Chapter 42
Chapter
Forty-Two
Skye
Nothing had changed since the few minutes earlier when Kolt had kissed me deeply in the storage closet, but everything felt different. He felt different.
It was what the Zagrath said that had changed things. I felt like shooting him in the back, even though he was complying with Kolt’s orders. Would the world really be worse off with one fewer Imperial officer?
“Definitely not,” I said under my breath, catching a confused look from the pilot as I tested the tightness of the zip ties holding his wrists together.
I gave his arms an unnecessarily rough yank and glowered at him, hoping I looked fierce enough that he would think twice about testing me. At the moment, I was angry enough to be very dangerous.
“They’re secure,” I said, not bothering to look at Kolt. I knew he wouldn’t return my gaze, and now I was too irritated to care.
He didn’t really believe the word of a Zagrath, did he? I’d said that I hadn’t intended to do what the Zagrath had tasked me to do. That should be enough, shouldn’t it? Or were we really back to him not trusting me?
If it wasn’t the most unsurprising thing in the world for guys to believe each other over women, I didn’t know what was. I was instantly reminded why I’d never rushed into a relationship with a man.
“You can’t trust the fuckers,” I whispered to myself.
Well, that did it. That finally gained me a glance from the Vandar.
“What?” he asked, one brow cocked.
I almost shrank under his severe look, but I straightened and leveled what I hoped was an equally intense glare at him. “You can’t trust them. They’re Zagrath.”
He held my gaze for a beat, his eyes holding questions and confusion. Then he nodded. “Right.”
I pulled out my blaster from where I’d tucked it into my waistband. “What now?”
“I’m going to take them to the back and introduce them to the supply closet. No point in sharing our plans with the enemy.” Kolt cut a look at the ship’s console. “You stay here and see how much you can do.”
I read between the lines and sank into the pilot’s chair as he prodded our new prisoners from the cockpit. For as many Imperial ships as I’d sabotaged, I still knew little about how to actually fly one.
The console that operated the ship was gunmetal gray and shone like polished steel. I ran a finger across the smooth surface, and it flashed an array of colorful lights. Numbers and symbols illuminated as the surface hummed beneath my hands.
Some symbols were easily recognizable, but others weren’t. I quickly located what I thought was the fuel gauge, and true to what we’d heard, the reading looked low. There was enough fuel to get us somewhere, but obviously not where the Zagrath had been going.
Then a question occurred to me. Where had they been going?
I scoured the console for navigation and finally found it.
Just as I’d guessed, they’d set a course before they’d realized they were low on fuel and changed it.
I squinted at the coordinates, which meant next to nothing to me.
Were they heading to a Zagrath outpost or maybe a rendezvous point with other ships?
I shook my head, trying to refocus on our mission.
We needed to get a message to the Vandar, but we also needed to be far enough away from the planet so that the enemy would not easily pick up the communication.
Kolt wanted to send it encrypted, but did he even remember Vandar encryption?
We couldn’t risk the message not reaching the horde or being impossible to decipher.
I bit my bottom lip as I studied the console. The ship was currently in a holding position just outside the planet’s orbit. All I needed to do was turn it around and fly in the opposite direction. Frostbitten fucks, why didn’t these ships have some kind of steering device?
Kolt still hadn’t returned from securing the captives, but I could hear the severe rumble of his voice in the back of the ship. He’d told me to get on with it, though, so I should probably do just that.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I changed the direction of the vessel.
The ship shuddered as it twisted, which made me smile. It had worked. I was actually moving the ship. Once we’d pivoted to face away from the planet, I stopped the turn and took a deep breath. Now, to engage propulsion.
“How hard can it be?” I eyed the console warily. “That pilot didn’t look like a genius. If he can do it, I’m sure I can.”
Although the pilot had probably been trained, which I had not. I considered waiting for Kolt, but then remembered that I was irritated at him for cooling toward me just because that asshole Zagrath had played him.
I clenched my teeth and hovered my finger over the bar I was pretty sure controlled the ship’s propulsion. It was time to show Kolt that I wasn’t on the side of the Empire and that I could be trusted with any task.
“You’d have thought our time escaping together would have done that,” I said to myself, still bristling that the Vandar would give any credence to what the enemy would say. Even without his memories, he should know that a slimy Imperial officer is the last person in the universe to trust.
Shedding any last hesitation, I pressed my finger to the smooth surface of the console and dragged it across with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. The ship shot forward, throwing me back into the seat so hard my head slammed into the headrest.
Too fast, too fast, too fast, I thought as I fought gravity to raise my arm and reach the console. But then Kolt was heaving himself into the copilot’s seat and jamming his hand onto the console. The ship slowed, but thankfully didn’t slam to a stop.
“Sorry,” I managed to say as the Vandar’s fingers danced across the console, and he adjusted the ship’s speed and heading. Then I stared at him. “How did you know how to do that?”
He turned to me, his eyes flashing. “I remembered.”