Wild Rides

Chapter 34 - Twisted Reunion

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I am finally back and writing!

The sound of something rustling around me pulled me from my dreamless stupor. The first sensation upon waking was the intense pounding in my head. It felt like someone had attempted to open my skull to inspect my brain. I wanted to open my eyes, but they felt like they were glued shut.

I had no idea where I was, and I was struggling to remember where I had been before sleeping.

I remembered being stuck with something. A needle.

Had Tyrfing injected me again? What the hell had my ship done to me now?

Fucking defective ship. I swore I would send the whole frelling thing to a galactic chipper when I reached my next stop.

"Don't touch that. She'll be awake soon enough," a male voice whispered somewhere near me.

What the frell? Who in the seven moons was on my ship?

I struggled to look around. To move at all, but I was just stuck to whatever I was lying on. There was a soft buzzing sound nearby, accompanied by a steady beeping noise. The man must have found my body in space and taken me to a medical center.

Wait. That didn't make sense. If my body had been floating in space, I would be dead. I wasn't floating in space. That could only mean that someone had boarded my ship and found me unconscious. Tyrfing wouldn't have allowed anyone on the ship unless I was well and truly dying. Did this frelling ship actually let someone onboard?

"I thought we'd have a little more time, but it seems someone doesn't want to play nice.... Hold on. It's going to get rough," the man grunted.

Three sets of hands grasped my body, bracing me at my arms and legs.

Was this a pirate who had taken control? Maybe the Gelvonians were in pursuit! Wait... Why would the Gelvonians want my stolen ship?

"Hic-hic."

"I don't know what you're saying, so repeating the same thing over and over isn't going to help," the man muttered just before an alarm sounded and the ship heaved.

I took a moment to listen to the sounds around me. Whatever was happening , it was eerily quiet, other than the soft hum of machines and the man I had heard-.

Something wet had slid up my cheek, and down across one of my hands. At first I thought someone was attempting to wash my skin, but the texture was...wrong. What was that?!?

"Hic?"

"Hic, hic."

I'm here, babies! Wait. Babies?

Everything came rushing back in an instant. The Gelvonians found my ship. The Caldum were trying to kill me and take my little Rothulings.

Louie. Oh my stars! She had disappeared!

It felt like I was suddenly fighting through restraints, drugs, and ten thousand kilos of sand. Everything in my body became heavy and aching, but I couldn't leave Louie out there in space without fighting for her the way she had fought for me.

"Where am I?" Croaked out of my parched throat.

"HIC!" One of the babies shouted, before my face was again coated with the wet substance. I still couldn't open my eyes, but I knew the sensation now. They were licking me.

"Don't climb all over her. The machine won't work if you move her body," the man's impatient voice informed them.

As sensation and control returned to my body, I realized that I was not in a medical bay but in a very comfortable bed. So I repeated my croak of a question. The blankets under my skin felt nicer than my own on Tyrfing, which meant I was not on my own ship.