Chapter 41
We located the ship about thirty clicks from the attack site. No doubt they had a better scanner, better everything. However, we didn’t want to spend half the day trekking through the flora. We risked landing at twenty clicks, where we took to stalking through the flora.
“They won’t have the pilot patrolling, or the injured one, but the engineer could be inside or out. If they're smart, they would stun our crew, so there may be one watching them or they are taking up sentry duty,” I said.
“They wouldn’t go too far from the ship either. Pirates aren’t the self-sacrificing type. Even the tightest-knit crews will leave someone behind,” said Lilea. Her crew had been on the docks when she was snatched. There were more of them than the militia, but they left her to her fate.
While Lilea watched our backs, I took the front, and Maddy stayed at our center. Her moves may be rusty, but she knew what she was doing and what we were up against.
Lilea had been right about the pirates, too.
They were near the ship. No one would take off without them.
The first sentry kept themselves along the southern perimeter.
Another took to the northwest, and the final one to the northeast. A patchwork job had been done to the engines.
Scraps of metal crisscrossed over the damage, a makeshift bandage that could get them to the nearest dock, which meant they were close to takeoff.
Three sentries and three of us. Signaling to Lilea and Maddy, they took to either side while I waited in the brush.
The constant up and down of my pulse became a beacon furthering my focus.
The commlink clicked. Lilea was in position.
A moment later, Maddy mirrored her. I took a breath, gave the signal, and we fired twice for good measure. The bodies dropped.
We tied them up, and hurried to the open cargo bay door, where the engineer spotted us. They hit the door release before we got a shot off.
“Move!” I urged, bolting toward the raising dock. Lilea and Maddy weren’t far behind.
I jumped onto the door first, blaster firing at the engineer, who had taken to hiding behind a cargo crate.
The vessel was triple the size of our shuttle, meant for living and long travels, which meant more places to hide, and potentially more pirates.
At the front, a set of stairs led to a door where another pirate burst from.
Their blaster fire rained down on us from the elevated space.
I rolled behind a crate to find Lilea and Maddy doing the same.
The docking doors closed. Alarms blared, and the engines roared.
Gripping the crate strap, I steadied myself prior to liftoff. The engines groaned. The engineer hadn’t finished their repairs. Considering how quickly we took off, the pilot didn’t run their checks. We were as likely to be blown to bits as we were to kill each other.
“I’m going straight to the cockpit before this fucker kills us all. Cover me,” I said over our comms.
“Got it,” Lilea and Maddy said.
On Lilea’s command, I bolted around the crates.
Maddy and Lilea kept their shots going. The pirate up the stairs dodged Maddy’s blaster fire.
So focused on her, they didn’t react to me.
Grabbing the rails, I launched myself onto the shelf.
The pirate pointed the blaster at me. I caught their wrist and shoved it against the railing.
They released the gun to grab a laser blade.
I fell against the railing, evading their strike.
Bracing myself, I kicked them in the side.
They dropped the blade, and my elbow crashed against their abdomen before grabbing their gun and firing thrice.
The corpse dropped. It seemed they had decided no longer to stun us.
I carefully stepped into the next room, a lounge and kitchen area with three sets of doors.
The one farthest ahead led to the cockpit.
One door had to lead to their sleeping quarters and the other, potentially a holding area.
I nearly went to one of the other rooms, wanting to see, to know that Roys was okay, but none of us would be if this ship blew.
Focus, Lucky. Focus.
“Engineer down,” Maddy said.
“The next room is empty. I’m going for the cockpit. There are two more doors here.” I went straight ahead. A blaster wouldn’t get through the cockpit doors. They had a decent ship, not state-of-the art but good enough.
Unfortunately for them, we had brainiacs on our side. While we were getting ready, the survey team set out to write a few codes to get us onto the ship using the dead pirate's comms, but I never made it to the padlock.
The door opened, and I pivoted toward the wall. Blaster fire spread out. The pilot had the ship on auto, and they must have seen me preparing to attempt a decoding. I fell onto the floor with my gun raised. The pilot retreated into the room.
“Careful entering. Pilot will see you coming,” I warned over my comm.
Crawling toward the door, I kept my blaster raised. To connect to the pad, I’d be in front of the door. The pilot could open fire on me. Actually, I was counting on it.
I launched off the floor. The cockpit door opened. The pilot cursed when I tackled them. They expected me to go for the pad, not them.
We fell into the cockpit, twice the size of our shuttle.
They hit the floor with me on top and their blaster between us.
They fired, and we both hissed. The heat of the blast scorched our exoskins.
Mine warned that another shot would break through.
I scrambled to point my blaster at them, but they rolled us. We wrestled on the floor, scrambling.
I elbowed the pilot in the ribs. They lurched forward, and I head-butted them.
Then I shoved them off me and fired twice.
My shot hit them square in the torso, and they dropped in a pool of blood.
I fell into the pilot seat and steadied us into a slow descent toward the nearest field.
Their alarms warned of overheated engines, and a piece of landing gear hadn’t closed properly.
The ship gave a frightful lurch prior to settling.
The engines hummed in thanks, and the alarms silenced.
“You know, I am beginning to worry that you might be out to take my job.”
The steady hum of my heart palpitated, an irregular skip that painted my visor red. Roys leaned in the doorway. His exoskin had been removed, revealing every scratch and bruise. One particularly bad one spread over his face, swelling his left eye and stretching to a cut on his forehead.
“I always knew you could come up with a plan once you—”
I threw off my visor and kissed him.
Clinging to his neck, I kept him exactly where he needed to be.
Roys returned the pressure, all passion, teeth and tongue and gasping breaths.
He grabbed me, hands roaming over my back.
I cursed the exoskin for keeping us apart, for not letting me feel his heart racing against mine, so I kissed along his jaw to his neck just to feel that pulse humming against my lips.
He was alive. I hadn’t lost him. I still had the opportunity to tell him the truth, that I wanted him more than anything, that I loved him so much that a lifetime together wouldn't be enough. Nothing ever would be.
“Never do this again,” I growled and stayed there, kissing that wonderful heartbeat.
“Trust me, I don’t plan on it, although coming to my rescue is incredibly attractive.”
“Don’t get used to it.” I kissed him again, needing to feel his breath and his smile and know he was alright. A little battered and bruised, which made me want to kill all these stupid fuckers, but alive, and safe in my arms.
“Oh, oh my!” Lilea gasped. Roys and I turned to find her gawking, and Maddy grinning far too wide.
My hold on Roys tightened. “Do you need something because you are kind of interrupting?”
“The two of you can fuck at the habitat, but right now, you need to see,” Maddy glanced toward one of the rooms.
“Her,” Lilea finished.
“Her?” I repeated. My stomach dropped. “Arana, is she…”
“Alive and well, thank you very much!” Arana called from the other room.
“I am too, thanks for asking,” Ryker grumbled. Roys steadied me when I thought my legs would give out.
“There’s just, uh, an unexpected guest,” Arana added.
“They had more hostages,” Maddy explained while Lilea went toward the room. “Kind of really fucking important one.”
I gave Roys a suspicious look. His awkward smile proved they weren’t joking. I couldn’t imagine who could be in there, and I wasn’t about to find out because a pirate emerged from the cargo bay with a blaster pointed at Maddy’s back.
I shoved her hard. Maddy collapsed. So did I after the sound of blaster fire. The world twisted. I stared up at the cockpit ceiling feeling… nothing at all. There was scrambling. Shouting. Blaster fire. Cursing and footsteps and red, so much red dripping from the console.
Whose blood…?
A shadow passed, then there was Roys. The fear in his eyes made little sense. He wasn’t within the pirate’s range. I saved Maddy this time. We were fine. Everything was perfectly alright.
“I’m sorry. We have to keep pressure on it and, fuck, tell me someone else knows how to fly this damn shuttle.” Roys had his hands on me. I tried sitting up. My body wouldn’t listen. I didn’t feel it at all.
Oh.
The blood was mine. More soaked the cloth Roys had pressed against my ruined abdomen.
That wasn't good. It didn't hurt. Also not good. Maddy stood in the threshold wearing Roys’ same fear, and shock that painted her pale as a ghost. Lilea shoved past her to take the pilot seat, tears streaming down her face as she went on about Iylene showing her the basics.
Damn, they shot me. I’m dying.
I expected the realization to scare me, that I would beg or cry or curse the bastard who did this to me, but death was surprisingly peaceful.
No pain. No worries. Everyone was okay. Maddy wasn’t alone this time.
She and Roys were beside me, having squeezed themselves into the cockpit.
Maddy sat in the copilot seat holding my hand, tears streaming down her face.
Her mouth moved, but I heard nothing. My eyes were heavy.
I was so tired, but I had something to say.
Roys needed to hear it because I wasn’t alright.
Nothing was perfect and I might not get to say it otherwise. I didn't want to risk that again.
“Stay with me, Ethin.” Roys became nothing more than a silhouette surrounded by blinding light.
“I love you,” I whispered, and the world went dark.