Galactic Gale

Chapter Twenty-Two

Teamwork

A sharp snap made Kael's heart skip a beat.

He rolled over; Amara long gone from where she had landed atop of him. Their bodies had been pressed together for little more than a second, her colourless eyes seemingly staring through his soul. There had been a warning in them telling Kael never to speak of the incident.

The touch of her skin against his was like that of a ghost's – light and cold, leaving nothing but a memory of its passing. Kael traced his neck gently where her hand had grabbed him during the fall. His skin was surprisingly hot.

Blanching as he pulled a clump of waste from his trousers, Kael shifted his gaze in time to see a blur of green come flying out the shipwreck. Alex was on the stranger before they could recover, a blaster in each hand.

Behind, Amara and Cyre were pulling someone else from the ship. Kael hurried up the slope to help, taking hold of a blue first thrown in Amara's direction.

There might not have been much a difference in size between him and his captain, but Amara was far stronger. While Kael struggled to hold the slippery arm at bay, Amara practically hauled the attacker out by their feet.

Cyre knocked Kael out the way and pulled the stranger fully from the wreck. The sun's light reflected off the exposed blue skin of the ship's owner and he wriggled and thrashed at those who held him.

Kael levelled his blaster at the stranger's head. It did the trick. The captain shrunk against Cyre's legs.

"Oi!" Alex yelped, one of her blasters letting loose a shot.

Daring to look up now that Amara and Cyre had the blue-skinned stranger under control, Kael found Alex hurdling down the slope. She slammed her body into who was trying to flee, ramming them onto their front. A twist of her wrist and a blaster was reunited with her hand, finger on the trigger.

"Don't give me the excuse," Alex sneered. "Get up. You've got some explaining to do."

But the stranger on the ground bared her teeth, green lips curling over her gums. She flipped, catching Alex by surprise, and regained her footing. Alex only took a moment to recover her senses, but the stranger was already heading into one of the side streets.

"I've been trying to get rid of her for days," the man Amara was holding sighed.

"Anyone who runs has something to hide." Amara nodded to Kael. It was all the clarification he needed to set off after the escapee, hurrying to catch up with Alex.

Two streets later he found Alex slouched over, clutching her side. She pushed back her hair and started running again with Kael at her side, their paces somewhat off matched but managing to stay close enough that they could watch each other's backs.

"If there's one thing I hate, it's chasing people," Alex panted as they came to a halt.

Ahead the street split into four paths, each heading in different directions. Kael was about to suggest splitting up when he noticed a blur of emerald. He pinched Alex's side and she shook her head, determined to go on.

They continued the hunt, boots crashing against the glass roadsides.

With a city as vast as Yolkemi it would be impossible to track down a single person. Not just the winding streets would make the job difficult, but the crowds and the complexes built on the underside of the cities supports. There were endless hiding spaces, even for someone with bright green hair.

"Ladders!" Alex barked.

Before Kael had even seen the metal rods, she was climbing up, refusing to give into the wound on her side. As she climbed, Alex's tunic slipped up and Kael noticed the bruised skin of her torso.