This pnets sun was much like the one on Earth. It was bright and yellow, cascading over my skin like an invisible bnket, cradling me in warmth as I walked on the back end of my group. My light skin would drink in this light with glee. I could tell the others weren’t so keen on the sun as I was.

  As dirt puffed into the air with each trodding step onward, the grav lift didn’t help either, kicking up dirt in a whirlwind under its pulsers. The Anthros huffed and puffed, panted, and mumbled under their breaths, pulling up their colrs, waving their faces. Teksan and Frag seemed to take the heat alright, but after being in the cold vacuum of space for so long, any natural heat was enough to sweat you out.

  We had been walking for almost an hour now. Far enough away from the ship to start acting on my pn. I needed to slip away unseen. Luckily, we were still winding through the byrinth of gorges, unluckily, just one wrong turn and I’d be lost, stuck on this random pnet to starve to death.

  I started to slow my pace, slowly letting room build up between me and the group.

  “We’re almost there.” Captian Luca huffed.

  “About damn time.” Brutus gasped.

  The turned around a corner, taking a left at a fork. I slowed to a stop, letting the grumbling of the group move onward, leaving me in the dust. I looked around the arid nd. The walls of the gorge obstructed most of my view, but it looked like the ndscape was fttening out up ahead. Behind me looked like rain clouds forming in the distance. The drop off was up was ahead, so I needed to head back to find Gabriel. I just hoped he was okay.

  I turned around and began to jog through the narrow gorge walls. The pce looked familiar but everything looked the same here. I was trying to remember the twists and turns, but now I was lost. I was sweating now. This was bad.

  I heard a twig snap ahead of me, some sort of motion around me. Was it a native beast? The Arc Star crew? I tried to control my breathing as my mind raced about. It couldn’t end like this. I was finally starting to figure out who I was, who I wanted to be.

  I held my pistol tight, raising it as I peeked around the corner. There was nothing there. I stepped around the corner, nothing was there but the wind.

  I took a deep breath and sighed. I didn’t see it coming. A rifle butt smmed into my head, knocking me to the floor. My pistol slipped from my hands as I tried to recover. My hands scraped out at the floor to try and scramble away from my attacker. I just wanted to get out of here.

  Something grabbed my hair and yanked me up. I yelped out as blood was trickling down my head. I gnced around to see who was here. My heart sank as I saw the bck and white robes and combat armor.

  “What’s a kid doing here?”

  “Is she with the Anthros?”

  “Grab her weapon, take her back to the drop off site. We can use this as leverage. Could be a spy, or an assassin.”

  I was tossed to the floor in the middle of the group. There were four Gellys around me. Their rifles all pointed at me.

  “We can take her for assimition, if the Priest allows it.”

  They thought I was a girl. It made me happy. I scoffed. What a thought to have at a time like this.

  “Grab her, Brother, let’s get moving.”

  The ripped me up and stuck a rifle in my back, “Move or you will die.”

  I started walking forward wherever they pushed me. Reverting to my timid self for self-preservation. This was bad. I could only hope now for Gabriel to get out of here alive. He had to get out. There had to be some sort of happy ending to this madness.

  Ahead of me was an opening to small pteau. I could see the Arc Star crew there, standing a good distance away from the Gellys. There was probably a dozen of the Collective, plus the 4 behind me. The Arc Star crew looked over at the incoming Gellys, right at me. There were scowls and curses.

  The Gellys aimed their guns at the crew, and the Pirates returned the gesture. The standoff was on now.

  “Who do you have lurking out in the wilds there? An assassin, perhaps? Trying to get the jump on us?” The lead Gelly was speaking now. He had rge impnts on his head, dressed in a robe with regalia peppering the chest.

  That was the Priest. I’ve seen one before on Earth. He was at my local chapter of the Collective. They scared me then, and they scared me now. This was bad news.

  “Little prick. Trying to get us killed.” Brutus grunted at me.

  The Gellys kicked the back of my knees and forced me down on the ground. I was kneeling now with one of their hands griping my shaggy hair tight. I gnced around. The one holding me had my pistol in his belt.

  If it came to it. I would take a few of them with me. It was the least I could do to make the gaxy a better pce. There’s no way in hell I’d let them ascend me now.

  “Please, we just want our payout. You can keep the boy as extra delivery. Two for the price of one.” Maelstro spoke out now. I could see that nervous look in his eyes. Of course, they would sell me out the first chance they got. Pricks.

  Fuck them all.

  “Him?” One of the Gellys behind me grabbed my face and twisted it about, looking deep into my face.

  “Let’s just get this over with.” Captain Luca snapped his fingers at Teksan, who drove the crate to the middle ground of the meeting. His eyes shifted about the dozen guns aimed at him. He chuckled nervously.

  “Transfer the money, then we can be on our way.” Luca stood with his chest puffed out. I was surprised he was acting so brave. He must be terrified.

  The Priest looked at Luca with disgust. “Greedy pig, we wish to look on the goods first. Is our package secure? We ordered him to be alive.”

  “He’s alive, and well enough. First, send the cash. Then you can look all you want.” Luca shifted about nervously now. His pn might backfire. This was going to be a mess.

  “Did you y a hand on the man? Your grubby heretic hands hitting than man will spell death for you, pig.” The Priest took a step forward, his Deacons did the same. “Open the crate, so that I can see he is safe. He may be a traitor, but he is still a hero worthy of a Gellical Colective’s honor.”

  Brutus started to man handle his shotgun, he was about to start something, as always. I smiled. His gun was empty. This would be a great distraction for me, and if all else fails, at least the ape gets blown away by the Gellys.

  “Give us the money, or you don’t get your prize at all.” Luca stepped forward, matching the Priest. “This can be messy, or we can all go our own ways with what we want. No bloodshed needed.”

  The Priest closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He hummed while his eyes vibrated behind shut lids. “Hmm, it seems the package isn’t here. Did you think to double cross us.” His eyes shot open. “The crate us empty. We are deceived.”

  A loud boom thundered above us. The rain clouds were moving in now, almost right on top of us.

  “You’ll get the package after the payment; we hid it away from you in case you deceived us. It’s just a misunderstanding” Luca tried to expin away.

  “Filthy anthro pig, your deception will cost you! Where’s the man? Tell us now!”

  The Gellys were stepping even closer now, shifting their rifles back and forth between the pirates. The pirates kept their aim on the Priest.

  Brutus finally broke. I watched as his comrades’ faces shifted to fear. “Fuck this shit. I ain’t dying for you fucks.” He pulled his gun up and fired right at the priest. His face quickly dropped from anger to ‘Oh shit’ as all he heard was a dry click. He pumped his shotgun and fired again with nothing but a clip. He looked over at Maelstro, then at me as he realized what had happened.

  I smiled at him and blew a kiss his way.

  Bullets hailed over the Anthros. All hell broke loose. This was Karma repaid.

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