,” Francine said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“I think you know,” the AI said.
I looked up at the front window of the ship. Rayne had turned her back on the ship and had started to walk away, back to her village. I tried to ignore what my gut was telling me while I watched her walk away, but in the end, it was too strong.
I leaped out of my chair, threw the door of the cockpit open, and raced after her.
“Rayne!” I shouted.
She stopped and turned around with a confused look on her face.
“Wait,” I said as I reached her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I was thinking about what you said last night,” I said.
“What part?” she asked.
“When I asked if you liked it here, and you said you wished you could be anywhere else,” I said.
“Yeah, I remember,” she said.
“Well, would you want to be somewhere else… with me?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” she asked, but I could see a smile starting to creep onto her lips.
“Do you want to come with me?” I asked. “I mean, I’d totally understand if you don’t. This is your home, after all, and it could be really dangerous where we’re going. But, I’d really like it if you came with me, if you want to.”
Without answering, she pulled me closer to her and kissed me. It was the most incredible feeling in the world, and when she pulled away, both of us grinned at one another like we’d just won the lottery.
“I’ve already packed my bag,” she said, and then she punched me on the arm and hurried off to go and get it.
“Told you so,” Francine said smugly.
“Whatever,” I chuckled.