Page 25 of Pact with the Alien Devil

So why did he keep protecting me? Why did I keep noticing the way his tall frame moved with dangerous grace through my ship? Why did my skin burn everywhere he touched me?

I pushed back from the console. This was ridiculous. I was acting like some love-struck teenager, not a hardened smuggler with a price on her head in three systems.

The door to the cockpit slid open, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“We’re approaching Velaxis Prime,” Korvan said, ducking his head slightly to clear the doorframe. Even after days together on my ship, his size still startled me. “You should prepare for atmospheric entry.”

I swiveled my chair, hoping my face didn’t betray my thoughts. “Already on it.”

I wasn’t, but he didn’t need to know that.

He studied me for a moment, those red eyes unreadable. “You should eat something.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’ve had nothing but trish for twelve hours.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re tracking my meals now?”

“I track everything,” he said simply, and folded himself into the co-pilot’s chair beside me. It looked absurdly small with him in it.

I turned back to the controls, disengaging the hyperdrive sequence. The streaking stars slowed, solidified into distant pinpricks of light against the black. Velaxis Prime hung before us, a gray-brown orb mottled with angry red scars – the remnants of decades of civil war.

“Charming place,” I said. “Let me guess – the tourist season’s over?”

Korvan didn’t smile. “There’s never been a tourist season on Velaxis Prime. The war never truly ended. The fighting just... paused occasionally.”

I guided theStarfallinto the planet’s orbit, running standard scans. Multiple small craft showed on the sensors, but nothing that looked military grade. At least, nothing broadcasting standard IFF codes.

“So, where’s this informant of yours?” I asked.

“Sector 12. Near what used to be the capital city. He’s hiding in an underground bunker complex. Former military installation.”

“And he has information about your traitor?”

Korvan nodded. “Krenis was a mid-level information broker for the Fangs. He disappeared right after the ambush at the mining outpost.”

“Convenient timing,” I remarked, angling theStarfalltoward the coordinates he’d provided.

“Very. We tracked him to Velaxis Prime. He knows something, or he's involved somehow.”

“And you think he’ll just... what? Confess everything?”

Korvan’s mouth tightened. “He has information we need. But trust will be in short supply.”

“Sounds like a great guy,” I said, programming the landing sequence. “Can’t wait to meet him.”

We descended through Velaxis Prime’s turbulent atmosphere, the ship shuddering as I navigated thermal pockets and unexpected wind shears. Below us, the landscape transformed from abstract patterns to a stark reality of destruction. Bombed-out buildings jutted from the ground like broken teeth. Entire city blocks had been reduced to rubble. In the distance, dark smoke rose from multiple locations.

“This is recent damage,” I said, surprised. “I thought the war was in a ceasefire.”

“Official hostilities may have ceased. The militias never stopped fighting.”

I landed theStarfallon a relatively flat section of cleared ground about half a kilometer from the coordinates Korvan had given me. Close enough to reach quickly, far enough to make a fast escape if needed.

“Keep the engines hot,” Korvan said as we exited the ship. “We may need to leave quickly.”

The air hit me like a slap – acrid, thick with smoke and the metallic tang of weapons discharge. Dust coated my tongue. In the distance, I heard sporadic gunfire and what might have been explosions.

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