Leaving Triad by KD Jones Page B

two hours. Zor wanted
to get out of this damn asteroid belt anyways, luckily they were
already almost out of it. He spent the next half hour or so dodging
as many as he could but taking a lot of damage to his ship, a lot
more than he ever did. What the hell was going on with
him?
    *****
    Captain Lee watched the spaceship as it was
brutally beaten by the asteroids. He could take it down, but it
still wouldn’t be good enough since the alien scum spaceship wasn’t
in fighting condition. He hated taking advantage of a damaged ship
just as bad as he hated the alien scum themselves.
    “What are you doing, Captain?” Jeremy asked,
coming up beside him. “We can take them down now, it would be so
easy.”
    “Alien or not, I will never attack a damaged
ship,” Lee returned. “It’s against the piracy code, and it’s
against my morals. I’d rather take down the alien scum when they
are at their best, just to prove humans are better,” he added as he
spit some chewing tobacco out of his mouth.
    “That’s not the smartest idea,” Jeremy
argued. “Wouldn’t it be better to take them down when they can’t
fight?”
    “Boy, arguing with the captain will land you
in the brig,” Captain Lee stated calmly. “Learn to hold your tongue
on my ship. We will wait and take them down once their ship is
fixed.”
    *****
    Emily worked like hell trying to serve drinks
as they flew through the asteroid belt. She had several drinks
spill on her clothes but didn’t have the time to change, luckily
she didn’t spill much on her white shorts. Then suddenly Zor’s
voice came over the intercom.
    “We are going to be landing in fifteen
minutes for emergency repairs to the ship. Please enjoy yourselves
while we are there.”
    Henry glanced at Emily. “Zor never needs
repairs for the ship, but then again he’s never really been hit by
asteroids. What’s going on with him?”
    “I don’t know,” Emily answered. “I bet he’ll
be in here as soon as we land though and he gets the repairs
going,” she added as she took an order of drinks over to one of the
tables.
    *****
    Zor walked in just as one of the customers
was shoving a tip down Emily’s shirt. Zor wanted to rip the male’s
hands off. When Emily caught his angry snarl, he quickly looked
away. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him, but watching other
males touch his woman was getting to be too much for him. He didn’t
want to act this way. His father was a crazy, possessive asshole
and he never wanted to be like his father.
    He knew Emily enjoyed working with her
friends and being independent, but it wasn’t necessary for her to
work. He had mentioned several times she could quit and that he
wanted to take care of her, but she would refuse each time. She
didn’t want to be a burden to him as Jeremy had been to her. Zor
didn’t like it but he respected her decision.
    “Henry, I’m taking my break now,” she stated
as she set the tray down at the bar. She walked up to Zor and
kissed his cheek quickly. She had seen him snarl and that wasn't a
good sign.
    “Wasn’t your break an hour ago?” Zor
questioned.
    “It was busy, so I volunteered to take a late
one,” she answered, smiling lovingly as she sat on the barstool
next to him. “I figured I can sit with you for ten minutes or so
before you go to bed.”
    “I’m not sure if I’m going to get to sleep
tonight, love,” he answered.
    Silence filled the room then. Neither of them
had used that word 'love' with the other yet. They both knew their
feelings were there, it just hadn't been voiced by either of them.
Emily smiled and stood from the barstool, choosing to ignore the
word and said, “I’ll grab you some coffee then.”
    “I’ll buy you one too if you want.”
    She brought out two cups of coffee and sat
next to him sipping from the warm liquid. It was awkward to
everyone around that knew the couple. Finally a large crowd started
swarming in, trying to check out the best feature of