Chapter 9 #2
“Outrun them. Get back to the Drake, and then get the Magellan here. It’s the only thing that has the firepower to take the ship on.”
She changed the marlin’s course and touched the screen. “Marlin Beta, return to the Drake. I repeat, return to the Drake.”
Out the window, Colm saw the second marlin just ahead of them. As they turned again, Colm got a perfect view of the pirate ship and cold dread filled his chest.
The central part of the ship looked like two large, vertical discs. Extending off it were huge spikes, giving it an intimidating look. It made Colm think of the garga animals from the Darken Wilds, with their wicked, poisonous spikes.
“God.” Honor changed course. “Drake, we need?—”
A high-pitched squeal cut across the comms. She slammed her fist against the console.
Silence filled the cockpit.
“They’re jamming our comms. I can’t contact the Drake or the second marlin.”
Suddenly another alarm sounded. “Warning.” A cool, female voice filled the cockpit. “Weapons are locked on the ship. Warning.”
“Goddammit, no.” Honor threw the marlin into a dizzying series of turns. Colm felt his stomach dip and pitch.
There was a flare of light from the pirate ship. Before Colm could comprehend what was happening, the second marlin ahead of them exploded.
He froze. Derek Wu and Dr. Lev’nan. He heard Honor’s shocked cry.
“No.” She pressed a hand to the canopy.
There was nothing left but a smattering of debris.
Honor exploded into action. She threw their craft into crazy zigzags. The alarm still blared.
“Weapons are locked on your ship. Warning.”
The pirate ship fired again. A brilliant flash of blinding light.
Impact.
The marlin shuddered. A shower of sparks rained over them and alarms blared. Colm gripped the edge of his seat, his gut rolling.
He was helpless. There was nothing he could do to help save himself and Honor.
The marlin rolled like a dying animal, plummeting toward the icy moon.
Honor tried to right the marlin. Sparks erupted under her hands, screens were going dead. The ship’s controls were not responding.
The pirates’ missile had clipped their starboard side. The engines were failing and the marlin was rocketing toward the icy moon below.
God. Derek and Dr. Lev’nan were dead. She felt sick. She knew the pirates would attack the Drake next.
And Honor and Colm were going to crash.
Panic rose, closing her throat and leaving her chest tight. Colm’s life was in her hands.
“Honor.” A big hand closed over hers.
She stared up into gold-brown eyes.
“You can do this. You are the most frighteningly competent woman I’ve ever met.”
“We’re going to crash, Colm.”
He shot her a small smile. He reached out and pushed her hair back behind her ear. “What do you need to do to stop us from crashing?”
She swallowed, absorbing his warrior calm. “I can’t stop us from crashing. I’ve lost too many controls. The only thing I can do is slow us down. It’s the only chance we have.”
He nodded. “Do it.”
She touched the dying controls. Come on, come on. She slammed her palm against the console. “Nothing’s responding.”
“Stay calm. Do what you have to do.” His hand touched the nape of her neck.
It helped her piece together some semblance of control. She touched the controls again and overrode the security protocols. That gave her access to do some things that weren’t usually recommended. She got a little more power to the engines.
She managed to level the marlin out and reduce their speed. A little.
“Reentry angle is too steep,” the computer intoned.
“Ha, would never have guessed,” Honor muttered in response.
Colm squeezed her nape again. “You can do this. I have plans for you. Plans that involve you naked.”
She groaned. “Don’t distract me.”
But as she kept working the dying controls, she realized he was doing it on purpose to help keep her calm. Her warrior was far too perceptive.
Another alarm started, shattering her thoughts. Flames poured over the canopy of the marlin and the ship rattled.
They were still going too fast.
The thick clouds engulfed them, and she fought with what was left of the ships controls.
Still too fast.
She kept tapping, kept swiping, and bled a little bit of speed from the ship. They burst out of the clouds, and below, she saw the moon’s snowy surface.
Still too fast.
“Colm.” She reached for his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for.” He laced his fingers with hers. “In a way, this is better for me.”
She didn’t know what he meant by that, but as they hurtled toward the moon’s surface, she felt despair wash through her.
“I wish I’d taken you up on your offer that first night we met, at the dinner.
” She wished she’d felt him inside her, stretching her, filling her.
Wished she’d explored him all over with her hands, with her tongue.
She wished she slept beside him and heard his hearts beating under her ear.
As the ground rushed up to meet them, instead of closing her eyes, Honor kept her gaze on Colm’s.
The impact was staggering.
Metal crunched. She was tossed against her harness. Pain bloomed.
Colm’s hand slipped from hers. Something smashed into her head.
Then everything went black.
Colm slowly awoke. He was cold, and his head throbbed.
The last time his head had felt like this, he and a teenage Kavon had drunk too much stolen ale at the winter feast. Colm had woken up half naked and facedown in the training yard. Since then, he learned to temper the amount he imbibed at a meal.
He opened his eyes and saw a spider web in front of him. He frowned. That wasn’t right. He squinted. It was glass.
The canopy of the marlin.
Smashed and broken.
A frigid wind blew in along with snow. Everything, including him, was covered in an inch of white powder.
He jerked. Honor.
He turned and saw her slumped beside him, her face turned away.
Be alive. He wrenched the harness off his chest. Blood stained his hands and he touched his head. He felt the wound where his head had contacted something. He knew his nanami would already be racing to fix it.
But Honor had no nanami.
He reached over the center console and pulled her toward him.
Even over the howl of the wind, he heard her breathing. The insane tension inside him eased. He worked off her harness.
“Honor.” He patted her cheek. “Wake up.” She stirred, then groaned.
Relief punched through him. He leaned over and pressed his lips against hers. “We survived.”
Her eyes fluttered open. “We’re alive?”
“Yes.” Her eyes were a little unfocused, but were slowly clearing. “But we can’t stay here.”
“We made it.” She looked around the shattered cockpit. “We made it. God, Colm, you’re bleeding.”
“Minor. It will be healed within an hour.”
She moved, then clutched her right leg and groaned again.
He leaned over and saw blood on her thigh.
“Minor,” she assured him.
“Good. Because we need to move.”
She rubbed her temple, and he realized she was still confused.
“When you injure your prey and it runs into the woods,” he said, “you track it down to finish it off.”
Her eyes widened. “The pirates will come for us.”
He nodded. “And there is a fierce snowstorm coming. The wind and snow are getting stronger.”
She straightened, pulling herself together. “Okay, we need the emergency packs. They’re behind the seats. And let’s see what else we can scavenge from the ship.” She looked through the cracked screen ahead. “How the hell are we going to survive out there?”
“With good, old-fashioned warrior ingenuity.”
She smiled. “Ranks up there with warrior humility.”
He gave her a smile. “No need for humility when you’re so very good.”
She snorted. “Okay, my humble warrior, are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” Colm reached behind his seat, rummaged around and pulled out the emergency pack. Honor did the same, and added a few more items she scavenged. “We just have to decide where to go.”
She pulled her Sync from her pocket and expanded the adaptable screen.
“Okay. Because the location of the wreckage was programmed into the marlin’s computer, that’s where we were aiming for.
It looks like we’ve crashed nearby. God, I hope we didn’t lead the pirates right to what they’re looking for.
” A muscle ticked in her jaw. “Because they sure as hell aren’t getting their hands on the Valhalla, the murdering bastards.
” She looked outside again. “I don’t see any wreckage out there. ”
“Let’s not worry about a wreck right now.” Colm was more worried about keeping them alive.
She hit a red button near the canopy and the entire shattered canopy popped outward.
Together, they climbed out.
Colm felt his boots sink into the snow. The wind hit, and it was like an icy blade. He pulled his coat tighter around his body.
“Goddammit.” Honor was touching her thigh. “My right leg is burning.”
“I can carry you?—”
“No. I can walk.”
He would see how she went. If her leg was too bad, he was carrying her, her protests be damned. He looked around, but saw no features, no shelter, just snow.
He wasn’t going to mention the wolves.
Honor held her Sync close to her face. “I can see the storm about to hit. We’re just on the edge of it.” She looked up at him. “It’ll last for several hours, and we can’t be topside in it. It looks like there’s an entrance to an ice cave a klick that way.” She pointed and took a step.
He saw her wince. He slid his arm across her shoulders. “Your leg is hurting.”
“Not enough to stop me getting out of here. It’s damn cold.” Her voice was laced with determination.
His brave warrior. “Then let’s go. I’d prefer it if I was the one keeping you warm.”
“Get me out of this snow, warrior, and we can keep each other warm.”
Together, they started walking.