Chapter 2 #2
But the sudden wailing of an alarm made them both tense.
“Fuck!” Mal leaned to the left, flicking at various touchscreens. “Incoming.” She looked his way. “Squadron of Infiltrators.”
He slammed a fist against the console so hard he dented the metal.
“Hey! Don’t damage my ship.” She pushed his hand off the console. “Can you contact them? Call them off.”
“They are not under Centaxian control. The mercenaries have seized control of the Security spaceport.”
Not good. She chewed on her lip. “You’re telling me those giants are flying those Infiltrators?”
“Most likely.”
“Shit.” She tapped at the controls. “I’ll try and pull some extra power from—”
Another alarm sounded. This time Xander reached forward and touched the screen in front of him. “Incoming ion missile. Starboard side.” He spoke like he was giving her a weather report.
“Shields are up.”
“Won’t stop these missiles. They’re designed to penetrate shields.”
Her stomach dropped. “What?”
“New Centaxian tech.”
The ship shuddered and they were both tossed forward in their seats, held in place by their harnesses.
More alarms sounded. Mal worked furiously at the controls. “We’ve lost grav and enviro in the cargo area. No hull breach.”
“Yet.”
“Hey, positive attitude please.”
Another hit. The ship shuddered again and this time the console to the right exploded, sparks raining over both of them.
“Dammit. I’ve lost one of the engines.” Her hands flew in a blur over the controls. “We can’t take another hit.”
Xander reached forward and touched his palms to the console.
“What are you doing?” she bit out.
He ignored her, his gaze turned inward. Once again, his eyes flared that eerie neon green.
Even in the midst of chaos, she couldn’t help but stare at him. Damn, he was handsome. Not to mention scary. “Xander—”
“I’m strengthening the shields and the weapons systems.”
“Your eyes—”
“A sign I’m utilizing my advanced cyborg systems.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “However, they are still not fully back online. But we will get off Centax, Malin.” His voice was colder than ice. “I will do whatever is required to get us out of here.”
She couldn’t look away from him. The luminescence of his eyes cast a glow over his black uniform. She saw the lines of pain on his face soften, and that scary blankness deepen.
He looked less man and far more…something else.
Another insistent alarm. She palmed the screen. “Infiltrators are coming back! Weapons are locked.” Her heart pounded in her chest like a wild animal attempting to burst free.
She glanced out the viewscreen, and could just see the squadron of five sleek, black ships heading straight toward them.
Then her ship’s lasers fired.
An explosion flared right in front of them. She gasped.
The lead Infiltrator went down.
She turned her head toward Xander. He stared straight ahead, his chest rising and falling at an even, steady pace.
Her freighter’s lasers opened fire again. Looking back at the viewscreen, she saw two Infiltrators go wild, spiraling downward and out of control.
The remaining two ships veered away.
“Environmental controls are reestablished in the cargo area,” he said in a monotone.
Mal slowly turned back to the man beside her.
“Unfortunately, the gravity system is damaged.”
“That’s okay.” She swallowed.
“So is the primary engine. I can only get thirty-five-percent power from it.”
With a shake, she focused back on her touchscreen, confirming Xander’s assessment. “Not great. But I can still get us home on that and a functioning secondary.”
“To Khan.”
She stilled. “You know where I live.”
“Yes.”
Her lips firmed. “What else do you have in those records of yours?”
“I know your cousins are the Phoenix brothers. And I need their help.”
“Why?”
“The mercenaries have stolen something. Something of great value to Centax. I need—” Suddenly, his body spasmed. His palms flattened against the console, his body arching forward. “We’ve lost the rear stabilizers.”
Her eyes widened and the ship lurched in a sickening spiral. “Shit…shit.” Without the stabilizers, they weren’t going anywhere.
She tapped the screen, trying to repair the system. Nothing.
The ship veered starboard, slamming her against her straps and her shoulder into Xander’s hard body.
“I can’t fix it from here.” She worked feverishly, shutting down systems they didn’t need and shunting power into the stabilizers.
It didn’t work.
“We’re headed toward Charox,” Xander said.
Centax’s only moon. A hunk of unforgiving rock.
Malin yanked her harness off, jumped up, and ran toward the engineering console.
She crouched, yanked off the outer cover and pulled out the cables beneath.
If she could splice the navigation conduit with the stabilizer controls, maybe, just maybe, they could avoid smashing into teeny tiny pieces on Charox’s surface.
But nothing she did succeeded in getting the stabilizers back online.
“Dammit.” She slammed a fist against the console. “I have to go down to the engine.” It was a long shot. “Maybe if I can—”
“Malin, strap in.”
His voice now sounded strained. He was leaning over the command console, palms still flat against it, but his big body was tense, sweat dripping down his face.
“What are you doing?” She raced over.
“Strap in.”
He was clearly still interfaced with her ship.
“I want to know what you’re—?”
“Strap. In.” His words were like bullets.
She sank into her chair and pulled her harness on.
Slowly, the ship righted. Her lips parted and she stared at the screen. The stabilizers were back online. Not at full capacity, but enough for the ship to function.
It wasn’t possible! They were too damaged.
Her gaze shot to Xander.
Lines bracketed his mouth and his face was pale.
He was killing himself to stabilize the Firebird.
“Xander, enough.”
He ignored her.
She gripped his arm. “Enough!”
“Almost…there.”
“You’re going to kill yourself!” She heard the fear in her tone. “Enough.”
She managed to yank one of his hands off the console, but his body started convulsing.
“Shit.” She helped him back into his chair and his head slumped forward. Please don’t be dead. She touched her fingertips to his neck. Felt a pulse.
Okay, the best thing she could do for him was get them safely back to Khan. He’d nearly killed himself to get the Firebird functional again.
She set a course for the Phoenix moon.
Then she noticed the flashing red light on the console and her chest tightened. Dammit. Couldn’t they catch a break?
Enviro was failing…not just in the cargo bay but across the entire ship.
She glanced at the unconscious CenSec beside her. This time she was on her own. She had to find a way to keep him and herself alive.