Earth Is Mine

Chapter 26

The ship rocks back and forth and I hear Remulus yelling for the officers around him to fire back at our assailants. I'm still sitting on the floor, next to Polaris who has stopped breathing under my hands. 

His eyes are empty as he stares at the ceiling, the lights above casting a white glow over his pale green eyes. My body feels heavy with exhaustion and his weight grows heavier in my hands. I don't want to release him, I don't want to acknowledge yet another death on my hands that are already stained with blood. 

The adrenaline that was coursing through my veins slowly ebbs out of my body and evaporates into the air around me. I groan as the pain in my foot returns in full force and for a second I feel like chopping the damn thing off, if it would just rid me of this torture. 

Judging by the turmoil in the control room, I can tell we are still being pursued by Lazarus's soldiers in their ships. 

Our ship rocks to the side and I'm thrown back into the wall with a loud thud. Polaris slips from my hands and he rolls down the other side. My lip trembles as I watch his body hit the wall like a block of wood. 

I want to get up but the pain in my leg is stopping me from moving. A tall Plutonian soldier rushes in but I don't recognise him with his uniform and helmet on. He must be one of Lucian's.

The sleek black helmet turns to Polaris and then to my tear stricken face. He then rushes up to me and helps me up. 

"He didn't make it," I gesture at Polaris's limp body as the soldier's arm coils around my waist. I don't know who is underneath that helmet but his presence soothes me and makes me want to cry into his shoulder. He reminds me of Lucian when he wore his helmet to fight Lazarus in the pits before I escaped Pluto. 

The Plutonian nods subtlety but his chief focus is getting me to one of the seats in the control room. He straps me in and then his gloved fingers graze my foot as he studies my injury. 

The ship whips to the side again and I look around to see about a dozen aliens scrambling about, some firing back at our enemies, some doing damage control as we take a few hits. My teeth gnash together in pain as our ship is flung to the side, the resultant whiplash makes me feel like my foot has been torn in half.

 I hear Remulus call out through his helmet for us to strap in and everyone does except the Plutonian officer at my feet. He looks up at me and for a second my heart stills. 

It can't be. He isn't supposed to be here. 

Every fibre in my body freezes with fear as I remember Lazarus's obsessive hatred with Lucian.   What if we were caught? What if Lazarus got his hands on Lucian?

The Plutonian rushes off somewhere and then returns with a first aid kit. 

"Preparing for hyperdrive," Remulus warns and I see him turn to the soldier who has grabbed a syringe from the small box in his hands. "Everyone please strap in." 

His pleading tone to the Plutonian crouching by my feet is suspect enough. Remulus only speaks with such respect and endearment to one person.

"This will numb the pain," He says to me and my suspicions are dreadfully confirmed by the sound of his voice. Lucian slips off my shoe and jabs the needle into my toe before I have the chance to protest. 

My scream fills the air but they are drowned out by the sound of our ringing alarms and bullets hitting our shields. My vision blurs as Lucian stands up and walks over to a chair. He straps in just as the ship goes into hyperdrive, diving us into shards of brilliant white light. 

My head whips to the side only to see him staring at me through his helmet. I can't see his face or his eyes but I can feel his gaze like the pulse in my veins.