by Layla Nash
“We’ll find a way out.” He didn’t want to use the transporter to get her and Faryl back to the Galaxos, not knowing that it still malfunctioned occasionally, but it was a last resort. “We need to move fast.”
She nodded and got the stretcher moving, and neither of them spoke until they were outside and ready to get the hell out of there. Frrar checked his weapons and considered leaving his brother behind for the Alliance to find, since Faros was slowing him down once more and might get them all caught and arrested by the Alliance. Maisy was right, though—he wanted to see his arrogant brother brought to task for his piracy and other crimes.
He took a deep breath and searched for the Galaxos—which waited across a long stretch of open ground swarming with Alliance attack pods and mechanized transporters that allowed them to attack the grounded ships from behind heavy armor. It was too far; they’d never make it. Which meant... the Sraibur was their only option. Two pirates raced toward the ship, almost unopposed, and Frrar figured they’d have to do the same. The crew would let him on board if he brought Faros and Faryl along. Or so he hoped.
Chapter 33
Maisy
She knew he was crazy when Frrar said they had to run to the Sraibur instead of the Galaxos, and even though she stared at him in disbelief, he didn’t blink. She wanted to argue but there definitely wasn’t time for that. She just hoped none of them got hurt on the mad dash through the uneven ground to where the Sraibur’s ramp waited.
Frrar squeezed her hand and maneuvered Faryl so that he could lay Faros onto the floating stretcher as well. “You run first, and I’ll push this behind you. Just focus on getting to the ship.”
“We’ll both push the stretcher,” she said. He started to object but she fixed him with a dark look. “I’m not letting you die out here because you’re stubborn. We can both push the stretcher.”
He gritted his teeth until the muscles in his jaw jumped, then grudgingly nodded. “Fast.”
“Fast,” she agreed.
And before she could stop to think about how freakin’ crazy it was to race out into the open when people were battling with stunners and other weapons, she ran.
Frrar took most of the weight of the stretcher, and thank Einstein it was a hover stretcher, but she still helped steer and maneuver the unwieldy thing as they dodged the Alliance mechs and ships overhead. She really didn’t like that kind of adventure. She didn’t want to ever see another battle again, nor have anyone shooting stunners at her. Maisy fished around in her bag for the knockout stunners she’d prepared with the paralysis serum and started firing back. Sometimes being afraid wasn’t enough. You just had to do things anyway, and she wasn’t about to sacrifice Faryl or Frrar—or even Faros—to the Alliance just because her knees were knocking and she though she might pee herself in panic.
The Alliance soldiers hesitated before they attacked after Maisy started dropping their compatriots like flies, since the paralysis serum just had to detonate near them, instead of hitting them, to have an effect. Frrar grunted something that sounded like, “Good girl,” but Maisy ignored it and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as her thighs burned.
She definitely needed to hit the gym. If the Sraibur had a gym.
They pelted toward the ramp just as the pirates began to raise it, and Maisy shouted to get their attention. Nokx hesitated but Wyzak tried to haul the ramp up faster, then Maisy shouted, “We have Faros.”
The pirates squinted at them, as if they suspected she lied, then Nokx dodged down the ramp and raced toward them. Frrar slowed but Maisy dragged him on. Nokx shoved Frrar out of the way and took the stretcher, shouting at them, “Run. Go.”
Nokx raced off with both Faros and Faryl, and Maisy struggled to catch up. Frrar slung his arm around her waist and hauled her up against his side, carrying her, and sprinted as the Alliance agents closed in behind them. His boots thudded on the ramp and he nearly threw Maisy into the ship as he stumbled. “Shut the ramp.”
Wyzak growled but hit the levers and the ramp retracted, the doors sliding shut against a hail of fire from the Alliance. Maisy sobbed for breath, bracing her hands on her knees, and blinked dark spots from her vision. She managed to croak, “Who’s flying this bucket of bolts?”
Before the pirates could answer, Frrar stepped forward. “I’m the captain now. Everyone to stations. Nokx, help get Maisy and Faryl to the sick bay so she can treat him. Leave Faros there as well; I shot him and she needs to patch him up.”
Maisy started to object, to characterize Faros’s wounds a different way so the pirates wouldn’t kill Frrar, but the crew watched Frrar for a long moment before dispersing into the ship. She stared, dumbstruck, and tried to keep up as Nokx began to move the stretcher deeper into the ship. The whole ship shuddered and then lifted; Maisy braced herself against the wall as she nearly tripped on Nokx’s heels. “What the…How did—”
“He…defeated the old captain,” Nokx said under his breath. “By Xaravian tradition, he’s the new captain until one of us can challenge him. Since we’re in the middle of a battle, the challenge will have to wait. Quickly…get into sick bay so I can return to navigation.”
She moved as fast as her shaky legs would let her, and pried open the broken doors of the sick bay so Nokx could slide the stretcher through. He parked it near the machines that previously kept Faryl alive, and hauled Faros over to one of the other beds. Then he disappeared without a backward glance or a how-do-you-do.
Maisy got to work. There wasn’t a second to waste. Faryl had a bit more color in his face but his breathing sounded uneven. She hoped she’d given him enough of the serum, but at least she’d brought more in case the first dose didn’t kill all the parasites. He’d lived with them for a long time, after all. But part of her really worried about Faros, still unconscious from the stunner shot, as he lay motionless on the other bed.
Maisy hooked Faryl up so she could monitor his vitals, then got to work on Faros. His thready pulse made her own heart stutter. What would the pirate crew do if she couldn’t save their captain? It wouldn’t matter whether Frrar was the new captain. She got the feeling it would be a short trip, after all.
Chapter 34
Frrar
Frrar felt the crew’s dirty looks the whole way to the bridge, and received even more as he strode in and immediately took the captain’s chair. Might made right and he’d defeated Faros. He didn’t intend to keep the Sraibur, not with the crew still on board, but the immediate need was to escape the Alliance with the ship in one piece and everyone alive.
“All ahead full,” he said, and it was a testament to the crew’s professionalism—and desire to live—that the ship immediately moved.
They burst away from the hospital and through the ozone, into the darkness of space, and then whipped past the much larger Alliance destroyer. Frrar gripped the arms of the captain’s chair to keep from being thrown back from the speed of it. “Evasive maneuvers.”
The ship immediately dodged an Alliance cruiser and darted in and out of the various ships that attempted to pursue them. Frrar had to hand it to the pirates—they sure knew how to evade capture. So he left them to it and kept his mouth shut. The crew functioned smoothly and in near silence as they changed shields and initiated cloaking settings and fired weapons to distract the ships around them. Frrar grudgingly admitted that his brother had been a good captain, at least. Even if he was a lying coward of a pirate.
He wanted to check on Maisy in sick bay but didn’t dare leave the bridge in case mutiny occurred immediately. He only had a little time before the crew, led by Wyzak no doubt, rose up to take their ship back. Frrar clenched his jaw as the Sraibur nearly crashed into another ship. They all had to survive first.
It felt like an eternity before the Sraibur shook loose the last of the Alliance ships pursuing them and found empty space before them. Frrar started to breathe again and some of the tension melted out of his shoulders. Thank the suns.
“Uh, captain...” one o
f the crew said. He leaned over the navigation screen and took a deep breath. “We have an... anomaly.”
“What kind of anomaly?”
“Ships. A lot of ships. Approaching from... everywhere.”
Frrar got up and strode over so he could study the navigation terminal himself. But the warrior was correct—small blips in space moved toward them from almost every direction. He took a deep breath and almost ordered them to take evasive maneuvers again, so they would at least go out fighting, when an alarm sounded and a familiar voice boomed into the bridge through the universal communicator. “Pirate ship Sraibur, this is the rebel ship Galaxos. Prepare to be boarded.”
Vaant. Frrar wanted to laugh with relief. He gestured for the warrior handling communications to hand him the microphone, and cleared his throat before he spoke. “Rebel ship Galaxos, this is Captain Frrar of the rebel ship Sraibur. It’s good to hear from you.”
A long silence followed, then Vaant said, “We’ve got you loud and clear, Sraibur. Hold position. You will be surrounded by rebel ships shortly. Do not engage or take evasive maneuvers. We are…communicating with them about the change of leadership.”
“Roger, Galaxos.” Frrar kept a tight grip on the communicator as some of the ships grew visible on the viewing screen.
The crew tensed all around him, and Wyzak stepped forward. “They’ll arrest or kill us. This is a trap.”
“Vaant won’t sacrifice us to the rebels,” Frrar said. He knew his captain wouldn’t intend for them to end up at the mercy of the rebels, but after everything that Faros had done... There was no telling what the rebels would do to make sure the weapons in their hold didn’t end up with the Alliance. “We wait. If we need to evade, we will.”
“Not with half the damn rebellion around us,” Wyzak snapped. “Damn it, I challenge you as captain! I—”
Frrar pulled his stunner and pressed it into Wyzak’s throat as the other warrior advanced on him. He kept his voice calm and his grip on the communicator steady. “I must have misheard you. Surely you didn’t intend to challenge me in the middle of a battle.”
Wyzak’s eyes flashed silver and his scales swirled with red and black. “If you mean to make us sit here and wait for the hangman’s noose to tighten around us...”
“No hangman’s noose,” Frrar said. “But if we flee now, the rebels will not wait to hear our side of the story. They will destroy this ship and the weapons, and we’ll all die in the process.”
None of the crew spoke. So he went on with the explanation, instead of giving orders like he wanted. “This can all be explained. Faros may take the blame, but the crew will not be punished for following orders. Stand down. I will handle this. I will see you to the other side, then I will hand this ship back to you in exchange for the weapons and safe passage for myself and Maisy. Understood?”
He hated echoing his brother, but it came out regardless of how he meant to change his tone.
Wyzak scowled at him for a very long time, then his head jerked in a nod. He turned on his heel and barked orders at the rest of the crew, and everyone retreated from what they’d been doing in an effort to evade the rebel ships. Frrar turned back to the viewing screen as the Galaxos appeared in front of them, taking up the position that would be most likely to destroy the Sraibur with a direct hit. It helped Frrar breathe a little more to know that Vaant kept the rest of the ships from immediately attempting to destroy them.
The navigator cleared his throat. “Twenty ships surrounding us.”
“Any more incoming?” Frrar really hoped twenty was it. Otherwise they had a better chance of surviving a haugmawt attack than getting out of there alive.
“No. Just the twenty.” The kid’s voice curled dryly at the end, since clearly no more were needed.
Frrar shot him a dark look but resisted the urge to retort, since a captain wouldn’t sink to that level. He raised the communicator instead. “All ships in hailing distance, this is Captain Frrar of the rebel ship Sraibur. The previous captain, Faros, was incapacitated departing Centauri. I am in command of this ship. We have the cargo you’re looking for and will offload it at a rebel base.”
Silence followed for a long time; he got the feeling Vaant probably argued with the rest of the ships who wanted to just destroy the Sraibur. He didn’t know how much to give away, but decided it couldn’t hurt to add a few useful details. “This is the Sraibur. The cargo is valuable and will be of the greatest use in your... efforts. We will navigate to the location of your choosing.”
He left it there and kept his attention on the viewing screen. He wouldn’t beg.
The crew shifted uneasily behind him and Frrar braced for an outburst or something disastrous. Just when he felt like yelling into the silence to break the tension, the communicator crackled again and Vaant spoke. “We’re sending you the coordinates, Sraibur. Follow no less than three ship lengths behind us at core speed three, no faster, else we will assume you have deviated from the agreement and intend to evade. Is that understood?”
“Understood, Galaxos.” Frrar nodded to the navigator to lay in the coordinates, and stood back as the rest of the crew prepared the ship to follow the Galaxos in close proximity. He took a deep breath and looked around the bridge. He’d never wanted to be a captain, but sitting in the captain’s chair and giving the orders—instead of taking them—felt strangely liberating and powerful. Perhaps he would get his own ship and get into trade or transport or something. Create a nice, quiet life for himself and Maisy.
As if his thoughts summoned her, a soft voice murmured through the internal ship comms system. “Frrar, you should get to sick bay.”
Her voice sounded almost normal; perhaps anyone else would not have heard the tension and the slight quaver at the end. But he knew. He heard it. She was afraid.
Frrar tensed as he looked at the crew. He’d left Faros there in sick bay with her; what if the old captain decided to get his revenge on Frrar for taking over the ship by hurting Maisy? He growled and Wyzak folded his arms over his chest. “We will not mutiny until this exchange is done. I will hold you to your word that you will leave after the weapons are gone. Go to your mate without fear that we will attempt escape.”
Frrar nodded once and strode off the bridge, ready to battle.
Chapter 35
Maisy
Maisy breathed easier when Faryl started looking better and began moving around, but Faros remained on the verge of death. The stunner must have been set to kill, so even though Frrar only winged his brother, it was still enough to perhaps kill Faros. She didn’t want the pirate to die before making peace with his brother, or for Frrar to lose his brother without hearing Faros’s side of the story. Despite what Faros had done, she cared enough about him to want him to find peace.
And to make sure his son was well cared for by Frrar. And her.
So she called Frrar on the bridge and asked him to get to sick bay. She sat next to the bed where Faros lay still and quiet, though his eyes opened just a slit when she touched his hand. Maisy leaned close to murmur, “Frrar is on his way. You should talk to him.”
“He’s the one who shot me,” Faros wheezed.
“You set him adrift in space,” she said.
The pirate closed his eyes. “Fair point.”
Maisy adjusted one of the wound recovery pods and then increased the settings on the life support system. She just couldn’t get his hearts to beat together strongly enough to support him. She was still fiddling with the dials when Faros’s fingers reached for hers. “How’s my boy?”
“He’s doing much better,” she said. Her attention drifted to where Faryl lay on his side, studying his father, and snuggled with a small toy animal she assumed was a haugmawt or some other terrifying Xaravian animal. “He’s awake and sitting up. It’ll be a few days before he fully recovers, but he’s on his way.”
“Good.” Faros sighed and his face relaxed, and for a heart-stopping moment, she feared he’d given up and passed away. But a heartbeat later
he squeezed her hand. “Thank you for saving him.”
“You should thank me for saving you, you big jerk.” Maisy cranked up a new regenerator and placed it over the stunner wound. “And you’re going to be fine. Hold on, fight for this.”
The corner of his mouth twitched in something close to a smile. “I think Frrar might have done me in this time. Fitting payback, I suppose.”
Maisy shook her head, trying to banish the burn in her sinuses that heralded more tears. She hadn’t cried so much through all of medical school and the Fleet Academy as she had in the past week or so. “No. Your son needs you. So does your brother, even if he doesn’t realize it yet.”
Faros’s smile grew just a touch.
The doors stuttered open and Frrar shoved his way through, scales red with fury. “What’s he done now? Are you okay?”
Maisy blocked him from immediately strangling his brother and tried not to fall dead from shock that Frrar let her walk him back. She dropped her voice as she rested her palms against his chest, feeling his hearts pound even through his uniform. “Listen to me. I don’t know if I can save him. The stunner affected some of his internal organs and right now the regenerators aren’t working like they should. You need to talk to him.”
Frrar looked down at her as if she’d grown a second head. “You want me to do what?”
“Talk to him,” she murmured. She went up on her toes and brushed her lips against his, not knowing how else to get him to focus and calm down. “Please. I don’t want you to regret missing this opportunity.”
His hands gripped her waist and he pulled her closer, but at least the red faded from his scales. “I can think of many other things I’d rather be doing.”
Maisy flushed and extricated herself from his embrace. “That won’t be happening until you’ve settled the rest of your business.”
