Chapter 7 Bright
brIGHT
The moment they exited the Fold, Bright knew something was wrong.
There was no sense of release…no smooth slide from the compressed stillness of the Fold into normal space…no gentle drift into open sky.
Instead, the ship jolted, the forward momentum stalling like a bird hitting an invisible wall.
The lights on the console flickered, the engines groaned, and the shuttle hung in space like a fly caught in a web.
“What the fuck?” Burn muttered beside him, already adjusting the controls.
Noelle made a soft sound—half gasp, half question—but Bright couldn’t look at her yet. His eyes were locked on the front viewscreen, where something impossible was wrapped across the viewscreen.
Thin glowing lines—blue-white and sharp as lightning—crisscrossed the display in a tight lattice. They pulsed faintly, alive with electrical current. The pattern shifted and shivered as the ship strained against it, trying and failing to break free.
Bright stared, his stomach sinking.
“What in the Seven Hells is that?” he asked, pointing at the shimmering net.
Burn’s face was grim, his jaw tight as he shoved the throttle forward.
“That’s part of a Skowlian energy net,” he said. “We’ve got to break free of it or we’re all dead.”
He did something to the console—something Bright didn’t understand—and then pushed the steering yoke forward.
The engines screamed in protest and the shuttle surged forward—but only slightly.
The front end pitched, then slammed back as though yanked by a leash.
All three of them were thrown forward in their seats, though the harnesses kept them from slamming into the viewscreen or the control console.
Alarms began to blare in sync with the rising whine of straining power cores.
But no matter what Burn did, the net held firm.
“What are the Skow doing here?” Bright demanded. “I thought they worked the Outer Fringe of the Gordrian system. What are they doing in the Therim corridor?”
“Pirating,” Burn growled. “This isn’t a random net—we were targeted. Someone fucking knew we’d be coming through this Fold point.”
Bright’s gut went cold. Could the Dark Twin be right? But how could the Skow—who were notorious pirates and slave traffickers—have known their location?
“Are…are we going to be all right?” Noelle’s voice was thin and frightened, barely audible over the whine of the engines. She was still strapped in between them, small and tense, her hands gripping the arms of her seat hard enough to turn her knuckles white.
She’s human, Bright thought. Tiny and breakable compared to us. We have to protect her. We have to—
A sudden, sharp jerk rocked the shuttle.
Bright reached out instinctively, bracing a hand across Noelle’s chest to steady her. She gasped and looked at him, eyes wide with fear.
“It’s all right,” he told her quickly. “We’ll get out of it. Just stay calm.”
But the truth was, he wasn’t sure.
He knew some about the Skow weapons—enough to avoid them.
These nets were designed to trap small-to-medium class vessels.
Once caught, the energy wrapped tighter and tighter, draining power from the engines while disabling weapons, shielding, and navigation.
Within minutes, a ship would be dead in the water—completely at the mercy of whoever cast the net.
And there was always someone waiting on the other end…usually the Skow.
“Can we break through it?” Bright asked Burn, trying to keep his tone steady.
“Not unless you’ve got a wormhole generator hidden in your boot,” Burn snapped. “The net’s siphoning all our power. If we don’t either break free soon, we’ll be dead in the water.”
The lights in the cabin dimmed as the net leached more energy and Bright swore under his breath.
Noelle was still quiet, but she was breathing hard, her eyes flicking from Burn to Bright and back again. He reached over again and gently wrapped his fingers around her much smaller hand.
She twined her fingers with his and Bright squeezed gently.
“Don’t worry, my lady,” he said quietly. “No matter what happens—we won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Her eyes softened, just for a moment and she gave a short, jerky nod. She didn’t say she was scared—she didn’t need to. Bright felt her fear in the way she gripped his fingers and refused to let go.
“Here they come,” Burn muttered.
Bright looked up.
A ship had appeared just ahead of them—black and jagged, with wide talons and glowing red engines. It resembled a spider crossed with a war-bird—the prow angular and sharp and its underside lined with docking tendrils that unfolded like claws.
The com crackled and a voice came through, raspy and sibilant.
“Unidentified Kindred vessel. You are caught in a Class-Five Skowlian net. Power down your engines and prepare to be boarded.”
Burn didn’t answer. He just flicked a switch that sent the ship’s emergency beacon pulsing and pushed his chair back from the controls with a snarl of frustration.
“Nothing else we can do,” he said grimly. “They’ve got us. Let’s get ready to fight.”
Bright unclipped his harness, his mind spinning.
Why here? Why now? Why this Fold point?
And then he remembered something…a casual conversation from days earlier, back in the Docking Bay. He and Burn had been talking to another warrior—Jarin, a Beast Kindred friend of theirs.
They’d mentioned their destination—Therim Five—and somehow the information had gotten to the Skow.
Bright felt it in his bones. This wasn’t random—it was deliberate. But who could have told? Not Jarin—he was a true friend and besides, no Kindred warrior would ever betray another that way. But then who or how had the information gotten out?
His speculation would have to wait however, because a moment later the ship rocked as the Skowlian vessel clamped onto them.
Mechanical arms latched onto the hull, digging in with metallic screeches.
A moment later, the emergency override kicked in and the shuttle vents hissed because the Skow were slicing their way inside.
A rush of cold air filled the cabin.
Bright rose, moving to put himself between Noelle and the breach. Burn stood beside him, tall and dangerous, fists already clenched, a blaster in one hand.
They wouldn’t go quietly, Bright swore to himself—they wouldn’t go without a fight.
But this wasn’t going to be a fight they could win. Not if even a fraction of what he’d heard about the Skow was true.
Hold on, he thought grimly, glancing down at Noelle’s terrified face. We’ll find a way out of this—we have to.
He just didn’t know how they were going to do it.