To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 30

Once we were sure the heat was no longer strong enough to kill us we crept out from our hiding spots and reentered the tunnel, eager to see what was left behind. It took a lot of willpower for Derek and me not to discuss what we knew we'd find.

All of the pods had shattered and were scattered around the floor of the cave, their remains floating through the air in specks of green dust. I started coughing when I first stepped in and had to swallow several times before the dry taste of sugar left the back of my throat.

At the back of the room, where the mother had been, there was yet another, smaller tunnel leading further into the moon. Its entrance had been blocked earlier by the pod, a design choice that was likely intentional. Now, we were free to go down and see what the aliens had been hiding. Maddox was the only one who kept his gun close as we entered the darkness.

As we walked, the glowing dust that came down with us serving as our only source of light. They were swirling around like fireflies. Maybe the specks weren't following us but were actually drawn to whatever was down there.

Finally, the tunnel ended and imbedded in the wall at the end was a small, green ball of light. It was sitting in the center of the rock and when Derek reached toward it, it started to glow brighter, lighting up the rest of the tunnel.

"What is it?" Ace whispered, making sure not to touch it just in case it was dangerous. He was more cautious than Derek, who immediately touched it, running his fingers over its cold surface.

Forgetting that he wasn't supposed to know information about the future, Derek answered him. "It's the alien's life force. It keeps them alive and gives them their shapeshifting abilities." He was referring to the blobs we'd fought in the ship, which had actually been multiple females morphed together to form that creature.

"Then we should destroy it," Jala stated nonchalantly, wanting to eradicate the aliens as quickly as possible so she could get paid.

Derek shook his head. "You don't understand. The aliens never harnessed this ball's full potential. We could use this to power everything in Manica. We could create weapons of world peace and space ships that go beyond the moon. The possibilities are endless."

"Then let's grab it and go," Zora ordered, shuffling back toward the exit. "Before the aliens come back."

Derek nodded and wrapped his fingers around the orb. He gritted his teeth and tugged but it stayed put. It wasn't until he yelled and yanked that the sphere popped out, its glow disappearing as he hid it inside his pocket coat and turned toward me.

I was about to smile when the ground shifted beneath our feet and a loud creak echoed down the tunnel, catching us off guard.

Derek smirked, already expecting this, and grabbed my hand, dashing down the tunnel and ignoring the rocks that came crashing down around our feet. The others weren't far behind.

"I hope, for all our sakes, that wasn't the thing holding this moon together,'' Ace yelled as we ran for our lives.

◑○★☆●◐

The ship was already hovering and prepared for lift off when we reached it. Di must have realized something was wrong and was waiting for us. As soon as we reached the ship I leapt inside, pulling Derek with me. I could have teleported us out of the tunnels but we hadn't been in that much immediate danger so I'd held off just in case something went wrong.

Once everyone was inside, Di flew us from the moon moments before a crack crawled across ground we'd been standing on moments before. The moon would survive this earthquake-like phenomenon but going back on in would be too risky from now on. Not that it mattered now. All future excitement would happen on the space ship and Manica from now on.

As we sat down, using the break to catch our breath and watch the cracks shoot across the moon like zebra stripes, I glanced at Derek and laughed quietly, my tense body loosening from the adrenaline.

My husband returned the smile, his eyes shining before he looked down and pulled the small orb out of his pocket to examine it. It didn't look like much as he tossed back and forth in his hands but we both knew the power it possessed.

In the alternate story, Dark had combined it with Polly's powers to control a world destroying weapon but we had other plans this time. With this, Manica could become even more advanced than Earth was or ever would be. We could make it a better, safer place and I couldn't wait.

No one else on the ship knew what we knew. None of them knew that we'd just managed to dodge every single level of betrayal Dark had faced. Other than those of the aliens', Derek didn't have any blood on his hands.

I had done it. I had saved Dark Hacket.

I had succeeded.

And when he looked at me with the expression of an excited child, my heart felt ready to burn up. I was so glad I'd been sent here and I never wanted to leave. I loved this man so much and couldn't wait to see him and Polly reunited once more.