Chapter 15
Vesh, Adrift, Enemy Space
I was not dead, which surprised me considerably. The Wraith, however, would never fly again.
After Priya’s pod entered the Gate, I cut power to the overloaded core one second before it failed.
The Wraith dropped out of the debris field and took three direct hits while the Scythes tried to follow.
The last impact broke my left arm, burned half my uniform, and threw the ship into an uncontrolled tumble.
It also revealed the truth that the Wraith was no longer a threat.
I vented the remaining heat, killed every system, and let our momentum carry us behind the shattered hull of an old mining vessel floating in the debris field. The surviving Scythes scanned the wreckage twice. Then they left.
The plan had worked. Unfortunately, I had no way to get home. I sat strapped into a dead cockpit with a broken arm, burned skin, forty-five minutes of emergency air in my helmet, and no functioning transmitter.
Priya was alive. The bond told me that much. She had passed through the Gate. She was moving farther away, warm and furious at the back of my neck. Safe. I had told myself that would be enough. I had been an idiot.
Priya had trusted me when she was most afraid. She had told me exactly what being abandoned had done to her. Then I locked her into a capsule and sent her away while I stayed behind. Tactically correct. Emotionally unforgivable.
If I survived, I would apologize. If I did not, she would find a way to drag me back from death simply to yell at me. The thought almost made me laugh.
The air warning flashed. Forty-two minutes. I tried the emergency beacon again. Nothing. The receiver produced a burst of static. Then a voice.
“Recon wing through the Gate. Mia, establish the jamming cone. Kass, with me.”
Alex? I stared at the dead display. The voice came again, broken by interference.
“Priya, hold behind us until the screen opens.”
The bond surged so hard I nearly blacked out. She had come back. Of course she had. I closed my eyes and swore.
“Thirty-five minutes of air,” the Wraith informed me.
“I heard you.”
The system did not care. Weapons fire lit the debris field beyond the cracked canopy. Velerion blue. Xandraxian white. The battle moved between me and the Gate.
Then I felt Priya. Not a distant point through the bond. Close. Moving through the debris field with the same controlled precision she brought to everything she did. She passed within five kilometers of the Wraith and kept going. My ship was too dark to see.
I struck the beacon control with my good hand. Nothing. Again. The panel sparked. A single weak pulse left the Wraith.
Priya’s scout turned immediately. Her ship appeared between two slabs of debris, small and fast, running without external lights. Her voice came through the dying receiver. “There you are.”
I could hear her breathing. “Priya.”
“You absolute idiot.”
“I have reached the same conclusion.”
“Air status?”
“Thirty-two minutes.”
“Injuries?”
“Minor.”
“The bond says your arm is broken, you're in extreme pain and you’re losing blood.”
“Relatively minor.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“I'll allow it, as long as you kiss me first.”
“Shut up and hold still.”
“I am in a dead ship. I can't move.”
The recovery scout fired two magnetic lines into the Wraith’s hull. They caught. Thrusters pulled the ships together until Priya could extend a flexible docking collar around the emergency hatch. The collar sealed. She tried the hatch release. Nothing.
“It’s fused,” I said.
“I know.”
“The manual explosive bolts may still—”
The outer hatch glowed red.
“Priya?”
“Cutting through. Move away from the door.”
Metal screamed. The center of the hatch fell inward.
Priya climbed through wearing a pressure suit and carrying a thermal cutter.
The helmet hid her face until she closed the inner collar and pressurized it.
Then the visor opened. Furious. Terrified.
Beautiful. She threw the cutter aside and crawled to me.
Her hands moved over my face, throat, chest, checking injuries. She found the burn along my side and went pale.
“Minor?”
“I've had worse.”
She pulled an emergency injector from her suit and pressed it against my neck. Pain dulled immediately.
“What was that?”
“Something the medic gave me after I threatened him.”
“You threatened a medical officer?”
“I’ve had a busy morning.”
I laughed as Priya cut my harness free and secured my broken arm against my chest.
“This will hurt,” she said.
“I am aware.”
“No, you’re brave and stupid. I need you to understand that moving you is going to hurt.”
“I trust you.”
Her eyes met mine. “You are not dying on me today, Vesh. That's an order.”
She looped a rescue strap around my torso and pulled me out of the pilot’s seat. Pain broke through the medication. My vision narrowed. Priya braced my weight against her body and dragged me toward the hatch.
“You are too small for this,” I said.
“You are too big for everything. Move your right foot.”
I obeyed. We reached the docking collar as the Wraith’s air warning became continuous. The air warning flashed again.
“Dramatic to the end,” Priya muttered.
The ship shook. Alex’s voice came through her suit comm. “Priya, three Scythes broke past Kass. Ninety seconds.”
“I need two minutes.”
“You have one.”
"Shit." Priya pulled me through the docking collar into the second scout. She sealed the hatch, released the magnetic lines, and lowered me into the copilot seat. “Harness.”
Using my one functioning arm, I locked the harness in place as she stripped off her helmet and threw herself into the pilot’s seat.
She released the Wraith and fired the engines.
The scout accelerated so hard the harness crushed air from my lungs.
Behind us, the Wraith drifted back into the debris field.
My ship. Tavik’s ship. The craft that had carried me through six years of war and finally brought Priya to me. I watched her disappear.
“Goodbye, beautiful,” I said.
Priya heard me. “She saved our lives. She was a good ship.”
“The best.”
Threat alarms lit the new cockpit.
“Can you monitor sensors?” Priya asked.
“Yes.”
“Can you do it without passing out?”
“Probably.” I activated the tactical display with my right hand. Three Scythes entered the debris field behind us. Farther out, the Velerion wing fought to keep the area around the Gate clear.
“First contact high and closing,” I said. “Second moving to your left. Third is holding back.”
“Smart one?”
“Always watch the one who waits.”
Priya rolled beneath the first burst of fire. The scout was undamaged, fast, and responsive. She flew it like she had spent years in the cockpit.
“The jamming cone is thirty degrees starboard,” I said. “Move now.”
She moved before I finished. The enemy’s sensor locks vanished.
Kass’s ship crossed behind our stern and fired two missiles. One Scythe vanished. The second broke away. The smart enemy continued following at a distance, firing into our path. Priya dove beneath the shots and turned for the Gate.
“I like your friends,” I said.
“They came for you.”
“They came for you.”
“Same thing now.”
Her words struck deeper than any weapon.
The Gate opened ahead. Alex and Jamie tore through the center of the enemy fighters who were desperately trying to block our escape.
Lily and Darius held the left edge in their Titans while Kass cleared our right.
Mia’s jamming turned the enemy formation into chaos.
They had cleared a path for us. Priya saw it.
She pushed the scout to full power. Two Scythe interceptors crossed in front of us.
“One high,” I called. “Second committing low. Stay on course.”
“They’re going to shoot us.”
“No, they're going to fire at us. You're going to dodge."
She laughed. “I liked your plans better before all the blood loss.”
The two Scythes fired.
“Roll now.”
Priya rolled. Their shots crossed in the lane where we should have been and struck each other’s shields. Jamie came through behind us and finished both ships. “You owe me,” she said over the comm.
“Tacos,” Priya promised. What was the deal with Earth women and these damn tacos?
“Deal.”
We reached the Gate. Entered. Blue light filled the cockpit.
The instant we crossed into Velerion space, Priya released the controls and turned toward me.
She took my face in both hands and kissed me.
Hard. Angry. Alive. I kissed her back with everything I had left.
When she pulled away, tears ran down her face.
“Don’t ever do that to me again or I will kill you myself.”
“I saved your life. I'd do it again..”
“No. You made the decision alone. You locked me in a pod. You don’t get to decide which one of us matters more.”
“There is no decision to be made. It's you. It will always be you.”
“God damn it. You're not listening to me.”
I cupped her cheek in my good hand and kissed her gently. "I am listening. It will always be you."
She closed her eyes. "You're impossible."
"I'm a man in love."
She grinned at me. "Is there a difference?"
I kissed her palm without answering. There was nothing I could say that wouldn't be a lie. If I had to choose, I'd choose her, every time. She might was well learn to accept it.
Outside the viewport, Velerion rose blue and green beneath us. Our entire wing came through the Gate and formed around the scout. Every ship accounted for. Priya took my hand and turned us toward Arturri. This time, we flew home together.