Warmth (Klance Warmth series Book 1 of +4)

11: Burning Sensation

Thankfully, blessedly, a beeping sound accompanied by flashing lights tore Keithek's attention from his burning hot face to the view screen on the right. His eyebrows flew up to his hairline and he pulled the Lion directly upwards, just barely missing two small ships which whizzed past the Lion's gigantic front paws.

"Frak!" he yelled.

When the ships passed by, Keithek got a good look at them. It was the two escape pods from the Galra battlecruiser. He sighed. It's a small  universe after all.

"It's the escape pods from the battlecruiser,"  he said aloud for the Altean's benefit. "Did you program them to head  for Khonsu?"

No response. Keithek bit his tongue. He was really hoping the Altean's uncharacteristic silence wasn't a bad thing. He licked his suddenly dry lips and put the Lion into a nose-dive towards the moon's oceanic surface.

"Look," he said, breaking the now very  uncomfortable silence in the Lion's cockpit. "I'm not sure where to start looking for the Blue Lion. A little direction would help."

Footsteps came up to his side and he fought down the urge to look at Lance, too terrified of what he would see on the Altean's open face. Were all Alteans like Lance? Did they all wear their emotions on their sleeves? It was so alien the Keithek. The Galra valued control in practically every aspect of life. If the Alteans acted as carefree as Lance did, it was no wonder the Galra had issues with them. They were complete and total opposites.

The silence continued until Keithek couldn't take it anymore. He turned to the Altean, mouth open, ready to snap at Lance and stilled. Lance was standing with his unswollen eye closed and his brow furrowed in concentration. He seemed to be in some sort of meditative state. It was unnerving to see.

Keithek eased his Lion out of the nose dive so he hovered in the air not far above the choppy  waves. Everywhere he looked was water. Everything looked the same. He had no idea what he was looking for and as far as he could tell, there  weren't any signals to track either. Except for the escape pods which were currently falling through the atmosphere several klicks to the left.

Movement to his right caught the halfbreed's attention and he turned to see Lance, eye still closed and brow still furrowed, pointing to the right. He didn't say a word, just pointed. His head tilted slightly to the side as if listening to something only he could hear. Keithek remembered the purr from his Lion and wondered if maybe Lance was hearing something only he could hear.

The Red Lion purred in the halfbreed's mind in agreement. That seemed like the best confirmation he was going to get, so Keithek took the controls and guided his Lion across the ocean's surface in the direction Lance was  pointing. A gentle pressure on his shoulder alerted Keithek to the fact Lance's hand was now resting his free hand there. The hand tightened, and he looked over to see Lance's finger had moved a little so it was pointed almost due straight.

From that moment onward, Keithek continued in whatever direction he was facing until he felt a change in the pressure of the Altean's hand on his shoulder. He would take note of the new heading and adjust his course accordingly. A few minutes into the flight and Lance's nails dug sharply into his shoulder painfully.  Keithek stopped his Lion and looked back at Lance. The Altean's eye was open, but clouded over. He was seeing something, but whatever it was, it wasn't in the here and now.

"Open the door," Lance said, his voice soft and distant.

"What door?" Keithek asked, scanning his controls. "There's a door in here?"

That was stupid. Of course there was a door in here. How else had they gotten into the Lion in the first place? But where was it? Keithek  didn't remember seeing any doors in the cockpit or the room behind it. And where were the controls to open this mystery door?