CHAPTER SEVEN - UNEXPECTED CONFRONTATIONS
Angel scowls a little at the situation, giving Nick a questioning glance as she shifts in her seat uncomfortably. She tugs at her dark blonde strands with frustration. How does Nick know him? How did he know Nick would be on this ship? How did he know they’d be here? Too many questions were running though her mind for her liking. However, at the moment, she only voiced one.
“Wait a minute, you know him?”
Nick shakes his head vigorously, and then pauses, trying to explain. “No! Not really, kinda but no. I mean…well it’s harder to explain than I thought.”
Howard watches the two interact with a knowing glint in his dark coffee eyes. It was as if they had known each other their entire lives.
Angel smirks, “Well Nicky boy, it’s either a yay, or a nay.”
“Then it’s a yes…sorta.”
“Gee helpful.”
“I know, ain’t I?”
“Oh yes, no wonder you’re such a hero.”
Howard interrupts their bantering, “Angel Rose Cantrell, my name as you know is Howard. I’ am a water of Cataris. Yes, I do know most people know you better as AC-Free, the freedom fighter of the universe. Or terrorist as some people incorrectly see it. Also, that of all the many citizens who know you as AC-Free, few actually get a clear view of your face.”
Angel blinks, turning sharply towards the screen in her chair. Howard now had her full attention. How did he know those things he said? This was now a potential threat to her. Can she trust him?
“How do you know that?”
“I am a prophet as well. I see things most do not.”
“See this is what I was talking about Angel, this is the same guy.” Nick informed her, turning back to the monitor as well. It seemed too convenient for Howard to be here. How did he find them? To Nick it was more evidence proving he was on Zenok’s side. It was danger for both him and Angel and Nick didn’t like the feeling. He felt as if Howard knew something they didn’t. He sighs, deciding then to hear Howard out.
“How do I know you don’t just work for Zenok? There’s a pretty big price on my head ya know. A price that can tempt just about anyone into helping him and killing me.” Angel demands bitterly, thinking of Tarkansay then. He had been her best friend and he had turned on her. She didn’t even know Howard; yet, he knows all this information about her without her ever telling him. How can she trust him? Should she even trust him?
“You do not know. You must trust me when I say I do not. By the way, impressive piloting skills. They are by no doubt developed to be one of your greatest skills. They have saved many of lives in the past, and shall save many more in the future. “
“Oh, um…thanks”
Nick’s gaze shifts to Angel for a moment with a smile and then goes back to Howard. “So why are you here?” He asks, getting directly to the point. He did not have the patience for pleasantries.
“I wished to meet your new female companion, and to inform you of a possible location of one of your triplets.”
Two pairs of ocean blue eyes narrow at him, gleaming with suspicion and mistrust. Both seemed to have the same thoughts in mind.
“So where is he?”
“That sounds a lot like a trap…how do we know it’s not one?”
Nick nods with agreement, running a hand through his shaggy golden locks.
Howard chuckles at them softly, “If it is, I am sure Miss Cantrell here will help you escape from it. He’s on the second moon of Jivitra on the edge of the Starsras galaxy. Go to him. What have the two of you have to lose by using my information?”
Then, the screen goes black, the connection ended as Howard’s ship sails off into space. Angel turns off the monitor and watches Nick, making no move to fly the ship anywhere. “So now what?”
“How far away is the place he mentioned?”
“Not too far.” She sighs, if they went it was going to be hard for her, being so close to her home, and yet not being able to go back. For Jivitra was only a few planets away from Standara, “I’ve…I’ve been there before. It’ll be a day’s journey from here so we might have to stop for supplies, maybe fuel as well since most was used escaping those damn goons.”
Nick nods, “Lets go for it then.”
She frowns, not liking the idea still. Too many things could go wrong. And what if she ran into someone she knew? She’d have to wear things to keep her face hidden, cloaks, hoods, anything to disguise her former identity as Angel Cantrell. She had visited Jivitra often and it was almost a second home for her. Besides that, she didn’t want to see the beautiful galaxy she loved knowing she can’t have it anymore.
“I don’t know, it sounds like a trap.”
“But we don’t know that.”
“I don’t trust him though.”
“Neither do I…”
“Yet you still wanna go?”
Nick nods, his sapphire eyes twinkling with excitement. “Yes I do. My brothers are out there and I need to find them. I can’t let this go without at least seeing if it was a lie or not. Besides, he did have a point.” He smirks at her playfully, “You, Miss AC-Free will get us away if it is a trap. So what do we got to lose?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~
Brian yawns and fidgets a little as he crouches in the back room of the ship where various metal storage crates were. He sighs, pulling out a small violet lunar apple he had stolen and takes a bite as he feels the ship travel through space. He hated space travel. Brian twirls the ring in his fingers, still on the rope hanging around his neck. He takes another large bite of his apple.
He had been forced to sneak aboard this ship before anyone discovered his true identity. For none of the ship captains would willing let him aboard before and the urgency to get away make him decide to stowaway. This had seemed to be the only was possible option at the time. He runs a hand through his reddish golden locks tiredly. Brian knows he must not be found, for it means death for him or maybe some cruel torture if he was returned to Zenok before finding the two bearers. He had no other choice. He must find them. He glances about the dusty, dirty storage room, snatching a small package of food from the nearby crate and puts in his bag, knowing he might need it in the future.
His gaze shifts to the crate and he stares at his reflection against the metal, He looked ragged and dirty. His clothes torn and beginning to wear thin under his cloak, his hands dark and grimy along with his face. Bags sat under his worn and tired cerulean eyes. The hood of his coat still on his head to cover the rare color of his hair. He couldn’t be too careful.
Suddenly, the ship shakes for a moment and Brian’s jolted roughly against the metal storage units. Brian grunts and frowns, yawning tiredly. The only reason this should be happening is if the ship was landing. That shouldn’t be happening for another day at least and Brian had been planning on getting some rest. He ducks down crawling behind a stack of various boxes as he hears the doors open. A tall man of 6 feet with graying black hair and small beady brown eyes enters the area, looking around with suspicion. Brian stays quiet, hoping not to be found. Then, the worst happened. He sneezed. The man, who he knew to be the pilot turned and stormed over to him, pulling him up forcefully and shoving him against the wall.
“Ah, look what we have here…a stowaway!”
Brian stays quiet despite the pilot’s roughness, he was used to being treated like this by Zenok. The pilot pulls back his hood, glaring at him.
“Lets get a look at you, you little maggot…you seem familiar.”
A look of fear appears in Brian’s soft crystal blue eyes. A silent prayer repeatedly resounds through his mind almost like a chat.
‘Please don’t let him recognize me…please don’t let him recognize me…please don’t let him recognize me…please don’t let him recognize me…please, please, please…’
The pilot uses his other hand to pull out a worn folded piece of paper. He slowly unfolds it in his hand and stares at it, and then glances at Brian. Brian’s heart fills with a certain sickening dread at what the paper was. Deep down, he knew. He knew. It was one of the flyers Zenok had scattered about the galaxies with his picture and the reward for his return.
“Ah! So you’re Zenok’s little brat. I know just what to do with you….”
An evil grin appears upon the pilot’s face as he grabs Brian and shoves him in front of him, kicking him to go forward and still having a strong grip on his arm. As they stepped off the ship, Brian, in a moment of desperation kicked back at the pilot between the legs at his groin as hard as he could.
“You bastard!” The pilot cries out in pain as he doubles over.
Brian ran from the pilot, as fast as his legs could take him. He didn’t know what city or country they were at, let alone what planet they were on, but at the moment he didn’t care. Brian keeps running, knowing it meant his life. This is what he had feared of happening. He didn’t look back as he fled. What he didn’t know of were the sand beasts and night crawlers off in the distance that roamed the planet at this time of night…