Page 58 of Captured By The Alien Barbarian
My attention snaps to Maya. “What? What do you mean he’s not your husband? Since when?”
“I filed for divorce months ago. Days after we got married, in fact. I wanted to tell you, but thought you had enough on your plate. I didn’t want you worrying about me on top of everything else.”
She looks defeated, shoulders slumped.
I close my eyes, tears prickling. Now that I actually stop to think about it, all the little details click together and make sense. Ever since we landed on the planet, I haven’t seen her smile. Not truly. All this time she has been in front of my eyes, and I never saw her. And here I’ve been, totally self-absorbed. And all this time, I thought she was just stressed, like the rest of us, but I never really paid attention to my best friend’s pain.
I’d been living a delusion. I spent every moment of my life just trying to survive. One foot in front of the other. A day at a time. My only excuse was that I was too busy, too focused on surviving myself to ever notice that the people I love also suffered. And that’s not a good enough excuse. Not anymore.
“Oh, Maya. I’m so sorry. I’ve been such a terrible friend to you, and—“
Before I can say another word, she grips my bruised shoulders (ow!) and shakes me slightly.
“No apologies needed, Ariana. You’re wonderful, just as you are. But we’ve got to get you cleaned up pronto. I might be okay saying no to James, but not to Mr Sullivan. He honestly freaks me out. He has those dead fish eyes…” Maya waves a hand dismissively. “Mr. Sullivan mentioned having some dresses for you?”
Her eyes flit to the front door and she anxiously tugs at my arm, trying to get back on track. “We can talk as you dress. Besides, there’s something else I really need to tell you.” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “I’m so sorry. I only just found out. It’s about your debt to the colony.”
My heart sinks. That stupid debt has been the bane of my existence since my husband’s death. It honestly blows my mind how the colony council just dumped his debt on me like that. How is that even fair? What did I do to deserve this?
She avoids my gaze. I grab her shoulder, giving her a not-so-gentle shake (giving her a taste of her own medicine—cause what else are friends for?). “Spill! What about my debt, Maya?”
“Um, well, you don’t actually owe any money at all. So that’s kinda good news, right?”
“Excuse me?” I stare at her, dumbfounded. Of course, I have a debt! I’ve been busting my butt in those mines for months trying to pay it off!
Maya just stares at me, smiling apologetically, patiently waiting for me to process everything.
“What do you mean?” I ask her. All that time in the mines, just to pay off invisible debts? That can’t be right… can it?
The room spins around me as a wave of dizziness washes over me. I’m forced to sit down, giggling at the absurdity of it all.
“The hunters got drunk one night at my house. Mr Sullivan admitted that debts don’t actually transfer to the closest kin. No one here in the colony questioned it because he’s the financial manager for the entire colony. Ariana, you never owed anyone money.”
“So, I did some snooping, right? First, I hacked into the computers—thank God for those late-night coding classes in college—and he was right, Ariana. Your husband had life insurance. He left you money, Ariana. A lot of it. You probably don’t even need to work on your farm if you don’t want to.”
I don’t know what to say. I never owed money. All this time, I could have been on my farm doing what I love. An insidious little voice in the back of my mind also points out that if it wasn’t for that debt, I would never have been exploring the wilds, and thus I’d never have met Taccit.
The world around me feels fake. There’s a static noise to the air, and my heart beat feels overly loud and pronounced. I’m in shock. I know I am. I’ve felt it a couple times before—like when you’re meeting an alien for the first time. Only this time, I’m not being completely blindsided by panic as well.
“So let me get this straight,” I raise an eyebrow, “So you’re saying I could have been living the space-drifter dream this whole time?”
Maya nods, sympathy filling her eyes. “So, what are we going to do about it, Ariana?”
At least I know where my friend stands on this—with me.
Everything that’s happened to me, it’s all because of Walter. The more I hear about Walter, the more time I spend around him, the more I become convinced of one thing: Walter Sullivan is evil.
And evil must be destroyed.
It’s what Taccit would do. He lets nothing stand in his way, and he doesn’t tolerate others’ nonsense. If Taccit has taught me anything in the last few days, it is that I am stronger than I think. And having a friend by your side certainly helps out.
Plans start forming in my mind. Who in the colony will help me stand up against him? Does the starship know of what he’s doing? What do I do if he fights back? Will he get violent again? Do I act as soon as possible or do I wait, and if so for how long?
I’m vicious in a way I never knew I could possibly be. I don’t know if I am after revenge or justice anymore. I just have to make sure that whatever happens, Maya doesn’t get hurt in the process. I can’t let my revenge backfire on my friends.
“I can do this. Will you get my clothes while I bathe?”
Maya looks at me with disbelief, blinking slowly for several moments. Her calm facade breaks, her face screwing up with all her hidden emotions.
