KILO'S POV
Castyr and I sit quietly and simply watch. Miren's hands flow around her guns as she cleans and reloads her weapons.
"I could have saved him," Miren mumbles to herself as she pops bullets into a newly-cleaned rifle stored in the Flisea. "Who does he think he is? To have me dragged away."
"It's not your fault," Castyr says sweetly.
"Huh?" Miren looks up from her gun.
"Devyn doesn't blame you. Do you think he'd want you to blame yourself?"
She looks back down. "No...he wouldn't."
"How long until our next stop?" I inquire as Miren goes back to cleaning her gun.
"Two days if we're lucky. Sometimes migrating meteor fields can be a nuisance and cause us to take a detour. It's rare that a meteor field shifts hundreds of light spans, but it does happen. So we'll just have to be on the look out for those. Other than that, it should be smooth sailing."
Miren's words are comforting, but an uneasy feeling has been growing in my gut. Small sounds from the back of the ship draw my attention. I catch Castyr fumbling around the containers and compartments.
He gives a small huff as he reaches into a big compartment in the side of the ship and drags out a long blanket. I cannot help but smile at the small star dragging the blanket back to his chair.
"I thought it'd be better to find a blanket than take your coat again," Castyr smiles at me.
I watch as he wraps himself in the blanket and scoots back into his chair. He is still used to his warm residence in Heaven, so he is trying to get as warm as possible. Castyr shifts in his seat, unsatisfied with his positions.
He finally huffs a breath of air and slides out of the chair. He takes the blanket and walks over to me. I watch as the star climbs into my lap and leans against my chest. Castyr finally settles down after he slings the blanket over us.
The star snuggles into me, and I find myself leaning my head down and brushing the tip of my nose against the top of his head. I breathe in his warm, airy scent, and my whole body relaxes. I move my arms under the blanket and wrap them around Castyr. The star sighs sweetly as he falls asleep.
Miren has already turned to face the front of the ship. A lump forms in my throat as the uneasy feeling grows. What is going on? Were we followed? That does not make sense. I checked to make sure no ships followed us out of Borum's atmosphere.
The worry grows as I look at the sleeping star in my arms. I have to protect him. I hold Castyr tighter as I peer out the ship's windows.
Nebulae pass by motionless in space. All is silent except for the quiet hum of the Flisea. What am I worried about? I shake my head and calm myself down. I am probably just overreacting.
I rest my head on the back of the chair and close my eyes. Letting out a breath, I focus on relaxing when beeping sounds from the control center. Miren sits up straight and checks the radar. Castyr stirs in response to my jolt.
"Three unidentified crafts have been detected," Miren informs me.
I gently lift Castyr and stand to my feet. After setting the star on the chair, I walk over to the cock pit.
"They're gaining," Miren watches the dots grow closer.
"Activate the shields."
"But they may just be passing ships on a tight schedule."
"Do it."
Miren nods.
They could just pass us by, but I am not going to take that chance.
"Change course. Leave our route."
Miren steers the Flisea accordingly. I walk back over to Castyr and buckle him in as we take a sharp left turn. Castyr jolts awake and looks around with wide eyes. I sit in the co-pilot's chair and buckle in as Miren speeds up and checks the radar.
"Damn it!" The human curses under her breath.
The lump appears in my throat as I watch the three dots leave the route in a sharp left turn.
"Who are they? How did they know we were on this route?"
"They're most likely pirates, but it just doesn't make sense. This route has never been watched by pirates. It's never busy enough," Miren tells me.
"Will we make it to Laeroe before they reach us?"
"We should. The Flisea is pretty fast. I'll just have to direct power to her engines instead of anything else."
"Ok. Do it."
I feel the Flisea surge forward as Miren directs all the power to the engines. Slowly, but surely, the pursuing ships fall behind. I let out a breath and look back at Castyr.
The star has folded the blanket and is sitting up in my chair. He smiles at me, but his hands are clasped together nervously. I smile back assuringly.
Miren sighs and leans back. She runs her fingers through her hair and looks at the dots leaving the scope of the radar.
"That was close," Miren lets out a breath.
The tension begins to lax, but another round of beeping from the radar brings the tension back up. Miren and I study the radar. Our hearts drop when four unidentified ships appear in front of us.
"Shit!" Miren slows the Flisea and turns right to avoid the approaching crafts.
The four approaching and three tailing crafts turn in response and continue pursuing. The four new ships are much faster, and the sudden slow-down and turn caused them to gain on us.
"Where did pirates get such nice ships?!" Miren exclaims.
"I don't think these are pirates."
"Huh?"
"Pirates don't usually use seven high-grade ships to chase down one lone craft that's not even a cargo ship."
"Then who are they, and what do they want?"
I swallow and look at the worried Castyr. I close my eyes and think of a solution.
"Does this ship have a good defense system?"
"It's pretty decent."
"Can we fight if we cut power to the engines and focus on shields and weapons?"
"It's worth a shot. At this rate, we'll be overcome even with all the power going to the engines."
"Then let's focus on weapons and shields."
Miren nods. She slows the craft down before addressing it, "Hey, Flis, activate all defense and attack systems. Enter battle mode."
"Request affirmed," the Flisea responds. The ship nearly comes to a stand-still as the power reroutes to the shields and weapons.
Guns protrude from each side of the ship as the shields activate. My brows furrow as I watch the dots grow closer. The seven unidentified ships quickly come into view from the craft's window and surround us.
A ding sounds from the control center as the ships take their positions.
"They sent a message." Miren reaches her hand out to open the message. "It's in Haden (the language of Hades)." Miren gasps as she pushes the 'translate' button.
The lump appears in my throat as Miren reads the message.
"Hand over the angel and his star or die."