Chapter 26
Gunner
“Everyone alive?” Seven’s voice cut through the dark.
“I have a bloody lip.” Gunner tasted iron.
“Horatio?” Silence. “Horatio!” Seven’s tone sharpened. “Fuck.”
Heart pounding, Gunner saw the dim light of Seven’s phone near his hand. The flashlight beam landed on Horatio, sprawled on his back, blood trickling from a gash on his forehead.
Seven slapped his cheeks, but he didn’t rouse.
“The emergency power supply should’ve kicked in. You stay with the big guy. I’ll go check the engines and text Sugar on the way.”
“How? The elevators are down.”
“There’s a pitch-black tube that houses a ladder I can use. Good times.” Seven handed Gunner a flashlight. “Keep him warm so he doesn’t go into shock.”
“With what?”
“Use your imagination.” With a wink, Seven disappeared into the dark.
Gunner’s imagination made a beeline to one idea, but as he was about to tug down Horatio’s zipper, he stopped and covered him with his body instead.
“You need to wake up, okay?” Gunner patted Horatio’s face.
No response.
He patted harder. “Wake up, boyfriend. Orgy on the deck in five.”
“Mmph?” Horatio stirred. “What happened?”
“You were unconscious.”
Horatio touched his forehead. “Ouch.”
“What day is it?”
“No idea.” He squeezed Gunner’s ass. “My head’ll clear faster if we make out.”
It wasn’t the time or the place—but Gunner kissed him anyway. Moments later, they were grinding and making out like horny teenagers, not adults who’d just been ejected from their seats by an unseen force.
The door slammed open. Sugar stumbled in, hair mussed, pink silk robe hanging off one shoulder. “What the hell? Seven said he was unconscious.”
Gunner rolled off Horatio, red-faced. “Seven told me to keep him warm.”
Laughing, Sugar checked Horatio’s pupils and bandaged his wound. “You’re going to be fine. What happened?”
“Some kind of cosmic weirdness,” Gunner said.
Snake burst in next, robe open, tattoos, hickeys, and dick on full display. “What in seven bloody hells did you lot do to my ship?” He pointed to Horatio. “Seven said you were out cold.”
Horatio held the side of his head and winced. “Meridian’s firewall tried to eat us.”
A deep vibration hummed through Gunner’s boots. “Is the engine mad?”
“I don’t like this at all.” Snake braced in the doorway.
The rumbling increased in strength, rattling chairs and Gunner’s teeth.
“It’s an earthquake.” Horatio struggled to stand. “Let’s get out of here.”
Everything went still. Snake chuckled. “Earthquake. You’re daft, Hor.”
“No, I’m not. Prepare for after—”
The rumbling returned, stronger than before. Empty beer bottles tipped over and thudded against the rubber tiles.
“Seven’s in trouble.” Snake strapped on a headlamp. “I’m going to help. The rest of you, on deck. Now.”
The lights flickered, then flared.
“Power’s back.” Gunner opened the window shields, revealing the chaos of nature in full. “Holy fuckballs!”
Centuries-old pines toppled like bowling pins as a crawling fissure split the earth. Birds rushed to the skies in droves to escape the terror on the ground.
“We need to do the same!” Seven shouted as he burst through the door. He slammed the intercom button. “Strap in, we’re flying out of here. Count off.”
The crew answered back in turn, ending with Stiles, who was obviously getting fucked. “Uhn, Stiles here, with Suki—oh-fuck-yeah—all the way in.”
“Get Suki’s dick out of your ass and park it in your jump seat,” Sugar shouted.
“He’s strapped to my lap, so calm your tits!” Suki cackled while Stiles moaned.
Snake growled. “Nobody takes danger seriously anymore.”
Gunner strapped in beside Horatio, knuckles white against the armrests, wishing he was sitting on top of a hard cock, too.
“There’s a fissure heading toward us!” Horatio shouted. “It’ll split the ship in half!”
“Not if I can help it.” Snake punched buttons. The Frances spun, gathering speed. “The power’s too low. We’re not getting any lift. Hit the turbo, Seven.”
“Can’t. We’ll hit an even wider crack straight on.” The ship rocked violently. A metallic sound ripped through the air. Seven opened a small hatch, revealing a fluorescent yellow button.
“Don’t you dare,” Snake warned.
Gunner’s stomach turned inside out.
“It’s our only chance!” Seven slammed his fist down.
Frances exploded forward, inertia crushing them to their seats. A portal winked open, and she tore through like a torpedo high on gasoline.
“Where are we going?” Sugar screamed.
“Graphica,” Snake roared back. “Almost there, hang on!”
The instruments went dark as the ship lurched to a stop.
They sat still for a few moments, breathless gasps the only sound. Snake unbuckled first and leaned forward, peering through the dust-streaked windshield.
“Well. fuck me sideways with a barge pole. This isn’t Graphica.” He lifted his monocular. “We’re in Yasmin!”
“What?” Sugar untangled himself and stood next to Snake. “Damn. This is the worst place to be stranded.”
Gunner looked, too. The world outside was flat and desolate. Smoke curled in the distance, the only movement he could see.
“Seven, Horatio, and Gunner, use the manual override to open the sails so we can recharge. Me and Sugar will check the exterior. Meet us on the ground.”
Unnerved, Gunner followed Seven and Horatio up the hatch and onto the deck. The dry air carried the scent of rotten eggs, and the dirty lavender sky held three moons, each in a different lunar phase.
Seven glowered. “One hour until morning, and then we’ll be in plain sight of these cannibalistic assholes. We should hide inside all day and start repairs after the natives bed down for the night.”
“Wait. Did you say ‘cannibals’? These fuckers eat people?” Horatio asked.
“I wish I was joking,” Seven said. “We’ve had a run-in with them before.”
“Cannibals. Of course.” Gunner rubbed his arms to chase away the shivers.
Once the sails were in charging mode, they climbed down a harrowing three-story ladder that took them to ground level and found Sugar and Snake standing in front of a two-foot-wide vertical crack in the stern.
“My baby!” Snake wailed. “I can’t believe Grendenburg is on the list of safe places—look what that bloody dimension did to her! She’s broken!”
“This is an easy repair. Structural damage, a few blown fuses, some loose wires. We’re looking at eight hours, tops.” Seven reminded Snake about the cannibals.
“Come on, lover,” Sugar said. “Let me get you inside. And I mean that in both ways.”
“I can’t have fun while Frances is out here bleeding alone.” Snake pressed his hands against the wound. “I’ll keep you safe, darling.”
Gunner touched his new pendant.
Hang in there, Frances. You’re not the only one trying to hold it together.