Crane walks with the stride of a man who knows he controls the situation and leaves without worrying that someone will hurl a sharp shield at his head.

  “Cid, wasn’t it? You seem to have been living well. I mean, look at how big you are.”

  “I’ve been living in the woods,” I reply deadpan.

  “Right, the woods. I never cared to check there. My hope was that if you were there, a large Bathtri would eat you.”

  I stare back, confused by his statement. “Right, you are off planet. Those are large furry creaturs with large mouths and snouts that chew through steel. That doesn’t matter. We are here to talk about you have something I want.”

  “I have no idea what your-”

  “The kid's in the ship,” Crimson cuts me off. I stare at him, annoyed he would stoop so low to snitch. “He pays my bills, you don’t.”

  “Great,” Crane says gleefully. He gestures with his hand to his men to surround the ship. "Some come with me. I don’t think I will need a squadron to kill a kid, but one can never be too careful.”

  I step in Crane’s path as he stares me down. “What is your obsession with Emanuel. You have his family's business. No one on this rock will help him. You didn’t even know he was still alive until a few minutes ago. Why can’t you just let us leave.”

  “Simple.” Crane shows no emotion as he speaks. The words roll off his lips like he lists his grocery order to his assistant. “He is still alive. The job's not done.”

  “What?” I ask, stunned.

  “I hate leaving loose ends. All they are is an icon of your mistakes. The worst thing a powerful person can do is let a reminder of their failure stand untested. It acts as a symbol for people to question you. It is why kings execute those who speak out and why gods burn the planet when questioned. That boy is just another reminder of how I couldn’t follow through on my promise of murdering his whole bloodline. I feel like a 'god' like you would understand this mentality.”

  “That’s not how a god should act,” I respond, standing tall.

  “That is a god, and how I know your not one.” Crimson points to the ship, and his men march towards the door. I ran towards the closet soilder, but the entire room fired at me without hesitation. That’s what I need.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Bullets wash over me. The bullets ride through my slime and line up in my arm as I hold my finger out like a gun, the bullets back at their owner. The force won’t kill them, just knock them out onto the floor and out of commission.

  I move one eye to the back of my head and see a knife radiating heat an inch away from my head. I suck my head into my body. This caught Crimson off guard, but he adapted as a glowing red fist struck my body. The heat matches his blade, and I can feel my slime harden. I fire out my own fist from my side and hit his chest.

  I don’t have time to think as the army fires again. I block half with the shield and inflate my hand to eat the other half. I still lose bits of slime from the impact, but I need to gather ammo. I fire back at them, but it's not enough.

  Crane walks around his army with no urgency and smiles at me as I yell.

  “Don’t go near that ship you d-”

  Crimson takes a slice at my chest, but I move back. I slam a fist in Crimson's side, breaking another rib. The tide of battle is shifting in their favor, and Crimson relishes this. To him, it's an inevitable fact I will lose. He didn’t count on two things: the spirit of the desperate and the ship's defensive systems.

  From the side of the Solar Sail, a pointed metal rod the size of a tree trunk fires out the side of the ship. The army jumps out of the way as it was aimed right at me. Crimson pushes a man out of his way to run off.

  The rod hurtles toward me, and I don’t have enough time to move, so I hold the shield up. I brace for impact, but there isn’t one. Instead, it floats in front of me. I now recognize what part of the ship this is.

  It’s the Anchor. This part of the ship is a long cylindrical piece of metal connected to a chain. It is imbued with unique technology and a series of spells, allowing it to lock in the middle of space. An anchor is a movable object that enables the ships to lock in place in case they get too close to a gravity field.

  I figure out what is happening, hop on. The anchor retracts immediately, and I can feel a spark of electricity behind me as the anchor enters an opening. My eyes move around my head, and Crane slams his fist on a wall made of light. It's clear Emanuel activated the ship's defense mechanisms, and the Solar Sail now acts as an invisible magical barrier around the ship.

  They move quickly as Crimson is digging his dagger into the barrier. Steam erupts as a wall of light holds back his blade. Crane is yelling at his men and pointing to the back. All of that doesn’t matter. We need to get this ship off the ground fast.

  I rush through the ship's metal halls when Emanuel’s voice erupts from the ship's intercom.

  “Left! You missed the entrance.” He yells.

  “How would I know?” I shout back, turning left.

  “Haven’t you been on a ton of ships?”

  “Not every ship is the same.”

  ‘Turn right, you missed it again. Read the signs!”

  I turn right and head down the hal. We can make it out of here; the barrier can hold. We will escape. But why do I still feel that familiar energy hunting me down over my head? My hands shake as I try to settle my nerves. We got this; I need to keep telling myself that.