Scenes From Space

Chapter Nineteen: A Mission

Our first real mission was on the planet O'oo. We had caught back up to Lyteroon. The goal was to take him into our custody or to kill him. If we couldn't question him, then it was better that the Collective couldn't have him.

We were in the Capital City. I was stationed high and had my favorite gun pointed down at the Action.

The Alert came in over the Comms. Prince K and Comm incoming. I moved rooftops immediately. The capital city of O'ryfe was curiously, mostly orange. The streets were orange brick. The buildings were orange concrete and silver metal. The trees had yellow trunks with orange leaves. The blue of the Collective's Uniforms were going to be a blessing in this city.

And sure enough, Prince Kuzzon was escorting Lyteroon out of the establishment (read den of iniquity for humor) (read god damn fucking slave shop for accuracy). Ben stopped him in the street, his grey helmet shining the orange sunset.

"Oh my, a Rebel, I'm so scared," Kuzzon said. His sarcasm came in clear over Ben's com.

"Oh my, that dick Prince, Kuzzon of the Royal Collective of Planets," Ben shot back. "The slaver is coming with me." Ben was so sassily. I smiled at his comeback. I zoomed in on Lyteroon, yep, still an asshole slaver with a scar running across his face. 

"Hmmmm, no, the slaver is the property and asset of the Collective," Kuzzon said. His grip tightened on the slaver's shirt, pulling tightly at the back of the neck. I zoomed in the scope. Stupid asshole prince, he was attractive even from this far away. His skin reflected like ripples in a fountain and his eyes were the lily pads.

"Come on asshole," Ben said. "Whose team do you think is going to get here faster?" I didn't think it was going to be ours. Grey was still three streets, distracting the five guards that were supposed to be here, on this backstreet with Lyteroon and Kuzzon. 

Kuzzon's team emerged from the alleys. There were two alley entrances onto the backstreet they were standing in. Kuzzon's team had girls in the far alley and guys in the near alley.

Kuzzon raised an eyebrow and Ben's shoulders drooped. I eyed each of Kuzzon's team. They had surrounded Kuzzon, the slaver, and Ben but they weren't too close, yet. I looked away, none of our team were close enough to provide backup in time. Soon, Ben would be overpowered. Kuzzon's chin jutted slightly and a tailed, pink girl suddenly held Ben in her hold.

I re-adjusted up my rifle, slung it over my shoulder and dropped down from the roof to the deck of the apartment below. I climbed up on the railing and jumped over the small gap- to the balcony over. I reset my rifle.

"How much do you trust me?" I asked Ben through the com using the new rules for the rebel language. I watched the pink girl wrap her tail around Ben's torso more securely. She had pulled him a little lower, closer down to her height.

"I don't," he responded in English.

With my shot lined up, I took a breath in, and on the exhale, I pulled the trigger. The bullet went right over Ben's shoulder and struck the slaver in his second heart. The slaver collapsed against Kuzzon's chest. Ben landed a kick back and broke the hold of the tail holding him in place. I changed the rifle settings over and fired a smoke round at the ground in between Kuzzon and his team. The round exploded and smoke provided cover for Ben. I followed his run with the scope to make sure he was clear before I started my escape as well.

"I thought I ordered you not to shoot," Ben's voice crackled through the com.

"Yeah, I disregarded that order." I responded. I started to disassemble the rifled and pack it back up in a subtle, undercover backpack.

"Clearly," Ben responded with a huff. I didn't say it out loud but I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to kill one of the aliens who stole me from Earth.

Later, Ben and I were standing up on the bridge. Graham was projected in front of us. He didn't look entirely displeased but he also wasn't thrilled.

Ben finished up his summary with a, "I was surrounded. Our team was too far out. Guinevere took the kill-shot as was the mission directive."

"And it was a fantastic shot," I threw in.

"And did you not feel emotionally impacted by Lyteroon being one of the aliens that abducted you from Earth?" Graham asked. I blinked at his projection. Ben sputtered beside me.

"I followed the mission directive," I said then tilted my head at Graham. "Did I tell you that? How'd you find out?" I specifically remembered not telling him on Ki'ree.

Graham's projection shook his head and sighed. "Guinevere, have you ever read your file?"

"I have a file?" I smiled. "Cool, I'd love to learn more about myself. Send it to me."

"You can read it next time you guys are back on base," Graham said with a shaking head. "Consider yourselves debriefed."

"Bye, Graham," I said with a wave. His image flickered off with a restrained smile. I looked over at Ben, he was gripping the bridge of his nose.

"Something you'd like to say, Captain?"

Ben released his nose and sighed heavily. "Not yet, but in the near future we're going to have a talk about things I need to know before a mission." That was fair. I nodded my ascent and headed out the bridge, to my room to get some rest. I should probably tell him that I'd had sex with the guy we were running into on these salve missions. I should. Just not yet. I should also tell Graham. I should. Just not yet.