Broken

.16.

"Rhex, I hate flying." I looked at the black door to the shuttle. My heart pounded in my chest and I felt panic rising up sharply. I had been able to forget that I was on a ship orbiting Earth because of how solid and stable it felt but a small shuttle ship was a completely different story.

"You have spent the past six days on a spaceship that is orbiting your planet and you are telling me you are scared of flying?" He sounded amused and I resisted the urge to grab him tightly and never let go.

I clenched my teeth until my jaw ached. "Yah." My world felt wobbly as we moved towards the shuttle ship. I could feel the blood drain from my face. I hadn't had a choice the last time I had been placed in a shuttle ship and it helped that I was already scared but this was just me being a coward.

I froze slightly, ignoring Rhex's tugging on my arm as he tried to get me to move closer to the door. "I'm really scared of flying." My voice felt weak and I honestly felt like I was going to black out.

"Are you okay?" His voice was sharp with concern and I swallowed against the breakfast that wanted to make a return appearance.

"Nope." I looked at him and I couldn't stop the trembling that had taken a hold of my entire body. He said nothing but slowly wrapped his arms around me. There was a lot of comfort in the action and I found myself clutching at the back of his shirt. The fabric bunching in my hands.

"We are going to get on the shuttle and I promise I won't let you go until we reach Earth, okay?" The words rumbled through his chest and I closed my eyes tightly before nodding, not trusting myself to speak. He took a few steps backwards and I followed him, clutching him tightly.

I could hear the shuttle door close and the floor jolted under our feet. I squeaked, like a frightened little mouse, if I hadn't had been so terrified I would have been embarrassed. It would be hard to show Rhex how strong I was when the mere thought of flying made my knees go weak and my stomach lurch.

I felt the shuttle start descending and I felt my breathing increase. Flying was stupid, birds flew, humans did not. Space shuttles crashed all the time and killed everyone when they did. If the universe wanted humans to fly it would have had us evolve wings. Rhex didn't say anything but his arms tightened around me and I pressed my face tighter to his chest.

I gritted my teeth as I told myself that it would be over soon but the thought of the shuttle malfunctioning and crashing in a fiery explosion wouldn't leave my head. I focused on my breathing, trying to take deep breaths in before letting them out slowly. It was easy to forget you were flying through space when the ship was gigantic and it never had so much as a bump to let you know it wasn't on the ground.

A rumble moved through Rhex's chest and I was aware he was chuckling. I would have scowled if I hadn't have been so worried I was going to throw up the strange concoction of eggs Rhex had made for me for breakfast.

"It's not funny." I practically croaked the words out and squeezed my eyes tighter, praying the ship would settle down on the Earth quickly.

"You are right. It is really not." His words held amusement and I resisted the urge to push away from him. Getting away from him meant seeing the shuttle flying, meaning I would probably get a huge sense of vertigo and probably pass out. "I am sorry, it is just. You were not this scared when you were being taken to the recycler and you were not scared when Councilman Khos threatened to take your head but you are terrified of the one thing that has a lesser chance of killing you than either of those options." He shook slightly with his silent laughter and I hoped he would choke on his own spit.

"It's not funny." It was a repetition of what I had just said but it was the only thing that I could get out at the moment. He said nothing and after what seemed like an eternity the shuttle jolted to a stop and the door opened. I released Rhex and with weak and wobbly knees, I tried my best exit the small space quickly. I still felt nauseous and I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand before crouching slightly in the hallway.