I reach up and touch Ravok’s cheek. It is wet with his tears. His incandescent eyes are wide, staring at my now completely healed stomach. He runs his hand over my now unblemished stomach reverently before making a broken sound and burying his face against my neck. As he murmurs my name over and over again, I run a soothing hand over his head.
Ravok sits back on the ground, pulling me into his lap. Wrapping his arms tightly around me, he cocoons me with his body. His breaths heave in his chest as he rocks me. After a moment, he looks up and stares at Koko with a startling intensity. “Thank you,” he murmurs. “You have my undying gratitude and loyalty. Thank you for saving her.”
“You are welcome.” Koko turns her attention to me and gives me a bright smile. “You’re going to survive, Lily. How are you feeling?” Her voice is soothing yet authoritative, sending chills down my spine – a reasonable reaction considering that I have touched her vast power, and it overwhelmed me.
“I feel good. A little weird, but good.”
“That feeling will pass. Especially once you get used to the nanites.”
Then, she turns her attention to Ravok. “You have a choice. And you must make it right now.”
Ravok goes so still that it feels like I am being held by a statue, not a man made of flesh and blood.
“Ravok Revvee-a’vik, rank 38th in Vanguard Scout in the Outrider Division of the Cryzorian Horde, this is your choice. You can leave right now. You can get on your ship and safely leave this planet. You will not be able to come back. Or… you can stay.” Koko holds her hand up to stop Ravok, who has already opened his mouth to answer. “Let me finish. You can stay and I will help keep your true identity a secret. However, if you choose to stay, you must pledge yourself as a citizen of Lublin Harbor. You will belong to me in that sense. My power as a goddess is maintained by having faithful followers. Without followers, without belief, I will fade from this world. It is faith, and the power of destined love, that powers my existence. It is why I created my town. It is why I helped draw both you and Lily here, because your two souls are made for each other. Your love is fated and bringing you two together within the border of my town has increased my power.”
She looks at Ravok intently, her gaze penetrating. “If you remain here, you’ll be under my protection. I can hide your true nature from the rest of the world – to everyone outside of citizens of Lublin Harbor you will appear completely human. You’ll even be able to travel freely, but you will have to come back to Lublin Harbor. Your roots must be planted in the soil here. You will be mine and you will owe me your allegiance. You must reject your previous allegiance to your people, the Cryzorians.”
I look at Ravok as Koko’s ultimatum sinks in. I’m left lying here in his arms, with the soft hum of nanites under my skin as I wait for his decision. I want him to stay so bad I can taste it, but this must be his decision.
“I am sorry, but I am running out of time – you must decide now.”
“Will Leelee be able to stay with me?” Ravok asks, turning his intense stare from Koko to me.
“That’s up to her.”
My breath catches at the look on Ravok’s face. Yearning. Pure, unadulterated yearning.
I can’t let him believe, even for a nanosecond, that I wouldn’t jump at the chance to be with him. “Ravok… Yes. Of course, yes. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Hope and love and radiant joy bloom across Ravok’s face. “You are sure, Leelee?” he asks, leaning down until we are almost nose to nose.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life,” I reply, closing the gap to press a kiss to his lips. His lips cling to mine briefly before Ravok straightens up and gives Koko his full attention. He looks at her as a warrior might just before a battle.
“I will stay,” he states, his uncompromising gaze meeting hers. “There is no price I won’t pay.”
I look over to Koko, wondering what her reaction will be, but she simply nods in approval. “Good. This town needs you,” she says to him.
Without releasing his grip on me, Ravok bows to Koko. There’s a respect to his posture and a vow in his movements that I would have missed if I hadn’t been paying attention.
“Lilith Blackwell,” Koko turns her gaze onto me, her eyes warm and welcoming. “Do you also want—”
“Yes!” I blurt out, aware that I’ve just interrupted a goddess. “Yes, I choose Ravok. I…” I hesitate, feeling my cheeks redden. But this is no time for shyness. This is our life we’re determining. “I love him. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. And I’m happy to do that here in your town.”
At that, Koko’s lips turn up into a smile. She looks from me to Ravok and back to me again, her smile widening. Then, she stands up and dusts off her hands. “Rise, you two. We have much to do and very little time to do it.”
Koko starts to glow once again as Ravok helps me to my feet. Golden light fills the air, seeping into us like a promise of our shared future engrained into the very fibers of our being.
I follow Ravok’s gaze and spot the three government agents, frozen in place like eerie statues. One of them, that man from the other night, has a gun in his extended hands. The curl of frozen smoke rising from the weapon’s barrel tells me that he was the one who shot me.
Ravok follows my gaze, and his growl rises sharply in the tense silence. He steps forward, claws unsheathed, radiating an aura of danger. I reach out for him, my fingers brushing against his arm. Koko draws his attention away with a curt command. “Leave him alone, Ravok,” she warns, “We have work to do.”
Nodding reluctantly, he gives the man one last narrow-eyed look of hate before turning away. We trail behind Koko as she strides over to Ravok’s ship. The ship’s metallic sheen gleams under the moonlight, a dazzling sight that makes my heart thump in fear and excitement. Koko floats up and steps into the open hatch, disappearing inside. Ravok assists me up. Once I climb the steps, he lightly leaps up after me.
We find Koko waiting for us in the cockpit. Her fingers dance across the alien characters scrolling across the surface of his console with practiced ease. A map of the night sky outside the ship appears on the screen. With a few taps, Koko zooms into the display until a strange, unfamiliar galaxy appears. I spot several planets surrounded by nebulous clouds of stardust and gas. Within the galaxy’s center is a bright orange sun. Koko points toward the center of the large sun and then turns to Ravok.
“I want you to program your ship to crash into that star. You’ll simulate the ship getting yanked off course and heading into that sun. Make it look real. Your people will believe you perished in that star and will not look for you.”
I don’t know if Ravok senses my momentary feeling of guilt at him giving up his people, but he turns away from Koko and gives me a serious look. “They won’t miss me, and I won’t miss them. They are no longer my people. Only you are.”
I blink away the tears filling my eyes.
“The Cryzor Horde will never find this planet, not if I have anything to say about it. It’s a good thing you are defecting. I believe they are about to pit themselves against another species who will be more than their match. The Cryzorians are about to get a reality check that they aren’t the most dangerous species in the universe.” Ravok blinks at Koko, looking shocked at the thought that his people might soon face defeat.
“Can you set your ship on a course to this star?” Koko asks, pulling Ravok out of his shock.
“O-of course,” Ravok responds, stepping up next to Koko and getting to work.
His fingers skate over the glowing panel of his console, and the ship shudders lightly. The engines are revving louder, vibrating beneath us. My heart thuds, matching the tempo of the ship’s rumbling beats.
“Perfect. I want you to hold on launching your ship. I will mask our presence and make the agents believe you are on the ship when it departs. I need them to witness you escaping so they will leave my town.”
Koko leads us off the ship.
She has us stand inside the now empty garage as she strides towards the three frozen agents, her emerald-green eyes glinting.
Koko holds her hands up in front of the agents. She starts to glow again, a sure sign of her power. “Agent Tucker, you attempted to shoot the alien, who was alone, but you only managed to graze him. All three of you will watch as the alien escapes onto his ship. You will see the ship blast off and leave our galaxy. You will interview the human woman, Lilith Blackwell, who was the alien’s hostage. The woman will be very thankful that you saved her, and she will promise never to speak of what she has witnessed. You will be convinced of her vow and remind her that no one would believe her if she told people about the alien. You will warn her that she will end up committed to a mental hospital if she tries. Once the alien finishes his escape, you will leave this town and never come back. Do you three understand?” Even I feel the goddess’s magnetic compulsion in the air. Each word whispers into the air, the manipulative tendrils coiling around the frozen agents, planting seeds of memories that never happened but will take root and grow.
All three agents say yes in strange, monotonous robotic voices. Seemingly satisfied, Koko leaves the three agents still frozen and heads over to us in the garage’s opening.
