Symphony of stars

Chapter-2

The men and the woman all fell away from each other. The woman growled as she squeezed her eyes closed and clawed at the rope. The men stumbled around, clutching either their ears or reaching out trying to feel their way to their prize.

Aaron hurried to the Shimmie's side and helped her fight the rope away from her throat and over her head. She tried to fight him as he wrapped his arm around her slim waist, but Aaron tightened his hold and grabbed her wrist. Pulling her arm over his shoulder he said, "We've got to get out of here."

He knew her ears were ringing painfully, but for whatever reason she settled down after he spoke. Tightening his hold around her, Aaron started out of the alley and back onto the street. He threw a glance over his shoulder to make sure the men were still stumbling around swearing about being blind or deaf. He let out a little chuckle as he led the woman away.

They made it half a block when he leaned close to her ear and said, "Where to?" He made sure his voice was low, soothing tones that could be separated from the ringing.

It took the woman a second to answer. Her eyes pressed closed tighter and her brows furrowed together like she was having to make the effort to figure out what he had said. Aaron was about to ask again when she nodded. "My ship, the Nexus. Docking port 4."

Thankfully they didn't have to turn around and head back towards the attackers. Aaron was able to lead her through the empty streets straight to the docking area where her ship should be. The docking area was just as empty as the streets and he found the Nexus quickly. It was a small ship with a small cargo area. The woman's ship was meant for speed, not transport. That was easy enough to tell by the wheeled engines that sat ready for takeoff even in their resting state.

The cargo bay door was down and as Aaron took a step into the ship he knew someone else was there, waiting for her return. "We're here," Aaron said easing her down onto a crate. "Starting to feel better?"

Pulling away from his hands and bracing herself on the crate, the woman waved him off. "Things are still blurry, but the ringing isn't as bad."

Taking a step back, Aaron flexed his hands and stared at the metal device covering the woman's hands. Those men had wanted to harvest the claws from her feet and would have left her disfigured there in the alley. He could understand a great many illegal things, but leaving a living being scared and struggling to survive was unthinkable for him. He had heard rumors of Shimmie people dying from shock after their claws were removed. The anger that bubbled to life surprised him, but there was no help for it. He'd done what he could and gotten the woman away from the poachers.

As the woman gave a gentle shake of her head she turned to look up at him. She squinted her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "You're the man from the bar, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes. Name's Aaron."

"Well, thank you, Aaron. I'm Tirana and this looks like the cargo hold of the Nexus," the woman said, glancing around the bay. Aaron fidgeted and shuffled from one foot to the other, unsure what he should be doing. He looked away from Tirana to stare at the simple control panel on the far haul, but jumped slightly when he heard her yell out. "Ethan, where the hell are you?"

His eyes went wide as he darted his gaze around the cargo bay looking for whoever she had called out to. Readying himself to break for it, Aaron saw a young man appear in a narrow doorway leading further into the ship. "What, Tir? I was trying to reconfigure the damn navigational codes."

Once the teen walked out Aaron realized he was about the same age as his sister, Nancy. That helped relax him a little, until Ethan locked eyes with him. Instantly the young man's face transformed into a scrawl and he took several quick steps forward. Moving between Aaron and Tirana, the teen said, "Who is this and what did he do to you, Tir?"

Aaron stepped back further and tried to look innocent, but with the goggles covering his eyes he wasn't sure how clear that was to someone who didn't know him. "I brought her here after she was attacked," Aaron said, but he could hear the slight tremor in his voice. His chest tightened and he hoped that Tirana would back up the story.

"Tir?" Ethan said, chancing a quick glance at the Shimmie woman.

For a second Aaron thought the woman was going to have him thrown out, but with a careful shake of her head she said, "He's telling the truth. The job fell through and the contact wanted to make up for loses. Aaron, here, stepped in and helped me out of a bind."

Aaron let out a long breath that he hadn't realized he was holding and relaxed a little.

"So what's with your eyes?" the boy asked, visibly relaxing also.

"I threw out a flash bomb," Aaron answered, thankful that the kid seemed to be more concerned with Tirana than with him at the moment. "It also gave off a sonic pulse. Both the blindness and the ringing pass pretty quickly. No long term affect from just one blast."

Tirana let out a groan. "So that's what it was. Don't worry, Ethan, it's already starting to pass." She gave a shake of her head and finally looked at Aaron. She pointed at him and said, "You, what the hell were you doing?"

The jitters were coming back and carefully Aaron lifted his hands and said, "I just wanted to help. I'll go now." He took a few steps away to prove that he would leave, but just as he was about to turn away the woman said something that surprised him.

"I'll drop you off in the Gamia system, but we're taking off in an hour. So be on this ship or lose your ride," Tirana said sternly as she stood up.

"Tir, you don't even know this guy," Ethan blurted out.

She cut her eyes at the boy. "He helped. Besides you'll be on ship with me. If he tries anything it'll be two against one." Turning back to Aaron she added, "An hour."

Aaron nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'll be back." He didn't give her time to change her mind. Hurrying out of the cargo bay, he headed towards the small apartment he'd been squatting in for the last few months. Joy at the thought of getting his stuff back rushed through him. Finally, he'd feel whole again.