| Chapter 22

The ground shook as Brylon crashed beside me. Holmes had crawled on top of him, hands on the Pylon's neck. I struggled to look at him, unable to understand how he was able to fight back so well.

As Sapphire rolled away from the two of them, it hit me. He took the ether.

I forced myself onto my stomach and growled as the pain shot up my sides, down into my legs. With as many times as I had shot Holmes, he should've felt the same.

Is direct Sapphire really that fast acting?

"Does it help your guilt to fight me?'' Holmes pressed his hand flat against Brylon's face. The Pylon man struggled beneath him.

Pushing myself up on my forearms, I locked eyes with Holmes as he smiled. "It doesn't matter, boy," he said to me. "Regardless of what you all do, the damage has been done."

"It isn't over," I managed to say. "Not by a long shot..."

Parts of my vision turned white for a minute. I lost track of time and I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them, the room was on a slant. I thought it was only me succumbing to my pain, but it was the ship. It shifted sideways, buckling under gravity.

Without warning, I slid into Brylon and Holmes. And Captain Roderick crashed into me.

"We're no longer stable!" Vera frantically shouted into her mic. "Tell them to get on board fast. I don't know how much longer we have!"

Neither do I.

Brylon flipped the fight. Both of his hands shot up from his sides as he grabbed Holmes by the neck. The smaller man struggled for a moment, knowing he'd lost his advantage.

As Brylon regained his composure, with one hand, he lifted Holmes up off him. With his other, he pushed himself up to stand.

"I made a simple request to you today, Holmes," Brylon hissed, looking at the frightened man's face. "I asked for you to let this happen and to end this violence. But you only continued. You wanted to destroy us all."

"Didn't you?" When Holmes smiled, blood stained his teeth. "Didn't you want to just crumble and fall with your sins?"

Brylon had no response. He simply growled and pushed his face closer to Holmes.

To which Holmes laughed. "All I know is violence. It's how my father raised me, thinking I was just like you."

Just like him?

"My mother was a whore. And my father hated me because a Pylon could've helped create me, could've crept into my mother's womb and I—"

"I don't have time for your villainous monologue." Brylon tossed Holmes to one side with such force that his body crashed and bounced off the floor. The sound of his cries echoed.

Then, Brylon looked at me. His face softened. From his back pocket, he pulled a vial and tossed it to Vera. "Give him this and he'll be fine. I'll head out and meet with the others. Keep this ship in the air until we can save everyone."

Vera held the vial in her hands. Before Brylon could even finish speaking, she hurried towards me. With her teeth, she pulled off the cork sealing the vial. She paused for a second, unsure of what to do. When she looked back for Brylon, for assistance, he was already gone.

Her father slapped his hands against the floor to get her attention. "Have him drink it..."

Vera looked at him. I could tell a part of her wanted to run to him, too. But she listened, pulling my head back on her lap.

"Drink it," she whispered, looking down at my face. The vial hovered over my mouth. Pushing at my bottom lip, she tried to get me to cooperate. Yet, as she tipped the vial, the ether dripped down my cheek.

"Shit." Vera panicked, looking into my eyes. She shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry!"

"The good," I croaked. "It's fine. Just think of the good..."

"He's not going to make it," Vera whispered, but not to me. To herself. She gave her father one last look before looking at the vial.

With the alarm lights flashing around us, I could see the ether inside the tiny bottle. There wasn't much; I wasn't sure if it was enough to heal my wounds. I let out a pained snort because I knew, deep down, this could've been it. And in a way, it was okay; I'd gone down swinging, fighting. I did everything I could to help save everyone around me.

Just like my dad.

"Gus." When Vera touched my cheek, a small spark surge through me. I gasped. Her eyes slid down to my side, looking at my wound. Sighing, she tossed the vial off to the side. It clinked as it rolled away.

"I can't let you die," she whispered.

As she moved closer, head towards mine, I smiled. I tasted copper on my tongue. "It's okay. It's fine."

Her nose brushed against mine as stars shimmered in her eyes. "It isn't," she said, looking down at my mouth. "All you've done is help me and you don't even know me."

A million responses went through my head, but I didn't have the strength to say any of them. The second they hit my tongue, they faded away, because each breath I took was suddenly harder. My chest was tight. My heart weak.

With a pained groan, I closed my eyes. "Help your people."

With both hands on my face, she made me look at her. Her thumbs caressed my cheeks until I opened my eyes. I didn't see her smiling at me; all I saw was concern, worry, and care in her eyes.

Before I could say a word, she closed the space between us and pressed her lips to mine.

She kissed me.

My eyes widened, taking in the feel of her lips, soft yet hot. Electricity traveled down my body; sparks erupted along my skin. This was more than the sensations I felt when I looked into her eyes. The feeling, the energy, was as if the fiery light that was her soul powered mine.

For a moment, I prayed this kiss wouldn't end, because a part of me wanted it since I first looked in her eyes. But that thought was overpowered by the truth; the fact that her kiss, her body close to mine, removed the pain riddling through my body.

Who needed Sapphire when the touch of the alien species was enough to heal the sick? To bring back the dead.

My lungs expanded as I took in a deep breath.

"Gus?" Vera touched my cheek as she gently pulled back, eyes searching mine.

Energy coursed through me. When I looked into her eyes, she took in my breath, bit her lip, and connected with me once again. Her lips, like magic, helped ease the rest of my ache. The electrical pull intensified, filling me from head to toe. My heart hammered in my chest. My muscles twitched with adrenaline.

When I regained feeling in my fingers, I reached my hand up to her and cupped the back of her head. I held her steady, kept her there. I sighed against her lips.

"Gus." Vera's bright eyes met mine once I opened them.

I smiled against her mouth, feeling the sensation of our lips. "I um," I wasn't sure what to say. I locked onto her gaze. "You, um—"

"I saved you," she whispered, smiling awkwardly.

"Saved me with a kiss?" Biting my lip, I inched back. "How—"

"There's some things you'd never understand," she whispered as she looked at my wound. "And neither will I."

"I can accept the unknown," I whispered.

"Good." Vera touched my cheek once more before she pushed up off me and stood. I thought she'd go back to the communications board. Instead, she looked out of the room.

When I stood, I looked, too. And my eyes followed the path of blood. "Holmes is gone," she whispered.

Nodding, I said, "Stay back, keep talking to your people. I'll find him."

"What?"

I reached for another vial of Sapphire that'd fallen to the floor. "Or come with me," I extended a hand to her when I saw the shock on her face, "and let's fight the bad together."

|||

When one has no plan, one must fall to their back up. And when one wasn't created, one must fall on their last resort. Everyone has a last resort.

As Vera and I rushed through the halls of her falling ship, I reached for my phone, sticky with blood and cracked at the sides. I dialed the one back up for when I had nothing left.

David.

I pressed my phone against my ear as we followed the blood until we couldn't. The halls weren't silent anymore, either. Pylons ran through them; anxious, afraid, looking for an escape.

Vera grabbed the hand of one of the Pylons, a woman, and squeezed her fingers. "Please," she said to her, "my father is back there."

As I glanced at Vera, I side-stepped to allow more Pylons to rush past. Yet, as they did, I realized the trail of blood we followed stopped. A few single drops led us to nothing else.

Did we miss something? It just can't end here.

On the phone, I heard the line click, but no voices. I spun in a circle as I tried to hear noises on the other line. "David?" I hissed.

"Hey!" David sounded relieved on the other line. I could hear every inch of his smile. "Yo, you didn't die, country boy!"

"Not yet." I wasn't sure why I looked up at the ceiling, but I did. "I need a favor."

"Anything, man," David said. "We just about stored away all the Sapphire here. I tried talking to the cops but they're not listening. They've got the national guard out there."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I bit my lip. "Vera told the Pylons to stand down. We're crashing, not attacking. They needed to know the difference so the police wouldn't shoot."

"Right, right." There was rustling on his end of the phone. "What's the plan, Gus? What are we doing?" he asked.

I moved a little more until I saw two halls heading in separate directions. One of them led towards a rumbling sound, like a motor. Perhaps the engine. The other end was more lit, an exit.

Vera grabbed my hand. "Ask David if he can see the ship?"

I nodded, eyes back on the ceiling. "Ay, man, see if you can—"

"I heard her," David said, cutting me off. "I can. I'm about two blocks down. The ship's so close you like can't can't see it, you know?"

"Right, right." I looked at Vera, clearing my throat. To her, I whispered, "What is he looking for?"

"Holmes," she said, firmly. "See if he's outside. If he tries to escape, then he's outside on the ship's wing. If not, he's somewhere in here."

"The engine room?" I looked towards the loud motor-like sounds and nodded.

"Man, probably." David chuckled on the other end. "Tell your girlfriend I don't see him on the roof."

"What?" I froze.

"There are Pylons there, yeah. One ship has these Pylons trying to help a bunch of people off. Is this a lost cause, man? 'Cause it looks like one"

"Not yet." Biting my lip, I looked down the hall towards the engine room. If Holmes was in there, he would try to speed the crashing process. But why?

I pressed the phone harder against my ear. "David, do me a favor and make sure everyone down there knows the Pylons come in peace."

David couldn't help but chuckle. "Man, do you know what year it is? You can't say that anymore. Pylons are one of us, man."

Looking at Vera, I couldn't help but agree. "You're right," I said as I squeezed her hand back, too. "Just pass on the word. I think I know what we have to do here."

"On it," David said. "Be safe, country boy."

"You too, criminal."

"Smooth criminal," David laughed. "Don't forget it, a'ight."

"A'ight, man." With the both of us hanging up the phone, I looked at Vera. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you mean cutting Holmes up and tearing him apart, limb from limb, then yeah, sure."

"Wow." Let me not get on her bad side. "Not really what I had in mind but," I shrugged, "it does work."

"Good." Letting my hand go, Vera led the way. "Come on, then."