Starsnatcher - Trapped In An Alien World [COMPLETE]

Chapter 7.6

We marched through the Firefly's silver hall. I remembered the day we came here to rescue Helix. A day of near-death and betrayal, like so many others. A day of me against the world, as usual.

Layla and Tesla stepped through the door to the cockpit. I waited in the silver hall.

As did Kira. She looked at me from the corners of her eyes, her mouth drawn into a straight line and her teeth on her lip.

"I'm just tired," I said.

"Hey," she said. "Sorry if I said something wrong. I'm really sorry for your loss."

I shook my head. "It's not because of Helix. It's because of that prisoner I brought. You remember that blonde woman we saw next to Ay?"

Her posture stiffened. "How could I not?"

"Right, that woman who attacked you, almost killed you, got you abducted, buried you alive. I know her. She's my prisoner and she's called Iris. She was a former co-worker of mine and was responsible for my abduction, too."

Kira closed her eyes, took a breath, and then opened them again.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said.

"You know I don't need your pity."

"I know. I'm just as tired as you. I also just want to go home."

I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out Kira's singularity stone. I threw it away like one might throw away a foul egg. Kira missed it and it hit the wall instead, bouncing off like a ping pong ball. She picked it up when it rolled before her feet.

"Was it that useless?" she asked, inspecting the stone in her hand.

"Your stone was fine!" I snapped. "Saved my life! It isn't the problem. Iris is! I saw her on that planet I got sent to. She was that ally Ay spoke of."

"Oh." She looked at the ground. "Did she-"

"Yes, she did that. She also almost killed me."

Kira put her glove off and put the singularity stone back to where it belonged. It felt bad to take my anger out at her. She didn't deserve this. I would have died had her stone not healed Tesla. But on the other hand, where was she when I needed her most? When was anyone ever on my side? 

"The worst part is, I used to trust her," I said. "Back on Earth, everyone treated me poorly. Everyone. Except for my family. Everyone at school, everyone at work, you name it. Only Iris didn't. She was somewhat rude, but I thought she just was that way to everyone. She seemed to care for me, showed me a way to improve my situation. Even on that planet, she still seemed like a friend."

"What happened then?"

I faced the ground. "I recognized she was the worst type of person anyone could imagine. A sociopath and proud of it and probably responsible for even more suffering than Ay."

Tears gathered in my eyes. I needed to bring it. Verbalize the reason my life was such a cruel joke from the beginning to the end. 

"Why?" I asked. "Why is that? Why is everyone against me? Tell me, Kira, tell me! You should know the answer best!"

Kira frowned. "You haven't forgiven me for what happened last time, have you? Last time we stood in this hall side-by-side, or so you thought."

I shook my head. "I know. It's long ago and I should just get over this. You betrayed me, and then we went back to our ship. I listened to your sob story and you said a few nice words to me in that station."

"And I regret I couldn't do more."

I suppressed the tears just a little longer. My inner volcano simmered. I was sure I was going to suffer another meltdown sooner or later and that for the first time in forever in front of another human being.