blowing sand in Sia’s face. She spluttered, tasting gritty salt on her tongue and rubbing her eyes vigorously. The aliens held their stance, giving no indication the wind even bothered them.
“There are two choices,” Q went on. “Either leave us alone, or we fight and one of us dies. Does that seem fair to you?”
“You can’t ask me to leave the girl alone. You know exactly what’s at stake! She has what we need to survive! Are the Ku’ait so petty that they would see their brothers destroyed just to save the humans?”
“The Ku’ait do not delight in the death of any species.”
“Then give me what I need! What do you value more: the precision of Science or the fallacy of Humanity?!” Crev bellowed.
“If you believe that Science trumps Humanity, then you don’t know what’s at stake.”
Q laughed extremely hard (which Sia thought was extremely unwise) and this incensed Crev all the more.
“Then we’ll do this the hard way,” Crev sneered.
Just when Sia was about to fire back that they weren’t going to cut any deals with creepy alien girl-jackers, Q clenched his fists at his sides. “I guess so. Meet me on top of Coachman’s Knot tomorrow night. The last thing we need is for the humans to see our duel.”
Crev nodded slowly, his forehead lined with forced concentration. “Let us meet at midnight.”
Quell took hold of Sia’s arm and led her away. Sia turned around, shuddering at the predatory look on Crev’s face.
When they were finally out of earshot, Sia began ranting at Q for his hasty decision.
“Are you insane?! Am I supposed to magically be ok with you two bartering me off like a prized mule?!”
“No one’s getting bartered off.”
“So what’s the plan? Or do I have to first call Dionne Warwick on the Psychic Friends Network to find out?”
“You’ll wait with the Khans at the bottom of the Knot.”
“And you really think I’m ok with that?”
Q sank down into a rocking chair with a cold can of beer he’d swiped from the fridge. “Are you done?”
“I’m really not! Do you think an alien death match is supposed to be rad or something? Because it’s not. It’s stupid! You shouldn’t be risking your life for me—I’m not worth all of this!”
She had definitely hit a nerve this time and Q let his chair fall to the side as he got up swiftly. He backed her against the wall. In all the time she’d known him, she had never seen him look so angry.
“You think this is just about you? The whole world could suffer if I don’t fix this. Wake up! This is real! Stop second-guessing me and let me make sure this isn’t all for nothing!”
He slammed his fist hard into the wall, seething from head to toe.
Sia forced herself to exhale.
“Are we really going to die?”
His anger ebbed away the second he saw her tears. He clasped her cheeks firmly in his calloused hands.
“I’m going to keep you safe. You can trust me.”
“I’ve always trusted you,” Sia whispered. “You’re the only person who’s earned it. But you can’t do this because…” She bowed her head.
But Q tilted her chin upwards. “Because what?”
“Because…I fucking need you.”
And because tomorrow could be their last day on Earth, their hesitation evaporated. Sia pressed her fingers into the sides of Q’s face and kissed him. His hands dropped to her shoulders and gripped her so hard she wanted to hiss with the pain that coursed through her bones.
This time Q ripped her shirt with such vigor that Sia gasped in poised arousal as the buttons of her favorite plaid shirt spilled and rattled all over the floor like Skittles. She arched her neck as his right hand hovered an inch over the bare skin of her stomach and he drew some of her wanton urgency from deep within her body, pulling it to the surface of her consciousness with crude intensity that made the space between her legs pool with liquid desire. And it was all she could do to cling to
“There are two choices,” Q went on. “Either leave us alone, or we fight and one of us dies. Does that seem fair to you?”
“You can’t ask me to leave the girl alone. You know exactly what’s at stake! She has what we need to survive! Are the Ku’ait so petty that they would see their brothers destroyed just to save the humans?”
“The Ku’ait do not delight in the death of any species.”
“Then give me what I need! What do you value more: the precision of Science or the fallacy of Humanity?!” Crev bellowed.
“If you believe that Science trumps Humanity, then you don’t know what’s at stake.”
Q laughed extremely hard (which Sia thought was extremely unwise) and this incensed Crev all the more.
“Then we’ll do this the hard way,” Crev sneered.
Just when Sia was about to fire back that they weren’t going to cut any deals with creepy alien girl-jackers, Q clenched his fists at his sides. “I guess so. Meet me on top of Coachman’s Knot tomorrow night. The last thing we need is for the humans to see our duel.”
Crev nodded slowly, his forehead lined with forced concentration. “Let us meet at midnight.”
Quell took hold of Sia’s arm and led her away. Sia turned around, shuddering at the predatory look on Crev’s face.
When they were finally out of earshot, Sia began ranting at Q for his hasty decision.
“Are you insane?! Am I supposed to magically be ok with you two bartering me off like a prized mule?!”
“No one’s getting bartered off.”
“So what’s the plan? Or do I have to first call Dionne Warwick on the Psychic Friends Network to find out?”
“You’ll wait with the Khans at the bottom of the Knot.”
“And you really think I’m ok with that?”
Q sank down into a rocking chair with a cold can of beer he’d swiped from the fridge. “Are you done?”
“I’m really not! Do you think an alien death match is supposed to be rad or something? Because it’s not. It’s stupid! You shouldn’t be risking your life for me—I’m not worth all of this!”
She had definitely hit a nerve this time and Q let his chair fall to the side as he got up swiftly. He backed her against the wall. In all the time she’d known him, she had never seen him look so angry.
“You think this is just about you? The whole world could suffer if I don’t fix this. Wake up! This is real! Stop second-guessing me and let me make sure this isn’t all for nothing!”
He slammed his fist hard into the wall, seething from head to toe.
Sia forced herself to exhale.
“Are we really going to die?”
His anger ebbed away the second he saw her tears. He clasped her cheeks firmly in his calloused hands.
“I’m going to keep you safe. You can trust me.”
“I’ve always trusted you,” Sia whispered. “You’re the only person who’s earned it. But you can’t do this because…” She bowed her head.
But Q tilted her chin upwards. “Because what?”
“Because…I fucking need you.”
And because tomorrow could be their last day on Earth, their hesitation evaporated. Sia pressed her fingers into the sides of Q’s face and kissed him. His hands dropped to her shoulders and gripped her so hard she wanted to hiss with the pain that coursed through her bones.
This time Q ripped her shirt with such vigor that Sia gasped in poised arousal as the buttons of her favorite plaid shirt spilled and rattled all over the floor like Skittles. She arched her neck as his right hand hovered an inch over the bare skin of her stomach and he drew some of her wanton urgency from deep within her body, pulling it to the surface of her consciousness with crude intensity that made the space between her legs pool with liquid desire. And it was all she could do to cling to
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