Chapter 4 #2
“My duties are to greet the guests when they arrive and issue them with room keys. I also research the guests, which is important, because we accept reservations from many races. It’s imperative to learn about their customs and habits, the food they require, their courting and sexual rituals.
We don’t want surprises. If we have prior knowledge, we can handle most things our guests chuck at us.
My oldest brother gets me to help where I’m needed but also ensures we have time off.
We go swimming at our private beach. We eat family meals together and celebrate birthdays, and lately, my brothers are settling down with mates.
I design my jewelry and take fossicking trips.
Sometimes, I go to Dalcon with my brothers or their wives, and we’ll head to the wealthy side of town to see a singing show or other entertainment.
When we lived on Earth, I’d go out with my friends.
We’d go to socials or dances, parties. That sort of thing. ”
“Why did you leave Earth?”
An icy-coldness swept down her spine, as it always did when she spoke of their reasons for departing Earth. This icy-coldness had a name.
Guilt.
Scarlett coughed to clear her throat. “A virus—an illness—swept through our country and killed many families and friends. My family was lucky since we didn’t lose anyone, but we all had friends who died. My oldest brother suggested it was safer for us to leave, so we did.”
Ransom nodded, but it was clear his thoughts were miles away. “We have parties and dinners, excursions, but they double as teaching experiences.”
“But what about fun?”
“My father didn’t favor frivolity.”
“That’s sad, but you’re in charge now. You make the rules.”
“Yes. I am tired. I’ll rest and set the alarm to go off shortly before landing,” Ransom said.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll change the ship’s course the moment you fall asleep?
” She was half-tempted, but those rare stones he’d mentioned glittered like a prize.
Something exceptional to start her fledgling business with a boom was precisely what she required.
A point of difference. A tick on her to-do list.
“The controls are coded to me. You can’t override them.” Ransom unfastened his harness and stood. “I’ll be in the chamber if you require me.”
“Not that you sound smug or anything,” Scarlett muttered.
She gritted her teeth on hearing his arrogant laughter.
This dragon-man thought he was so funny, but she was no pussy.
Well, she was, but not in the way he thought.
If he was a shifter, shouldn’t he sense her otherness?
The logical conclusion was that whatever was making him tire easily—the virus or illness he harbored—had a blunting effect on his shifter senses.
While the man’s highhandedness needled her, she hated him suffering.
Her soft heart. Her mother complimented her on the characteristic.
Scarlett found it a pain in her arse. She didn’t want to sympathize with this bossy, alpha leader of a dragon clan.
She’d prefer to hiss and spit and claw. Give him lip.
Purr, her feline side added helpfully.
Scarlett bit back a groan.
Not happening.
Tired of her thoughts, she unfastened her seat harness and tested the controls. Ransom hadn’t lied. Nothing she did—not the single press of a button—yielded management of the ship to her.
Giving up on the fruitless task, she began a systematic search—any clue to help her decipher Ransom’s unspoken plan.
Frustration built when she discovered precisely nothing.
She peeked in on Ransom. The man was asleep, doing his regular tossing and turning.
The way he rested wasn’t healthy. Most shapeshifters of her acquaintance were more self-aware.
She strode to the narrow bunk bed and paused.
Nope. He still didn’t hear her. Curious, she tested his temperature.
Icy cold again.
Scarlett pondered this as she returned to the bridge and plonked her butt on the nearest seat. Instead of the normal inky black of space, sparkly white wisps shot across the viewport.
She jumped as the ship’s alarms rang.
“Ransom! A meteor shower.” She skidded into the chamber where he was resting.
His eyes blinked open, and he stared, gaze bleary and unfocused.
“Ransom! I need you on the bridge.” She grasped his shoulder and shook.
A bang resounded through the ship’s interior. Then another, this one louder.
“The chunks of rock are big. Ransom. Hey. Dragon-man!”
He groaned.
An alarm sounded, the beep, beep, beep raising her hackles.
In desperation, Scarlett grasped his arm and yanked. She flinched at two deafening thumps against the ship’s hull. Bang. Bang, in quick succession.
“If I die in this sardine can, I will haunt you,” she threatened. She tugged his arm, and he fell off the bed.
“What the phrull?” he shouted.
She released him and backed up. “We’ve hit a meteor shower. The bridge. Now!”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Duh! Are you coming or not?”
A loud thud had Ransom scrambling to his feet. She wouldn’t call his balance steady as he lurched from wall-to-wall and fell into the captain’s chair.
“Grata. Grata. Grata!”
“Yeah. Yeah.” Scarlett fastened her harness. “It’s bad. Fix it and get us out of here.”
A substantial, glowing chunk of rock whizzed past their ship, barely missing them.
Any average person finding themselves in a meteor storm would leap into action, survival instinct kicking in.
While Ransom was present, his efforts were sluggish and much slower than they should be, given they might not survive a direct hit.
The automatic pilot was propelling them into the field. Frying fungus! They were gonna die.
“Yield the controls,” Scarlett ordered. “Otherwise we’ll both die. Do it. Now.”
Seconds later, the light on the dual control flashed.
No time to panic. Scarlett seized the controls and pulled hard left to where the chunks of rock were smaller.
Debris continued to pummel the outer metallic layer of the ship, the ping, ping, thump becoming a discordant musical score in her skull.
Incoming! She dodged most of a massive glowing rock that filled the viewport. It clipped the nose of their ship, spinning them deeper into chaos.
“Watch out,” Ransom roared.
“Very helpful,” she spat. “Shut up and let me concentrate.”
Once again, she veered left, the ship’s controls reacting with a sluggishness that concerned her. They’d already taken numerous hits. Had one of them damaged the propulsion unit?
Scarlet clutched the manual toggle and wove the ship between and around the larger chunks of rock. The dust from the storm obscured her vision, and Scarlett strained in her attempt to see. Another rock hit their ship with a clunk, sending them into a spin.
Scarlett gripped the toggle with sweaty palms and prayed. A second hard contact sent Ransom flying from his seat. His head collided with the wall, and he slumped to the floor.
“Idiot!” Scarlett shouted. “Why didn’t you fasten your harness? Ransom?”
Ransom didn’t answer.
Afraid to take her eyes off the viewport, since that was the sole way to see now, she guided the ship toward the less congested area. A spine-jerking shunt from the rear popped them to the right. Tinges of black space were visible beyond the dust and the mass of rocks.
“Woohoo!” Scarlett cried.
She guided their ship in that direction. Another collision had her head snapping back and the vessel bursting free of the meteor field.
In the distance, the pale planet of Narenda glowed a silent welcome.
Scarlett unclenched her hands one at a time from the controls, letting the blood flow again without restriction.
She increased their speed before glancing at Ransom.
He lay still on the silvery floor. Blood trickled down his cheek.
No puddle. Hopefully, his shifter genes would take care of his ouchies.
With the autopilot sending them into danger, she didn’t want to risk her life that way again. Ransom would need to wait until she landed.
With their travel path input already, it was a simple matter of following the positioning system and guiding the vessel.
They left the blackness of space and shot into the atmosphere of Narenda.
As she took the ship lower toward their planned landing zone, she scowled.
This was Narenda. She knew that for sure, but the landscape beneath them was full of verdant plants and… and…
She gasped as a big bird came into sight. It glided alongside the ship, its amber eyes sharp with intelligence.
With a flap of its giant wings, the bird soared past, outdistancing them in a few wing-strokes. Fast suckers.
Behind her, a groan came from Ransom.
“You’re still alive,” Scarlett said. “Can you consult your maps? We’re on Narenda, but I thought this side was more barren after the volcanic eruption. There are trees everywhere.”
Ransom groaned again, but he hauled himself to his feet. He staggered to the captain’s chair and slouched, breathing hard for long seconds before straightening. “I wish people would stay out of my head,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. I believe there is an open clearing in the trees two clicks to the west.”
“Two-twelfths of a cycle?” Scarlett glanced at the chart she’d pulled up on the map screen. “Are you sure?”
“Two clicks,” he confirmed.
Scarlett shrugged and set a course west. Soon, the trees became sparse.
“Over there,” Ransom said.
“I see it.” Scarlett guided the ship down. “Heck, the landing gear is damaged. Fasten your harness,” she snapped. “How many knocks on the noggin will it take you to learn?”
Ransom fastened his harness with shaky hands. Scarlett sucked in a fortifying breath and tried the landing gear again. The struts groaned but slid into position.
“Might not be as bad as I thought,” Scarlett said as they touched land and the struts took the ship’s weight. “Yay! We’re down.”